Quicker witted, when my grandson drives I relax
He has his own way of outwitting lane burglars
Or just standing in line, being calm
In bovine-like traffic.
He often goes the ‘wrong way’ but,
Zing! We’er there already
“Relax! They’ll come and pick us up.”
Art in the Park.
And a late model, large, absolutely comfortable BMW glides to a halt.
“Come on Poppa, Hop in!”
It is getting dark, the vehicle is unfamiliar
Way off the ground
I feel like a spider putting on tights.
I’m in. Submerged in comfort.
Two young-ish women in front.
Forty-odd year olds ( I mean odd, not odd)
Gawd they get younger every year.
We purr out of the drive,
Onto the road.
Onto a bigger road.
Motorway.
It is dark, we’re moving fast, I’m losing track of where we are.
I don’t care where we are.
They are in control. And I can relax.
Eden Park.
I’ve never been here before.
The expected expressions of surprise. “Really?”
Eden Park, the Religious Hub of New Zealand.
Enormous. A circular building of aluminium and glass several stories high.
And way in the middle the grassy bit where they do stuff.
The sixty thousand seated would see more at home watching TV.
I exert myself and wriggle out.
I find the ground where it should be
A cheerful “Come on Poppa!”
I feel as if I’m being rushed. Everybody walks so quickly.
It must be The Planet warming up.
Dark. Enormous gates with Numbers.
The ‘Going In Gate’ found – how do they know?
Enter. I follow quickly. Squeeze ever so politely into a lift.
“Ding!” the lift stops, door opens, we shuffle out.
We’ve arrived. Art in the Park. Art in the park and under cover!
People. Happy people.
Strangers chatting – that joy of similar souls together.
Absorbing. Contemplating.
Oil paintings, water colour, assembled art.
Computer art – where the magic, the mystery, lay in the creation
Nay, Digital Art is not for deciphering
And there weren’t no sniffy geriatrics sneering “Devices!” here Ducky.
That buzz with the artists being on hand to chat.
Old hands, relaxed and informative
Emerging artists, awed with the honesty, the apprehension of being ‘on show’.
The patrons were mainly women mid twenties to mid forties
They were enthusiastic, encouraging and curious.
I wondered, out loud, would there be a place for children’s art?
The buzz, the colour, the exuberance ~ it’s over for this year
Framed in my mind it still shimmers
David in Pen and Pics 