Yesterday I had what I consider a "New York moment." It was pure serendipity and suggests my move to downtown Saint Paul (in search of non-suburban life) may not be fruitless.

Fall is a magical time of the year in Minnesota. The air is extremely clean and crisp, and filled with the fragrance of decaying leaves. Also, if you look skyward, most likely, you will see bald eagles above. At this time of year they begin to leave Canada and northern MN and their route of choice is the Mississippi river, which runs some 3 blocks from my apartment. (Believe it or not, northern MN has alread seen below-freezing temperatures.) For someone who lived in NYC for a long time, seeing a bald eagle, our nation's symbol, is a rare event

I left my apartment yesterday around noon and as I walked to my car I looked upwards to see a pair of bald eagles hovering above. They're quite distinctive and the only other bird which may look like a bald eagle is much smaller and lives in Europe. Three people walked by, looking at me and looking up. I said "there are two bald eagles circling above." They appeared as thrilled as I was at the thought of seeing bald eagles. They disappeared behind a building for a minute then came back into view. The speed (and height) at which they travel is incredible! The lady (mother) asked me how I knew they were bald eagles. I pointed out the colors and gave an estimate of the wingspan. The man (father) asked if they lived nearby and I explained about the migration patterns and this is the best time to see them. (Two years ago, I spotted about 12 on one afternoon.)

The third person, the daugther, asked how I knew so much about eagles. I replied "you now know as much as I do." Her mother remarked how beautiful the day was. They had just finished shopping at the Farmers' Market and saw wild life! She then asked if I'm going to the FM. I said no, that I just live around here. Then the usual question followed "why don't you live in Minneapolis." I figured they did so I had to kill my acerbic wit before I said something negative about where they live. I told her I really like the architecture of St. Paul and that it reminds me a lot of downtown NYC, the Wall Street area. She asked what brought me to Minnesota and I said I moved here for my job. The daugther asked about my job and I told her. Mom asked why I didn't live in Dinkytown, an area of Minneapolis near the university. I told her that I did but I needed a change of scenary after a while. She continued to ask questions, then the daughter grabs her arm and says, "mom, let's leave the lovely man alone," then looking towards me, she said "they're visiting from Wisconsin" then rolled her eyes. I said "I understand, my mother arrives in four weeks, and I'm counting down the days." We then parted.

(I must admit that as they walked away, I turned around to get a "good look" at the daughter. She was wearing skirt/dress-like thing over some black tights. The legs were quite nice but her derriere/backside/butt was entirely hidden.)

If you've not spent time in the midwest, you wouldn't know that such exchange/interaction is almost illegal. Its certainly culturally forbidden. People here simply don't talk to strangers. I kept thinking back to it and remarking of pleasant it was. I began to hope I'd run into her again.

Last night I got an email from "Michelle." She looked me up on the Univ of M website and wrote a fairly sweet email asking if I would like to go for coffee or a walk. The email had a few qualifiers - primarily her hoping she's not to bold/invasive, etc. I replied that "I hoped/suspected we would be in touch." She is accompanying me to the park and she's been there before!

As e.e. cummings wrote "here's to opening and upward, to leaf and to sap." In my opinion, its already been a huge success.

Do you have any MP3 samples of your work? I would love to hear it.