Easy, Breezy, Beautiful

Soooo... yesterday was maybe not the greatest day due to a doctor's visit, a severe ear infection, and horse pill sized penicillin but it was exactly what I needed. After getting off work early I got to stay in and sleep! That sounds so lame, but it was so needed. Then up today around eleven and R and I hung about the village, eating lunch, getting yogurt, meeting a new friend at Washington Square, and doing a little bit of shopping. And tonight there's a huge group of us doing dinner and Webster Hall (for free!), so it's looking to be a promising start to a weekend, and I'm so glad my prediction from Sunday has stayed true- this really has been a wonderful week, even with doctors visits, etc. And tomorrow the fun will continue with a huge beach outing to Coney Island complete with iPod speakers, frisbees, footballs, bathing suits, and sun! I'll probably stray from the Coney dog this time, but seeing as how there's food from all around the world featured on the boardwalk I should be just fine for grub.

I love my days off when it's sunny with a nice breeze out and I get to wander along the alleys and streets in the village, it makes me wonder what it would have been like to grow up here, or what it would be like to live here for more than a summer. Like what if the dog in the window was mine, or the apartment with the bright red door had my name on it. The possibilities of dreams and imaginings are endless and I can only hope one day, for a period, I'll get to see what's like to be like yes, I live here.

There was a jazz band playing music in the park today, a mix of colors and sounds, but for a moment I felt as if I was in New Orleans the beat and rhythm was so familiar. A crowd had formed around the troupe and it was so fun to watch the little kids twirl and the couples sway in time to the tempo rising in the air. In the middle of the set, the clarinet player, a young white guy who was about as far different from Louis Armstrong as anyone I'd ever seen, but could play him like no other, got up and jumped in the fountain amidst swimsuited children and barelegged teens. Then shaking his head he plopped back down to play the next song, dripping water over his clarinet and smiling so big his dimples stretched across his face. I don't know what it was about that moment, but I loved it. I loved the simple easy music, the dancing among the crowd, the mix of old and young, all cultures and countries joining together to hear a little music from back in the day. Like I've been saying all week, it was a good day.

And tomorrow is Coney Island, yes!

-Mandy

P.S. Here's a shout out to my dear Georgian love, K! Told you if you looked you'd get one!