On the way into the park, we stepped on De La Vega’s sidewalk art.
A man with a feather in his cap sat near the first chalk drawing, around 97th and Central Park East. H. wondered if that was the artist, Jamie De La Vega. But not all artists hang near their art. Like all bloggers do not hang near their blog.
One message on the sidewalk did not have the silly helicopter or fish image — simply words across the pavement with a message, “It will continue to get better.” That made me happy.
Chalk artists have to know the forecast.
Minutes after we arrived at H’s Little League game, a dark cloud hovered, opened up, and sent me running to the field house.
My first thought was I should not have spent that $25 to get my hair blown out. And my second thought was all that sidewalk art probably did not survive the downpour.
Art is ephemeral. Like the bubbles in George Condo’s paintings.
Life too is fleeting. This applies to My Rules Number 6 and 7.
6. Live every day as if it were your last
7. Embrace uncertainty
And yes, it will continue to get better. But there will be rain.
We were heading to the North Meadow in Central Park to watch a Little League game. The North Meadow is an oasis where white-petaled trees grow out of Ice Age rocks.
We saw these whimsical sculptures in the middle of Park Avenue.
It was hard to get a good picture from the cab window. I said to the girls, "That's New York for you. Look around you. Something new and beautiful every day."
Yup, I stepped in it, more sidewalk art by De La Vega.
On Saturday afternoon, the girls and I were heading into Central Park around 96th Street with our picnic to watch H. play Little League in the North Meadow, 23 acres of fields (thanks Wikipedia). And I saw the chalk drawing beneath my feet.
“Move, girls, I want to take a picture,” I said.
“Of what? There’s nothing,” C. said, shrugging, looking around.
“Look down. See? A little guy dragging a vase.” No, that may be wrong. That might not be the image. Maybe the little guy wasn’t pulling the vase, but the vase was pushing the little guy. As if to say — art propels you, not drags you.
The other two times along with the little helicopter guy, De La Vega had written three words: Become Your Dream. And that was an apt message for me — because the first time, around New Year’s Day, I had been wondering, “What are my three words for the New Year?” And there they were, resting on a pile of trash. Become. Your. Dream. Three excellent words to guide me in 2011. https://mbcoudal.wordpress.com/2011/01/03/my-3-words/
And then almost exactly two months later, I saw his sidewalk art when I was coming from picking up my number for the 5K Coogan’s fun run at the New York Road Runners office. I took the words — Become your dream — as a sign. I should set goals for myself, like running a 5K, and then achieve them. https://mbcoudal.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/become-your-dream-part-ii/
When I saw the words on Saturday, it was almost exactly two months after seeeing them on the night I picked up my race number.
I was again committed to a goal. The next day I was going to ride in the 5 boro bike tour. I was going to pedal 50 miles, go over 5 bridges and visit every borough in one morning. http://runningaground.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/5-boro-bike-tour/ And yes, I did it.
The girls and I only stopped for a minute to notice the sidewalk art and for me to snap this picture with my phone. We walked on to meet our friends in Central Park and to watch our team, the Giants, play baseball. They lost, but not by much. There’s still time left in this season for the Giants to become their dream.
I did it. Along with more than 30,000 other bicyclists. The 5 boro bike tour. I can cross it off my bucket list.
I started around 8 am in Manhattan right before Central Park South. (I’d heard the beginning of the tour at Battery Park was a zoo so skipped to the Park.) I finished 45 miles and four hours later in Staten Island.
After a while, all the bridges and boros (boroughs) looked the same. Was I in Brooklyn or Queens? I knew it wasn’t the Bronx because that leg of the tour was brief.
Occasionally a family would be picnicking on their front steps, cheering us on. That felt good. I’d yell to them, “Thanks! We love Brooklyn.” Then I’d wonder, ‘Are we in Brooklyn? Or do I love Queens?’
Although I ride my bike almost every day to work, I’m not a spandex-wearing hottie. In fact, I only just bought bike shorts for the tour. (Still, my tush is a little sore today!)
I usually use my bike just to get someplace. Yesterday, my bike got me to every boro and then at the end, I got to the NYU Hospital. Not for a problem though. It was a celebration for all kids who have had heart problems called the Mend-A-Heart party. My kids love this annual party. And my son is so proud, “Look because of my heart problems, you get to go to this great party!” Yay for broken hearts that are repaired!
Back to the tour — my new bike rocked. It’s a hybrid, not a racing back like most of the bikes on the tour.
I think this was Brooklyn
I was glad I had a basket to throw my banana peels and health bar wrappers into. Also, I could peel off layers of clothing as the sun and exertion warmed me. Occasionally after hitting a pothole, I had to pat down the contents of my basket while riding so my water bottle wouldn’t go flying.
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
Of the 5 bridges you cross on the 5 boro bike tour, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at Mile 35 was the deadliest. It just kept climbing for miles and miles and miles. At several points going up, I had a mirage that there — just ahead — it was about to go downhill. But no. It was completely uphill the whole way. Okay, maybe the last two minutes I hit some down hill.
I was thinking that whole way up — what goes up must come down. Then just when I felt like giving up, I was inspired by my friend P’s text, “Stay strong,” she wrote. “Free massages at the end.”
But I didn’t need one of those free massages, I just needed to lay down in the green grass of Staten Island. Really exhausted and really proud.
Here are some take-aways from two of the workplace learning sessions at Monday’s ASTD (which we kept calling STD, as we giggled. I know, I know, we’re silly). It stands for the American Society of Training & Development.
Incidentally, on making acronyms funny — during the Royal Wedding-palooza yesterday, a Twitter trend was QILF (think about it….. okay, I’ll tell you…. It’s like MILF.)
Go Social!
Consider setting up a company Wikipedia. Thomas Stone from element k said even the CIA has a wiki called Intelli-pedia. This got me thinking — maybe my family needs a wiki — a Coudal-ipedia!
And I learned from Wikipedia, (the mother wiki of them all), a wiki is a collaborative type document where writers can edit and add to each other’s work. Also, it says wiki is a Hawaiian word which means fast. I love the way Hawaiians have contributed to this country and our language. Mahalo, Hawaii.
Stone gave a workshop on how social and mobile learning are changing the way we train one another informally and formally. Like some companies are offering sexual harassment workshops on handheld devices and tablets. People finish their workshops much faster and on their own time when learning is offered through mobile devices and social networks.
I think we shouldn’t said call our workplace workshops training but workplace learning or leading.
Trust!
Robert Whipple gave a presentation, “Thrive, Even in Draconian Times: Improve Trust and Transparency.” Bob said that customers really need transparency and trust. He said the need for corporate trust was even higher than the need for product satisfaction. Trust has taken a nosedive. People lack trust in bureaucracies, systems and agencies.
This photo has nothing to do with this post. But I took it when I visited Chautauqua. Front porches are lovely.
But not just corporately, this session helped me see how I need more trust personally. I need to be compassionate and trusting at work. This should be obvious, but somehow when we move into hyper-speed modes to get our work done, we forget to be human. Or we forget to lead from the heart as well as the head.
Bob said if you want more trust, you have to give more trust. That was one of those Aha moments!
And we did an exercise in trust at each of our tables, all 100 of us in the Marriott ballroom. How does a high level of trust or a low level trust impact our problem solving, focus, communication, customer retention, morale, and productivity in the workplace? We discovered — aha! — a high level of trust serves our corporation!
It was a great day… Especially because I was with my work peeps who I trust completely: Emily Miller, Margaret Wilbur, Julia Tulloch, and Marisa Villarreal.
The annual conference was held in Albany, the Hudson-Mohawk chapter of the http://hmastd.org/
There are so many flowering trees on my path. I don't think Riverside Park has ever looked prettier. I was down, but nature lifted me up.
The gardens are bursting. It's possible to believe the flowers have feelings and they feel joy in the sunshine.
Sometimes when I am on my bike, I am annoyed by the dogs that run wild off their leashes in the park. But they are, in their way, beautiful too. And dog walkers in the the parks have made the parks safer. So live and let live.
And just because this is my blog and I can post whatever I want. I posted this before, but it bears repeating -- a few weekends ago in Washington DC when the Cherry Blossoms bloomed, my sister and I went out to breakfast. Just the two of us -- without our 6 kids. I ate this waffle. The strawberry was cut like a rose.
When I posted on this fitness blog that I wanted to lose 5 to 10 pounds, I got a huge number of readers — more than 60. The number of readers inspired me. I’d hit a nerve. I planned to update regularly on the good news of my easy weight loss. Ummm… Hmmm… Not so much.
Since posting that goal, I’ve said nothing on this blog. I have nothing to report.
As someone who’s never tried to lose weight, I’ve discovered that the story of weight loss is boring. And not too fun. I am not a fan of depriving myself, even in small amounts.
I have tried to cut my portions. Like last Sunday, instead of eating a whole burrito from Chipotle, I split it with my son. I am trying to eat a little less, eat a little healthier and ride my new bike a little more. This does not make for a good story. Good stories have drama — big news, big changes, big ideas, big laughs.
Yet — small is beautiful. Take, for example, small boxes from Tiffany’s, small children in strollers, small status udpates, small acts of kindness.
I’m all for little things making a difference over the long haul. I’d like to post some huge, big news. But all I’ve got today is this one small idea. Small is beautiful.
Producers John P. Blessington and Liz Kineke from CBS Religion and Culture Series spoke to New York’s Religion Communicators Council at lunch today in a conference room in the Mormon temple near Lincoln Center.
The two talked about their love for producing television documentaries on topic’s like this year’s line up — unemployment, the environment, immigration, and pluralism — all from a faith perspective.
Melissa Crutchfield's hands at a memorial for Sam Dixon in Haiti. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.
The two won a 2011 Wilbur award from the RCC for their documentary, “Haiti: Religion’s Response to Disaster,” which featured my colleague, Melissa Crutchfield, disaster relief exec at UMCOR, (you can hear her on Youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-TEg7om4y4). I didn’t see the Haiti documentary but I think it included the story of our beloved UMCOR colleague Sam Dixon who died after being trapped in the collapsed Hotel Montana in Port-Au-Prince.
Blessington spoke about making the decision to focus on Haiti, even though, “We knew there would be fatigue on the issue of Haiti.” The producers didn’t shoot new footage in Haiti, but relied on B-roll from Church World Service and other faith-based relief agencies.
The discussion was mostly in the form of a Q and A. I asked if the producers would consider another topic that is often seen as heated and confrontational in culture and religion — sexuality as a gift from God. I mentioned the cover story in today’s New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/us/19gays.html about the struggle of evangelical college students to affirm their sexuality identity.
But Blessington said they couldn’t cover that. Any television show on sexuality and religion would irritate too many viewers he said. Hmmmmm..
That’s too bad since their documentaries seems in-depth and compassionate. And on compassion, Blessington mentioned that he loves the Charter for Compassion. And who doesn’t? How can you not love a charter that overleaps religious differences to unite the world through the golden rule? http://charterforcompassion.org
The CBS Religion and Culture series website is pretty lame, but they’re working on it. You can check out when their documentaries will be released and in which local markets at: http://www.interfaithbroadcasting.com/rc.aspx
As always, the couple of dozen religious communicators in attendance were pretty interesting people — Christian Scientist, Mormon, Jewish, Catholic. I chatted with a guy who is producing events called Laugh Out Loud to end bullying through laughter.
So the luncheon started with a discussion on Haiti and religion, and ended with laughter and bullying. And that’s my report from this month’s RCC luncheon.
Last night I volunteered at the women’s shelter at St. Paul and St. Andrew’s. I sat around with six volunteers and my family of five (whom I’d made come to drop off the homemade cookies). My husband and son cut out as soon as we finished our job of setting the table with plasticware and my son was assured he’d get community service credit for the help.
The girls wanted to leave too, but I told them, “Stay until the women arrive.”
I was sitting by the door when the six or so women arrived. I jumped to my feet and greeted them. “Hi! Welcome! Good to see you!”
One women looked confused and indignant, “Do I know you?”
“No,” I said. “I’m just being friendly.” I was embarrassed. Behind the woman’s back, one of my daughters, C., lifted her eyebrows at me protectively. I rolled my eyes, shrugged. Maybe, at times, I can be too friendly. Maybe she didn’t want friendliness, she just came for dinner and shelter. I didn’t mind.
I chatted with a woman who sat beside us. I complimented her on her camouflage-patterned rubber rain boots. We chatted about the ease of slipping on rain boots and all the pretty patterns they come in nowadays. One of my daughters has a pretty pair.
The food was ready and one of the volunteers suggested, “Please help yourself.”
I suggested, “How about a quick grace first?” Then I asked my boot-wearing friend to lead us in prayer. She stood up in the center of the room and blessed the food. I think that’s what she did, I couldn’t hear her too well and she mumbled. It was a short prayer and heartfelt — my favorite kinds.
The girls and I left before dinner. As we said good bye, the Do-I-know-you-woman gave me and the girls a big smile — a huge silly giggly smile — like a kid who’s made a new best friend. We smiled equally wide back at her.
I said good bye to another woman one who was smoking on the front steps. “I’ll come right in after I finish this cigarette,” she said. “Thanks for volunteering.”
“No problem,” I said. And for some reason, she reminded me of my mother. We hopped in a cab and came home.
I don’t know which of my rules this experience relates to. Maybe to the rule about Expect the Best, Love What you Bet. Even from your overly friendly self.
100 Days of Poems and Pics 