Sundown, June 10th 2012...
I was listening to the theme song from Up, and saw a balloon floating high into the sky. It was the most beautiful coincidence to mark the end of a day spent outside in 100-degree heat. Philadelphians and some out-of-towners gathered around the fountain of Love Park like theatre-goers at an amphitheatre. Some sat higher, some sat lower, some sat with their legs dangling right in the water. One girl sat with her legs wrapped around another. She leaned in to her right to hear better what a third girl in the group was saying to her. They seemed as close as sisters. A fat man lay stretched out on his side right on the ledge of the fountain in the pose of an idyllic Greek god. He wore only a pair of shorts, showing off his golden tan and numerous stomach folds. Teenage girls hung about showing off equally their near-naked bodies and summer outfits: bikini tops and short shorts, brightly colored sundresses and floppy hats, and sheer or lacy-backed tops in sea green, hot pink, and creamsicle orange. Tattoos in black ink swirled and climbed like ivy up dark arms, legs, and backs in forms of arabesques, treble clefs, and other motifs; hopefully their symbolism will not wither with the summer's end. From my seat near the back of the amphitheatre, I saw before me the backs of everyone's heads, as they all sat facing the central spectacle, great jets of water that drew all these bodies together in this formidable heat. Above the sea of heads, above the tallest jet of water, and even above the tallest skyscraper, a tiny red balloon rose, flying solo into the clouds as the notes of that tune played merrily in my ear.
I was listening to the theme song from Up, and saw a balloon floating high into the sky. It was the most beautiful coincidence to mark the end of a day spent outside in 100-degree heat. Philadelphians and some out-of-towners gathered around the fountain of Love Park like theatre-goers at an amphitheatre. Some sat higher, some sat lower, some sat with their legs dangling right in the water. One girl sat with her legs wrapped around another. She leaned in to her right to hear better what a third girl in the group was saying to her. They seemed as close as sisters. A fat man lay stretched out on his side right on the ledge of the fountain in the pose of an idyllic Greek god. He wore only a pair of shorts, showing off his golden tan and numerous stomach folds. Teenage girls hung about showing off equally their near-naked bodies and summer outfits: bikini tops and short shorts, brightly colored sundresses and floppy hats, and sheer or lacy-backed tops in sea green, hot pink, and creamsicle orange. Tattoos in black ink swirled and climbed like ivy up dark arms, legs, and backs in forms of arabesques, treble clefs, and other motifs; hopefully their symbolism will not wither with the summer's end. From my seat near the back of the amphitheatre, I saw before me the backs of everyone's heads, as they all sat facing the central spectacle, great jets of water that drew all these bodies together in this formidable heat. Above the sea of heads, above the tallest jet of water, and even above the tallest skyscraper, a tiny red balloon rose, flying solo into the clouds as the notes of that tune played merrily in my ear.
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