maybe someday
I met my friend Kate at Five Leaves for lunch on Wednesday. It was her last day in New York; turns out she was starting her week-long cross country road trip and move to Seattle that night.
As I get older, I realize I rarely see most of my friends on a regular basis. I’ll meet up with different individuals for brunch or dinner here or there, but there are few that I see more often than once a month. It’s just the way life goes, I suppose. Besides, we’re so connected via Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook, is there such a thing as not being in touch anymore?
I only saw Kate every couple of months, but I was still surprised and a little sad when I learned she was leaving not the following week, not after the holidays, not later, but in eight hours. Unexpected as it was, it was also refreshing to be reminded that you can change your mind, life and neighborhood at any time.
I asked Kate if she had friends or family out in Seattle and she said no, and mentioned she didn’t have Christmas plans either. To her it wasn’t bleak at all, but exciting. After all, how often does one get the chance to start anew? When I think about it now, days later, I am still amazed at the size of her balls. Most people would make any excuse to keep their routines. Then there’s Kate with bags packed, heart open and arms outstretched for the west coast.
She ordered the mushroom toast. I had the Five Leaves burger stacked with grilled pineapple, beet, harissa mayo and a cheddar cheese-smothered medium rare patty topped with a fried egg. It was just as good as I remembered it from writing about Five Leaves for offManhattan three years ago.
Some things don’t change and it’s for the better. For the most part, however, we’re lucky that things - and people - evolve and move and grow.
Five Leaves, 18 Bedford Ave. Greenpoint, Brooklyn (646) 510-6467
Photo taken with Olympus PEN E-PM1
