Yesterday was Friday so I went to the Sunset Singing Circle at Wagner Park. This made four weeks in a row and I still get a kick out of each one. I changed it up by leaving earlier and walking down from the Broadway Lafayette station. I was going to precede it with my donut walk but decided it would be more enjoyable to walk in Manhattan; that change of scenery was worth more than a donut. It’s such an easy walk, straight down Broadway to the southern tip of Manhattan Island. Instead of my usual 3.3 miles I walked over 4 miles yesterday. Fred and I now eat at The View at the Battery before the singing circle. It’s very convenient, has great food, and as you might guess and breathtaking view. We are now officially recognized regulars. I’m a sucker for being considered a regular. I timed things perfectly, our reservation was for six and I arrived exactly on time. Fred arrived first and was seated at our table when I got there.
The service is fast, and we arrived at Wagner Park ten minutes before the singing started. I checked in with Frances at the Battery Park City Authority table. Since COVID-19 participants have to give contact information so they can reach us in case someone testing positive was there. That reminded me to check my COVID-19 app. The Bronx’s infection rate is down to 0.7%. That’s amazing. The early missteps we made when the pandemic started are such a contrast with the current successes. Part of that is the change in presidential administrations but a big part is learning from our mistakes. There was a novel situation, there was no established best practices; everyone played it by ear. We can’t rest on our laurels; we are a long way from herd immunity. If you or your children can get vaccinated, do so. It’s not for me, I’m relatively healthy and already vaxxed. I’m not afraid of getting COVID-19, I’m still afraid that others that aren’t as fortunate will.
I’m observing myself observing other people’s responses to the changing conditions. I’ve become far more laissez-faire about mask wearing. In keeping with best practices, I no longer wear one outdoors, but do when on public transit. I’m masked when shopping, but I wouldn’t at a friend’s house and if someone were unmasked in a store I’d no longer be judgmental. If they’ve been vaxxed it’s OK. Despite that I think I get even more annoyed at the people whose noses are peeping out from their mask. Unless they are pure mouth breathers, the masks are useless for anything but stopping sneezes and coughs. It’s mask wearing as theater. I’d rather they didn’t wear a mask at all rather than signaling virtue they aren’t demonstrating. I get annoyed at myself for caring about that.
I’m back from the COVID-19 detour. The point of my mentioning checking in was not to explain why, but to highlight that I know the person we check in with. I’m a regular at the Sunset Sing too. The regulars are my tribe. In the audience Fred and I were joined by David and Terrie. I look forward to seeing them. I know most of the musicians now. Something that seems new this year is more children in the crowd, children that request songs. I get suck a kick out of that. There were two young girls behind me. As they were behind me I couldn’t see them well, but I heard them. I don’t know their ages, but it was in the single digits. I suspect they had musical training; they paid attention to the songs’ key. After one request Teak said, “We’re playing your song, you better sing.” I said, “They sing, they even sing in harmony. They are making me look bad.” They liked that. If you have kids bring them. Train them to be good folkies. The circle takes Memorial Day weekend off so don’t come next week; come the week after that. I better remove it from my calendar, or I’ll forget and show up.
On the walk home from the subway I saw cars backed up on Mosholu Parkway Service Road and sparks coming up from in front of them. It was kids setting up fireworks in the street and totally blocking traffic. As soon as the cars passed they set up another one and again backed the traffic up. There are plenty of places they could do it without blocking traffic. They were teenagers and I know teens don’t fully appreciate the consequences of their actions. I also know that I would never have done anything like that. I hadn’t seen this kind of firework. They set it on the ground and when it was lit there were explosions and a stream of sparks shooting up from it. It must be particularly unsafe. They set it off right be a parked car. I’d have been upset if that were mine. I couldn’t get my phone out fast enough to take a video. One of their friends did, maybe I can find it on TikTok. Or I could if I had TikTok.
Yesterday was great but I’m a bit down today. I had the joy of taking to one of my best friends for the first time in weeks. The downside is the reason we haven’t talked is that they’ve been having a tough time. I asked another friend if they wanted to get together this weekend. They can’t and for a terrible reason, their dog is dying. For the first time in ages, I asked a friend to get together with no specific plans. Just to enjoy each other’s company. That goes back far longer than the pandemic. Let’s see if I can call someone else and make plans for tomorrow. It’s probably too late for today. As social as I am I have social anxiety, and it’s not easy for me to ask other people to get together without the lure of a special event. I’m giving myself mental health homework. Calling one friend and trying to make uncertain plans, just to socialize. Then I need to take my daily walk. .
Wise Madness 