Day 52 – Total confirmed cases in US: 1,205,138
On Sunday I went for a walk in the woods of Inwood Hill Park. It was the first time I left my building since March 16, except for two quick trips to get supplies. The park at the northern tip of Manhattan might be the least developed part of the island. It is not the picture most people have in their mind when they hear the word Manhattan.
It is an added cruelty that nature is blooming and beckoning at the same time we are supposed by be sequestered. One of the most compelling parts of life on Earth is the exponentially explosive growth of plants in spring. It might be my imagination (or weeks of deprivation) but the air smells cleaner and sweeter now.
As great as it felt to be among all the sprouting stems, it was even better to see people again, in the flesh. I see them everywhere on my screens, and I see them in my mind’s eye, in the pages of a book, and in dreams. But that is not the same thing as looking into another person’s eyes. Especially now that the rest of our faces are hidden, and the eyes are all we see.
I cut a few wild flowers. They wilted a bit on the way home but they sprang back to life as soon as they got some water in a champagne flute.
Words & Music by Mike Power 