I think I'm leaving old New York behind...

I'm here! It's been such a great, relaxed first day. It makes the 72 hours leading up to it seem like a crazy dream.

I finished my contract at the Stratford Festival on May 29th. That was Friday. Finishing up at Stratford was a very odd experience, as everyone leaves at different times. The first wave of people left mid-May, with the largest exodus being the Friday before I was done. It's a huge wardrobe, but you really only feel it when there are only nine people in a room that usually has 25-30. That's just in the medium wardrobe. Because everyone finishes at different times, leaving doesn't have any grand sense of conclusion on the whole: usually the show you're working on isn't even totally finished yet. However, I had a very nice exit evaluation where I was "promoted" should I return to the festival in the future, which is the plan at some point!

John moved me out Saturday morning, and from there on I can barely tell you what happened until last night. A lot of packing. I packed twice in three days, essentially. It's hard to know what to do in Toronto when you won't be back for three months and you really haven't much time to spare. I decided to spend it doing the things I like most: walking the streets (not street walking. That's what I did the weekend before), petting kitties, watching a favourite movie, hanging out with my brother and getting all the John time I could get. As requested, I will not blog about my endless love all summer, but there you have it - just this once!

The Megabus... a lot less mega than before! It was hot and stale the entire trip. I went to use the facilities about 20 mins past Buffalo and there was no toilet paper. When I asked the driver for some, she shrugged like I was a fool for asking. She decided to humilate me for asking by stopping at the next rest stop (this is at 1am) and turning all the lights on, announcing that "this lady" needed to use the washroom. It's really best forgotten. I've still had worse on various Greyhounds, it's cheaper and the wifi is great.

Our arrival in NYC was more like 8am than 7, so we headed to Schwartz' Luggage Storage, a few blocks from Penn Station where John was catching a train to Newark Airport at noon. Murphy's Law: that was the morning the manager had a family emergency and no one showed up to open until 9:30am. The morning was greatly improved with lunchfast at the Tick Tock Diner around the corner a couple blocks. We had corned beef sandwiches at 10am. Why not? They were delicious.

From there we walked to Herald Square, one of the two wonderful recent urban planning oddities in New York. The other is Times Square, where I went by myself later in the day. These three street merges have been tamed by closing off Broadway along one section, and turning it into outdoor seating for pedestrians. Originally I thought the idea was a little silly, but it was the thing John wanted to see (geek!) and I have to say, the effect is quite special. I don't think many could be blasé about lounging casually on a lawnchair in the middle of Times Square!

Luckily retrieving John's luggage was much easier than dropping ours off, and all too soon I was saying goodbye - prolongedly, due to the train leaving late - to John, for three whole months. I know we're going to have the best times, I just wish that transporter beams existed.

I spent the remainder of my time in New York lounging in Times Square as previously mentioned, as well as getting a few last articles of clothing and the all-important flipflops. 4 pairs for $10 and no tax? Yes, thank-you!

Packing the way I did was a mistake. I had one large-ish suitcase that rolls easily, and a large duffle that was much heavier than I thought. Also, a laptop bag. Going through Grand Central Terminal was hellish and painful. To make matters all the more awful, after I had made myself and my oodles of bags comfortable in the first carriage of the train, I was informed by the driver that the doors of that car were not going to open at my stop! That I had to, in fact, move down three cars. This was quite irksome. For the sake of flow, "quite irksome" is all I will say on the matter. You can expand the situation to yourselves, add 25, then multiply by 3.

By the time the train rolled off towards Wassaic, NY, I had been mostly awake since 7am Sunday morning, about 34 hours. I fell asleep passing through Brooklyn, and when I awoke, all was green and silver. So surreal, to go from concrete to the lushness of so many trees and sparkling water. I watched the sun dip into the trees so that beams would shoot through and make shadows that danced on my seat. I passed out listening to Lily Allen, the only thing that would do in this new world was Nick Drake. I think the tension left me at "One of These Things First" and pretty soon I was calmly and almost easily hefting my things onto the platform.

I was greeted by Shelley, the Company Manager. I guess when someone told me to email the "Company Manager" about my arrival time, I conjured an image of someone many years my senior and not to expect them to be getting me! It was so nice to be greeted by someone close to my age, who is from somewhere I had been (San Antonio) and who I could freely be a zombie giggler with. She kindly took me to a grocery store where I bought the most random assortment of foods I may have ever purchased: one grapfruit, a box of raspberries, pink lemonade, seaweek salad, california rolls, bagels, chocolate, and Woodchuck hard apple cider. Actually, writing it out it sounds much healthier than some previous grocery trips in my life!

So there it was: I had arrived! Can you describe a whirlwind as chill? Relaxed? I was shown the house I'm staying in, the room, the bunkbed (top, as feared), the fascilities, the people, the fire pit, the office, the rehearsal hall, the stage, the person who hired me, and then the hot dog that the people had roasted me in the ten minutes it took to do all that other stuff. I ate it. I sat another hour or two around the fire, nodding and laughing while taking my first sweet sip of Woodchuck. Luckily, people here totally got it that booze would be in my first grocery list. Eventually, I had to crash. I really only stayed up that long to delay making my bed! Somehow, I did all that and showered 39 hours off of me. I didn't fall out of my bed.

Coming soon: brevity! Wardrobe! Road trips for Italian food!