“Skyscraper National Park”. I think you’ve got something there.
The only problem is if the National Park Service designation actually happens, there will be agitation to bring back the native fauna. Bears, deer, and beaver wouldn’t do well on Broadway.
Gee Whiz! Coyotes! Skunks! Raccoons! I had No Idea!
I'm an Upstate New Yorker, and when I take my joyous excursions to Town Hall in NYC to be an "On Site Prairie Homer," I book a room at the West Side YMCA for something under $30. When the time comes, I walk south a block to the corner by the Trump Tower. Then I cross the Avenue and take a leisurely hike through the park to my Very, Very, Very Favorite Live Performance starring Garrison Keillor and Friends! It hasn't even bothered me to walk back across the park in the dark - "No Big Deal!" - Right? With the thought of all those critters, maybe I'll walk down a few blocks to the first regular west-bound street, or even get a tax to get back to the YMCA hostel. Thanks for the heads up!
I had no idea, either - I grew up in MA and now I live in NH - always in the more rural parts of both states. I've only been to NYC twice, once on a school field trip to see the Statue of Liberty in the 1970's (when the teacher-chaperones had to plead with some of the more boisterous students to keep their middle fingers away from the windows) and once for a brief stop at Grand Central Station on a bus trip to SC with my hubby to pick up a van he'd bought on Ebay (where I watched a uniformed gentleman checking everyone's luggage - one non-English speaking elderly lady opened up her suitcase and a gigantic ham rolled out. The inspector tried vainly to explain that she couldn't bring the ham out of the state, but finally gave up when it was clear she had no idea what he was saying - and that the rest of the passengers were clearly on the ham lady's side).
I knew about the coyotes from a documentary I'd once watched, but some of the others surprised me. Who would think that NYC would end up with so many deer that they would have to do vasectomies on the bucks? Personally, I would be more worried about the two legged critters myself, but that's just me. You're a lot braver than I am!
Most of these essays, you speak of music. You speak in verse, and this 'cheerful' persona is the one history will remember. Now, it's April and I want a risqué' limerick
You describe one of those moments that should remind us how blessed we really are. I would add one more observation. The more we talk to each other, each and every day, the healthier and happier we become. Even in a city teeming with millions of people, the isolation fostered by digital technology has caused many to turn dark in their outlook. That walk in the park is the perfect antidote.
I've never grasped the meaning of autographs. Are they intended as evidence of physical proximity at some point in time? Or perhaps the ability to stand in a line, or to hand over some cash, or to illustrate devotion to celebrity fascination? Just wondering.
People used to stand in long lines for auttographs but this is fading away as the physical book is becoming obsolescent. The woman I love prefers to borrow an e-book from the library. We have enormous shelves of books we're trying to give away, without much success. I'm glad I lived back when people cherished the object, holding it in your hand, turning the pages, the smell of it, the heft.
Dear Sage, your thoughts were up lifting. We truly miss God and the desire, no more than the desire, the need and requirement to know and follow him. We are lost.
I am privileged to have seen Ahmad Jamal a half dozen times in my life. Unlike so many performers, the guy was approachable and was as sweet as his music.
You could, but sould not, be an ambassador for New York, you might look peculiar in formal attire and should therefore resist their feeble pleas to accept the job. Continue to enjoy the parade as "The sun pulls away from the shore, and our boat sinks slowly in the West" (Spike Jones, Ca 1943)
"...we needed to exercise good manners and engage in amiable small talk, and these daily details turn out to be as important as overarching ideology." Well said. Try swapping 'technology' for ideology. The sentence works just as well.
“Skyscraper National Park”. I think you’ve got something there.
The only problem is if the National Park Service designation actually happens, there will be agitation to bring back the native fauna. Bears, deer, and beaver wouldn’t do well on Broadway.
Thank you for tweaking my imagination!
The fauna are already there! 😊 According to NYC.gov, they've got deer and beavers, in addition to bats, coyotes, wild turkeys, squirrels, turtles, ducks, piping plovers, raccoons, hawks, foxes, skunks, and opposums (https://www.nyc.gov/site/wildlifenyc/animals/animals.page)... not to mention the recently escaped Flaco the owl! There are so many deer that they've had to institute a "management plan" - around here that involves people with guns looking to fill their freezers with venison, but in NYC they use deer birth control (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e9da7a753bd8457fbbbce21bd67794d5). They might not have wild bears in NYC yet, but they've been spotted in Yonkers (https://abc7ny.com/black-bear-sighting-yonkers-wildlife/12404729/). Let your imagination go wild! 😂
Gee Whiz! Coyotes! Skunks! Raccoons! I had No Idea!
I'm an Upstate New Yorker, and when I take my joyous excursions to Town Hall in NYC to be an "On Site Prairie Homer," I book a room at the West Side YMCA for something under $30. When the time comes, I walk south a block to the corner by the Trump Tower. Then I cross the Avenue and take a leisurely hike through the park to my Very, Very, Very Favorite Live Performance starring Garrison Keillor and Friends! It hasn't even bothered me to walk back across the park in the dark - "No Big Deal!" - Right? With the thought of all those critters, maybe I'll walk down a few blocks to the first regular west-bound street, or even get a tax to get back to the YMCA hostel. Thanks for the heads up!
I had no idea, either - I grew up in MA and now I live in NH - always in the more rural parts of both states. I've only been to NYC twice, once on a school field trip to see the Statue of Liberty in the 1970's (when the teacher-chaperones had to plead with some of the more boisterous students to keep their middle fingers away from the windows) and once for a brief stop at Grand Central Station on a bus trip to SC with my hubby to pick up a van he'd bought on Ebay (where I watched a uniformed gentleman checking everyone's luggage - one non-English speaking elderly lady opened up her suitcase and a gigantic ham rolled out. The inspector tried vainly to explain that she couldn't bring the ham out of the state, but finally gave up when it was clear she had no idea what he was saying - and that the rest of the passengers were clearly on the ham lady's side).
I knew about the coyotes from a documentary I'd once watched, but some of the others surprised me. Who would think that NYC would end up with so many deer that they would have to do vasectomies on the bucks? Personally, I would be more worried about the two legged critters myself, but that's just me. You're a lot braver than I am!
Love thy neighbour is a counter to most of the world's ills, if only we could all manage it, but a big reach....
Most of these essays, you speak of music. You speak in verse, and this 'cheerful' persona is the one history will remember. Now, it's April and I want a risqué' limerick
Steven, how about this:
There was a young girl with a duck,
Who rode into town on a truck.
But the biggest surprise,
I bet none of you guys
Thought the last rhyme would be “Luck”.
Thanks ,neighbor...
You describe one of those moments that should remind us how blessed we really are. I would add one more observation. The more we talk to each other, each and every day, the healthier and happier we become. Even in a city teeming with millions of people, the isolation fostered by digital technology has caused many to turn dark in their outlook. That walk in the park is the perfect antidote.
You're right. Sometimes something inside me asks for a walk in the park by myself or with friends, and it's so refreshing.
Will you be offering autographed copies of Cheerfulness?
Of course. I have a very nice legible signature.
I've never grasped the meaning of autographs. Are they intended as evidence of physical proximity at some point in time? Or perhaps the ability to stand in a line, or to hand over some cash, or to illustrate devotion to celebrity fascination? Just wondering.
I can think of a few plausible explanations, but my best guess is that autographs are talismans of human connection.
People used to stand in long lines for auttographs but this is fading away as the physical book is becoming obsolescent. The woman I love prefers to borrow an e-book from the library. We have enormous shelves of books we're trying to give away, without much success. I'm glad I lived back when people cherished the object, holding it in your hand, turning the pages, the smell of it, the heft.
Garrison Keillor your understanding
Dear Sage, your thoughts were up lifting. We truly miss God and the desire, no more than the desire, the need and requirement to know and follow him. We are lost.
I am privileged to have seen Ahmad Jamal a half dozen times in my life. Unlike so many performers, the guy was approachable and was as sweet as his music.
And I have always thought Fritz Hyde was his original name (per his first record album)
Garrison, you lift me up!
You could, but sould not, be an ambassador for New York, you might look peculiar in formal attire and should therefore resist their feeble pleas to accept the job. Continue to enjoy the parade as "The sun pulls away from the shore, and our boat sinks slowly in the West" (Spike Jones, Ca 1943)
"...we needed to exercise good manners and engage in amiable small talk, and these daily details turn out to be as important as overarching ideology." Well said. Try swapping 'technology' for ideology. The sentence works just as well.
How can a God create the man who smashed a policewoman in back of head with a bottle?
Who knows what darkness lies in the hearts of men and women? Why blame God?
I am envious of a niece who lives in Manhattan…..she just might glimpse the two of you on your stroll.😊😊
"Frisbee players playing pickle in the middle ..."
Is that a euphemism for something?
Bob
https://www.bobsassone.com
Come join us in the Deep South, Mr. Keillor.......you'd like it more than you think you would.
I guarantee it.
Amen