a literary tale

One of my main goals, as I have mentioned before, has been to get a Brooklyn Public Library card.

To obtain a card, a piece of mail with my name and address was necessary.  Being that it has only been in this month that I officially have one of those (in Brooklyn) I have accomplished this goal.

 A letter from home was all that was needed.

There are dozens of branches all over the borough.  One is right down the street on my walk to the train.  Being that it rather small I wanted to check out what the Central branch had to offer.  Last Tuesday I had free so I decided to make the trek to visit the library.

 Nothing beats the front stoop in the morning sunlight.

 The trees are going crazy with their new leaves.

 After passing through Bed-Stuy I found myself in the Clinton Hill neighborhood near Pratt - a design school.

 There was love welcoming all on the other side of their gates.

 The sidewalks had love to share as well.

 I enjoyed the wide sidewalks and front walks.

 I really love taking in all the green space people design with such small nooks and crannies.  Roses are very popular and prolific all over.  I think they do well amongst the buildings because the temperatures stay fairly even.

 Central was right off of Prospect Park - which I did not venture into.  The building was really large and I found a few titles to check out.  The entry is very large and open - it even has a little cafe - but the actual stacks were on the far corners of the library and divided up by subjects. It was a bit confusing to find things via call number until I located all the different rooms - which are on different floors.  I think in the future I will probably just request titles and pick them up from my local branch. 

 On the way home I had to duck into Clementine Bakery for a sweet eat.  I had discovered this vegan shop via google when I first arrived in Brooklyn a month ago and it has been on my list of places to check out.  I'm sold.  Any place that piles the walnuts on their carrot muffins like they do is a winner in my book!  They also carried some gluten-free items.  The sweet counter girl told me that on the weekends they have cinnamon rolls and that is where it is at.  Though I think I'll save my next visit for after I get a bicycle - they afternoon's walking totaled near ten miles and my legs were wore out.

I couldn't help but be enchanted by this little community garden.  If you look to the right you will notice a big pipe leading into their rain barrel.  I had to snap a photo for mom.

Sure city life isn't all gardens, trees and roses.  There are lots of less than beautiful things - one of my favorite subway-waiting activities is a riveting game of "find the sewer rat".  But at the end of the day I try to find the love and beauty in every situation.  Those are the things I bring to the field barn.  Not every day is peachy.  I've been though some frantic and anxious moments in the past few weeks but I choose to compost and solidify them into the beauty that comes from them decomposing into my heart.  With the right amount a tending rotting helps to grow some pretty amazing next season crops.  I truly believe that the present is extraordinary and am constantly reminding myself to soak it up.

In fact I remind myself of this every morning.  Generally, I wake up on the wrong side of the bed.  I have noticed that I tend to be really angry in the morning.  This is a recent discovery.  In the past five years of my life I have had Stella to wake me up.  As annoying as having to get out of bed can be for me, having her to cuddle with or nudge awake with that cold wet nose usually does the trick to snap my mind into more pleasant thoughts.  These days - sans Stella - I try every morning to realign my thoughts into love.  It really helps that every morning my mom sends me a text wishing me a good morning and telling me that she loves me.  She is my constant cheerleader.  Every afternoon she chats with me as a I walk home from the train.  I just had to let everyone know how amazing she is and that I didn't get her a mother's day card because there are no cards that can express just what she means to me.  To all you moms - keep up the amazing work.  You are incredible in every way.