Today we started out by going to the Brooklyn Flea Market. It was a pleasant mix of jewlery, antiques, unique food offerings. There were several things I might have been interested in except that we are at that stage where we are divesting ourselves of things, not adding new things. But, it was a good way to spend a couple of hours.
We then walked about a mile to Washington Avenue Rocks. This was a block long street festival in the Prospect Heights area of Brooklyn. We went because Kaoru Watanabi and some of his students were going to be performing. This was a really nice street festival. On Manhattan, most street festivals are simply an opportunity for the same vendors to sell the same things. They just seem to move from one street to another. Washington Avenue Rocks was local businesses. All the vendors were from the area. All the performers either had studios or lived in the area. It was a refreshing change from the sort of street festivals we have seen. Kaoru was amazing, of course, and his students were very, very good. There was also a group of women doing a dance style from the Congo. There were two guys doing break dancing. There was a tango band. It was fun.
Evan and Kaoru
The Congolese-style dancers.
We then walked down to Prospect Park. Sally has already blogged about Prospect Park. However, to summerize, it was designed by the same men who designed Central Park. It is in Brooklyn. It was my first time there. Prospect Park that is, not Brooklyn. At the North East entrance to Prospect Park is the Brooklyn Library. It is a pretty imposing building. They don't build them like this anymore.
The Grand Army Plaza is at the top of Prospect Park. This has a huge arch dedicated to the Grand Army of the Republic from the Civil War. After several visits to the South whith all of their old statues to Confederate soldiers, who fought to destroy the United States and defend the right to enslave fellow human beings, it was nice to see a monument to Union soldiers, who fought to save this country.
Anyway, we had a bit of a lie down in the park. It was nice to just lay on the grass and enjoy the sun. I don't do that enough.
There was a green market at the top of the park, so we bought a little food and headed home.
Sally's Day
Al has given a good summary of our day.
My favorite part was laying on the grass in Prospect Park and taking a nap. In my 64 years, I had never just flopped down on the grass in a public park, and slept. Listening to various sounds of people, dogs, kids, sun flickering through the trees, a little breeze now and then- a real treat for the senses.
In the evening, we saw Robot and Frank. Frank Langella's portrayal of a man slipping into dementia was another treat. I remember him as the chief of staff in one of my favorite movies, "Dave," and then his portrayol of Richard Nixon in "Nixon." I think he may be an under appreciated actor.
It was sad to see a robot replacing care by humans, but the robot seems to give him more emotional support than his own children.
Fun to see another movie for the "mature" audience.
Sally
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