Seeing the sculpture through the trees

I can't flip the photo for some reason, so please tilt your head

When I was recently walking through one of the busiest intersections of Manhattan—the corner of 60 Street and Fifth Avenue—I did something few New Yorkers usually do:  I stopped to take a look around me, instead of rushing blindly to my next appointment. There, right near the southern entrance to Central Park, stood a giant, colorful metal sculpture. It reminded me of a monster ribbon.

It was a happy sight. Tourists were taking pictures of it, kids were crawling over, under and on top of it and I was smiling at it. I couldn’t find any information about the piece, even when I Googled it, but that doesn’t matter. It’s delightful.

I decided right then and there that I have to spend more time looking at my own city. Too often, we are so swept up in our day-to-day lives that we can’t see the sculpture through the trees, so to speak.

Parisians rush past the Eiffel Tower and The Seine; Londoners don’t give a moment’s notice to Big Ben and Venetians don’t marvel at their canals.  The Empire State Building is just another building when I’m walking past it.

And what about all the lesser know, but not less captivating, pieces of my city? How often do I take it all for granted?

I love my home.  It’s helped shaped me into the FOF woman I am. It deserves more than a passing glance.

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0 Responses to “Seeing the sculpture through the trees”

  1. Diane Ledford says:

    It’s not just in NYC. We walk past beauty (whimsy) every day whether it’s an artwork of more often, I think, nature (in our own backyard). We (I) just need to slow down and enjoy this life with which we’re blessed.

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  2. Toby Wollin says:

    The first time I took my husband to NYC (he grew up in Florida and went to college in Utah – the canyons of NY were terra incognita to him), we were walking up Fifth Ave. when all of a sudden, he stopped me and pointed up the street. As we looked, I realized something that I’m sure people who walk in New York all the time do not realize: New York City is not flat. No matter how much concrete gets put down, or how tall the buildings are, the basic topography of Manhattan Island goes up and down a lot. So, as we looked up Fifth Avenue, what we saw were these waves of people, with the tops of their heads actually much higher than we were – they were certainly getting a really good workout.

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