When I studied in China, our tour guide tried to make a joke. He asked us if we knew the country’s national bird? He said it was the “Crane”. There are days, especially working in Midtown and living in “DoBro”, that I wonder if the Crane is our state bird?
I took the above picture because it reminded me of 2 things. First, it reminds me of all of the photos of old NY showing men hoisted many feet in the air as they work to shape NYC to become what it is today; especially the picture of the men on their lunch break sitting on the scaffolding of the then RCA building.
The second thing it reminded me of is the movie “The Money Pit” which I have watched countless times, most of all with my dad when I was young. It’s rare that I watch movies watch multiple times and I continue to do so but Tom Hanks and Shelley Long are just so great. The scaffolding is sort of classy in a scaffolding classy sort of way. Rarely are you able to see the construction guys at work. The scaffolding is usually covered with netting and you never get a sense of exactly what is going on. There are so many men moving back and forth like little weeble wobble men that are constant and alternate motions. Also like in “The Money Pit”, the gorgeous building is complimented with what looks like the bare minimum of brand new, clean and unscathed boards and pipes – nothing like the dirty steel and broken planks that I see in Midtown.
LOL oh well. It’s another New York City staple – construction. The only thing that is constant is change right?
My lesson here? Don’t forget to look up from the sidewalk every once in a while, you never know what you’ll see as there is beauty everywhere.
