It challenges the most zen of people. There is no art to look at, there is no escape for the distracted gaze. Discomfort will set in, and there is only one resolution -- to confront it.
Read MoreIkura Donburi
Picnic: PopUp White Party in Prospect Park
Not the kind of picnic we usually go on, this past weekend we dined in Prospect Park with 5,000 other New Yorkers in support of the Prospect Park Alliance at the PopUp Dinner Brooklyn. All we knew beforehand was to bring our own food, drinks, table decor, and wear all white. Tables and chairs would be provided, as would entertainment. The exact event location within Prospect Park was to be revealed the afternoon of the dinner.
Read MoreA meal at Brae
Without a car, the only way to get here was to take the 7:22am train to Birregurra from Melbourne. Walking out of the station a little after 9, the autumn air felt crisp and cool. I walked the road to Main street, my ears automatically tuning in to the distinct chirping of birds -- sounds I’m not used to hearing in the city. The scene: pastoral -- cows grazing on the fields, sparse vegetation, the air fresh.
Birregurra General Store, on Main street, is a motley gathering of locals -- elderly members of the bike club enjoying their post-ride cuppas, young parents, teenagers, crossfitters. Locally roasted Kazbah coffee, roasted by Joe, literally a couple of doors away, is excellent. I spent my time appropriately, relatively in context, reading the very engaging, very dumbed-down bestseller The Rosie Project.
And then it was time.
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