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Astoria Pool
Dear Diary:
It was the last day of summer at the Astoria Pool, and I already regretted not having gone more often. Slipping into the cool water always feels like slipping back in time, and another summer had passed with too few pool days.
I looked up at the Triborough Bridge to my left, the Hell Gate Bridge to my right and the blue sky above the same view swimmers have been enjoying since 1936, except that today there are more trees.
Some things havent changed in all my visits: the Art Deco bathhouse, the wide bleachers (so perfect for sunbathing with a good book), the lifeguards spinning their whistles.
Some things have changed a little: The old-style lampposts now held planters of red geraniums and pale petunias.
Sometimes, change has been dramatic: The diving pool, which once hosted U.S. Olympic trials and sat empty for years, has been filled and tiled over and had people lying on loungers atop it, soaking in the summers last rays.
I stayed until the end of the day and watched the sunset, framed by the Triborough, cast gold ripples across the water and the lap swimmers.
A man who had been sitting nearby paused on his way out.
You look sentimental, he said.
I am, I replied.
Last day, right? he said wistfully. Then he smiled. Have a good winter.
Jenna Flannigan
To Start
Dear Diary:
My wife and I went to a restaurant on Broadway on the Upper West Side. It was a beautiful late-summer night, and we took a table on the street.
A bright-eyed young waitress approached us and asked if wed like to start with drinks.
My wife ordered a tequila.
The waitress smiled and noted it on her hand-held device.
I ordered a screwdriver.
The waitress stared at me blankly.
It was noisy on Broadway, so I repeated my request: A screwdriver, please.
The waitress shrugged.
OK, she said, But can you tell me what you need it for?
Ari L. Goldman
((LOLOLOL!))
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/26/nyregion/metropolitan-diary.html
fierywoman
(7,641 posts)Stuart G
(38,365 posts)onethatcares
(16,133 posts)Thank you!
PJMcK
(21,922 posts)After a round of golf recently, my playing partners and I sat on the veranda overlooking the course and ordered drinks: a Heineken, a glass of Chardonnay, Scotch on the rocks and I ordered a dry Vodka martini. When the waitress/bar tender brought the drinks, my drink was 50%-50% vodka and Vermouth! I guess she had never made one before.
(To the uninitiated, one wants just a tiny drop or two of Vermouth in the vodka or gin. To make a dry martini, you pour the vodka into a glass then shine some light through the Vermouth bottle onto the glass!)