Civilization - twice in two days

When I was growing up, when we headed to Boston/Maine/other New England points, as we crossed the Hudson going east, Mum and/or Dad would comment that we'd just re-entered civilization. And, conversely, as we headed west over the Hudson, one of them would comment about leaving civilization. One of many family jokes.....

Well, last weekend, I made it to civilization twice.

On Saturday, my dad (visiting for a bit) and I headed into Manhattan for a pifflefest with a piffler visiting from Toronto (definitely a place I don't get to often enough....) and 2 NY area pifflers. We went out to lunch and then sat in the Toronto piffler's hotel's lobby bar, for a nice long chat.

Dad at lunch in Manhattan:

We'd taken the train into Penn Station, and when I offered the subway to Dad as a way to get the 20 or so blocks we needed to go, since he'd said he didn't want to walk too much, he figured we could walk and get a cab if it was too much. But we made it all the way --- and all the way back. I think he liked being in the big city and walking through the crowds.

[I've really cut back on what I do on Shabbat, but seeing friends is one of those things that still sometimes {fairly frequently?} slips in......since I can't officially convert, I admit I'm more lenient now on certain defined categories like seeing friends and doing things with my dad than I've been at points in the past. It's a tricky balance for me mentally, but I think I've found a point that usually works.......]

So we then went out to a hotel in southern NY, to get a good start on getting to Rhinebeck the next day......