Lady Liberty seen in the distance from Battery Park, my favorite Spring/Summer reading spot. While this visit to the Battery had very little to do with reading, it had plenty to do with thinking.

Tim met me downtown at Castle Clinton on Tuesday to do what we do best: observe, think, discuss, learn... repeat. As if that wasn't lovely enough, the norm has vastly improved. Why, you ask? Two reasons in this case: 1) Because our trio has now become a quartet with the very welcomed addition of his Nikon and 2) because we had a bit of a game to play.

This game involved collecting facts about certain Manhattan landmarks and designing riddles. I can't say what it is that was created because that would spoil the fun for others, but I will say that I've never smiled so much on a Tuesday morning stroll through what is more or less, my neighborhood. What can I say, I'm a nerd and these are things that I like.

Over the entire four hours, we didn't cross north of Canal Street, stopping only once in Chinatown for lunch. Nothing like cold roast duck and dumplings in-restaurant and a bag of mangoes for five bucks or a bag of grapes for $1.50 from a fruit stand on-sidewalk, digging into your nondescript bag for dessert as you skip home.

Just as you would a person, you can treat a city right or you can treat it wrong. Choose the latter and you will never understand it. Choose the former and it will be good to you.

And man, this city sure is good to us.