Reason #16 (Sometimes it's just all there)

Just take a moment to appreciate all that is going right in this photo.
                  Do you see the river?
                       The Walnut Street bridge?
                            The train passing beside the bike & pedestrian path?
                                 A freshly planted community garden?
                                     A brand new astro-turf dog run, complete with fire hydrants?

What you don't see is also perfect:  throngs of people smiling and laughing as their dogs bark and play, runners and bikers somehow co-existing on a narrow path, the gardeners planting next month's meal, and the crowds of walkers, bikers and runners who have stopped right next to me to take in and to photograph all that is right with Philadelphia today. And, it was 70 degrees.

So, I love Philadelphia, thanks to being in the right place at the right time.

Reason #15 (Community Gardens Part II)

"In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me

there lay an invincible summer."

~Albert Camus

This quote used to hang in my bathroom at my mom's house, hand-painted by me in bright colors on a dull sheet of craft paper.  It was a constant reminder as high school threw us curve balls,  that summer would come.  And along with it, summer camp. That's what this quote has always meant to me. 

But since then, millions of moments have brought this quote spilling into my head. Watching the community gardens die and rejuvenate as winter moves into spring are definitely some of those moments. 

Yes, I should have posted this a month ago when we were still in the throws of winter, but nevertheless, we are, as a city, bouncing back from winter into spring.






See those tulips?  The bush of kale? The new signs of a tended plot?

So, I love Philadelphia thanks again to the time and love and care of the gardeners of the community gardens.