“Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobblestones
Looking for fun and feeling’ groovy…
Hello, lamppost, what’cha knowin’?”
– Paul Simon
I’m not sure why Paul Simon named his groovy song after this bridge. Perhaps he named it after the view of this bridge, for it is indeed groovy.
The view from the bridge is groovy, too. My Dad and I walked across it one morning when he had come for a visit. It was quite a trek and felt like a pilgrimage of sorts. We were hoping to find a diner on the other side but found only a food cart instead. So we sat on cement blocks and ate egg sandwiches before heading back to Manhattan. It was grand.
Funny, I feel bonded to that bridge simply because of having walked across it. Perhaps it’s because, on that morning with my Dad, the bridge became personal to me.
I bet that bridge was personal to Paul Simon when he wrote his groovy song.
What’s a public place that feels personal to you?
