Cul-de-Sac

A chill was setting in this afternoon, and we're not likely to get above the freezing point for the next couple of days.  I decided to stay close to home, and to start a project: a more methodical walk of all the blocks between Fifth and Third/Second, between 9th Street and 39th, which I'll then extend along right through Sunset Park.  I'm not methodical by nature, which is fine for a walker.  I like the rewards of aimless wandering, but this can mean missing a lot.   I know many of these blocks extremely well, especially the ones through the 20s, but it's time to be more thorough.  Maybe I'll go up to Sixth or beyond when I get further south.  I guess I'll fill in the blocks on a map. 

The simplest and quickest of walks today: straight down to the end of 12th at the canal, and the Pathmark parking lot.  I've often thought about how quickly I could get to Red Hook if only there were a bridge here.  A small footbridge (of course) would be perfect, but water transportation - a dinghy, say - conveniently waiting by the chain link fence, would be a good alternative.  The fence is even open for easy access!  But no boat available on this side - only the North Star across the way. 

There's a kind of an end of the world feel down here in the big, lower-budget-supermarket parking lot, surrounded by water, chain link, highway, viaduct, and Big J's Wines and Liquors close at hand.  Even the Lowe's lot next door, with similar views, feels more generically upscale.  We're only nine blocks south of Whole Foods, but on this patch of ground we couldn't feel further from a  new Gowanus market vision.