the flowers, the blind kid, the wedding
three things i saw in the park last shabbos, in no particular order:
1) a couple and a child running down a hill. the mother was standing on top with a camera, the father was down below, and a little boy of about seven or eight careened crookedly down the path. but even though his eyes were open he was feeling around in front of him with his fingers, like he couldn't see. the mother made a motion over her head for the father to catch him, but she didn't say anything out loud. the father casually positioned himself in front of a rock wall so the kid ran into him and not the rocks. then he hugged him.
question i had: why not call out the warning? "peter, look out, he's going to hit the wall"? i think she didn't want to take away from the kid's fun.
2) a wedding by the water. not in itself remarkable since there are many weddings in the park. what made me look twice was the bride's dress: a bizarre and fascinating mash-up of cruella deville, the corpse bride, and the vampire diaries. it was a black-and-white tiered dress with at least three different kinds of layers in the skirt, poufy black organza and gauze and lace sticking up in all directions, and a zebra-striped corset with a matching top hat. The groom wore grey converse sneakers and a grey suit. I sat in the grass for a half hour while a kindly old woman in i think minister's robes explained their love to each other. "he loves that she watches dr. who with him. she loves that he can quote dostoevsky. they have composed russian poetry for each other, which we are now privileged to hear." i left then.
3) three little girls in shabbos dresses, almost identical, chasing each other in circles. "roses are red, violets are blue, tulips are sweet and so are you." "no no no! it goes roses are red, violets are blue, you are a LOSER and NO ONE likes YOU!!" they did variations on this for awhile. you are a loser and no one wants you, you are a loser and belong in a zoo, etc. they attracted a small crowd, including one smiling south american tourist who asked me if it was a jewish ritual.
1) a couple and a child running down a hill. the mother was standing on top with a camera, the father was down below, and a little boy of about seven or eight careened crookedly down the path. but even though his eyes were open he was feeling around in front of him with his fingers, like he couldn't see. the mother made a motion over her head for the father to catch him, but she didn't say anything out loud. the father casually positioned himself in front of a rock wall so the kid ran into him and not the rocks. then he hugged him.
question i had: why not call out the warning? "peter, look out, he's going to hit the wall"? i think she didn't want to take away from the kid's fun.
2) a wedding by the water. not in itself remarkable since there are many weddings in the park. what made me look twice was the bride's dress: a bizarre and fascinating mash-up of cruella deville, the corpse bride, and the vampire diaries. it was a black-and-white tiered dress with at least three different kinds of layers in the skirt, poufy black organza and gauze and lace sticking up in all directions, and a zebra-striped corset with a matching top hat. The groom wore grey converse sneakers and a grey suit. I sat in the grass for a half hour while a kindly old woman in i think minister's robes explained their love to each other. "he loves that she watches dr. who with him. she loves that he can quote dostoevsky. they have composed russian poetry for each other, which we are now privileged to hear." i left then.
3) three little girls in shabbos dresses, almost identical, chasing each other in circles. "roses are red, violets are blue, tulips are sweet and so are you." "no no no! it goes roses are red, violets are blue, you are a LOSER and NO ONE likes YOU!!" they did variations on this for awhile. you are a loser and no one wants you, you are a loser and belong in a zoo, etc. they attracted a small crowd, including one smiling south american tourist who asked me if it was a jewish ritual.
posted by fudge at 6:10 PM
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