More Reasons to Love This Town

Yesterday was a hot, muggy day in New York. I spent much of it inside, but after work I wanted to get outside!

I took my sandwich, crackers and iced tea to Washington Square Park, which is only about half-a-mile from the store, intending to sit down on a bench, have my supper and catch up on my reading for "The Artist's Way". Once in the park, however, I heard amazing ragtime music being played and I was drawn to it. I found a nice green piece of lawn to stretch out on and just enjoyed some live music for awhile. Here's a video that I hope will give you some sense of the experience. You can see people all over the lawn and benches listening to the music, reading, eating and just chillin' out. One couple started dancing. The group playing called themselves "Loose Marbles".



After a few songs, the sky turned suddenly dark, the wind picked up and I was reminded of Kansas thunderstorms. People were quickly gathering their belongings and heading for cover, the band included. I did grab one of their CDs before they left. After most of the crowd left, the wind calmed down for a bit and no rain came. As I was walking out of the park, I ran across another group of guys playing music. Washington Square Park is right next to NYU, so I imagine many or most of the artists are students. This second group was playing some good ole' Southern bluegrass. I put a bit of money in their open case, because I feel like giving these guys encouragement to continue making good music is worth something. And I definitely enjoy listening. Here is a clip of their music.



There was a gentleman sitting on a bench listening to the group play (you can see him in the video), and he was really getting into it. You may be able to hear him letting out a whoop in the background. Between songs he went over to the group and told them about his travels to Europe and the music from there that this reminded him of. I just mention this because it is one more aspect of these experiences. There is often someone out there who is not shy to start talking to you and sharing their own thoughts and experiences. And while I don't always want strangers coming up to talk to me, it's a part of it all.

I only stuck around for a few songs because I had to get up to Midtown for my Artist's Way meeting. I was at 4th Street and needed to get to 39th Street, but decided it would be a nice walk. These are the shorter blocks and I usually like to walk. I also hadn't exercised much. The sky stayed overcast and it rained very lightly. Since it was windy again and the rain wasn't too heavy I decided not to use my umbrella this time. This turned out to be a bit of a mistake because it was still very humid, so I was sweating, and also damp from the rain, and felt kind of gross by the time I got to the meeting. Despite that, it was a nice walk and I was able to talk to my parents on the phone for awhile.