"Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day" a poem by William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Though art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE


I would not take it as a compliment if an admirer compared me to a New York summer's day in August. You know that kind of humid heat that makes the insides of your elbows sweat, as you wait 15 minutes on a Saturday for the train to ooze its way up to your stop. Luckily, now I live off of a subway stop that is above ground. But summertime Washington Heights...was swamp ass city. And with this mouth... one probably would compare me to a New York summer's day.

Actually today, it was beautiful in New York, and because I had the day off, I went for a run. Believe me, it was still totally sticky and hot. But I was all in, uninhibited even by a shirt, and ready for a nature adventure. You see, when I see things growing, I see God. I literally ran into the Socrates Sculpture Park, some soft green hydrangea nodded at me, and I said "Oh hey God...so this is where you are hiding in Astoria!" Next time you meet me, ask me about the "Pink Floyd-Palm Tree-God" sighting while I was doing Yoga at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. God actually waved to me via a palm tree, that I saw upside down through my legs...while I was doing downward facing dog. That's pretty much the whole story, and it was the first of many stories of God saying "Surprise, here I am Jess!" mainly through trees. But, God has said "What's Up?!" through waves, butterflies, and today a handful of flowers.

Anyway, now that you think I'm totally a hippie granola walnut job, I'll get back to my day. So after the hydrangea and I had our moment, I walked around thrilled to be there, and admired the durable installations in the park. There was this amazing piece called the "Living Pyramid," created by Agnes Denes. Each level of the pyramid's outside edge is composed of garden boxes, and each box contains flowers and grasses. It definitely doesn't look like it was designed by a landscaper. The flowers seem to be fortuitously planted and the grasses are on a spectrum from dead to alive, and overgrown. But I loved it. I love when architecture and nature can come together, because they seem to be mutually exclusive to me, especially in a place like New York City. One thing I learned from performing and living in Northern California this summer is, that I want to eventually settle down in a place that has more trees than buildings...and more trees than people.

However, I did meet a lovely person today named Rebecca. We were both singles looking to take advantage of free kayaking on the East River today! The little beach is small and misshapen, and completely missable, had I not decided to hang a left on my run outside of the Socrates Sculpture Park. Rebecca (an only child from New Jersey with a fancy editor job in Manhattan) had been waiting as a "single rider" for awhile, until I hopped my drippy sunscreen strewn body, upfront with her in the kayak. Although, I was eager to encounter God again on the water alone, I shrugged off the hoped for inspiring alone time, and decided to enjoy the 20 minutes with Rebecca. We had a lovely chat. Though at one point, we rode up to the corner of a building along the shore to admire the amazing metal sculptures, when a ferocious unleashed guard dog surprised us with terrifyingly threatening barks. It wouldn't have been so scary, except that there wasn't a fence surrounding the building, and the dog came right up to the corner edge of the dock. Being only a few feet below the barking beast, we both screamed because we were so surprised. There were a few torturous moments when we scrambled to get our bearings, and couldn't seem to paddle ourselves away. But eventually we did, and then we laughed together.

It was truly a beautiful moment exchanged between two single women trying to chase their dreams in New York City...and play a little too.

Even though I assume Shakespeare's above poem is meant to reveal romantic admiration for a lover, I would like to dedicate this poem platonically to Rebecca in Astoria today. Thank-you for being a "single rider," who was both lovely and temperate. And when "fair from fair sometime declines," hopefully we won't be "single riders" anymore, and I will still be grateful for our life-giving adventure together today. Rebecca, I shall compare thee to this beautiful New York summer's day.


Peace, Love and Smiles,

Jess