There is a slew of attention on New York City today as we remember what happened thirteen years ago. Most people can easily tell you exactly where they were and how the news first smacked into them about the Twin Towers falling. The city lost a chunk of its strength and thousands of people sacrificed their lives that
day.
But there is a plan afoot to create something beautiful in the Lower East Side, not where the World Trade Centers stood but underground. Dan Barasch offered a
TED Talk about his plan to create a green space the size of a football field under the sidewalks of New York. It will harvest sunshine
from above the streets and channel it to bring light to trees and flowers beneath the feet of the people bustling above.
Brilliant, really. How delicious would it be to escape the frigid winter air, step down a staircase, and find yourself in a park? The reason it is even possible is that there is an abandoned trolley terminal that no one else wants.
Dan quit his job to make this crazy idea a reality.
If Dan had
suggested to create a way to bring light from one sunny place to another, no one would be kicking in funds. Who needs more light when you already have it? But to bring brightness to the dark corners of a forgotten terminal, that is worth doing.
The other day I was mad at John. There was no sunshine between us as we checked off a couple of errands. He had done something I believed merited an apology. He felt differently.
Then he came home
and started playing the piano. It was not to soften me, mind you. It was simply part of his effort to edit the songbook he has been creating of our music. But the words began to defrost my mood, and I slipped in to listen. I even sang along. These songs carry a heap of memories for us, and the affection came streaming in as if it had traveled through a long tunnel.
It felt like stepping into a park in January.
