Prospect: A Year in the Park

Apres le deluge, moi

You know how it is after days of rain: You probably shouldn't come out yet, but you just need a good stretch.

This wormie on the Parade Grounds was fully the length of my size-10 ladies' sneaker, even while not fully extended, which means that if he grows at all, he will need to shop at the Big'n'Tall Worms Shop. I placed him considerately on some grass, where he had a better chance of rethinking his asphalt compulsion and making a meal for one of the countless yodeling robins nearby.

It was one of those Prospect Park walks that coalesced around no particular theme other than random cool stuff, starting with this school project abandoned inside one of the little colonnaded shelters at the Park Circle. You could really see the logic ticking: I got my grade, what'm I gonna do with this thing anyway, and my buddies want to go play. Screw it. But...it's cool enough that I'll prop it here for display. I can't quite figure out the theme of the diorama; it may be a cross between a farm and an ampitheatre.



This magnolia was the cover girl for my calendar last year; here it is looking east instead of west, with a haze of spring green in the distance. Yesterday's beating rain was brutal on petals.

But it was even harder on this old willow. The damage was so fresh that you could smell the sap in the torn trunk.  An egret hung out on the fallen branches.

Right next to the real lake, a duck enjoyed the privacy of his own boutique lake in this vast puddle.

It's Park-Calendar-Buying Weekend!

Are you still running around shopping, especially for those folks who are notoriously difficult to buy for? (You know, the ones who "don't need anything," and the ones who need everything but you can't fathom what flavor or color or size.) Why not get them a limited-edition piece of pure Brooklyn to enjoy all through 2009? The lovely, full-color Prospect: A Year in the Park calendar features 12 months of the most lush and evocative images from my adventures on the blog. I took the photos, designed it, and had it printed right here in Brooklyn, and those of you who've already ordered and received it seem to love it [blush]. It would be perfect for teachers, clients, boss, colleagues, and definitely those Brooklynites in the diaspora out of town.

You can order with absurdly convenient PayPal ordering here; I ship the day you order and they've been arriving overnight. Or, to save postage and handling, you can now buy your calendar at its exclusive Park Slope retailer: Lion in the Sun, the spiffy  "paperie" at 232 Seventh Avenue (corner of Fourth St.) Have you ever been in there? It's a delightful shop; their stuff is exquisite and creative (they even have genuinely beautiful and unusual Christmas cards),  and I am delighted that my blog-baby will be flying off their gorgeously stocked shelves this week. (The ladies who run the store, by the way, are also smart and courteous, which makes for an unexpectedly pleasant shopping experience this frantic week before Christmas.) "Lion" is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and until 6 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Let it snow!

Here comes my baby...

...she knows how to rock 'n 'roll! The 2009 Prospect: A Year in the Park Calendar is now at the printers, and in just over a week I should be busy in Santa's Flatbush Workshop sending them out to you, dear readers. To order, go here. May I brag? It's going to be really lovely...12 of the most delightful "only in the park" shots I've taken since I began this adventure, and a nice, clean design on which to jot all your life-stuff for next year, plus cool background on the park. (Even a reminder of Frederick Law Olmsted's birthday!) This is a quality joint (full-color bleeds, saddle-stitched not spiral bound, glossy stock, etc.) and will make a great present for anyone who loves the park and Brooklyn.

(It may also the first Major Gift Item to arise from the Brooklyn blogosphere, but I'll bet it won't be the last!)

The price is $15 plus first-class mail ($2.50). It's being printed right here in Brooklyn, U.S.A., by the way, in a limited edition, so order early.

When I started this blog, and my quest to visit the park every day, I never thought of designing a calendar. The idea just grew on me, as the beauty and variety of images kept growing. Sifting through to choose them, I was overwhelmed by what a gift it represents to all of us here in Brooklyn. I hope this makes Prospect Park into a gift you can give to others, too. Whichever holy day, holiday or solstice you celebrate, may it be blessed. See you in the park!

(And yes, I'll be trying to get there every day right up to New Year's Eve, although I lost a few days this week to intensive turkey prep.)

Hot day, cool calendar!

I didn't make it over to Prospect Park on this insufferably hot and humid day, because I took a table at our local street fair, the "Flatbush Frolic," to roll out the cover of the "Prospect: A Year in the Park" 2009 calendar! Lots of folks stopped by to sign up for first dibs just as soon as I get a price finalized and PayPal up and running. You can, too; just e-mail me at "brenda (at) tenthleper.us" to receive full (and very easy) ordering information within a week or so. Delivery by December 1*, just in time to send to all your out-of-town relatives who ask "Why did you move to Brooklyn?" (They'll be gobsmacked at your good judgment.)

It's going to be gorgeous...bookstore-quality, 12-month, saddle-bound, full-color, 12-month gorgeous, with shots from the blog (which ones? I can't wait to surprise you), along with some archivey goodness and Brooklyn trivia. (And dogs. Visitors to my table today were very clear about wanting dogs in there. Could there be a market for a Greenmarket Dog of the Week engagement calendar? Hmm!) 

* If you are wondering how it can be a "year" in the park if production has to start before December, (a) you are too clever for your own good, and (b) I have a few tricks up my sleeve, which may or may not involve a Tardis.

GRATUITOUS PLUG FOR SOMEONE ELSE'S COOL THING

The Brooklyn Historical Society was also at the Frolic today, hot off the presses with their latest publication, a Flatbush Neighborhood History Guide. (It's not yet up on their website to order, but surely will be soon.) Skimming it, I already found a nice tidbit combining two of my favorite things, Prospect Park and the Irish:

The presence of a large number of Irish immigrants from County Donegal attracted others to come to Flatbush in the 1930s through the 1950s. John Ridge, the Irish historian of Flatbush, described Irish families gathering on weekends in Prospect Park to picnic and play “Irish” football on a small hill in the northern section of the park that they coined “Donegal Hill.”

I've never heard of Mr. Ridge or Donegal Hill before. Maybe that is because my grandfather was from County Waterford.