First Day of Spring at Clark Park

First day of spring, and it’s 70 degrees out, so of course we headed down to Clark Park to take it all in. The scene had everything you’d expect: hundreds of people out, kids everywhere, water ice being sold hand over fist. What a glorious thing!

Unfortunately, there was another unsurprising element to the setting: yellow tape and a police car, evidence of two guys pulling out and discharging their firearms during a basketball game, which took place not 20 minutes before we arrived. You’ll notice in the video how uncomfortably close the basketball court is to the playground.

The weather was too nice, and people too resilient, to let this minor incident hang a cloud over everything; kids kept on playing and things kept on flowing, with nary a sign to tell us something had gone awry, save for the yellow tape and police car, and for our friend who was there when it happened and who gave us the account of what had gone done once we had arrived. Alas, crime in this city is no abstract thing; let’s hope, for the sake of the kids, each day brings less and less of it.