Prospect Park, Part 2 (May 1998)

Once there was a slide. Lots of big kids played on it. Jolee wanted to
play too. Nothing could stop her. Not even when she grabbed the bar
above the slide, swung out of her father's reach and let go, landing a
foot down the slide, banging her head and shooting down to the ground,
fast, and landing at the feet of Melanie and Kate who watched wide-eyed
at poor Jolee, lying on her back on the playground. Before Melanie could
bend down to pick her up, Jolee was up and running back to the slide, as
if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. (If you look at both her
parents' records as children, well, nothing out of the ordinary HAD
happened).

Later, Jolee won a battle of wills as she sat at the top of the slide as
a girl much older than her tried climbing up the slide. The standoff
lasted for a good thirty seconds, the older girl staring Jolee down as
my little angel sat at the top of the slide and pointed at her, saying
"No! Down! NO!" Finally, the little girl's mother rescued her and Jolee
descended, triumphant.

Stay tuned for pictures!


from Chris:

5/19/98

Bill -

I'm taking time I don't have (all right, I always say things like that);
I didn't get my portfolio done on time, and my interview (really the last
chance) is Thursday. Yes, I'm taking the day off to work on it. But I
had to write.

I enjoyed your postings tremendously, not least of which was that I can
visualize so much of the places you describe. Jolee must be having the
royal experience these days.

I don't know if I've told you this in so many words, but one of the
things I have appreciated so much since visiting you has been the fact
that I can now powerfully connect to any references to or depictions of
New York in TV, film, literature, music, news, etc. It's been amazing to
me, and I am constantly grateful to you and Melanie for that. (I'm sure
you can understand, just for example, how useful this has been to me in
my job.) Your letters today had me seeing the Railway, the Sound,
Prospect Park, etc., and I was right there with you.

Just a question -- and PLEASE don't tell Melanie that I'm remotely
questioning New York geography -- but why did you have to start at Penn
Station to get on the LIRR? Isn't Penn in Manhattan? Don't all the LIRR
lines link up at the main junction in Brooklyn? Help me understand!

Another thing you may be interested in thinking about. Have you seen the
commercials for Kodak (or whatever film company it is) where people have
problems with their irreplaceable pictures being developed and they
scream out in agony? There's the one where the old woman has always
wanted to get a picture of herself in front of the Eifel Tower, and when
she finally goes there, the picture comes back with her head cut in half.
Anyway, I'm almost certain that commercial was shot in Bay Ridge or very
close by. The establishing shot looks EXACTLY like that old commercial
street a block away from your apartment (very atmospheric, you know,
which is why all those parades are run there, I'm sure), and I'm
convinced that's the Narrows Bridge in the background. Let me know what
you all think.

Enjoy all your travels. And start saving up -- Jolee may want her own
boat soon!

Affectionately yours (I've always wanted to say that),

Chris