New York City

Here I sit in New York City again.  I find it very interesting but never better than the Osage.  My first visit was in 1970 on my way to live in the Netherlands for a few months.  It was then that I met Ed Sullivan and got a bloody nose riding on a bus going to the United Nations.  I was filled with curiosity and no fear.  Today it is different but the same.  People walking the streets all hours of the day from every walk of life and every country.  There are a few more electronic signs, actually a lot more as I recall there were NONE back then.  The taxi cabs are newer but just as dirty and the drivers don't speak much English.  Probably the biggest difference today is that back then I had no idea what to expect and today I get what I expect:  a lot of cars, thousands of people per block, streets are relatively dirty, bags of garbage stacked at the corners next to what use to be phone booths.   Yes, that is one big difference, there were lots of phone booths with those doors that folded up when you stepped inside.

• What else is different:  
• hair is no longer just brown, black, white, blond or gray but all of those plus PURPLE, PINK, RED, GREEN and sometimes Rainbows of colors.   
• Guys holding hands with guys and tattoos like you would not believe.   Back in the good old days about the only folks with tattoos were ex-Navy guys with anchors on their arms.  
• Shorts, everyone wears shorts but amazingly enough folks are dressed up like they are going to a party and girls are wearing dresses and high heels.  Now I am not speaking about those little short heels but I be you some of these are at least 6 inches.  It has to hurt.  Back in the old days you would never catch me in shorts but here I am today in shorts in NYC.
• Street performers everywhere.  I don't remember any back then but I may have just missed it.  But I am sure the performers back then were not dressed in the costumes like today.  I saw this guy wearing only underwear and a guitar!  Shouna even recognized him from some commercial.  Then there were two girls in itty bitty bikinis playing guitars and Preston gave them a thumbs up and said they were good.  I was wondering what that meant to him?
• Now I will have to say that NYC folks seem to be healthier looking than Oklahoma folks.  I suppose it is because they have to walk everywhere.  
• Soccer, yes, soccer is everywhere with the World Cup going lots of folks are wearing jerseys for their teams.  My son-in-law is from Columbia and he played soccer in college so he is in yellow today and lots of folks on the streets are wearing Columbia colors and USA soccer team colors and jerseys.  
• Believe it or not but I think most folks in NYC are pretty friendly and more so today than back then.  What changed?  Some say it was 9-11 and how it pulled folks together uniting them as one community.  

I do enjoy the city and watching the people but when it gets down to it I really like home and home is where the heart is.  Maybe another way of saying it is where my friends are is where my heart is.  One of my dearest all time friends was raised in Queens NY and he just texted me (WOW, we sure did not have that back in 1970) and I know that my heart is with him and his family just like it is with Edmond, OK and all of my Shidler/Grainola/Osage friends are: EVEN IF YOU ARE NO LONGER IN THE OSAGE.  So yes I do believe home, family and friends define where a  person's heart is.

So what do you learn in the Osage?

• Love is where you give it
• It is a choice to be happy where you are at
• Give the gift of friendship and you will never be lonely

Thanks for your time,

gary@thepioneerman.com