The Fountain of Peace

I don't know if I'm going to get credit for this because my place is not in a different neighborhood, but it's a place I love, so I'm going to write about it.

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This place is my favorite spot in the city that I've found so far. It's not some secluded, hidden grotto, buried deep within a random neighborhood in New York City. It's right in plain sight and is probably one of the most common places you can find, but for me, there's something very uncommon about it.

It's the middle of the day and the fountain on 59th and 5th is buzzing with tourists taking pictures, businessmen on their BlackBerrys walking to and from the Plaza Hotel, and other workers who come here to eat lunch or smoke a cigarette on their breaks. I usually come to this place at night, when there aren't many others here, so it's odd to experience during the day, however I still find the same comfort that emanates from the fountain. The cascading droplets produce a constant flow of ambience which sends peace splashing through my consciousness and sends soothing rippling through my body. When I am here, the shrieking sirens and blasting horns of the streets are suppressed. The bits of pedestrian's conversations mingle with the breeze so it seems the world is whispering in my ear. The wind takes minuscule water particles from the fountain through the air which filters out and purifies the smells of the city, for a sense of serene nature, aside from the occasional contamination of perfumes and cologne of the people who walk by.

If I stand up and walk around to the back side of the fountain, there's an entirely new aspect to this little haven of mine. There's a cluster of trees that provides shade and yet another layer of soothing for me: the rustling of the leaves. This place reminds me of home. If I close my eyes, I can be 300 miles away, standing by a river in the woods of the Adirondack Mountains with the wind blowing through the forest, until somewhere an angry taxi honks to bring me back to reality. Or if I look up through the branches and leaves towards the sun, and tilt my head just right, for a split second I can trick myself into thinking I'm standing in my back yard with my dogs until the wind shifts, and I see the skyscrapers through the leaves. Looking down, instead of Moxie and Sadie at my feet, there are pigeons pecking at cigarette butts.

The flashes of home and this feeling of calmness and harmony that comes over me when I come to this place is a pacifying and alleviating experience like none I've ever felt. I feel so comfortable when I'm here, as if all of my thoughts and worries seamlessly melt away and I'm left with a clear mind and simply, me. The stress goes away and I can just look around, feel the universe around me, and not worry about anything.

I wonder if the hundreds of different people who walk through here every day experience it the same way I do; if when they pass through on their way to somewhere else, they feel a brief sense of harmony and wonder what just happened to them. I guess all that really matters is that I can come here and feel comfortable with myself. I feel down to my core that this place will always harbor a sense of solace for me, and even though I am nervous about the future, I relish in the idea of having this little piece of serenity that I can come to whenever I need to escape from the world, wonder about things that don't matter, and daydream.

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Sorry if this isn't what you had in mind...