In a NY 'altered' state of mind?!

I realized the only way I'm going to effectively report on my trip to NYC is to just let loose with the cryptic notes I took, evaluating my latest insights as I recollect more from my initial observations.

I'm always someone who waits to pack for a trip at the very LAST minute (like I'm going off to war) and tries to carry as little as absolutely possible, forgoing most all makeup (outside of foundation, rouge, lipstick), hair products, jewelry, footwear, etc., etc.

Thankfully I knew to pack for NYC as usual--light and tight. This was made easier than ever thanks to my green Marmot hiker's backpack I bought during COVID when I was invited by my sister-in-law to hike Daniel Boone National Forest in Tennessee through the Sheltowee Trace club. It could not have been a more perfect choice with all its many compartments and flexible fabric.

While I arrived in NYC wearing a plain black V-neck T-shirt, the next day I wore a T-shirt my mom got me several years ago (for my birthday but I hardly EVER wear it because it's not really my style) that I threw in on a whim at the last minute.

It's a black top with a blue-colored night scene from Paris with a sequin-studded Eiffel Tower in a cityscape and the designer's name "KARL LAGERFELD" in bold letters across the top and "PARIS" in the same style written at the bottom.

This could not have triggered more attention, maybe because of the riots going on in Paris?! It was uncanny how many double-takes I got from, get this, French tourists who were there in droves compared to when I lived in NYC (1999-2007).

Not only did the T-shirt get looks but it got plenty of offers from the many paid people selling double-decker bus tours as well as the many, many pedi-cab drivers who didn't exist in the days of mayors Guiliani and Bloomberg 20 years ago. I guess I had "TOURIST" written all over me!

So, what I've got to report is midtown Manhattan (including where I used to live in Hell's Kitchen at 48th and 10th) has been completely, 100% discovered! It was jam-packed with tourists whose origins, I feel confident to say, are from around the world.

I saw tons of people, for example, who looked like they were South American, Central American, Chinese and European from every which way. It was WAY, WAY beyond anything I ever saw when I lived in NYC.

It really was like all of the world's peoples were represented on that little island, one way or another, either working there, coming in from other boroughs, etc., or just plain visiting from other countries. I can't even relay to you the extent of it!

What really made me stand up and take notice is there was no threat of safety whatsoever the ENTIRE time I was there no matter where I was!

I've never experienced Manhattan feeling this safe and I either took the subway or walked--I never once took a cab, which has always been my preferred style as much as I used to love a good cab ride in the late hours of the evening or when I had a business trip out of LaGuardia early in the morning.

I know I'm using a lot of exclamation points, but I don't know how else to describe what I witnessed on October 20-23 in 2026. Maybe next week it will be comparatively empty?! I don't think so with Halloween on its way as well as temperatures in the low-70s! Yikes!

It really was like nothing I've ever seen anywhere at any time in my life and it was all completely peaceful, as in almost no yelling homeless people or people arguing with each other, etc., etc.

Now, here comes the always-wondering journalist in me. For several years now I've heard FOX News (my mom's "radio" during the day everyday like clockwork) personalities talking about the persistent smell of marijuana when walking in Manhattan.

What I found, and mind you I had not been back since 2014, is they are NOT kidding! There were times in the Times Square area, for example, that I would say it absolutely reeked of marijuana!

I don't even know how that's possible because it permeated everything! It was like it was being pumped into the air it was that thick and prevalent as a smell! I remember thinking, "Could people possibly be getting what they call a second-hand high from all this?!"

(will pick up with NYC visit tomorrow for certain)

Here is more from post on 10/19/25 entitled “Products of our childhood”:

The biggest takeaway trip to my hometown of Loudonville, OH on October 17 is that I knew I was really going home--like no other place I've ever lived.

After all, having moved there from Akron at age 10 and not leaving until going away to college at 18, it’s where I really became me--my personality, my convictions, my affinities, my dreams, on and on.

Getting off at the Sunbury exit of I-71N is when the journey home, after a 24-year absence, really started to take hold of me.

Despite all the retail and housing development, I knew old Route 36 from the many, many times I’d traveled between Loudonville and Columbus over the years, most especially after I got my first car (a used Plymouth Horizon hatchback) my junior year at Ohio State and could drive home whenever I wanted.

The first town to grab me was Centerburg, which still has the sign at the village limits to tell you it’s the “Geographical Center of Ohio.” More than a few times I rode my bike all the way to Centerburg before heading back home on a real hilly Route 3. This was soon after I first got serious about cross-country cycling my senior year of high school.

Next up was Mt. Vernon (settled in 1805), “America’s Hometown,” as recognized on its town entry sign. I remember when there was an entry sign letting you know it was the “Home of Paul Lynde,” a comedian (Uncle Arthur from Bewitched and the “center square” on The Hollywood Squares game show) who always portrayed himself as being effeminate. Among many historical buildings in downtown Mt. Vernon is an opera house that is the oldest of its kind in America.

I was near-mesmerized the closer I got to Loudonville and the sentimental emotions washed over me when I saw the little old stone Zion Lutheran church that sits on a hilltop right next to the road near Jelloway, OH, which is 9 miles from Loudonville.

How many times I would ride my bike to this church as my intended destination before turning back home. I would often get off my bike there and sit on the front stoop, drinking water and resting.