Tall Ships
Sailing vessels paraded along the Hudson River in 1976, 1986, and in 2000. That’s my memory. In 1976 I was a newly minted surgery intern at Albert Einstein Medical School rotating out of the Lincoln Hospital ER. We were 24 hours on, 24 hours off. I started on July 1 – day off. That made July 4th my second day off. I was exhausted. Dead on my feet so to speak. The hours of an intern are severely restricted nowadays. Better or worse? I have an opinion. It doesn’t matter. I managed to drag myself to the Hudson that day with girlfriend and camera. Slide film. I had plenty with me. Someone standing next to me offered/asked to buy film when they ran out. Nothing doing. I needed/brought everything I had. This was historic. It was a once in a lifetime parade. So, of course, it wasn’t. As if NYC ever needed more tourists, they did it (tall ships) again and again. By 2000, I was a better photographer with more sleep and better (different) equipment. I was not on a ship but my lenses reached better. As summer days in NYC go, it was hazy. But I was part of history again that day. I’ve been fortunate that way. I could have been working July 4th, 1976 and missed it all. I wasn’t. I saw it from a front row spot. Lucky me. That year my vacation was the month of August. You had to take it when you were assigned. Lucky me. Nothing left to live for for the rest of the year. We went to Italy on a tour. I remember that too.
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