And the park is alive again

11:37 am on March 3rd, Saturday, I went for a walk. Nothing unusual about the walk, this had become a part of my routine, at least the weekend routine. But this walk was different – I wasn’t wearing my winter gloves, cap, nor the winter jacket. It was a beautiful sunny morning with 60 degrees Fahrenheit – something that I hadn’t experienced for over 3 months now.

5 minutes and I was in the park. The park has a football (soccer) field, tennis & basketball court, children’s play area and a 0.5 concrete trail that circles the football field. I walk 2 miles i.e. 4 rounds around the concrete trail which for the past several months has been just me. But today was different. It was refreshing to see the park comeback alive – let me take you on the walk as well.

Few housekeeping things

1. Walkers – people who were walking in the park
2. Joggers – those who are jogging
3. Benchers – those who were sitting on the benches
4. Players – those who were playing some sport
5. Dog walkers – those who were walking dogs

In my first round on the concrete tail I noticed:

• Walker 1 – A big guy, may be in his 50’s, but very well built and healthy and strong was walking with a vehicle tire attached to a vest around his shoulder. He was wearing sunglasses so couldn’t make eye contact but he was walking with an upright posture, head straight and to avoid the crowd on the trail, he walked on the grass.
• Walker 2 was a couple who walked holding each other’s hands and were constantly talking something to each other
• Walker 3 – A family with a baby in the stroller, a 3-4 year old walking the stroller
• Walker 4 – A daughter and her mother (or atleast that’s what I thought) – both tight lipped and maintaining an arms length with each other
• Jogger 1 – A 40 or 50 something woman, surprisingly with no headphones
• Jogger 2 – A young man with head phones jogging at a decent pace and sweating profusely
• Bencher 1 – On a facetime conversation and waving at every dog that was passing by him
• Bencher 2 – A couple with their shoes off and sitting on the bench with their legs folded
• Player 1 – A father teaching his daughter how to hold the basketball and make hoops
• Player 2 – kids on the tennis courts as ball boys and girls and the mom and dad playing tennis or at least making an attempt
• Dog walker – Walking with a husky and toddler peddling his bike

In the meanwhile, the podcast I was listening was talking about death and survival and near death experiences – talking about the war in Gaza and there was a quote in the podcast, “My capacity for empathy died the day war started”. What is normal to me, to all of us at the park seems a luxury that only the lucky few could afford.

Some 10s of thousands of miles away there is nothing normal about life anymore. It has become an everyday fight to just stay alive. Quite a contrast. And I am wondering if our empathy has boundaries too.

During the Round 2

• Walker 1 was still going very strong
• Walker 4 – the mother and daughter grew apart with daughter walking ahead of her, seemed, they still haven’t patched up or so it seems
• A new Player, Player 3 got added – A family of 3 , mother, father and son playing football with father and mother on one team and the boy in the other, trying to out do each other
• 2 more Dog walkers got added – Dog walker 3 with two tiny poodles colored white and black
• Bencher 1 facetime conversation still going strong and waving now at more dogs
• Player 1 – the daughter seemed to have gotten a hold of the basketball now and getting a few hoops down
• Player 2- The tennis players and their families vacated the court

Back on the podcast, a desperate father was trying to find shelter for his family, his extended family and also care for his pregnant sister who was due for the baby. The father had been hoping for aid material to come through the checkpoint but returned disappointed three days in a row.

And before I could decide whether to go for the round 3, I was halfway there, so I continued the walk. Not much had changed. The players, the walkers, the dog walkers, the benchers were all there having a blessed day at the park, enjoying the weather and the beauty of a normal life.

A normal life that we often refer to as mundane or monotonous but this very normalcy of a normal life is a distant dream for the people in Gaza. For the people in Gaza – bombs and casualties, deaths and injuries, chaos and uncertainty has become the new normal. Having meal 3 times a day, having a place to sleep, having family around to talk to and taking the kids to the park is a luxury that is beyond their reach.

While I rejoice that the park came back alive, people in Gaza are struggling to just stay alive!