Tuesday in the Park in need of Sculptures and Shade

Come with me on a small journey. It's more of a walk really. It's not very far. It's just across Astoria. Start walking South on 47th Street until you get reach 31st Avenue. At 31st Avenue, take a right and walk West. We're going to walk all the way down 31st Avenue until we can't walk any more. We're walking in the direction of the Manhattan skyline. We're also walking toward the East River. Before we find ourselves in the river though, we are going to stop at the Socrates Sculpture Park.


Taken directly from the Socrates Sculpture Park website, the history of the park is described as follows: Socrates Sculpture Park was an abandoned riverside landfill and illegal dumpsite until 1986 when a coalition of artists and community members, under the leadership of artist Mark di Suvero, transformed it into an open studio and exhibition space for artists and a neighborhood park for local residents. Today it is an internationally renowned outdoor museum and artist residency program that also serves as a vital New York City park offering a wide variety of public services.


You can imagine my excitement to see the park. I had only recently heard about it from friends who live in Astoria. So I decided to take myself there on Tuesday. Now imagine you're me, full of expectations, imagining something on a grand scale. Large sculptural pieces that use the open air and space to breathe. Nothing to hold them back. Nothing to reign in the largeness. Well, it wasn't grand. I don't know if it's because Winter just ended and there is nothing new yet or if what is there currently is just what is there. I hope that as Spring turns to Summer there are more installations. Better installations.


As is, it was a park. That's for sure. There were people with dogs. The dogs chasing balls. Mother's with children. There were also ugly bare spots where the grass was completely warn away. There was a view of Manhattan, but only four benches on which to sit and look at it. None of those benches were in the shade either. It was a gorgeous, sunny day on Tuesday and all I wanted to do was sit in the park and read. I did sit and read when I finally found an unoccupied bench. What I left with though was a lovely red burn on the left side of my neck and on my left arm. I'm not complaining, really. I'm glad the outdoor space is there. I'm also going to go back and see if it indeed changes as the season progresses. As I am prone to do, I set myself up for disappointment with higher expectations than this park for creative expression could provide.


The trip to the park was not a complete waste of time. I did get to sit and read that book. I did find the bench in order to sit and read and stare at Manhattan. I also saw more of Spring in bloom. Again, I couldn't resist taking photos of what it looks like to be reborn after a cold, dormant winter.

Springtime State of Mind

I never know where inspiration is going to strike. Yesterday on the way to work I saw a bouquet of daffodils. Growing up we called them March flowers or Easter flowers. It being Easter Sunday morning I was moved to take a photo. They were such a perfect bouquet. They were in someones front yard behind a fence. I got close enough with my Blackberry to pass the bars of the fence and just capture the flowers. On the way home from work that afternoon I saw red and yellow tulips growing in a patch of dirt cut out of the sidewalk. One of those patches where a tree grows. The tulips weren't surrounding the tree, they were just there. Planted as a bunch of yellow and a bunch of red together, but segregated. I was seeing the yellow just beyond the red. From the angle I approached them, they looked so beautiful. Probably because they reminded me of my sofa and the Taittenger print that hangs behind it. Deep red and gold. Such interesting colors together. Maybe it's a subconscious memory of my high school colors of maroon and gold. I don't know. Of course when I see tulips I think of my mom. She loves tulips and has planted them since I was in high school. That means she's had tulips for more than 20 years. It's such a beautiful sign of Spring when the tulips bloom.

This morning I needed to run to the Trade Fair and pick up some coffee. You don't really want to be around me when I haven't had coffee. I'm not very easy to be around. Some might say I'm not easy to be around even with the coffee, but you don't want to find out the answer to that question. Trust me. I don't even like me without coffee. But I digress. On the walk to the grocery store I saw the most beautiful tulip tree in full bloom. I don't know exactly why, but when I see a tulip tree I am always reminded of my mom's parents. We lived in a trailer in the lot next door to them until I was 3 years old. I have a memory of them having a tulip tree. It could be real or fabricated. I don't know, I was 3. That house is no longer standing, it's just a memory. The tulip blossoms were blowing gently in the breeze this morning and I couldn't resist the photo. Then there was the lovely bouquet of hyacinth growing next to someones sidewalk on the walk home. The colors of Spring in full bloom: pink, purple, white, yellow, red. Gorgeous! Just try not to smile.

Such beauty can't go unnoticed. It needs to be acknowledged. It needs to be shared.