Feeling Like Fall

Neighborhoods. That is was Brooklyn is really all about. Everyone has their place, their space, where they feel comfortable.

M. and I finally made it up to Fort Greene today. Yes, we've been here a year and have yet to explore the brownstones surrounding Pratt. We tend to keep to our neck of the woods over the weekends, avoiding hopping on public transit, avoiding anything we'd normally do on a week day.

But today, the sun came out, as did the chill, making for a nice, long walk to Fort Greene Park, where kiddies galore gathered for face painting, pumpkin drawing and music beneath the falling leaves. It's Halloween weekend, and Spiderman, penguins and princesses frolicked around with their winter coats atop the festive garb. One of M.'s friends was visiting her old neighborhood and in between delicious sips of hot cocoa from BitterSweet, she began recounting to us the joys of the little enclave in north Brooklyn. It's neighborhoody, hip, like San Francisco (which is, for anyone who has ever lived in the city by the bay, a wonderful thing), and there are plenty of things to do, whether you're twelve or forty-two.

And she's right; it's adorable. There's a playground for the kids. And joints like 67 Burger and Gnarly Vines for those of us over twenty-one. So why do we prefer our neighborhood to her old stomping grounds? Well, for the simple reason that it is ours. It's familiar. We had no reason to prioritize it over any other in Brooklyn upon our move here, but since we came to this spot, we made it ours.

So we were happy to come home after a day wandering the Fort. But we did bring with us a Halloween spirit and immediately newspapered our kitchen floor for pumpkin carving.