stop and smell the tulips
A couple of days ago when the weather was particularly summery [none of this snow in May business], I was sitting outside on my fire escape. I mean let’s be real, it’s the closest thing we New Yorkers have got to a balcony, patio, backyard, etc. Am I right?
My fire escape overlooks the quiet sidewalk below, and so it’s the perfect place to cozy up and read, sometimes with a nice cup of chai on the wIndow sill. It’s also perfect because if you ever need an excuse to daydream, you’ve got the local West Village crowd right there below you. So while I was sitting there reading I couldn’t help but notice, well, what everyone else was noticing.
You see, there is a beautiful bed of orange tulips right outside my building. And without a doubt, almost everyone who passes by them stops to take a photo: man or woman, younger or older folks, on a smartphone or on a DSLR (which more people seem to be taking with them on their social distanced walks for fresh air). They all stop, get a little closer, and then take a photo. Without fail, it happens almost every time. And each time I feel a little less alone. We’re all just looking for the silver linings, the beauty, the little things that will help us get through this time.
Want to know what’s crazy? I literally can’t remember these flowers from last year. In fact, the flower beds stretch all the way down the block, not just in front of my building, and neither C nor I remember these tulips from last spring. Surely, I would have noticed the droves of people stopping to take the photos. This then got me thinking: Did we simply not notice the tulips before? There are in fact a lot of details, both in my apartment and around my neighborhood, that I’m recognizing for the first time during this slowed down time
Of course, there’s the slight possibility that the tulips are newly planted. But perhaps more importantly, prior to this quarantine, we were all moving a little too fast. So when this is all over, because yes this too shall pass, I hope that we’ll all continue to stop and smell the [tulips].
Dress: Line + Dot (via Rent the Runway)// Earrings: Mejuri (gifted)// Bracelets: Alex & Ani (right) Mejuri (gifted, left)// Rings: Khiry (right 1) David Yurman (right 2), Mejuri (gifted, left)
