Anna and the Temple

A couple of weeks ago, Anna told me that she would be playing in a studio viola recital at Juilliard, and she invited me to come.  Let's see...a day in NYC by myself, listening to beautiful music, seeing Anna and going to the temple?  I couldn't think of a better way to spend 24 hours!

Knowing that I always hit a glitch when I come through the Lincoln Tunnel, I decided to try out MEGABUS.  I had seen the bus around State College and wondered if it went to NYC.  As it turns out, it does, and for super cheap!  I picked it up in the WalMart parking lot, and it took me straight to 7th Ave and 28th Street in New York with a stop in between at Subway.  (For those of you who have lived in Europe, it's like RyanAir, but a bus.  Power outlets on the bus, Wi-Fi, it's super clean, and the employees are really friendly.  Okay, maybe it's better than RyanAir.)  No traffic worries, no buying expensive gas, and the best part?  Not having to find a parking space in New York.

When I got off the bus, I knew that I had a 32 block walk in front of me, and I wondered if I should hop on the subway.  However, it was a balmy 65 degrees outside, sunny, and my legs (and ankle) needed something to do.  I grabbed my new (and wonderful) Briggs and Riley suitcase, and off I went.

I couldn't help but think of some friends and family while walking, and yes, I took pictures like the tourist I was :-)

First, Madison Square Garden.  This is where Ethan is planning on rooting for the Knicks, and specifically Carmelo Anthony.  What are the chances he just so happened to be on the billboard?

I actually went back to take this picture.  It took a minute for me to realize that Sarah is famous.

Two things that Johannah loves:  hula-hooping...

...and cheesecake!

Who needs to go to an exhibit about Pompeii when...

...you've actually visited Pompeii in person?
(Oh my gosh, Glo was SUCH a cutie, trying to make her mouth like the fountain!)

There were movie and TV shoots going on everywhere!  In fact, at one point (after about 20 blocks), I was detoured around the block to avoid messing up the shoot.

I finally arrived at my hotel, a Holiday Inn on 57th street.  I've stayed there before, and it's not my favorite, but it's cheap.  I was a big, sweaty mess.  Obviously, my body wasn't used to the heat or the exercise.  I hopped in the shower, before I met up with...

Anna!

We headed over to the Hudson River.  I think in total that added 14 more blocks onto my distance for the day.  It's funny that when you live in New York, things like the Hudson River behind a wrought-iron fence seem lovely and a break from the "concrete jungle".  Honestly, I could have cared less where we were, as long as I was with Anna.

After talking for a couple of hours, Anna headed back to Juilliard to change and to warm-up, and I was left to my own devices to find some food.  You would think in the city of New York, I could find a restaurant, but after walking 15 blocks, I found nothing except two different Starbucks.  Not exactly dinner fare.  When I was just about to give up, I spotted Shangri-La...

Can you see them?  The golden arches!  And right behind them?  Wendy's!  
I didn't care what it was, as long as it was food!

To save my poor feet, I decided to take the subway back to Juilliard.  While waiting for Morse recital hall to open, I had a look around.  Being a school, there wasn't much to see, but I did find this lovely plaque.

It's dedicated to Augustus Juilliard, and here's what it says:

Augustus D. Juilliard
1836-1919
A citizen of New York, distinguished in commerce and charity
whose devotion to the finer things in human life
found expression in his magnanimous gift
to the cause of music in America
which established the
Juilliard Musical Foundation.

I thought that was a lovely dedication.  I think that many of us see Juilliard as some high-falutin' school for the musical elite, but it's a lovely thought to think of the purpose behind its founding.

The concert was fantastic.  All viola music--what a thought!  Like I told Anna, it was so nice to attend a concert where the music and/or the presentation isn't "dumbed down" for the audience.  Instead, the program assumed that the listeners have some sense for the music and will appreciate it for what it is.  Three cheers for musical intelligence!

Okay, I know it's totally, totally wrong that I snapped this picture, and it certainly doesn't capture the performance, but there was no flash, and I waited until the final chord.  Literally.  It was a moment of extreme pride to find out later that Anna was one of the youngest on the program, and yet one of the most accomplished.  She played the third movement of a Hindemith viola sonata.  Three cheers for Anna!

After that, I headed back to the hotel.  Another seven blocks of walking.  It didn't help that John had some bad news for me on the phone.  Thank goodness Oreos and "Dancing with the Stars" exist to help me forget my troubles.

Check out my ankle after all the walking:



Sometime during the night, I heard a very large CRASH!  You know how you don't always think so clearly in the night?  Well, I didn't hear water rushing, and I didn't hear any screams, so I went back to sleep.

Imagine my surprise when I walked into the bathroom in the morning and discovered a 2' x 1' piece of plaster that had fallen off the ceiling of the bathroom.  Thankfully, nothing underneath was broken.  I just cleaned out my bags of stuff in there, and put towels down on the floor.  In the middle of this, John called to talk about the bad news from the night before, and I wondered if this was an omen for the day.  Then, I remembered--I was going to the temple, so of course things like this were bound to happen.  When I went to tell the receptionist about the ceiling (when I was checking out), I thought I was doing her a favor so that the cleaning and maintenance people could get up there and start fixing things.  Instead she got upset that I hadn't called her in the middle of the night to get a new room.  Yeah, that's what I wanted to do at who-knows-what-hour-it-is a.m., in my pajamas, and packing up my bag.  I think she expected me to demand a refund, but I didn't even ask for that.  She looked rather sheepish as I walked away.

After this morning, and with my feet still swollen, I took a taxi all the way, BABY!  I almost got killed trying to get one, but who cares.  I needed to get away from this scene and at least feel like I was running away from my problems.

There's no one like Anna to help one forget the bad and focus on the good.  You can see where we ate breakfast on the far right side of the photo.  I think I had the most delicious cranberry muffin I've ever had (if I've even ever had a cranberry muffin).  Too, the banana was out of this world.  Yes, the banana.  I don't know if it's because New York is a port and so the fruit is fresher, but that banana was fantastic!  Combine that with fresh-squeezed orange juice, and I was wondering where this place was the night before!  When it started raining, we headed into the church building (which is directly to our right).

Imagine our surprise when we came out and it was pouring buckets of rain.  Just two hours earlier, it had been sunny and warm.  Needless to say, Anna had no coat or umbrella, so I asked at the front desk if they had anything she could borrow and bring back later.  Afterall, she goes to church there, and her school is right across the street.

This is what they found:

I couldn't stop laughing, and looking at the pictures now, I'm still laughing.  Anna, being the good sport that she is, took it, gave me one last hug, and ran off back to school.  Knowing how busy she is, I'm so thankful that she found a few hours to give to me.

I haven't been to the temple since I broke my ankle.  It's been way too long (both the ankle recovery and the lapse in my temple attendance).  Having many things weighing heavy on the wind, I was so thankful for the opportunity to go again.  Leaving the noise and worries of the world behind, I walked into the front entrance, and this is what I saw:

Isn't it so beautiful?

I spent probably 10 minutes in the dressing room, just crying, from relief I think.  It's a blessing to feel Heavenly Father so close, and to know that he knows the worries of my heart.  Thankfully, I had time to sit in the chapel too (and cry some more).

When I finally began the session, I was overwhelmed with the endowment room.  Coming from the "concrete jungle", I think some very wise person knew exactly what people would need to feel like they had stepped into heaven:

This photo just doesn't do the room justice!  The walls are covered in a beautiful mural of the woods, filled with trees and flowers and animals.  In the back of the room, the woods open up onto a scene of the ocean with a sunset.  I imagine it's what the view from the area of New York City looked like before it was "settled".

I think one of the greatest blessings of attending the temple is getting renewed perspective on things.  At times, I was thinking so hard about my worries that I worried I wasn't paying enough attention.  However, I felt like a fog had cleared from my mind and I could see things for what they are.  

What a blessing!

When it was time to leave, I actually didn't want to go.  Afterall, who wants to step back outside into the mess of New York City when one can feel so close to God in the temple?  Not me!  However, Megabus called.

Funny ending to the trip.  I needed to grab something to eat before I got on the bus.  I had seen a Subway in the vicinity of the golden arches so I downed a sandwich, caught the metro and barely made the bus.  On our trip home, guess where we stopped for dinner?  SUBWAY!  I've had enough Subway sandwiches to last me a while :-)  Now cranberry muffins?  That's another story!