From the window of our car we see kids kicking neon pink balls on green grass. Their parents unwrap snacks packed in aluminium-foils. Next to them, a woman sits by herself on a bench, a book lays open on her lap while her eyes scan the endless sky. It is a warm day. The breeze hits our back, in short quick waves.
We park our car at the entrance of Fox Point State Park, and walk on a well-laid road that opens into the blue of the Delaware River.
The river freezes time. A stark contrast to the constant buzz of the I-495 traffic that it runs parallel to.
Standing by the railing, all you see is a massive blue jelly that shivers ever so often, as if tickled by the invisible hands of the wind.
You forget the rat race, and instead, find yourself, bending down on your knee, and taking a close look at the folds of a flower.
And zooming in on the burst of yellow amid a crowd of purple.
As you walk along the four-mile stretch, you see what seem like a bunch of straw-hair heads, bent in prayer.
A home where sparrows return to at the start of dusk.
And creepers that adorn the railings.
It’s hard to believe that this was once a ‘hazardous waste dumping site’. Pennsylvania Railroad wanted to use it for industrial purposes.
But thanks to a man called Marsten Fox, and his vision to convert this stretch as a ‘window to the Delaware river’, now it is quite a summer vacay spot, to picnic, take a leisurely walk by the river…
… and watch ships sail by, while munching on a pack of pretzels.
Agios Nikolas is the name of the cargo vessel that we spot. It has come a long way from Greece, and will now rest in the port of Philadelphia for a while.
The vessel looks like a giant centipede, and floats away with a grace that has us wondering: now, maybe the curtains will fall?
Naveena Vijayan 