Hello, readers! 

Thank you for bearing with me through some technical difficulties. Hey, it’s not spring without a few new bugs, right? 

By the way, thank you to everyone who has reached out to check in on my folks. It’s a period of adjustment, but they are stable and getting out a bit more now that it’s warmed up a bit. 

I’m writing to you from a desk in a super glamorous corner of my kitchen next to the fire escape, with my chair wedged against the side of my refrigerator. In the chilly months, if I’m not listening to streaming music, I tend to settle with the hum of my fridge as a tonal background accent. But this past week the leaves on the trees in my backyard declared it safe to spring out, and I can hear birdsong from the open window. 

Loud pigeon mating calls are warbling somewhere near my air conditioner near the front of the house, too. If toy wagons had an engine, this is what it would sound like as it was trying to rev up. Luckily they only seem to go at it in the late morning. 

Anyway, I’ve been putting on my research hat for a little side work these past couple of weeks, and I happened to learn some facts about my hometown of New York City that were new to me. I’ll share them here.