Charles Petzold



Re-entry Accomplished

September 5, 2006
New York, New York

We are back in Manhattan — that little island, in Spalding Gray's words, off the coast of America.

Yesterday's re-entry into the city went well. We had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Old Devil Moon on East 12th Street, which is entirely decorated with "art" that seems to have been purchased at flea markets. I had catfish and mac & cheese, and Deirdre had the jerk tofu. Then we picked up some groceries at Whole Foods on 14th Street, and even observed some NYU students in the neighborhood arriving for the fall semester. (One of my 9/11 memories is of the NYU students in Washington Square Park, some probably in NYC for the first time that month, watching the towers burn.)

Our neurotic cat, Noodles, instead of hiding inside the couch for two days and becoming dehydrated, actually joined us on the coach to watch Amelie Mauresmo in a rare win against Serena Williams.

What can be better than a day in which both cats and tennis players conquer their internal demons and prevail?