Observation

The first thing to reach the ears is the unending growl of cars, almost alive, winding down for just a moment before the next wave makes itself known. The aggressive chime of sparrows and robins occasionally breaks through the constant roar of traffic, their chirps harsh as a seagull’s fighting to be heard against a loud backdrop of vehicular ocean waves.

Perched at the top of a small hill, grass prickles at the skin and sprawls out on all sides, green and lush. Sun shimmers off the carefully-manicured lawn, almost painful in its brightness, but warm where it settles on the skin. A few gnarled and twisted trees with branches upturned to the cloudless, cerulean sky cast leafy shadows on the ground and greet travellers along the thin sidewalk with a welcome bit of shade.

A persistent, on-again-off-again breeze bends the occasional stalk of grass that escaped trimming and sends hair flying around the face in a storm of gold and chocolate. In the lulls between gusts, the skin starts to prickle with heat until the pleasant rush of cool air returns to carry it away on the wind.

A few feet ahead, at the base of the slope, green gives way to the dappled gray of concrete, and cars streak by in an endless train. Silver and black paintjobs dominate the street, but the occasional pop of red or blue is enough to surprise the eyes and provide a touch of interest to the practice of watching.

Beyond the bustle of the street, the serene river gleams like a sheet of rippling glass. It is opalescent, striped with patches of pale, sunlit gold among the infinite shades of blue.

In the opposite direction, two strips of metal engraved with a pattern like waves curve around each other and towards the sky, forming the type of sculpture that promises a deeper meaning that most of us will pretend to appreciate but not really understand. For a fleeting second, it’s surely a pale gray whale, then a thin archway, and then nothing at all.

Though the shape is surely eye catching, the true allure of this statue is the sheen of sunlight that coats it, creating at least four distinct shades of silver in its lines and ridges. Those who pass keep their faces buried in their work, too intent on their iPhones and papers to notice the river of color, or any of the sunlit extravagance that fills the scene.