Episode 2

 

        I was feeling good, who wouldn’t, sweet watermelon, a cool breeze and birds singing to me. I decided to lay down and gaze up at the sunny blue sky and just enjoy life. I had no thoughts going through my head, well, that’s not entirely accurate. I remembered a story I was told about a time when Sunset the Park had a carousel and it was located at just about the highest point in the park.

 

        Here with the breeze blowing and all the green trees, it was easy to imagine what our park must have been like. Near the carousel there was a large “shelter” an area where folks could run to get out of a sudden shower, or just to get out of the sun for awhile. And there was a huge lake - a kettle hole left behind by the glacier that formed the 6th Avenue ridge some 14,000 years earlier.  The glacier had been pushing that wall of dirt and rocks for a hundred thousand years.  And now it reached Sunset Park and the planet began to warm.  The melting glacier left this ridge behind, giving neighborhoods names like Bay Ridge & Ridgewood.  And the rushing melting water wiped the rest of Brooklyn flat giving us neighborhoods named Flatbush and Flatlands.  But that was long ago.  Around 1895 the City of Brooklyn bought land to build a park from 5th to 7th Avenue and from 41st Street to 43rd Street.  They quickly extended it another block and created the park that I grew up with.

 

      But when the park was first opened it actually had a golf course!  Just six holes, but to play a round of golf they would repeat those 6 holes three times giving them the required 18 hole tournament.  Eventually, the golfers had to find another place to play when folks began crowding the park to have picnics, concerts and summer strolls.

 

        In 1936 an Olympic-sized pool opened in the park and it included a diving “pond” adjacent to it. As I thought about these things I recalled a story told to me by a friend Joyce. She told me how she watched the kids on the high dive and wished she had the nerve to try it. But she couldn’t bring herself to overcome her fear. And then one day, the high dive was closed for good and she knew, that now, she would never have that chance. That led Joyce to a life changing decision - she would never again fail to challenge her fears and climb that “ladder” and attempt the dive. And as an adult she has lived up to that promise. As my mind celebrated Joyce’s story and gave me inspiration I felt a feeling of great satisfaction and comfort.

 

          But my reverie was soon interrupted as a shadow fell across my face and I realized that someone was standing over me. I stared at him, and noticed he was similarly staring at me. I could see he was somewhat amused by my appearance. I sat up and as I did he knelt on one knee to bring our faces to an equal bearing. He said in a questioning voice “Goededag”. I looked at him somewhat puzzled and he then said “Hallo”, to which I responded “Oh, hello”. He smiled broadly and said “Ah, so you’re not Dutch, you’re English”. Calling me English for some reason bothered me and I quickly shot back “No, I’m American”. And he laughed, a big rolling laugh that began deep in his belly and worked up through his chest and out his mouth. He said “You Americans are a very proud sort.”

 

to be continued...