This is my bench. I suspect that it’s a lot of other folk’s bench, too. It’s a really good bench located just in front of the Alice In Wonderland Sculpture on the uptown side of the pond. Almost every day during the week, I’d trek from my apartment in the low 80’s on West End Ave over to this bench (1.3 miles). Along the way, I’d grab a coffee and a nice bagel breakfast sandwich (BHEC, if you must know) and make my way to my bench where I’d spend the mid-morning hours catching up on the news, reading for a little pleasure, returning a few emails, and even taking the odd picture or three if the mood struck me. It was at this bench last October, in standing to leave, I found myself sapped of energy entirely, signaling for the first time that I’d developed long covid – a diagnosis that was confirmed three weeks later.

Of all the things I miss about living in NY, I miss this bench and the times we had together the most. As I go back to the city frequently, I always try to make time to go back. It’s not the same, but it doesn’t suck, either.