By nature, I am not a spontaneous person. I know many of my posts may make it appear that way*, but behind every posted picture hides the real world. This is something we should all remember in the highly photo based social media world we live in.
*And, though it isn’t my nature, also keep in mind, I don’t have children. This makes it quite easy for a not-s0-spontaneous-by-nature person to be spontaneous in regards to things like traveling.
My SIL, Sam, is down for anything, ready for adventure, always willing to give the unknown a try. I love spending time with her. With Sam, we don’t need a set schedule. We fly by the seat of our pants, giggling the entire way.
This picture perfectly depicts the four of us.
We recently went to NYC with our main focus naturally being where we would enjoy lunch and dinner.* But, of course, we needed to fill in the gaps of time between meals with something. Union Square is one of my favorite places to go with friends/family in the city. On this particular day, it was overly populated due to a seasonal farmer’s market set up around the square.**
*Sam understands my affinity for the hobbit way of eating. This is one reason we get along so well.
**Something that equally excited and irritated me. It was a reassurance that if ever I choose to live in the city the option of farm stand veggies is a possibility, but it was aggravating because the average activity of the area more than doubled.
We went to Barnes and Noble searching for solace from the overpopulated street and then realized a terrible, awful, horrible mistake we made in our NYC plans.
That night…THAT night was the night the newest Harry Potter “book”* was to be released. The store was holding an event** starting at 8 pm, leading into midnight when the book would be released.
*I put the word book in quotes because unlike the other books, it’s a play. I haven’t read it yet, but I’m not sure it is really going to be worth all the excitement.
**As, I assume, most bookstores across America were.
Though I didn’t read the Harry Potter books as a child, a few years ago I read them all in one summer and soon understood the reason behind all the excitement. It took a few minutes of blubbering confused stutters mixed with squeals of glee before we decided there was nothing that could be done. We had plans the next day and staying in the city until past midnight would have been far too spontaneous for us.*
*Now I’m thinking we should have just thrown care to the wind and gone for it.
From Barnes and Noble, we headed to another nearby place I love: Strand Bookstore where the anticipation for the Harry Potter book was also building. I thought it would be adorably corny for Sam and me to get a picture in the window display of Harry Potter’s iconic glasses.
Though these pictures aren’t extremely flattering for me*, I think they best depict Sam and my emotions to the turn of events that take place frame by frame.
*By the way, I know, I need a haircut desperately.
So, this picture is alright. We’ve got the reflection of the ‘don’t walk’ hand on Sam’s face, some other strange line of glare, along with a few undesired stranger’s body parts and heads.
Then, this guy decided to stop right in front of us. Sam’s face says it all.
I thought, ‘Certainly he will move. At some point he’ll wander to the left or right and the moment will be perfect.’
But, no, he stayed.
And stayed.
And stayed.
This, in case you can’t tell, is the moment where it got awkward standing in front of the window posing. So, I decided to play it off and pretend that I was actually interested in the other things displayed there.
I wasn’t fooling anyone.
Sam tried desperately to continue posing for our impossible picture…and here is where our intruder gave away that he knew he was in the way.
And that he didn’t care one bit.
I later explained to Hubby that he was stationed way too far away and that he should have moved closer to show the world, ‘Hey! World! I’m here, and I’m trying to take this picture!’.
At least it made for a slightly humorous story for you.
You’re welcome.
Niki Holt
Haha! Love it!