It’s summer, many are vacationing in dreams if not in fact. So this post is full of image, rather than riff, and I hope anyone who cruises by will add bits of serendipity that they have found.
The dictionary definition of “serendipity” is The gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for. I like to include things for which there is no practical use, but are delightful anyway, as well as random acts of magic. Like this marvelous basement trompe-l’oiel, made by someone with a steady hand, an imagination, a sense of humor, and a bunch of Sharpie pens.
And, linked in several places on LiveJournal last week, these amazing historical costume reproductions in paper. There are the musical ones, like those made by Matt, who traveled all around the world just to dance with people. And of course there are the flash mob musical surprises—I love these so much, and hope one day to see one happen.
There are people who go looking for serendipity every day.
Then there are the places where fiction and life intersect, like this visit to the old set of Tatooine, where someone lives. That’s different from performance art, which can also be fun.
What serendipity have you found?
Oh the musical flash mobs <3 The first one made me laugh with delight, looking at the faces of all the people, themselves so delighted. The second one I haven't gotten yet to load and the third I loved too.
Your post was serendipitous–thank you.
Wouldn’t it be fun to be there when a flash mob musical event happened?
It truly would be!
Walking around in Amsterdam’s historic center–all canals–and coming across a little pocket of park with a tree and hollyhocks and sunflowers planted.
Oh yes! I LOVE discovering pocket parks.
There is a great secret fountain just west of the US Capitol building. It’s called the Olmstead Fountain, after the architect, but it is very little visited and rather hard to find, tucked into a low spot in the grounds. The entire surge of legislative, political and tourist life roars around that area of town, but in this tiny little pocket it’s old mossy stone walls surrounding a trickling fountain, and trees arching overhead. It’s like stepping from Meet the Press into Middle Earth.
That sounds magical.
My parents had a bunch of artistic friends, one of whom specialized in absolutely gorgeous trompe-l’oiel painting. One piece was a wall at the end of a friend’s hallway that appeared to lead to a further hall, and a door open to a grove of trees and a distant field. You could more or less hear the hum of bugs and birds echoing down the hall. At a wedding held there, I saw at least five people start off in the direction of that nice quiet outdoor area…
*swoon*
WANT!
While you were at the Smithsonian, did you go to the Sackler? It is mostly underground, behind the old Castle building. It is connected to the Castle by a tunnel, underneath the Haupt garden. The end of the tunnel is a wall, painted with a floor-to-ceiling tromp-l’oeil mural about two stories high. It depicts the roof of the tunnel caved in, and jungle vines growing down from the street level, with a slice of sky above. The Castle building, ruinous, is clearly visible as well.
I want to see that!
I experienced such a moment of serendipity earlier this week, when I was walking across the Bremen market place headed for a nearby store that sells garden supplies and specialty seeds. I passed the (very ugly) 1960s building which houses the city senate and very much mars the market place with its Renaissance townhall and Romanesque cathedral. Next to the city senate building is a gate which is always closed. But that day it was open. Intrigued, I went inside and found myself the sculpture garden of the city senate, complete with a fountain. Here was a bit of unexpected beauty hidden away right next to the ugliest building in the city centre. And though I’ve lived here all my life, I’ve never been at this sculpture garden before.
Here is a photo (not mine).
Oh, that is lovely. I adore pocket gardens.
I live near Charleston SC and every time I go downtown there is a bit of Jane Austen/Persuasion serendipity. Running along the historic districs are Wentworth and Anne streets. On Wentworth street is Wentworth Mansion . Charleston is one of the oldest cities in America and was the epitome of taste and culture during Austen’s era. I can imagine the Captain or his heirs building or investing in such a place.
Anne street contains the Children’s Musesum of the Low Country. I think Anne would be pleased considering how she handled her nephews.
I tried to post links but I haven’t quite got it yet.
http://www.wentworthmansion.com/why-wentworth-mansion/
http://explorecml.org/cml/
I am so glad that this lovely thing is there, and not Industrial Sludge and a strewing of rotting cars.
I love that!