Taking time

July 10, 2012 (WABC) -- What's the old saying... take some time to smell the roses? I surprised myself today by walking back to work from a meeting in Midtown Manhattan. I strolled through Central Park - my favorite place in New York, an oasis of sanity and peace.

And I stopped to watch a young women's fast-pitch softball tournament. I stayed for two innings. It was like taking the afternoon off. And it got me thinking how I never ever never ever do this - just stop and smell the roses. Or, in this case, the baseball field dirt. I walked away, after quietly cheering for both sides, and felt relaxed, invigorated. And then I noticed that so many others were out, just walking, and enjoying this warm and pleasant summer's day in Central Park.

I've a great life - a fulfilling job, a wonderful family, fine friends whom I don't see as often as I like, and I'm healthy. Very lucky indeed.

But on this afternoon, if just for a few moments, it hit me like a ton of bricks - I never carve out space on the calendar to do nothing. I don't just stand here, as David Byrne sings, watching the passing of time. I'm always running. I know I'm not alone, and I know there are millions who work round-the-clock trying to make ends meet and support their kids, and lawd knows I count my lucky stars every day that I have a fab job and a healthy life full of love.

But, geez, I wish I could have seen the rest of that softball game.

I'm just sayin'.

That's the backbeat to my day as we prepare for tonight's 11 p.m. news.

We're following several big stories - including a defeat for New York City's anti-smoking graphic on packs of cigarettes. The dire warnings were struck down in an appeals court today. A defeat for an active Mayor Bloomberg, as he enters his last year and a half in office. Active, because his plate his filled with initiatives - all of them controversial, like the super-sized sugary drink ban, the 300-square-foot micro apartments (this from a man who owns 11 properties, including a huge townhouse on the Upper East Side and a mansion in Southampton).

We're also at the Long Island Sound, where the FBI couldn't raise the sunken boat that capsized on July 4 and killed three children. They'll try again tomorrow.

We'll have any breaking news of the night, plus Meteorologist Lee Goldberg's AccuWeather forecast (was today perfect or what?), and Laura Behnke (in for Rob Powers) with the night's sports. I hope you can join Sade Baderinwa and me, tonight at 11.

BILL RITTER

Subscribe to my page on Facebook at facebook.com/billritter.wabc.

Follow my tweets at www.twitter.com/billritter7.

Click here to send a comment.

Get more Eyewitness News »

eyewitness news, bill ritter

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•