Parks are wonderful. Just a set of swings on a patch of grass is wonderful. No matter that they're all sopping wet and theres a puddle of water ankle deep right under it. You can still just step right into the water and ignore the wetness seeping into your shoes and swing to the high heavens. It gets better when there is absolutely nobody around and you can sing without worrying about getting the words wrong or sounding like an injured cat.
Just a small patch of green in a maze of dull, grey, 70's era concrete buildings. Still, if you employ enough imagination you could be anywhere in the world. In a meadow in Ireland... in the rice fields of Vietnam...sailing down the Amazon... Watch the sky and the whole world opens up before you. Squint your eyes just enough and maybe you can imagine what this place looked like 50 years ago..... 80 years ago... 100 years ago. What it smelled like and what it sounded like. Did that tree exist back then?
I have no love for the sounds of the city. Blame it on the fact that I live on a busy street and the sirens of the city's emergency services are commonplace. Some artists revel in this sound ... calling it "alive" and invigorating. Quite the contrary infact. To me it is merely the sound of a million pieces of a big, lifeless machine engaging in daily drudgery. Even the silence in a park is more alive than this sound.
Parks are wonderful.
Songs for swings and cloudy days in the park:
Gong Li - RHCP
Aqueous Transmission - Incubus
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2 comments:
I miss being a kid. So many worry-free moments. And I also do miss the park and the swings. Except our swings weren't on grass, but on sand. I used to swing real high then jump off. Sheesh, can't believe I used to do that. But man oh man, if only we could go back, eh?
-Chantal
parks make me feel like a kid again... i love swings... climbing trees... playing catch/frisbee/badminton...
boy am i ever so glad summer is just about here - i can walk over to parks whenever i want!
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