Last night, for just a few minutes, was possibly the weirdest span of time I’ve had in New York. Around 7pm I went outside. Echoing from the walls of a 6-story building across the street was an avalanche of noise. It was a cacophonous sound like nothing I have ever heard. Nobody was around, either, out on the street. It was still lousy weather as the nor’easter cleared out. I got to 35th Avenue expecting to see an army of giant robots destroying buildings and invading Queens. I saw nothing but the noise was EVEN LOUDER now that no buildings stood between it and me. It felt like some kind of invasion was under way.
It was a steam valve explosion at a ConEdison plant on the Upper East Side, as much as a mile away from here. It must have been deafening closer to the source of the noise. Those valve mishaps happen but they are not usually so loud, nor does the noise last so long. It was amazing to me how this noise seemed bigger than New York, like it could swallow us whole. Indeed, for those few minutes New York seemed very tiny.
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Dude here just said that he is 24 years old, and that his father is 38. Wow.
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I made a long and mad wander to Calvary today, looking for watchclock stations. Alas, the objects I thought I remembered as being watchclock thingies were nothing of the kind, though there is enough of a resemblance that I don’t feel too lame for taking stock in such a foggy memory. The objects I thought were watchclock stations were actually hoods over ventilation ducts. I guess they let the mausoleums air out so the bodies inside don’t explode.
When it became obvious that these things were not watchclock stations I scoured instead the long fence between the north end of the yard and Review Avenue. I spotted an escape route should I ever become trapped in the place. An opening in the fence led to a flat dirt path atop the big stone wall on Review Avenue, but that path became treacherously steep if you followed it to the east. I did not see how the path held up going to the west. A curious assortment of odds and ends out there suggests that the area by the fence is frequented by guttersnipes and hooligans. I saw a baseball bat and a bunch of paper cups, among other oddities. I guess I do not know that area as well as others at Calvary. The only other escape hatch I know of is through the fence along Laurel Hill Boulevard, but it is a pretty tight squeeze to get in or out of that opening.
No watchclock station was found on the long fence, nor did I spot any at the chapel, the old administration building, the garage, or any of the random structures around the place… Nowhere was a watchclock station to be found.
On the way over I did spot a bunch of scuppers, though. Those are going to be fun to watch out for. I left my sorabji.com calling card in one of the scuppers.
Man it was nice to be out in the sun today after 2 solid days of bullshit gnarly weather. It’s damn lucky I have the freedom to do that.
