Tossing Salad on Governor's Island

Today I set off alone for Governor's Island. A small patch of land south of Manhattan. This place was once used as a munitions depot for the US Army. Now it looks like a deserted antebellum neighborhood. It's a bit weird. And even weirder today as it was host to "Figment." Try saying it with all the artsy pretense you can muster, "Figment!" That was fun, huh? And you get a sense of what goes on at such an event. It was a sort of free form festival with events like drum circles, art instillations, medieval weapons booth and, notably, women painted in gold and silver running around half naked. I was told it was very similar to "Burning Man," only this was less.

It was one of those events full of people who make it difficult for me not to judge them. I was aware, almost immediately, of what a square I am. The women in superhero outfits were a clear indication that this wasn't so much my gig. Looking over the roster of events, I skipped the group building games, and getting my picture taken in a bath tub and decided that it would be the nature walk for me: Mr. Excitement.

After walking around looking for a sign that said, "Nature Walk" I asked the booth and found that it would be conducted by a man in a red cowboy hat. Without him in sight I took a rest and waited. Then a strange music filled the air and women in long skirts and very short shirts began to dance. It was a group of belly dancers. I'm a sucker for skilled hips and here were four sets of them. I'm pretty sure I'm in love with at least one of them. After this closed I spotted a group of people around a man wearing a red cowboy hat. It turns out that this particular nature hike featured edible plants. Which is great for the Gotham Frugal, because now I can wander into a vacant lot and walk out with a salad. The guide also was happy to point out those plants around us that had psychoactive properties. Who knew you could get high from actual weeds? The walk concluded with us eating a salad made from the various plants we encountered, topped with some tasty homemade walnut mustard vinaigrette of the guide's own preparation. My favorite edible plant was the daylily, which had a very buttery taste to it and was bright orange, breaking up the green of the salad.

Afterwards I bought a $2 12 ounce can of coke and felt like an ass for doing so. This was from a street cart, one of two on the Island. That's the power of supply and demand peoples. Back in the Barrio I did my own laundry for the first time in 4 or 5 months. I'm so used to just handing the people my bag and walking away. The laundry mat is so close I was able to cook some grub for the week while doing the laundry.

Not a bad Sunday, and for the first time since this experiment began, I have a positive balance. So on to the ....

Daily Breakdown

Starting Balance -$0.25

IN: $10

OUT:
Coke: $2
Laundry: $4.50

Balance: $3.25