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Corona Diaries –  New York’s Flights of Fancy

All Dressed Up  – and Nowhere to Go!

On my daily walk I witnessed  the first stirrings of summer in Bloomingdale’s windows  – slinky mannequins  resplendent in resort wear with their fancy suitcases packed for Paris, Italy, the Bahamas and beyond.

The coronavirus crisis is still there, there are no flights or cruises and even Bloomie’s is still closed though you can certainly shop online. New York is slowly opening up but the coronavirus is a hardy interloper and we may not be rid of it for a long time. As of now, as you walk around the canyons of Manhattan, you still hear the occasional wail of the ambulance siren and there is still a daily death toll, albeit lower than in the past months.

In a cautious re-opening of New York  the beaches will be accessible but with social distancing and masks.

Travel seems an impossible fantasy, a surreal memory of happier days when we nonchalantly strolled on the beaches of Majorca or wandered the byways of Venice.

Right now my travel is limited to the occasional trek to the grocery store or the pharmacy, observing social distancing and with furtive glances at anyone so bold as not to wear a  face mask.  The big highlight of the day is this neighborhood walk, masked and isolated,  in deserted Manhattan streets which once cascaded with people, people and more people. There was a whole orchestra of sound – the buzz of voices, the noise of traffic and the flashes of raucous music.

I was the sole person standing silently outside Bloomingdale’s, that temple to fashion and style and extravagant lifestyles. Its windows beckon with beguiling stories but its doors are shut.

I stood and browsed the gorgeous possibilities in the window – if what-ifs  were airplanes and ships, we’d all fly!  You could call this the power of positive thinking – or a crash course in  WWS – Wishful Window Shopping!