Page 205, text and illustration
The first major event after settling on the Circle [Columbus Circle in New York City, rf] was the installation of a telephone. This, almost more than anything else, gave me the feeling of at least belonging to the metropolis, and even more so when the Manhattan telephone directory was delivered. I felt as elated over seeing my name included in this book as some people must feel about being listed in Who’s Who.
All those months I had never forgotten the girl from the art school in San Diego or allowed her to forget about me. Letters describing the Circle had been flowing in torrents out to California. Shortly after moving into the studio I could no longer stand the distance between us and, inaugurating the new telephone one night, I called California.
After hearing her say: “Hello” on the other end of the wire and my operator say: “New York calling,” I started playing into the receiver a three-thousand-mile serenade on my battered trumpet - I still remembered how to play Someone to Watch Over Me. Amazingly enough, she was still on the other end when I finished, so I popped the question and six months later she arrived in New York pretending to be on her way to Europe to study art!
