The Perfect Painting

It's the start of the Art Fair season everywhere and my first outing is always the 57th Street Art Fair in Hyde Park. To me, this particular art fair is like the robin in Spring, and I take it as a harbinger of things to come. If the art is fun, creative, new - it doesn't even matter if it is my particular taste - I expect that the different city fairs will also be fun.

This year, I couldn't tell you much about the artists or their work because something else overshadowed the day. It turned out to be the graduation day for the University of Chicago, and I guess the ceremony had ended shortly before I arrived because graduates were everywhere in their black gowns and red scarfs identifying the U of C. Most were trailed by parents clutching the leather bound diplomas.

These young people, who all looked like toddlers plus to me, were gorgeous!! They were cleaned up, grinning with pride, whispering to each other "we did it!" The young men were not in tee shirts - they wore slacks they probably dug out of the bottom of a trunk - and they looked ready. Girls generally know how to clean up and these young women were lovely. The graduates led their parents around town probably on their way to late lunches. I studied the parents who trailed behind and wondered how many jobs or loans it took to pay for the four years. Whatever their feelings were during the years when they had to come up with the tuition, I don't know, but Saturday, they were only filled with pure pride. I heard languages I recognized and more than a few that I didn't. The kids and the parents had come from everywhere. It was a Superbowl Ad for higher education. It was the poster for diversity. If I was producing a Hallmark movie and needed a cast of 'wonderful rainbow kids', this was it. Strangers were wishing the kids 'congratulations' as they passed, and the graduates beamed back, politely thanking them.

The sun was shining and the breeze was just right. Then, turning the corner to head back to the car, a Good Humor truck blasted old music. I had to stop - it would have been some sort of sin to do otherwise. The set up was perfect. The truck looked like it was hauled out of storage and my Fudge Bar had freezer burn from the late nineties. It didn't matter.

It was peaceful. People were simply getting on with their lives. Emotionally, I was moved more than I can describe. Over and over, I kept thinking that this is the way it's supposed to be. Maybe these kids are the robins.......