Featured Art

The gazebo in North Market Square Park has been a staple of my childhood since I was very little. I did not have the opportunity to go to summer camps when I was younger. My version of summer camp looked like making friendship bracelets on the sharpie covered picnic tables. That gazebo was where I was from 9:30 am to 11:30 am June 1 until August 1 every bug-bite filled summer.

Last year, when I was 13 and clearly too old to be going, my friends and I still did. This time we took care of the younger kids. When camp was officially over, my sister and I brought a first aid kit and activities that they could play with, and took responsibility for the kids in the neighborhood. It was our make-shift version of summer camp, and we loved it.

That gazebo has become even more important this quarantine. No longer is it just a home base during Capture The Flag. Under that wooden roof is where I meet with friends during COVID-19. Recently, whenever I imagine where I will be tomorrow, it is in that gazebo, talking for hours and playing word games with friends, passing the unthinkable amount of hours that are still left in the day, six feet apart, but somehow closer then ever.

I am grateful for having somewhere like that to go, where I am feeling safe, and can lay on a picnic table, be bored, still knowing that I can always stand up, and play another round of Simon Says.