Stop. Take notice.

As I have for so many years now, I cross the George Washington Bridge at about 2:30 every afternoon. Because it's been so long, it's easy to be lulled in a mindless, rote state of mind: leave the house at 2. Hit the tolls at 2:25. Clear the bridge at 2:30. Arrive in mid-town just before 3. Day after day. But there is ALWAYS one spot that shakes me from my stupor. As you exit off the GWB and head down-town on the West Side Highway, you make a long, looping turn on the approach road. This allows for a sweeping vista, south, all the way down the Hudson River to the tip of Manhattan Island. It is simply breathtaking! The sun is usually in the perfect spot to turn the river into a quicksilver ribbon. Ships of all sizes and shapes plow the surface, creating magnificent patterns in the silver glow. The skyscrapers are also illuminated, but in a golden light instead of silver. The City appears as a jewel of silver and gold, layed out in all its glory for us to marvel at. So it was today.

As the City stretches out before you, you can't help but notice how big and powerful it is. It is mighty. This is no "Second City". It could only be the center of our universe. There could no other.

And this molten, silver sliver called the Hudson River is the ribbon that holds it all together - as it has for centuries. And I allow my mind to drift. I'm easily transported back in time. The scene has been the same as it has changed over the course of 4 centuries to the point it is today: a sprawling, brawling, brawny place pulled along by the eternal river.

All this in about 15 seconds, or the time it takes me to make that big, looping turn onto the West Side Highway - and back to reality.

photo: F. LoBuono