Saturday, July 23, 2011

Seward Park Chair Blog

A few weeks ago, on my walk to work, I noticed an ugly, worn upholstered chair abandoned on the parking strip a few blocks from my house. People often put items marked "free" out in front of their houses -- a little community recycling, re-purposing (I really hate that word but it keeps popping up in conversation), a little of this or that not quite yet destined for The Dump. It sat for days and days. It rained. It rained some more.

Then notes began to appear on it:


I especially loved this one tacked onto the bottom
of the list -- the misspellings and correction are priceless!


A week or so later, a sandwich-board sign appeared across the street from the chair, with blank sheets of paper, a pen attached with a string, and a plastic cover sheet from protection from our (wintery) weather....(these are quite delightful -- click on photo to enlarge) --

(I penned the Roethke quote. Although completely out of context, I couldn't resist. I've written that same piece on bathroom walls all over North America and Europe.)

And then these last two additions -- creativity and goofiness gone wild!



Yesterday there was only the Golden Flower Chair with a ripped piece of cardboard thrown onto its tattered, er, verdure.

Alas.

Yet more evidence that all good things must come to an end.

And beauty -- lovely to behold -- remains but an ephemeral, an evenescent fancy, conceit, ilusion.

8 comments:

  1. your TR quote - lovely fun! and I love the haiku as well.

    Well, jesus joseph and mary, no wonder we have wars...can't we all just get along? I could, if others weren't so gd stupid all the time.

    Maybe it's time for a little prozac in the city water supply....and taxpayer funded monthly massage. It's a public (mental) health crisis for chrissake!

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  2. Thank goodness you documented this before it went away!! Brilliant all around. I'm looking at my chairs now to see which one I should put on the curb with a pen and posterboard.

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  3. T. -- I LOVE this city, Seattle. I followed the postings, as well. Started out sorta angry and rude, and ended up unbelievably accepting, diverse, eccentric. After growing up in relatively closed-minded, scared-of-anything-different Louisville, Kentucky -- I am very grateful and feel blessed to have landed in Seattle 34 years ago, more luck than planning.

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  4. Ah, the art of handwriting and spelling..... I remember it well.

    Well done for photographing all that; I think your pictures should be forwarded to the public archives! It's amazing how much humour lies dormant.

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  5. sEAN, I don't know if this would float in Bellevue....just sayin'. When are you guys moving to Seattle, anyway?!

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  6. Linda, glad you landed here too :)

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  7. Oh my god -- that is all so fantastic. What a neighborhood, no?

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  8. Thanks for sharing this impromptu piece of art and community with us! Its a lovely evolution.

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