This weekend I took a 36 hour trip to Glaucester, Mass. The wedding I was helping Chad shoot was great, but getting there and back from New York was literally the worst overall traveling experience I’ve had in a long time. As I was sitting in the middle of some small town (whose name escapes me) in the 95 degree sun waiting for the next bus (having chased and missed one) I realized I need stillness.

I got a little bit of stillness in Santa Cruz. But that was kind of vacation. And vacations are supposed to be peaceful (ideally). But then I spent 5 days of traveling (Santa Cruz to Monterey to Denver to New York to Boston to Glaucester to Peabody to God-knows-where back to New York) and lost all the rest I gained.

I need stillness in every day life. I need some routine.

As I was pulling in to New York we were on the Triboro bridge and I could see the Manhattan skyline looming ahead of us, glowing like the promised land. I was in the front seat with a black lady from Brooklyn and a Puerto Rican from Boston (the driver). The three of us chatted and tried to pass the time as we inched our way in grid-lock traffic back into the City.

This morning I got up early and rode through Central Park, down (crazy) 9th ave, down to my old coffeeshop in my old neighborhood (Grounded on Jane). As I was riding, thinking about being and living New York, and about being  “still” for a little while in the city I love, a fresh feeling washed over me. I began remembering my first trip here in September of 2006. I spent a week here during my final year of Art School. I bought art supplies, drank coffee, went to openings and museums and galleries, soaked up the city, sketched and worked on my senior show, went to concerts and explored neighborhoods and restaurants.

Having those nostalgic feelings wash over me I felt refreshed and ready for a new season in New York. Unless something changes, I’m here through most of the fall. I’ve loved the traveling.

But thank God for home.

Some old Santa Cruz shots…