City Biking: No Joke!

By Maddie Fega

Woke up this morning ten minutes before I had to be at my running club group run. So I hopped on my new bike (which I bought a few days ago at a tag sale for $30), and headed down Fairmount Ave. to Kelly Drive, where the group was meeting. It was exhilarating and fast and fun to be out on the bike for the first time since being in Philly, and I felt as though I was totally ready for city biking. What I overlooked is that it was 5:50 am, so there were virtually no cars on the road, AND, Fairmount Avenue is by no means one of the busier streets in Philly. After a nice run with the club, a quick bike ride home, I was ready to venture out to the city on my bike to The Philadelphia Center, where I had class.

I started off fine, on a thin, one-way street with just one lane, and very few cars, still somewhat shaky on bike etiquette, but managed to figure out a few things within the first few minutes of the trek. Then I reached the merge into 15th street, where it transforms from a quiet, one-lane street, to a 3-lane, loud, crazy menace of a street. I had no idea what to do, no idea how to enter traffic, or rather, if to. I had never been so intimated by the street that I walk down nearly every day, and I was totally lost about how to finagle the busy, rush-hour streets of Center City, on a bike, whose tires, at any point, could crumble beneath me, gears could dismantle, and brakes could lose all functionality. Remember, I bought this bike for $30.

I ended up getting off and walking nearly the entire rest of the way to the Center. I’d sometimes get on my bike and approach entering traffic, but when I thought about the danger of that, I panicked. City biking, a skill I never thought necessary or difficult to pick up, is absolutely no joke. I think I’ll start off on the bike path that runs along the Schuylkill next time, and when I have to cut in, dismount and walk it in. It’s a practice, but until I get my helmet, and some more courage, this girl will keep to her walking shoes.

Magic Village

By Maddie Fega

Saturday, April 20 — My day began with a short bus ride to the Village of Arts and Humanities, a magical community that I pass every day on my ride to work, but today, for the first time, I finally got the chance to explore. I had been in contact with some of the Village staff since becoming interested in their programs, and wanted to explore summer internship opportunities with them. I began looking into the Village when I realized, a few weeks ago, while stuck inside the high school that I work in, with minimal natural light, on a bright and beautiful 85 degree day, that I really wanted at least part of my time this summer to be spent outside!

Researching the Village through The Philadelphia Center’s resources, as well as online, I found out about all the amazing programming they do, including an edible garden and urban farming project. This week I got in touch with the head of the urban farming/sustainability component of the Village and we scheduled a time for me to come out today and spend some time on the land, as Saturdays are a busy day for students and community members involved with the project.

Upon arriving to The Village, just a 20 minute bus ride from my apartment, I immediately felt the magic of the place and the people there. It was a beautiful, physically and spiritually example of the effectiveness of grass-roots, community efforts for community and city improvement. I was immediately welcomed by community members, both young and old, and it was very natural and easy to make myself busy and helpful, specifically with the construction of a greenhouse that uses donated used tires, donated excess concrete from a plant outside of the city, and dirt. I spent most of the day making and applying the dirt/concrete mixture to the greenhouse, within which a variety of crops are already beginning to sprout.

One of the women who works in collaboration with the project described the land and community as “magical”, and I really couldn’t have agreed with her more. It was a truly beautiful environment, with some of the kindest and most caring and forward-thinking people I’ve met yet in Philly, and I am truly looking forward to working as an intern there this summer once my internship through The Philadelphia Center ends in early May. There are so many amazing communities within this city that I have yet to get involved with and explore, and today’s visit to The Village of Arts and Humanities really opened my eyes to the plethora of opportunities one can find if they just go slightly out of their way to find them!

A Good Thing

Photos and text by Ashley Esselink

 

 

They say you never know a good thing until it’s gone. I would have to say that if anything, my experience in Philly has proven just that. For instance, you’ve seen my fabulous bike–I have a newfound appreciation for mine at home, that’s for sure. I also have a new-found appreciation for my mother’s cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, and also for the ability to hop in a car and get wherever I need to go. Most of all though, the thing I am finding I miss the most and that I have an appreciation for is grass, nature, woods, wide open spaces, “the great outdoors…”

I was fortunate enough to spend these past two weekends in Frenchtown, NJ with one of my bosses on their farm. On top of being one of the most gorgeous, perfect places I’ve ever been, being “nature deprived” for the past few months made the experience all the better.

I couldn’t get enough of the sun hitting the water, the deer running through the woods, the farm animals, the trees, the stars, the grass, or the sunsets. It was all breath-taking despite the fact that it was all stuff that I have grown up with…it’s just all the more beautiful when you learn to not take it for granted I guess.

I loved the feeling of the mud on my hands, the grass between my toes, and the sound of silence and wind rusting through the woods. I also love hearing the trees creaking. Have you ever taken time to notice that while sitting in the woods—the sound of trees creaking?

I have found that photography has not only changed the way I view the world, but it has also allowed me to change the way I hear and feel the world too. I realized this weekend that I listen for things I want to capture through my lens and I feel for just the right second the push the shutter button. When people say photography is a way of life, I would totally agree because it’s far more than just a representation of a moment. It’s more than what meets the eye and more than what you see on the 4 x 6 piece of paper. It’s a feeling, an intuition, a certain level of observation, skill, and patience. …And it took me in the woods, on the side of a creek, with my camera in hand, to notice all this.

It’s not the first time I’ve sat in that position before, and I know it won’t be the last, but like they say, you don’t appreciate things until they’re gone, and not having the opportunity to even have that moment for months has shed new light on the occasion and once again made me realize why I live for photography.