I think one of the challenges of being a human being is to come to terms with the way many other humans are. Imperfect creatures, it seems to be their nature to sometimes war on one another, ruin the earth, and forget the most elemental messages of empathy and compassion. We can fume and sputter about it, or understand it as the nature of the world. Whenever I see a New York brownstone, I think of the promise of the world, a way to live. There are  not many of them left in Manhattan, they are too valuable, too expensive.

There are lots standing in Brooklyn and I always pause to consider them and give thanks for them. One day, perhaps we will live in a world where it would be unimaginable to tear them down.