The (Dharma) Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round
Today in a moment of weakness, I went to Blick Art Supplies and bought watercolor paints and yarn. I’ve got another knitting project in mind, but I blame the urge to paint on social media. I started following this artist on Instagram who creates tiny paintings, so color me inspired.
I paired this outing with checking out an art installation at Madison Square Park. It was pretty much a ton of tulle and the most interesting part of the installation for me was watching a guy with a leaf blower blasting the fabric.
Artwork by Ana Maria Hernando.
We don’t own a car in NYC, (I think those who drive here are insanely brave, or bravely insane) so I regularly get to witness the friction of humanity while navigating the city. I hopped on the M7 bus and settled into my seat, praying that the brown shit I licked off my hand was chocolate--to be fair, I had just snarfed some chocolate that I grabbed at the nearby Trader Joes.
On the bus, two septuagenarians got into an argument. One was yelling at the other “to quit fucking laughing at me!” The other flipped him off. They continued yelling as the bus crawled through some gnarly traffic. No one seemed too worried about them coming to blows, including the cop sitting next to me. I guess since one was using a walker and the other didn’t look that healthy, any damage they caused could be easily contained.
It wasn’t clear who was king of the hill on this ride, but these dogs were better behaved.
A couple of small kids behind me were screaming as they played with their toys in the back of the bus, and I added to the cacophony when I got a facetime call from friends in Hawaii. I adore these NYC moments, where grief, kindness, exasperation, and levity collide and I realize that I want to share more of them, because as they say, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.