Not Sure This is What Judy Garland Had In Mind

Easter morning in New York City was gorgeous .  A real spring day.  No need for heavy jackets or coats.  We had a plan and I was pretty glad we didn't need extra clothes to weigh us down.  No, no, no,  keep your mind out of the gutter.  A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I couldn't wait to do all the New Yorky things I had read about over the years and on Easter, one such of those events takes place - The Easter Parade.

It has been memorialized in its very own movie, starring Judy Garland and Fred Astaire.  The parade is an informal event, I don't think it is organized by any particular group.  It seems to have started sometime in the late 1800s as sort of a fashion show.  Women showing off their new spring hats and fashions after church on Easter Sunday.  It has evolved since then.  It takes places on 5th avenue between 57th and 49th streets.  They close off the street and crowds of people show up.  It was high of my list of to-dos when we moved here, so I got Chizz up and off we went. 

It is not too hard to walk to the parade route from our apartment.  We just cut through the park and since it was such a beautiful day, we weren't the only ones with that idea.  Most of the cherry blossoms have bloomed and went in NYC but there are a few left and they are beautiful.  We noticed quite a few families enjoying the weather.  Breakfast picnics, games of ball and some kite flying.  I don't know why, but kite flying always reminds me of spring.

It seemed like the park was just filled with people.  We took a walk up to the boat pond in Central park and there was a group of dancers there.  Wasn't quite sure what this was about.  Watching groups perform is a fine art.  If you watch for a few minutes and walk away, no problem.  But if you stay for the whole performance and they pass the hat, you really should contribute something.  Sometimes you can time it just right, you get there right after they start, watch for a few minutes and then move on.  Sometimes the timing is off and you show up for the end of their number and they pass the hat.  I always feel guilty if I skulk off without contributing. 

At the boat pond, people show up to race their models.  I am not sure if it is an organized event or if you can just show up and put your boat in the water.  I am told that while there are children that participate and you can rent a boat to try it out, there are lots of adults who spend countless hours buildling then racing their boats on the pond.  It seemed that there was some kind of race going on the day we were there because there were quite a few sail boats.   The best thing at the model boat pond that day was this golden retriever.  Somehow his tennis ball got into the pond, not sure if it was owner error or what.  But that dog was
straining at the leash trying to get to the ball in the pond.  I am certain that is frowned upon, dogs in the pond, so the owner was struggling to keep the dog out of the pond while her husband figured out how to get the ball out.  They finally found a branch or stick long enough to reach the ball and everyone managed to stay out of the pond.  But it was touch and go there for a minute.  If you look really closely in the photo, you can see the ball in the lower left corner. 

So we finally meandered through the park and worked our way up to 57th/5th.   The parade is less a parade but rather a group of people who wander through the cordoned off area in their hats posing for photos.  As you will see from the photos, there were a variety of different kinds of hats. 

Some had a distinct Easter theme: 

Notice the peeps and easter grass. 

Peep bunnies and large bunny hat!

Some just celebrated Spring in their own special ways:

Some in ways that are clearly against the law: 

Father and Minor Son Egg and Beer Can Hats

Or should be against the law: 





The only thing stranger than the side of this man's costume?

The back!

Some had topical "hats: 

100th anniversary of the Titanic

Whitney Houston Hat.  ????

Some I wasn't quite sure what they were trying to say

It seemed pretty apparent that every unemployed actor, singer and dance in NYC was there that day.  Most of these people clearly enjoyed, no relished, being in the spotlight.  They pranced, preened and posed all day long for photos.  Most were very theatrical.   I wonder, has anyone every been "discovered" this way? 

These guys were clearly characters from the board game, Clue.  Have I lost it?  Is there some kind of Easter significance or connection?  I am fairly certain these guys were actors.  They stayed in character the entire time.  We identified Miss Scarlett, the maid, Mrs. Peacock, Colonel Mustard and I think Professor Plum.  People lined up to have their photos taken with them, like characters at a theme park. 

Here are a few other chapeaus that we spied that day:



I just love the matter of fact look on this guy's face. Like wearing a bunny hat is an every day occurrence.  Maybe it is. 



There is really a person underneath that. 

Every parade needs a drag queen. 

Chocolate eggs!

Interesting. . .

So afterward, we ended up at Rockefeller Center.  They had some lovely topiaries, which my photos are not going to do justice.  

 We were surprised to find out the Ice Skating Rink is still open and people were there ice skating. 

And not just "any" people were there ice skating.  Look who we saw:

Now you know what the Easter bunny does on his time off!   Well, I think he deserves a little break.  He is most likely exhausted.  Especially this year.  He had an extra special delivery and I saved the best Easter bonnet for last!

My new nephew, Charlie!  Born at 1:44 a.m. Easter morning!  Congratulations Auntie K & Uncle D and Big Sister, Zabba.   And thank you, Easter Bunny!!!

Survivor

Kiki came to visit recently on her spring break.  She hadn't been to New York in a few years so she had a laundry list of things to do and see.  Quite a few of them involved food.  It is one of the ways you can tell she is my daughter.   She also likes to shop, another way.  Both of those things can be accomplished in New York easily.   She also enjoys doing some sightseeing.  I wouldn't say museums are necessarily her thing, although she will go to an exhibit if it is of particular interest to her. 

One item on her agenda was the 9/11 memorial.  It opened recently on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  We hadn't been yet.  It is always on our list but for a number of reasons yet we hadn't made it there.  When Kiki mentioned she would like to go, I offered to take her but Chizz said he thought it was time, so we went.  Although there is no charge, you must obtain timed passes for the site, either online or at a location near the memorial   Right now it is pretty easy to get the passes.  Not sure if it will stay that way for the summer tourist season.  The museum is not yet open, they are hoping for a September 2012 opening date.  There was a small line when we arrived and, not surprisingly, they have quite a bit of security - similar to an airport.  They have manage to "Disney-fy" the line, meaning there are so many twists and turns you aren't exactly sure where you are in line or how close you are to the front until you are there.

The first thing that struck me is that there is still quite a bit of construction going on, it is loud.  you hear jackhammers, and hammering and associated sounds.  The second thing that struck me is that there were a number of very young children there.  We saw a Boy Scout group that included some Cub Scouts, who looked pretty young - first or second grade maybe.  I  just don't think I would have brought my kids to something like this so young, even given our situation.  How do you explain it to them? 

The memorial itself are two inverted waterfall type fountains laid out in the original footprint of the two World Trade Center buildings.  Surrounding each fountain is a continuous ledge

or platform inscribed with the names of the people who died in each tower, plus those in the planes, plus those at the pentagon, plus those in the first World Trade Center attack in 1993.  It is a powerful presentation.  One I can't really capture in photos.  It was hard to get a photo of the entire site or both fountains in one shot.  This shot captures the plaza in between the two fountains, off camera to the far left of the photo is the North Tower Memorial, to the far right the South Tower Memorial.   People walk around the ledges and read the names.  There are apps for your cell phone so you can find out where on the memorial a name is located.  There are also kiosks located at the site that perform the same function.  It is overwhelming looking at the names.  The names are grouped by building and then together in affiliation, like all employees of certain companies are together unless their families requested their names be in a different locations.  My understanding is that husbands and wives, if requested, were placed next to each other as well as other family members. 

The fountains are beautiful and in a way mesmorizing.  Kiki & I watched the water for some time and it almost appears that it is moving upward as opposed to falling. 

We walked around the edge of the South Tower memorial and found the employees from Chizz's company.  We found the name of his supervisor in the meeting with him that morning and the name of the woman he walked with down 30 flights of stairs.  She decided to take the elevator down the rest of the way and went to the elevator bank at the 78th (?) floor.  This was shortly before the second plane hit the tower. She didn't make

 it out.  I was taken by the number of names that included "and her unborn child".  Victims I hadn't thought about before.  It shows how young many of the people were that were killed.  In the prime of their lives, having chidren, starting careers.  One of Chizz's colleagues currently is a young man who lost both of his parents that day. He was 12 or 13.    And now he is working at a company whose history is as connected to 9/11 as his own.  We noticed a few people that left flowers but not many other remembrances.  There isn't a place for things like photos and teddy bears and other symbols that people often leave.  I am glad in a way.  It makes it a more somber remembrance.  There is a place for those other things but here I think it is good to keep it a little more reserved. 

 

Some names are touched so often, the etching is a little brighter from the number of hands that have touched it.  Most of these names are those of the heros from the various planes, whose stories we have all heard.  These men are the connection to 9/11 for those who didn't lose a member of their family or a friend or an acquaintance.  It gives everyone a personal association. 

One of the most spectacular images at the 9/11 memorial was the "Survivor Tree".  The tree is a pear tree that was found during the rescue and cleanup effort in the days following 9/11.  It was badly burned and scarred.  The tree was taken to a nursery in the Bronx where it was nursed back to health.  I read an article that quoted someone from the nursery indicating that it was touch and go but once it got leaves on it again that following spring, they were pretty sure it would survive.  It has become symbolic.  And when we were there it was in full bloom.  There have been story after story about what the tree represents and how it can serve as a reminder of all we have been through, how we can bounce back, how we should never forget.  I don't need those reminders, I have my own symbol and living here in New York City,  I am reminded at least weekly, if not daily, of the joy and beauty of survival.