Contemplation

When I travel I often visit a museum.

View the Slideshow.

Why?

 

This past Thanksgiving my family and I journeyed to New York City. The week was dreary—cold with rain, sometimes turning into face-stinging sleet. In short, a perfect time to see The Cloisters. Part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the museum sits like a medieval castle on top of a hill overlooking the Hudson River. The immense grounds have the feel of a countryside, rather than being in the nation’s largest city.

The winter darkness created a contemplative mood. The collections of the museum feature Medieval European works, which focus on the religious, and include sculpture, stained glass, tapestries, painting, manuscript illumination, and metalwork.

 

Looking through the artifacts my daughter asked me about Lilith. Remember Adam’s first wife before Eve in the Garden of Eden?

Me neither.

From Wikipedia:

In Jewish folklore, from the 8th–10th century Alphabet of Ben Sira onwards, Lilith becomes Adam's first wife, who was created at the same time (Rosh Hashanah) and from the same earth as Adam. This contrasts with Eve, who was created from one of Adam's ribs. The legend was greatly developed during the Middle Ages, in the tradition of Aggadic midrashim, the Zohar, and Jewish mysticism. In the 13th century writings of Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob ha-Cohen, for example, Lilith left Adam after she refused to become subservient to him and then would not return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with archangel Samael.

 

I was reminded we are never too old to learn. In my own writing I am l learning I haven’t developed my evil characters well enough. The author Margaret Coel advises the antagonist should be as well developed as the protagonist. What better example than Lilith? She is a complex character, Adam’s equal, who leaves the Garden to be replaced by the younger Eve. Lilith is the original member of the First Wives Club, along with the embodiment of evil.

 

 

People of the Middle Ages spent much of their time, resources and energy on their spiritual lives and the hereafter. While modern society offers a much longer and more comfortable lifespan, I was reminded we can get so focused on daily living we forget the bigger picture.

Do we spend enough time in contemplation? Have we contributed enough to our community? What legacies do we want to leave behind?

View the Slideshow.

 

Brooklyn, NYC

 

 Park Slope

My Family and I spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Brooklyn. A couple decades ago I attended college at Pratt Institute. While I was a student I worked at Helene von Rosenstiel in the then unremarkable neighborhood of Park Slope. We heard rumors people were starting to talk about moving there, but most of us didn’t believe it.

My job was restoring antique costumes and textiles for private collectors, Sotheby’s auction house, and museums across the country. I once helped to prepare the sequins to be sewn on a pair of ruby slippers from the original Wizard of Oz movie. To restore old quilts, we often mounted them to stretchers, similar to a canvas used for painting. We built the frames ourselves, which required supplies.

One day the manager sent me down the street to the local hardware store. I gathered the nails and other supplies and went to the counter.

Asked the guy, “Do you want me to put this stuff on your tab?”

I looked around the otherwise empty store. He had to be talking to me.

 

“Wait a minute,” I said. “I’m standing here in a city of eight million people. You’ve never seen me before and you’re going to let me put this on a tab? How do you even know where I work?”

(If you ever want to feel like a true New Yorker, you must obey rule number one, which is to always get into an argument with the clerk behind the counter, no matter how trivial the debate.)

 

 

He replied, “I know you have to work at Helene’s. Nobody else ever comes in here looking like you guys. So, do you want this on the company account?”

I said yes and left without having to show ID or pay.

 

 

While in the past couple decades quite a bit has changed—soaring property values, upscale restaurants and fancy boutiques—other things remain classic New York. We rented a VRBO apartment for our vacation in Park Slope. To get the keys we stopped by the corner deli to ask the guy behind the counter for an envelope. Upon leaving, we returned them to the deli. I wouldn’t have a set of keys floating around strangers where I live, but it seems to work in Brooklyn.

View the slideshow of photo illustrations of Park Slope.

How to Transform Civic Plaza

Bryant Park, NYC

November 2013

 

In the center of Downtown Albuquerque is the Harry E. Kinney Civic Plaza. It was constructed as a part of urban renewal to host outdoor events, with a capacity of 20,000 people and a large performance stage. For much of the Plaza’s history, however, it has been an empty and barren concrete wasteland devoid of people. Few venture to the Plaza, unless they happen to work in a next door office or are homeless sleeping on a bench.

Sadly, the city is spending millions of dollars to renovate the Convention Center on the east side of the Plaza, while ignoring the largest public space in the center of Downtown. Civic Plaza could be changed into an enjoyable public gathering spot for tourists, convention goers, office workers and the expanding residential population alike.

On a recent trip to New York City I visited Bryant Park in Manhattan. Despite the terrible November weather—a dark and steady rain with winter temperatures barely above freezing—the park was full of people enjoying the activities.

 

Bryant Park used to be worse than Albuquerque’s Civic Plaza. In the 1970s and 80s it was notorious for muggings and drug deals. The blight caused prime Manhattan property values to drop and become less desirable. Finally a non-profit corporation was formed to better manage the space.

 

 

 

 

 

The park has been transformed with a series of pop-ups, which change throughout the year. I visited the Winter Village. The centerpiece is a 170’ x 100’ ice skating rink, complete with heated tents for warming up, renting skates, and lockers. Overlooking the rink is Celsius, a pop-up restaurant with glass-enclosed lounges and a heated terrace.

 

 

 

During the winter holiday shopping season more than 125 temporary booths are erected to sell local food and goods. The glass stalls are reminiscent of the Crystal Palace, which stood in the park in the mid-1800s.

 

 

 

Other regular amenities include a carousel, games such as Petanque, chess and Ping Pong, and the revival of the public Reading Room, first popular during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Publishers donate periodicals, books and newspapers, which are available free without having to show an identification card.

 

 

In the summer visitors enjoy a public porch, complete with shade, outlets for recharging electronic devices and rockers, swings, and Adirondack chairs. Nearby is a putting green and Kubb, a Scandinavian game similar to lawn bowling. Gardens are planted throughout the park. 
 

It would only take a few of the ideas used in Bryant Park to transform Civic Plaza into a friendly public space which would attract people to Downtown.