If You Know You're Loved, Be Secure, Paradise is Love to Be Sure

As we all resurface back into society, the question becomes, how will our big cities bounce back.  They must all undergo a drastic rebound, or change entirely, which is even more exciting.  As I contemplated this with a friend I thought about Spring, the season, how there is a miraculous transformation each year.  But for our cities, it's more like Spring after a major fire burnt everything to the ground, 'cept for a few trees left standing.  New growth must spurt, the usual annuals will not automatically sprout up.  Brooklyn is constantly changing but much of it's charm was in the lived in look of it all, crooked floors and worn out store fronts, the places and fixtures that managed to survive and not change for decades.  Yes, in the past people have moved in and out of those same spaces, but not as quickly. Everything about the borough felt undisturbed from it's natural chaotic rhythms until now.  Seeing so many empty spaces in areas that were vibrant, does leave you understanding how much has changed.  

It's interesting to consider just what makes Brooklyn, Brooklyn.  The people play a major role and they are out there en mass again, but changed.  There is a slew of horrendous crimes happening on the streets in daytime hours with great consistency.  Shootouts in broad daylight, killing of children, very young gun wielding kids maiming innocent bystanders, racist attacks, mothers are....I can't even say what we're reading, it's too heartbreaking.  Subway attacks, pushing riders off platforms, muggings are back. Drivers are hitting people on purpose, a bus driver with passengers drove right into a house in a rage, cars are treating traffic lights like a suggestion.  Trucks are bullying bike lanes in a way that tells me, safety is now a much bigger issue.  These are more in number and more in frequency to where it's the top 5 stories every day on my homepage.  Walking outside, you see it, some people are ready to pop off in a violent, scary way.  So city dwellers  are not only suffering the scars of the past year but also very cautious about what lurks out in the world for us now.  For me, it's too soon to feel celebratory, or even to fully assess the damage because it's still happening.  I'm sure portions of this exist in every town.

But we do celebrate, as best we can, quietly in our apartment with laughter, music, movies and story telling. And of course, food.  A pack of thin flatbread proved an excellent buy.  Broccoli, mushrooms, onion and sausage topped these cheap vessels for a quick hand held lunch. 

For breakfast potatoes, poached eggs and bacon eaten with coffee and conversation.