I am a refugee from New York City, having grown up during the best years to have grown up in that place I call Disneyland for Grownups.  We never locked our door.  We didn't even own a key for it.  That town was my backyard, from Rockaway to Battery Park; all the parks and playgrounds, all the museums, art galleries and symphoney halls.  I swam in its rivers and played in its streets and empty lots.  I still dream about it and the boys and girls who peopled it with me.  When I die I will return there to live.

It made me what I am today; a retired old grump.