Monday was a day off work to take a trip and enjoy the summer sun. We wound up at South Street Seaport, a great place to sit in the sun with a cool breeze right off the water. The shops make the area too touristy and typical, but the ships are beautiful, and the view of the bridges and river is nice. Passing the WTC site on the way made me appreciate the day even more.

After some time at the seaport we headed out to walk inland, toward Bowne & Co., which I eagerly wanted to check out, but alas, closed on Mondays. Always the way for me.

We took a nice walk to Chinatown, to one of R's favorite places, New Green Bo. Apparently they make a great Kung Po Chicken. (Not that sensitive me would ingest anything with hot peppers.) The cold noodles were tangy and delicious.

After lunch we darted straight toward the cool shade of City Hall Park and the gorgeous fountain, the gaslights burning and the cold water frothing. I adore that fountain. The ironwork and the inset details are beautiful. We even met up with a black squirrel. I've never seen black; apparently they are common in Canada? Maybe he's an import.

After some refreshing spray on the forehead and sadness that we were out of pennies for wishes, we went straight to Strand. (I'm rather predictable, I know.)

I purchased the following, in order of my selecting them:

• We Walk the Path Together: Learnings from Thich Nhat Hanh & Meister Eckhart by Brian J. Pierce (Orbis Books, 2005)
• Urban Nature: Poems About Wildlife in the City ed. Laure-Anne Bosselaar (Milkweed, 2000)
• Elk in Winter poetry by Robert Pack (U Chicago Press, 2004)
• Living Things: Collected Poems by Anne Porter (Steerforth Press, 2006)
• The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser (Knopf, 1992)
• Henry the Eighth by Francis Hackett (Liveright, 1945)

I had two other Henry books in the basket but took them out because of their girth, remembering that I had to walk back to the seaport! (R carried all bags chivalrously anyway!) I finally bought some Henry books, figuring that I should finally read up and decide if I want to try a fiction novel on the topic or just drop it. Funny to worry about another novel before the romance is even completed!!