proud black geek

I’m listening to NPR right now and they’re talking about Comic-Con—the “safe space” it creates for comic book lovers who, as children and teens, were ostracized as nerds and geeks. Last week a Facebook friend posted this graphic, which addressed the same issue, and then there was a photo of President Obama with Nichelle Nichols [...]

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making waves

…brave as winter roses… I’ve been writing down bits of verse lately. Last month I went to the garden and saw a bright yellow rose named Obedience. That’s a haiku waiting to happen, right? But I couldn’t settle long enough to compose anything. Today in the garden I was contemplating the soft jade moss that [...]

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signs

I believe in signs. On Saturday as I walked past the library I noticed that someone had placed a rock on top of a tree trunk. I’d never noticed the trunk before, and couldn’t remember what the tree had looked like or just when it was cut down. Walking down that corridor—Flatbush Avenue, with Prospect [...]

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when the sun doesn’t shine

You can actually see things more clearly.  A rainy day is the best time to visit the garden; I went yesterday afternoon and only saw two other people (who didn’t make eye contact).  When it rains, you can dip the brim of your umbrella and disappear, see the world without it seeing you.  I was [...]

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signs of spring

Since I can’t take a picture of how easily distracted I am and prone to procrastinate…

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under the weather

Sometimes there’s beauty buried beneath disaster.  NYC has been digging out from a difficult blizzard; people lost their lives, thousands were inconvenienced, and now there are allegations that the sanitation workers deliberately “slowed” their removal of the snow just to send a message to the mayor.  I pray that’s not true…but until the investigation is [...]

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bark

I was heading to the library yesterday and thought I’d save time by walking up Flatbush instead of meandering through the garden.  And then I thought, “What’s the rush?”  The garden’s free in the wintertime, and it’s also usually empty, which is the best part.  Everything slows down when I pass through the black iron [...]

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birthday blooms

It didn’t feel like fall today, and I was feeling a little under the weather despite the sunshine so had a very low-key birthday.  The garden was full of blooming things–clematis, roses, and even rogue rhododendron: Came home and took my annual birthday portrait before enjoying some cake (minus the icing) and Indian food.  Tonight’s [...]

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autumn daze

This is my favorite season.  My birthday is in a few days, and I’ve always felt that I’m made of the colors of autumn.  When the season starts to change, I start to dream.  Last week I was walking through the rose garden when I suddenly heard this exchange between a teenage girl and her [...]

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Drawn in Brooklyn ~ Part 1

I almost stayed home today, but the whistling wind drew me out…to my surprise, many of the roses in the garden survived last week’s freak hailstorm and crisp leaves had been swept into perfect piles just waiting for my feet; teens were busy harvesting their crop in the children’s garden, and a boy in a [...]

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