Blog Assignment: 2011

Sitting on a Story Blog

1. Visit a park, choose a bench, explain your choice, and describe your bench.

Entrance to Cates Park

I found the bench for this assignment at Cates Park down in Deep Cove. The inscription on this bench says ‘In memory of Michael Goodman, March 23, 1953- November 17, 2004. A loving husband, father, grandfather & friend. Love is forever. From his loving family and friends.” I chose this bench because it was in a location not too far away from where I live and no one was sitting on it when I found it. I also chose this bench from Cates Park because I knew that most people would pick one from the Seawall or Stanley Park. I didn’t want to have the same bench as someone else so I went somewhere that most people wouldn’t go. The bench I chose is wooden with many areas of rot, chewed gum, and initials and small drawings that people have engraved since the bench was placed there.

View of Cates Park

2. From the bench, describe what you see, what you feel, what you think, what you want.

When I first approached this bench I saw that it looked a little bit old and rather dirty. Because the bench itself was made from wood, parts of it had started to rot away. There were dirty marks on the sitting part of the bench and the back rest, and some pieces of gum under the seat. There were of course minor dents on the seat, it wasn’t perfect. I felt bad for Michael Goodman because the dirtiness of the bench showed that the family and friends who have dedicated this bench to him didn’t care enough to keep it clean or in good condition. I think that keeping a dedicated bench in good condition is a way to show your appreciation for someone. I think Michael Goodman’s “loving family and friends” should take a trip down to Cates Park and clean the bench. Just because Michael Goodman is dead, they shouldn’t let the bench die away too. If the bench rots away to nothings, then the concept of dedicating the bench would fail and their memory of him would fade slowly. I would want a bench dedicated to me to be kept clean to show that the dedicators appreciate me. Obviously I don’t expect them to keep it looking brand new, but clean enough to prevent it from looking like it is ancient and dying. Also if I was to dedicate a bench to someone I care about, then I would love to have the privilege of keeping the bench clean, just because I know they have done so many wonderful things for me and keeping it clean would be the least thing I could do to pay them the same respect.

Park bench

3. If a bench was dedicated to you, where would you like the bench and what would you like to inscription plate to say?

If I was lucky enough to have a bench dedicated to me, I would want it to be in a location that not many people know about, or one that is special to me and the person who has dedicated the bench to me. If me and said person went to a secluded beach or hiked to the same spot multiple times then I would except it to be there, not out in the open where strangers could come and vandalize it. I think having a dedicated bench in a location special between the two people makes it more personal and shows more of an effort on their part. The inscription could be anything, because having a bench dedicated to me would be more than enough to show their appreciation for me. But of course, if I had to choose, I would want it to say something along the lines of “In loving memory of Kiana Godfrey, January 23, 1993 - date of death. With love, your family and friends”. They could even put in a special quote on the inscription plate to remind them of my presence. The quote could be something like “Be yourself, everyone else is taken,” “Live as you dream” or “stay golden”, as these are a few of my favourite ones.

4. If you dedicated a bench, where would you like the bench and what would the inscription say?

If I was to dedicate a bench to someone I love, I would do the same thing. I would put it in a place that is special to the two of us. I feel that it has more of a meaning, instead of just putting it in a public place, giving total strangers the chance to vandalize it for their pleasure. I would obviously start the inscription off with “In loving memory”, include their name, date of birth and date of death, and probably end it off with “from you loving friend”. I would definitely include something like a quote or statement that connects us on a personal level. I feel that it makes the dedication of the bench more unique and shows that you care more.

5. Write a journal response about your trip to the park.

I drove myself to Deep Cove last weekend to visit Cates Park. I walked through the park until I found a bench that was unoccupied and looked stable. I didn’t look for the first bench I saw because I wanted the bench to look presentable, not old with multiple flaws. I sat on the bench and wrote down what I saw, felt, thought and wanted. While I was sitting on the bench I felt that it was easier to write my feelings about the bench as I was in the moment, instead of having to try and remember what happened earlier that day. I wrote what the bench looked like, describing all of it’s flaws and it’s overall appearance of having random engravings and chewed gum stuck to the underside of it. I wrote about how it made me feel that the bench had been vandalized and how the family must not care about the condition the bench was in.

6. Choose a poem that suits your bench, and explain your choice. Include a copy of the poem.

Growing Old

By Matthew Arnold

Matthew Arnold

What is it to grow old?
Is it to lose the glory of the form,
The lustre of the eye?
Is it for beauty to forego her wreath?
Yes, but not for this alone.

Is it to feel our strength -
Not our bloom only, but our strength -decay?
Is it to feel each limb
Grow stiffer, every function less exact,
Each nerve more weakly strung?

Yes, this, and more! but not,
Ah, 'tis not what in youth we dreamed 'twould be!
'Tis not to have our life
Mellowed and softened as with sunset-glow,
A golden day's decline!

'Tis not to see the world
As from a height, with rapt prophetic eyes,
And heart profoundly stirred;
And weep, and feel the fulness of the past,
The years that are no more!

It is to spend long days
And not once feel that we were ever young.
It is to add, immured
In the hot prison of the present, month
To month with weary pain.

It is to suffer this,
And feel but half, and feebly, what we feel:
Deep in our hidden heart
Festers the dull remembrance of a change,
But no emotion -none.

It is -last stage of all -
When we are frozen up within, and quite
The phantom of ourselves,
To hear the world applaud the hollow ghost
Which blamed the living man.

I have chosen the poem “Growing Old” by Matthew Arnold; because I think it relates well to the assignment we were given. It relates well to the bench I have chosen too. My bench I found in Deep Cove is starting to rot and appear old. From all of the rotting edges and engravings on it, it has “lost the glory of [its] form and the lustre of [it’s] eye.” The poem talks about someone getting old, and that’s what my bench is doing. Because of the lack of care for the bench by the dedicators, the bench has started to “die”. The poem is describing what it feels like for a person to become old, and if a bench were a living thing, then it would feel the same for them too. The rotting of the bench symbolizes the memory of Michael Goodman. Once the bench starts to rot away, then the memory of Michael Goodman will start to fade as well. The bench is starting to disappear and that’s what the memory is doing too.

7. Explain how your poem connects to your personal philosophy of life.

The poem I have chosen relates to my personal philosophy of carpe diem because it talks about dying and how the person is readying them for death, showing that they feel that their life is complete. I think that the person describing growing old and what it is to them has lead a full life because they have many experiences and “feel the fulness of the past”. To show that they have seized every opportunity they could and never let a chance pass them by, they talk about their past experiences. When I grow old I would want to think that I have lead the fullest life that I could have. It would make me feel better about my life and the fact that I don’t have that much time left. I would feel like I have accomplished many things and can pass away quite content. If I didn’t accomplish something that I really wanted to do, but I was already old, I wouldn’t have the mobility to do it because my body wouldn’t let me. No matter how badly I would want to do something that I didn’t get the chance to do, if my body doesn’t allow me to, then I will never get the chance to do it.

8. What is the purpose of a park? What are your thoughts about parks?

The purpose of a park is that it’s a place for people to come and enjoy nature. It is where they can be outside and get some fresh air. They can bring their children or pets with them, and see the animals that live in the park. A park is built for the enjoyment of the public, usually with benches and seating areas for people to rest and view the scenery. Many parks have a play area for children to play on, so escorting children is a good idea. Some parks are built for specific reasons and some become National Parks. A National Park is a place of scenic beauty and historic importance. A park is owned by the government, but built for the people who live there to enjoy. The purpose of a park is not to throw your litter on the ground. There are animals that live there and they will get sick from the garbage and die. Parks are places to be kept clean because they are for everyone, and no one wants to come outside to enjoy the day in a large collection of litter.

I like the idea of having parks around the neighborhood. I feel that having large areas of land open for the public to use and enjoy is great. Parks allow families to attend outdoor recreational equipment, opposed to being inside all day. It gives people a chance to spend the day outside because there are an unlimited number of activities available at a park. It is always interesting to see the birds and squirrels doing what they do in their natural habitat. Parks allow people the chance to feed birds and watch the other animals. Elderly people like to come to a park to sit on a bench to enjoy the day. I think that if people don’t take care of the parks that we have in the neighborhoods then someday they will be demolished and we will have no more. I don’t like the idea of tearing down nature to build buildings, because I feel it’s not right. The construction workers are ruining parts of nature that can be a park, a place for children to play and a place for people to come and enjoy being outside. Also, if we keep delivering the amount of pollution we are currently leaving then the trees and the animals in the parks will slowly die away and it will just be a large area of filth and garbage.