THROWN UNDER A BUS, WHEW, JUST A DREAM

 Many books have been written about the subject of dreaming, as in seeing things while sleeping.  I wish I know a better word to describe it.  Nowadays, to dream can also mean wishing for something, a positive thing.  The English language can be great for making puns and being ambiguous but sometimes I want to be direct about the subject.  I want to simply talk about the things I saw while sleeping, something that my brain somehow made up on its own, not because I want it to really happen.  Sure, it maybe something I did subconsciously, fer sure.  But not something I actively want.  But enough of the meaning of "dreaming".

In real life, I am a cautious pedestrian.  I always look both way crossing the street.  I don't wear headphone and such, so that I am always aware of my surrounding.  Definitely not staring at the smartphone screen while walking, as some people I know regularly do, very annoying.  But in last night's dream, for lack of a better word, I caused a three-bus accident at a street intersection that seemed to be that of Canal Street and Baxter Street in Manhattan Chinatown.  I crossed Canal Street from the north side to the south side but then immediately tried to cross to Baxter but the light was changing.  A bus in the bus stop was moving forward so I tried to run behind it but then another bus was going in the driving lane.  It seemed as I tried to go back to the sidewalk yet another bus came from the other direction of the two-way street.  Now, in real life Baxter Street is very narrow, just enough for two parking lanes and one driving lane, it's a one-way street.  In this dream, it was a two-way street, wide enough for buses to go through, so maybe it wasn't Baxter, but hey it was a dream, it didn't have to match reality.  Anyway, perhaps because the third bus tried to avoid me, it braked too hard and went flying and hit the first bus.  Again, physics may not apply in dreams.  One thing I was sure is that as the levitated bus came at me, I was alert enough to lay flat and the bus flew right over me.  I do recall feeling guilty for causing the accident, who knew how many people died or got hurt, so I guess my dream version also had integrity.  I don't know what happened next because the shock in the dream woke me up.  Or maybe it was my busting kidneys needing to unload.

Yes, back to reality.  It is a three-day weekend, Memorial Day today, thank you to all who made the ultimate sacrifice.  It was rainy for the first two days so I was home all day.  I was hoping to do something outdoor today but the house has a plumbing problem.  A plumber came yesterday but the problem is bigger than originally thought.  He's coming back today with tools to rip off part of the bathtub wall etc.  Water's been shut off for now for the whole house.  It's a minor inconvenience, we lived through worse times.

OCEAN PARKWAY NIGHT

Ocean Parkway night

Cyclist - bright lights, front and back

Walker - dim, texting

I am getting the hang of being a cycling commuter.  In recent days, I biked to destinations in lower Manhattan and Park Slope.  Last week I had to return some materials to the New York Public Library and didn't want to spend the money with the subway and definitely did not want to drive.  Running was feasible but at my pace would take too long, so cycling was the next best choice.  Going to Manhattan via the western edge of Brooklyn, i.e. Verrazano Promenade, Second Avenue, Third Avenue, etc. was a pain.  So much competition with vehicular traffic and few bike lanes.  Things got worse as I passed through MetroTech, at which point I just walked the bike.  Around Jay Street and Willoughby, I saw some woman got pulled over by some cop in an undercover car.  As usual I took the Manhattan Bridge into Manhattan to avoid all the tourists and pedestrians on the Brooklyn Bridge.  On the way back, I went through Red Hook to Prospect Park then Ocean Parkway, a much nicer route, even if it was a bit out of the way.  I discovered that at Park Circle, where Coney Island Avenue meets Prospect Park, there's a protected bike path to quickly connect back to Ocean Parkway.  No need to go over the Prospect Expressway or use Fort Hamilton Parkway!

Last night, I went to the general meeting of the Prospect Park Track Club in Park Slope by bike.  The night really fell around 5 PM.  One moment it was still bright outside, the next moment it was all dark.  Nightfall!  I traveled mostly along Ocean Parkway then Prospect Park.  Ocean Parkway is nice but I sure wish the pedestrians would pay more attention when they use the bike path.  There is a separate pedestrian path but few people seem to want to use it, for whatever reason.  It's bad enough that they walk on the bike path, but in some cases there would be two people walking side by side, taking up half the bike path.  Then when you try to swerve around them, there would be some other cyclist coming from the other side.  In one extreme case, I saw one fellow walking with his eyes glued onto his cell phone, in the dark!  It is a small joy to get around the city on bike, but some pedestrians, along with the typical car drivers, chip away at it.