RETURN TO MANHATTAN
Manhattan in late May was quite lively; Manhattan in October is brimming with energy. Yes, there are a sad number of empty storefronts, but people are out and about and bustling here and there. Outdoor dining structures remain popular while many restaurants seem to have been re-discovered. Having to show proof of Covid vaccination to eat inside provides a welcome sense of comfort. Waiters also are masked.
Before arriving, we downloaded the NYCCOVIDSAFE app to our phones and added photos of our driver’s license and vaccine card. Easy to do and easy to show this when entering a restaurant. So far, we’ve dined at several favorite or familiar restaurants and one new to us. We also ventured to 34th Street to eye the old post office building, now transformed into the grand and soaring Moynihan Train Hall. Such a magnificent improvement over tired Penn Station!
RESTAURANT REPORT
August
This small Upper East Side restaurant is cozy and welcoming. With mirrors on the back wall and above the bar, the space has a bit of an Art Deco feel about it. Patrons were a mix of ages and gender with several couples, a table of four, and a single woman diner.
Service was efficient and the menu intriguing. Tempted to try several new dishes, we over ordered. The warm cornbread came cut in pieces in a cute square cast iron dish. A wire basket of zucchini strips looked like the world’s best skinny fries. Both were very good!
For entrees, we sampled the ahi tuna on crispy rice and the sole meuniere over spinach and marble potatoes. They were also tasty. Based on this one dinner, we will return to explore more of the menu.
RECENT READING
SCIENCE IN THE TREE CANOPY
The Arbornaut: A Life Discovering the Eighth Continent in the Trees above Us by Meg Lowman
Decades before I knew Meg Lowman, I read a review of her first book, Life in the Treetops in the New York Times. I bought the book and read it and thought about using it as part of a presentation I was going to give. We were in Florida around that time, and realizing she worked nearby, I contemplated contacting her to chat about her career. I didn’t and the years passed.
Fast forward to late 2013 and I had the opportunity to meet Meg. The Chief Penguin hired her at the California Academy of Sciences. We got to know her and consider her a friend. Early on, we celebrated New Year’s Day, January 2014, with a memorable picnic in Myakka River State Park. Having grown up in winter climes, the idea of a picnic in January was unheard of, but appealing. Meg was chief organizer. We met some of her friends, ate well, and then climbed the canopy walkway she helped design. On the tower, you are 75 feet up overlooking the trees and greenery below.
Meg’s new book, The Arbornaut, is partly memoir, partly science, and completely engaging. From a childhood in upstate NY spent outdoors, to graduate school and research in Australia, to stints as a professor/single mom at two colleges, to field work and being an international ambassador for tree conservation, it’s a multi-faceted, varied life. As one of the few, and sometimes the only woman, in class or out in the field, Meg faced discrimination, indifference, and occasional sexual harassment. Yet her love of trees and her passion for saving this key planetary resource kept her plugging away, always creating partnerships for future collaborative work. Along the way, she made it a priority to include and mentor girls and young women in her branch of science.
In person, Meg is exuberant and an enthusiast for her cause. Her infectious spirit comes through on the page too. I learned a LOT about the kinds of leaves in various tree canopies and about which or how many insects nibbled, chewed, or put holes in them. Her explanations of the field work and her research studies are accessible and tinged with the occasional humorous bit.
For her adventuring spirit, no challenge is too much. Individual chapters on the treetop BioBlitz in remote Malaysia, preserving the church forests in Ethiopia, and tree climbing in Kansas with disabled individuals are all fascinating. By the end, the reader is well acquainted with Meg the person and Meg the field biologist. Highly recommended! (~JWFarrington)
Note: Header photo of the Queensboro Bridge and the food-related photos are ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).
