Washington Park, Denver, Colorado

 

We recently spent our last day in Denver, my hometown, faced with the decision of how to let it unravel. Our options narrowed down to either a contemporary art museum or a 120-year-old city park. The museum’s current exhibition, “Blue Room Jazz,” seemed exciting and held my preference. But as I thought about spending time walking around in artificial light, flexing my mind to understand someone else’s expression, I felt a shift. 

What won me over? This common experience of a park, a place I’d been to many times, how could it be? A soft Sunday morning, an autumn day with trees beginning to change, a warm sun and green grass, a dog chasing a Frisbee, traffic humming in the background and mixing with bird songs, rolled through my mind. The feeling, easy and free, held no pressure to savor, no challenge to decipher, no artist’s interpretation on life’s problems or twist on the human experience –– just one moment after another unraveling.