Benches

Many years ago, Sandy said she wanted a bench to be donated in her honor if she died. She never said where, and when I asked, she couldn't decide. But it should be a bench she'd want to use, she said. A place she'd want to rest on a bike ride, or a spot for contemplation, overlooking water or a garden. Of course, the places either of us could think of were places that already had benches we enjoyed.

I was delighted when I realized there was one place we always rested that currently has no bench. Nearly every time Sandy biked across Lake Washington on the I-90 bridge, she'd stop at the top of the first hill on Mercer Island. I'm working on getting a bench for her there.

Sandy's bench probably won't be quite as unusual as this
eye bench at the Seattle Art Musuem Sculpture Garden,
but I want it to be something other than a standard bench.

Now a bonus bench opportunity has arisen. The little park a block from our house, McGilvra Park, is being re-envisioned. For a hundred years (literally), it's been a small grassy triangle of raised land, enclosed by a roughly 2-and-a-half-foot high wall. Eleven gorgeous London Plane trees surround it. It doesn't get much use because it's challenging to get up onto the grass, the tree canopy makes it shady most of the year, and there are no benches or any other infrastructure. But Sandy was one of the few people who did use the park. She'd stop and sit on the wall and read on her way home. We gathered many a lovely leaf there for our compost bins. And I pass it almost every day.

The plan now is to close that block of 15th to vehicular traffic and extend the park into that space, creating a plaza as well as several native plantings. The grassy space will actually be accessible, with part of the wall removed and some of the ground shifted to create a level entry. And there will be benches.

The bench on the bike trail will likely be a standard bench with a plaque in Sandy's honor. But I'm hoping to do something a little more creative for her bench at McGilvra Park. At the community meeting to talk about the plans last night, I let the parks department know that I wanted to donate a bench, and that I wanted to work with an artist to create something interesting. I don't know what it will look like yet, but I know what it will say, along with her name: So many books, so little time.