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Paperwork: Yes, it feels good now to be away from the madding crowd, yet we’re ready to go back · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Paperwork. Yes, it feels good now to be away from
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  the matting crowd. Yet we're ready to go back. Written
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  by Lonnie Kine, This article is being read by an
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  automated voice brought to you by Everlett. I love this city.
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  That's a little something my wife likes to repeat when
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  we visit New York and our son, who lives in Brooklyn.
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  There's a sign in LaGuardia Airport that sets the stage.
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  It greets us as we near the taxi stand. We
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  stopped so my wife could take a photo. Huge white
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  letters on a platform on the floor spelling out I
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  read Heart, And why you took that photo the last
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  time we were here, I said, I know, I'm gonna
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  take it again, she said. As two ladies lined up
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  in front of the sign for a selfie, my wife
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  jumped in, want me to take your photo, big smiles.
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  They stood next to the sign for several shots. Everybody
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  was happy. New York City, You gotta love it. We
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  are blessed. My wife's cousin has a condo available to
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  family and friends. His generosity has allowed us to visit
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  several times. Each time is an adventure in lots to
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  see my wife takes photos, I jot down notes. Within
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  twenty four hours, she was sharing the iHeart NY photo
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  along with the skyline that shows the only way to
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  grow in the city is straight up, each time higher.
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  She also snapped flower beds, the high Line trail, and
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  buildings with distinctive architecture that reflect a storied history. She
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  included a small bike anchored by locks and chains to
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  a bike rack. Two small Mexican flags were attached to
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  the front wheel, spokes were painted red, white, and green,
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  and other ornaments showed a proud heritage New York. Huddled masses,
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  Yeah gotta love it. I noted little things. Sidewalks full
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  of all sizes with suits alongside layers of tatter. A
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  man walking moving fast while taking a huge bite of
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  a large sandwich. A barber stepping out of his door,
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  shaking off a few leftover hairs onto the sidewalk. Hustling
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  walkers in front of the pen station entrance walked around
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  a man stretched out on the concrete. I thought he
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  was hurt, but no one was looking at him. He
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  had simply chosen a spot to nap New York. You
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  gotta love it. I saw a rare sight a gas station.
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  The price was five dollars and seventy nine cents. Every
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  ride was part of a blur. Those moving the fastest
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  were on two wheels. Bikes and scooters were everywhere, going
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  much faster than us because they could raced in their
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  own lanes between streets and sidewalks. They crossed streets with
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  the walk light counting down safe from cars, but that
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  bike lane was scary. I noticed bike lanes had their
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  own street light system. There was a large decal on
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  our cab window with a warning look for cyclists. Opening
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  the door and stepping out was dangerous. The cab also
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  had a warning light near both rear tail lights that
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  the driver flipped on. Small lettering nearby said caution. Passenger exiting,
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  I was not confident that cycle traffic, especially after a
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  bike flashed by my open door. Many cabs have sliding
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  doors versus doors that swing open, but I easily could
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  have stepped in front of that bike. New York, you
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  gotta love it. Bikes seemed to move the fastest through
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  city blocks. I noticed an Amazon delivery driver on a
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  bike running a red light. Pedestrians definitely rule. Our cab
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  was one minute away from dropping us at our theater destination.
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  Just around the corner, the sidewalks and crosswalks were jammed.
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  Photographers were taking pictures of young women leaning against waiting cars.
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  Our driver warned us it could take ten or more
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  minutes to get through the light and turn through the
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  mass of people. We got out and walked New York. Yeah,
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  gotta love it. There's more, lots more the food, the
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  stage plays, the crews around Manhattan Island. Did I mention?
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  The food? All part of the big Apple and we
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  heart it all of course after that last touchdown and
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  the drive home, pulling into the garage home, yeah, that's
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  where the heart feels better. Lonnie Caine, retired managing editor
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  of The Times in Ottawa, also was a reporter for
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  the Herald News in Joliet in the nineteen seventies. His
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  paperwork email is Loniejacaine at gmail dot com or mail
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  the News Tribune four to twenty six Second Street, LaSalle, Illinois,
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  sixty one three zero one