It's a genuine Renaissance, Casey.

So I saw New York City for the first time since May of 2002. I haven't been back since graduation, and haven't really felt a whole lot of desire to do so. Lately, though, I've been slightly nostalgic for Manhattan. I didn't really do anything in New York, since I didn't leave LaGuardia, but I did get some great flybys of the island. I also saw Ground Zero for the first time on Thursday, as we flew north along the western side of the island and I was on the right-hand side of the plane. I specifically didn't go south of Canal the last 8 months or so I lived there because it was still a little too fresh, a little too real. While I don't think I could handle seeing it any closer than I did from the air, I guess it's still a little easier to deal with than it was.

My friend is planning to walk the entire perimeter of Manhattan in a single day. He says it's 30+ miles, and should about 14 hours. Immediately after flying over it and seeing it, I sent him an email on my Blackberry from the tarmac telling him I think he's insane. I walked from Union Square to the history museum right before graduation. Needless to say I took the subway back. I told him that he'll be miserable by hour six.

You don't really get a sense of the size of the island when you're living there. Some days it seems so much bigger than it is, somedays it seems so much smaller. Regardless of the size, it looks awesome from the air.