Where everyone knows your name...

This afternoon as I head off to school, Dan will be heading out with me. That's a good thing, because believe it or not, I have the jitters again. Tonight is the first night of Level 6, the last level at school. This is the big time, the last act, the stepping up to the majors. Dan is good at reassuring me that all will be fine. It's really not too much different than level 5, I guess I just like to be dramatic about the whole thing.

Dan will not be walking with me long. He and I will part ways at the corner of Vernon and 50th in Long Island City, in that lovely borough of Queens. I'll head down the dusty, dirty stairs to the subway and he'll make a quick right, into Leahy's, our corner bar. And I mean that literally, it's right there on the corner. He usually doesn't arrive there at 4:00pm on a Saturday but today is the New York Jet's wild card playoff game, so he is watching with our new friends at the bar. Everyone should have a corner bar to patronize. In most places, it's a thing of the past, like family dinners and Sunday drives. We aren't every night regulars, but the place definately has them, a bunch of characters, of every age and walk of life. Francess, the bartender, hails from Northern Ireland, from County Armagh, and she truly is the draw. We first met her a year or so ago, and she alone was the reason we started to stop by for a drink. Her warmth and humor could draw in a crowd of antisocials.

We usually go two nights a week, when we know Francess is working. One of those nights is always Saturday night. Dan and I meet there after I am done with school. Dan would wait for me outside, lingering on the corner, resisting the urge to retreat into the cool safety of the airconditioned bar. Now that old man winter has arrived in full force, he waits inside. When I walk in the door, Francess yells "Hello dear Bridget" across the crowded room and then shouts out a number. The number represents how many more Saturday nights I have of school left. We started at 24. The number is now down to 7! Francess recently confessed to me she isn't so fond of the countdown calendar. She is worried when it's 3 - 2 - 1 done, that it will be the end of our weekend ritual. I told her not to worry, that she and the fun loving "family" we have there are the true ritual. They're an interesting diverse group, these new friends. They have made for Danny and I, who are recent transplants to this small concrete spot in the world, a true sense of neigborhood. When we see each other walking on the street or in the subway, its a quick hello. At the bar, we get to catch up on the week in more detail, sometimes hilarious detail. Love lives, jobs, recent travels and family are all discussed. We also wonder where someone is when they don't show up. Dan and I have met parents, sisters, and friends. It's a nice sense of community. In a place as big and crazy as the five boroughs of New York, it's great to have your own spot.