Letter from NYC: In The Bull's eye

**A*@aol.com**

Hope,

As I type this, in Midtown Manhattan,  I'm about a millimeter off the center 
of the logical center of a foreign terrorist's bull's eye.  The powers that 
be seem to know this, because  I see hear the  occasional military jet's 
sonic boom overhead, see regular police choppers and the occasional, 
loaded-for-bear Black Hawk helicopter.  And of course, heavily armed 
servicemen are at key sites, including religious institutions,  all over the 
city.  It is a dangerous world, and we're grateful for the protection.  
Unfortunately, "Let a smile be you umbrella" is not standard operating 
procedures in these times, and if they dissuade another WTC, then the noise 
is certainly worth it.  Guaranteed, we support our troops, even if we don't 
all  support all the jobs they've been given by our government. 

Generally, we've been OK here in NYC, but sadly, one drug addicted thrill 
killer went on a two month murder and robbery spree in Brooklyn, claiming 
9/11 as his pretext.  He was caught a couple of day's ago - the evil banality 
these acts has sickened us all.  

Hell's Kitchen. where the Clinton Community Garden sits,  has thus far been 
immune to this - people usually wake up dead here over money, drugs or sexual 
jealousy...normal stuff.  But we're keeping an eye out for our neighbors, 
mostly from Yemen, who run convenience stores, newspaper stands and love 
their kids as much as we do. 

On the Black Hawks: 

We have three half-way houses  on the block of the Clinton Community Garden: 
Fountain House , Project Remewal (supportive housing for the mentally ill) 
and a third for HIV infected, undomiciled teenagers.  All organizations have 
keys to the garden and are great friends. 

Needless to say, some of these folks are veterans of our nation's foreign 
adventures, a few  driven barking mad by these events, with  brains that have 
been further fried by alcohol, drugs, or both - part of the unfortunate 
aftermath of any war. 

Anyway, last Sunday morning, a reservist Blackhawk helicopter zooms across 
the garden's airspace, enroute, no doubt to a Times Square "Peace" or 
"Support our Troops" rally - I forget which.  

Louie, a generally mellow - though toasted -  Gulf War vet,  drops his coffee 
and starts running through the garden, shaking his fist at the helicopter 
yelling, "Don't you think of crashing here,  mother @!!$$## ! Don't you think 
of crashing here..."   

Lord forgive us, but we gardeners nearly peed ourselves laughing.  Old 
toasted Louie had caught our mood, and our fears... perfectly.

When one of our ladies calmed him down, I ran across the street to get him a 
"light coffee, six sugars" .  We found a cigarette for him to replace the one 
he had so industriously bummed earlier.  
Finally, he sat down quietly, with his diabetic-shock coffee, cigarette and 
continued his morning's work of drawing organizational flow charts (or 
whatever they're supposed to be)  in a kid's black and white covered 
composition book. 

Louie, who like a broken clock, is right twice a day, had all of us "sane" 
folks mentally shaking our fists and muttering "Don't you think of crashing 
here, mother @!!$$#!, etc..." for the rest of the day.

Crocuses and tulips are coming up, maybe the cold won't kill the Japanese 
magnolia's blooms this spring. Just started the dahlia so they'll be perfect 
when we need them during the beginning of September...

Life in the bull's eye.

Adam Honigman, Volunteer,  <A HREF="http://www.clintoncommunitygarden.org/";>
Clinton Community Garden</A> 

<< Subj:     Re: Doing a Martha Stewart on the "All Arkansas" Buffet
 Date:  4/1/03 9:28:04 AM Eastern Standard Time
 From:  arhunger@flash.net (Hope Coulter)
 To:    Adam36055@aol.com

 Hey, Adam!  Great ideas.  Thanks for the call too.  Sorry I missed you.
 Actually I'm not very hands-on with this dinner--I'm just publicizing it for
 Heifer; I'm due at Hendrix that night for a poetry reading (not of mine, of
 Lee Young-Li's).  My big suggestion to Heifer was, why don't you do this in
 July when crops are peaking?  Fresh in April in Arkansas can be
 wonderful--asparagus, sugar snap peas, and strawberries--but many would not
 consider that a well-rounded dinner.  :-)

 How do you like the butchery we're performing in Iraq.  Our terrified young
 adults other terrified human beings to smithereens.  W. won't personally be
 reaping the harvest of this; it will be others who suffer the long
 consequences.

 Hope

  >>

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