a day in New York and one in New Jersey

I am in New Jersey for my two grandsons' h.s. graduations and have a full calendar. Tuesday, I went into New York, planning to meet my friend Sujatha for lunch. I took the bus; she was going to take the train. But our plans were stymied by a power outage on the whole Northeast train line. By the time we discovered it, I was on the bus. So I called my daughter Jessica, who works for Peleton and just happened to have a break. She met me for a delicious lunch where we both ate waaaay too much.

After lunch, Jessica went back to work and I walked through what used to be the vibrant, fabulous, Garment District between 8th and Broadway from 39th-37th Sts. This wonderful big button signifies the area when it really meant something.

Today it is a ghost: the manufacturing outsourced to China, India, and elsewhere. The factories are either gone or have moved out of Manhattan. And the fabric stores...

Gone: almost all of those wonderful fabric stores filled with elegant wools and beautiful silks, cottons, rayons, and all kinds of other fabrics. Remaining are stores with somewhat cheesy fabrics and trimming shops filled with sequins, laces, buttons, and you-name-it.

Here is one example.

The whole thing made me sad.

I didn't have time to hunt for the famous Mood Textiles but I did come across Mood Home, which is loaded with home furnishings fabrics. Spent a little while there looking for fabric to recover my two living room chairs, to no avail.

Thursday (today) - Graduation Day for my grandson David, who is off to Lehigh University in August. Wonderful day, even though it poured during the graduation ceremony and the poor kids in their tuxes and gowns, got drenched. So did the rest of us. If you look carefully, you can see the wet spots on my shirt. The students were given ponchos to wear over their good clothes. But argh.

I drove back to Hilary's in a downpour where I could hardly see and was hydroplaning for a good part of the trip - in unfamiliar territory, no less. First stop - hot shower. Second, hot soup, grilled cheese, and a drink. Third stop - bed!