Mom left money to get hummus from Sahadi’s and a little extra if I want something, motivation to get out of the house before I’m stuck inside again with the next surgery. Step outside, sunlight on pale face, wide eyed irises adjust the aperture, turn on to Court street into light foot traffic, a couple blocks to the crammed Community Bookstore, the always present proprietor smiles through his gray sage beard from behind his bookcluttered desk, think he recognizes me, used to come in with mom and look at the bright primary colored plastic toys in the back, legos, power rangers, super soakers,  but not so kid friendly in here anymore as the stacks of books are overflowing from the shelves into aisles stacked high, mom said it got out of control after his wife died and now it’s like the Collyer brothers’ house. Careful not to brush the wrong book or a stack might collapse, windows blocked and no room to sit, not looking for anything but the feeling of walking through the eclectic collection, information overwhelming like an analog internet, physical weight of the pages from all the authors who ever wrote, some accumulating cobwebs and dust, can only stay in here for so long. Back out into the light and cross the street to BookCourt, stark contrast, curated and organized by genre, not crowded during the workday, can pick a book and sit in a comfy couch under their skylight reading room where local authors read excerpts from their latest, good local interest section to give readers a sense of place, easy here because of the history and authors who have lived nearby, grab Lethem’s new book The Ecstasy of Influence and sit down, nice to finally be able to concentrate without stomach distractions, flip pages to the titular piece, starts with a quote from John Donne: All mankind is of one author, and is one volume…

Peruse on comfy old couch, then put it back on the shelf, no pressure to purchase, walk out and past the intersection of Atlantic and Court streets, plaque with General George Washington atop his horse, inscription:

Near this place during the Revolutionary War stood the Ponkiesberg Fortification, from which General George Washington is said to have observed the fighting at Gowanus during the Battle of Long Island August 27 1776. 

Like “GW was here” scratch-scrawled into a wall. Continue to Sahadi’s for a snack, take a call number for candies and dried fruits in jars, “half a pound of milk chocolate maltballs and mangoes,” bitter smell of assorted olives in brine, over to the deli counter to order falafel sandwich with lettuce tomato and tahini, and a quart of hummus to take home, but feels nice to be outside, so after paying continue down Atlantic Avenue towards the river to the newly opened Brooklyn Bridge Park, used to be only sketchy shipment docks, old stories of body dumping grounds back to the days of On The Waterfront, now planting trees and making a greenspace to buttress the rising sea levels, sister says they are also using oyster reefs for extra buffer and water filtration. Walk out on a pier and sit on a bench to eat my sandwich while looking out at the harbor, bridge, skyline, statue of liberty. Wish this park had been here when I was a child, currently constructing playgrounds and laying turf for soccer fields on the next pier, Europe’s favorite sport at her entry to America, windy harbor, we’ll have to learn to pass on the ground instead of over the top run and gun which will get lost in the wind, over the net, fall in the water, hopefully brought by lapping waves back to shore.

– – –