A Street Fair

A few weeks after moving here we noticed a New York oddity. Cluttered amongst the normal street vendors were row after row of tented stores peddling wares on Columbus Avenue. They appeared to stretch 6 to 8 blocks in each direction although we quickly discovered the same vendors were repeated every 2 blocks or so.

My wife came in from walking the dog that morning and nudged me awake to tell me that something strange was going on down the street. Neither of us had ever heard of such a thing and it was exciting and abnormal and we weren't satisfied until each of us had examined nearly every stall present. A years supply of socks was on sale right next to stalks of roasted corn and pitas. The aromas of the food waifed throughout the street and we walked and sampled our way down the street. It was quite a site for the two of us, both new to New York and not sure what to expect of our new surroundings. We came home with a full belly, a scarf for my wife, and a t shirt proclaiming our new zip code and "Upper West Side" that has since been relegated to work out fodder.

You can imagine how surprised we were to discover the exact same fair taking place the next weekend on Amsterdam, and again the following weekend in the Financial District. The initial stroll down the street was a welcome sight that quickly turned to angst over the cluttered sidewalks each weekend.

Last year's weekend street fairs covering every avenue of the upper west side have since been replaced. For each of the past few weekends we've seen but not sampled the lightly colored tents along Museum of Natural History's sidewalks while walking our dog. This summer the stalls more closely resemble the arts and crafts fairs my mother and sister enjoyed so much during my youth. Artists are selling every variety of painted items with nicely framed photographs from all across the country. For a few dollars you choose between origami flowers and stamp accessories or head down a bit to sample some gingerbread.

At Christmas time there was a similar array parked for nearly a month in the southwest corner of Central Park, only the tents were made with freshly painted red wood. We bought a glass blown ornament and a some painted scenes of New York monuments to take back home to Texas as gifts. The tightly bound aisles were filled with a mass of people nudging their way through, trying to take in every possible gift and knick knack and yesterday was much of the same. We let the dog guide us through the maze of people before heading over the park for a short morning walk.