We’ve been down on Ocracoke island in the outer banks of North Carolina this past week.

Rumor has it Jimmy Buffett was/is here, too. We were told he was dining at the same restaurant as us the other night. That shouldn’t be too surprising. There aren’t a lot of restaurants open here in the off-season so unless he was in the mood to fry up his own conch fritters, he didn’t have a lot of other choices. If he was there when we were, I didn’t notice him.

I happened to walk past the Cathedral of St. John Divine in NYC last Sunday while they were doing the blessing of the animals to celebrate the feast of St. Francis. I caught the action with my cell phone camera.

It isn’t a great shot, but yes, that is a camel up there. I wasn’t within spitting distance, fortunately.

“On any person who desires such queer prizes, New York will bestow the gift of loneliness and the gift of privacy.” – E.B. White, “Here Is New York” (1948)

I’ve just spent the weekend in New York City. Dave had other commitments so I went down with a friend and had roughly two days of intense city atmosphere. It reminded me a little of who I am and where I’ve been.

Once upon a time, I was a happy loner. Today after two marriages of some duration, I am in the near constant company of my spouse. Although I love and cherish him, in some ways I’ve feared I had lost the ability to be on my own.

I can hardly claim to have been completely on my own this weekend, much of the trip was with a very capable former New Yorker, but I did have a taste of how I used to be and I’m relieved that I do still have the inner resources required to get by.