Dérive
I took a ninety minute walk with my girlfriend through parts of our neighborhood that we hadn’t really explored previously. Our arbitrary rules were as follows: anytime we noticed a strong smell in the air, we would have to turn right immediately, regardless of where we were. To help avoid walking directly into buildings, we made a rule that if we were to bump into a wall, fence, or something else that was inaccessible, we would have to turn right again. Anytime we heard the sound of someone yelling or an ambulance, we would walk in the direction of that sound. Anytime a delivery biker passed us, we would follow them. Once they were out of our sight, we would continue walking in that direction, but if we caught up to them while making a delivery, we would turn around. Also, we had to walk on any platform in front of homes or on sidewalks that was wider than three feet, as well as walk through the tiny triangle parks that divide streets, and walk through any open fences to see what was behind them.
We ended up noticing a lot of delivery bikers, sometimes multiple at once, so in those moments we had to decide which one we would follow. Usually whichever direction we hadn’t gone yet was the one we chose, but there were also instances that a delivery biker passed us at the same time that we heard an ambulance, so we took liberty over our walking directions there as well. The most exciting part of the walk was when we heard screaming and whistles blowing and decided to walk towards them, discovering that a high school football game was happening. The fence to the field was open, so we walked through it, joining the parents, little siblings, and other fans as they watched the game. We had just started walking through the bleachers when the game ended. The home team won. Everyone in the stands stood up and cheered, people were recording on their phones, and a player did a backflip. It felt pretty beautiful to watch everyone come together and celebrate the team winning as an outsider, it was like we weren’t even there. We somehow ended up at Fort Greene Park, which surprised me because we started the walk facing South (the park is about a mile north west of our initial position). When we walked by it, a similar sound of cheering and laughter drew us in. A group of children and parents at a birthday party had just finished setting up a piñata, and the children were starting to hit it one at a time, forming a line. We stood by as they slowly broke the piñata down. When it opened they all pounced on the candy, scooping up as much as they could. It was a pleasant and nostalgic way to end the walk.