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the past few days, i've been sad and feeling sublimely out of character. i was awoken on saturday morning at 6:42 by a strange phone call from my mom. stayed in bed with the tv on until 2pm. at this point, i decided i needed to get up and do something or i'd probably end up staying in bed all weekend. no one was around/available to hang out, so i took a shower, washed my hair and headed out for central park with the intention of re-reading me talk pretty one day.

i stepped outside and came face to face with a street festival on 6th ave that i didn't even realize was happening. cuban food vendors, thai iced tea, handmade floaty dresses and mexican knitted finger puppets that i wanted so, so badly.

caught the ACE up to 81st and began wending my way across/through central park. walked along the road past some theater that begins with a D to shakespeare's garden. ran up some stairs to belvedere castle. followed a shady path to the turtle pond. sat on the edge and watched a really fat baby in a girl sailor suit waddle around dangerously close to the water's edge, with her diligent khaki-clad mom never more than a step behind her. my ass fell asleep.

so i headed back up the path where it opened out onto a large expanse of rolling green hills. i took a spot on a mid-level hill and spread my sweater out so i could lay down. read approximately 3.5 pages of my book but quickly became distracted by the people around me. about 15 feet away, there was a fair-skinned, dark-haired theater major in light jeans and a green camo messenger bag. he was sitting on a rustic wooden bench in the shade of a grove of trees. he made a quick phone call and an older blonde lady wearing dark blue keds came skipping up the hill to greet him. they exchanged what appeared to be pleasantries and then he took a seat on the bench and the woman walked about 10 feet away from him and paused. she then proceeded to walk very slowly in a circle, smiling all the while. the guy smiled and relinquished his seat on the bench. the older blonde lady laid down on the bench and closed her eyes. the guy watched in silence for about 3 minutes. the lady stood up, then exchanged more pleasantries, shook hands and she went on her way. i turned back to my book, but not more than 5 minutes later, another older lady came skipping up the hill, this one with dark short hair and dark blue keds. more pleasantries and hand shaking. then the dark-haired lady laid down on the bench and closed her eyes. the theater major watched quietly, crouched in the grass amidst the shady grove of trees. the woman stood up and took a small book out of her bag. she stood, clutching the book in her hands, then walked back over to the bench and sat, reading. the guy watched, enthralled and then they parted ways.

in front of me there was a couple who appeared to be on a first date. or maybe they're co-workers who have been secretly crushing on one another by the watercooler. regardless, they sat in intimate conversation for quite sometime. he wore a button-down, short-sleeved oxford. she wore a blue scrunchie (!). they eventually stood up and triple cheek-kissed each other in the midst of nervous giggles. she headed toward the east side. he headed toward the west. he turned back to look at her 5 times. she kept on walking.

i got bored of spying on people and picked yet another path to follow. passed a bunch of rollerbladers and kids on scooters. families having picnics and college kids studying. i ended up at that fountain near where that semi-famous hawk lives. there were a couple of guys playing jazzy guitar, so i hung out. sat around on the edge of the minnow-filled fountain and watched people's feet.







on sunday, i walked through the east village where a too-old-to-still-be-a-gutter-punk told me i was beautiful. i got some sorbet and sauntered down streets i'd never walked down, listening to people shout "italia!" from rooftops.