Lights Go on Part XXXIII: Drive

Sunday was a lovely day here in New York City --

Lincoln Center, Central Park and the sidewalks

were full of smiling faces.

Enjoying as ever, I found myself stricken with wanderlust.

So when my assistant and close friend Katie Lawson

came by for our weekly revue,

she agreed to join me on a sojourn

to one of my favorite locations

east of the city.

A lovely surprise was in store in Old Greenwich,

which is replete with a beautifully laked park

Located just across the street from a church founded in 1665.

Our surprise was a concert in the park performed by the

Old Greenwich Community Band.

It was a joy to behold, visually as well as aurally,

and we felt for a moment as if

we had been transported back

to the 14th year

of the last

century.

As we arrived, the band was playing

"Colonel Bogey March,"

featured to perfection in the classic David Lean film

celebrating our boundless human spirit,

The Bridge On The River Kwai.

Throughout our time there in this peaceful park,

it seemed that wherever we looked,

there were smiles of contentment.

To take in the the vista of the townsfolk

out for a day of relaxation in this glorious weather

was lost on no one,

be they

participant or observer.

Katie brightened even further

(if that is possible)

when the band began to play

a medley from Les Miz,

her favorite Broadway Show.

Lucky for us,

she just couldn't contain herself,

and having studied ballet since childhood,

we were all charmed by her impromptu dance,

induced, no doubt, by her unabashed joy in the moment.

Followed,

of course,

by a

"Who me?" smile

An unexpected day of delight

brought about through simple pleasures.

Just twenty nine miles from the city I love,

in the company of a special friend,

in a place so close, yet so far away,

Old Greenwich.

Thanks to you and my Peter Pan gene,

we followed our bliss in true Joseph Campbell style.

I am grateful.

To you

To Katie

To the Band

To serendipity

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