windows with numbers

windows with numbers, originally uploaded by Chambo25.

This is one of an insane number of photos I recently took while wandering around in NYC on the Sunday before Halloween. Life has been a bit of a blur lately, but looking back through that sun-soaked Sunday afternoon of pictures has been a fun pastime for me this evening.

As I wandered that day I spent a good amount of time in Washington Square Park, surrounded by musicians of various kinds:
- A guy who played an upbeat if somewhat repetitive rhythm on a series of buckets, drums, weights, pans, pots, etc.
- There was a group of men with various kinds and sizes of brass instruments anchored by a dude with a drum kit, and occasionally they would seem to go head-to-head with the pots and pans man.
- Across the central fountain was a group headed up by a guy who bore some resemblance to Jimi Hendrix. This somewhat spaced out area was drenched in guitar licks and little else
- Further away from the heart of the park, off closer to the busy streets was a jazz quartet headed up by a trumpet-player who would occasionally play two horns simultaneously, quite the remarkable feat to witness.

Still, for me, there was a lot about that Sunday that had to do with quiet. When I lived in New York for 8 months I felt like I could never find quiet, perhaps because of the constant bustle, perhaps because I couldn't find it within myself. At the time I was actually living in Brooklyn, an area decidedly less frenetic than the section on Midtown where I was wandering this October. Still, there's something about all the human activity that can be like water when you're alone wandering through it. If you're observing, it can all start to feel like a meditation, where you settle yourself to a state of consistency, quiet, stability, and witness what is passing around you without letting it tear you away from your focus point.

I could be way out on a limb here.

Regardless, the mishmash ramshackle front of this building caught my eye, and I love the result for so many reasons. Whether it's the huge block letters of the sign printed one-letter-per-page along the top of the frame, or the taped up window panes below. I love the school buss that's reflected in lower right window of the brilliant blue door. I like the panes of stained glass, such a ceremonial feature that appears here so unceremoniously.

I'm very happy with this picture.

I hope you like it too.