First Signs Of Spring

I can't think of anybody who enjoys being sick.
There goes my hearty appetite. This is all I could eat today. So much for running in wind and rain. My head feels like a ticking bomb.
I walked around in historic Jersey City today, mostly in the Van Vorst neighbourhood.

My goodness.

I never knew this place was so pretty! It was such a pleasant surprise since most of Jersey City is really crappy looking. This neighbourhood however is obviously benefitting from the influx of yuppies overflowing in from Hoboken and the waterfront.

Many old buildings looked recently restored.
I was surprised at how many interesting old buildings there were.

Most of it just looked like NYC's West Village to me.

There's also a more modern side to Jersey City. In the time that I've been around here, I was starting to think that nice buildings only existed in other states and on the waterfront; but today's walkaround proved me wrong.

It's really interesting to see a physical divide between the affluent and the poorer people in the architecture. The modern buildings and clean roads are on the waterfront facing NYC. Then as you get further away, you finally reach a kind of "wall" separating the slummy side of the city and the nice side of the city. This fictional "wall" is really just a line of construction where old buildings are being emptied of tenants and rebuilt to look up to date. On one side, you can still see old shops and random people wearing dark clothes standing around outside their homes. That's the poorer side and it's not really pleasant to walk around there at night. On the other side, there are spanking new shops, neat little cafes, moms with babies driving SUVs and men in slacks reading books in the park. What a big difference in such a small area. Needless to say, the "wall" moves deeper into Jersey City with the passing months; bringing the middle-class consumers with them. Which is not a bad thing... But we'll see.

And GUESS WHAT? I spotted tree buds opening today! Which can only mean one thing...

Spring is upon our doors and wiping her shoes on the mat, getting ready to come in and knock our socks off. I have a feeling that this is going to be an exceptionally spectacular spring since we had such a cold winter.

Whoop dee doo!

And I'm off to bed.

Track meet tomorrow morning.