just lost a post (it disappeared somehow) which was all about travels through Brooklyn on Monday. Had to get out of Manhattan, too limited, so went early to South Fourth to have coffee with the terrific barista named Jimmy. Just what I needed, good conversation, lots of jokes, then joined by a few other customers who were very conversational. Left feeling very good, really "concretized" (my possibly made up word) enjoying what I had. A stay a little later at the Cave, a large coffee place on Flushing, on the Bushwick border) was less successful but did read the Times---place is very big, one can stay there and read forever (you probably don't even need to order anything) , but poor desert selection. Time to look for a Payless since in the morning I had discovered that my shoes had run out. But first I stopped at Cobra to say good by to barista Adam, and hang a bit there. Good conversation with Eric, who actually is a manager at South Fourth, about books that we are currently reading. No Payless in Bushwick (sounds like a good title for a short story) so took the DeKalb bus into Bed-Stuy, got off at Nostrand, then walked about 10 blocks north to Fulton where I knew I could find a store.
Ten block walk was fascinating (what walk in Bed Stuy isn't?) Signs of gentrification on Nostrand are few, though as one gets closer to Fulton, brownstone streets do look amazing. Interesting, because Nostrand is part of western Bed Stuy, the closest to Clinton Hill---still prices of brownstones there are sky high---let's not talk about that right now.
The Payless on Fulton had a poor selection of shoes for me, but must have the shoes. I knew that in the Church Avenue-Flatbush section of Brooklyn that I could find another Payless, so took the bus on Nostrand and segued from Bed Stuy to Crown Heights, to Flatbush, got off at Carleton and began my walk around this neighborhood, one that, if my parents had taught in Brooklyn, I might have easily lived in. Very quickly came to a Payless, found the shoes at the right price---then continued my walk west on Church, hit Flatbush Ave. very soon---determined to get to the Q train, about six blocks west. Stopped on East 21 street, a street with many art deco apartments---like the one I was raised in. Tried to imagine---what? An all Jewish neighborhood in the fifties? Stick ball in the street during the spring and summer. We get further and further away from these memories as we get older. But how to do it---that is how to tell the whole story of a generation that began there or began as I did in the Bronx. Mostly homogenius neighborhoods---at least 90 % Jewish, mostly middle class or lower middle class (mixed). So what is their story, where are they now, very few still living where they were raised, though some have returned very prosperous (that is another story) Always haunted by these trips back into the "old" neighborhod, but can I do anything with it? Will be determined at some later date, rest of the day was stopping by BAM, decided not to see a movie, then visited new Alamo movie house---found it very off putting---lost my hat (really annoyed by that---will buy a new one later today) probably lost among the new and obnoxious high rises that are all over downtown Brooklyn now. Returned home, and promised myself I would find a bar in the area to watch the last nfl game of the week, but when I entered the apartment found that I could hardly move--fell asleep quickly, and, unlike the other nights where I was restless---sleep was deep--I guess after those long walks really needed it.
That is all for now---have some plans for the evening, but they are a little hazy---will report tomorrow.
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