Date : Friday, 12/09/2018
Time : 5:00 PM
Location: Home, Little Neck, Queens, NY
I decided to let my dérive take place in my small little suburbia town of Little Neck. It’s still within the parameters of the city but it is indeed far quieter than the bustling city that located about 2 hours away via transit. Also, I’d like to think it would be refreshing to take a nice little stroll in less chaotic setting as well as taking it as an opportunity to explore around my neighborhood more, as I’ve never really bothered in my own little mind making the time to discover some new paths & roads. For the past 7 years I have resided in this tiny town, the only things I really knew were my usual route to school, important places like CVS, Stop & Shop, and several food places I occasionally ordered from. I could use whatever I’ve witness to expand the mental map of what I know, and what I find to be relevant in this area. Although knowing the time, the sun is in the middle of setting, so I knew I didn’t have a lot of time before my grandmother starts to constantly ring my phone in hopes of knowing where in the world I am. As usual, I start my road off by walking down the same usual slope but instead of turning my usual right, I turned left. It felt odd to turn left, because I’ve been turning right for the past 5 years only because it was a part of my usual path to school, work, and even a friend’s place. Turning left made me feel as if I’m about to go on a mini exploration, to discover what I have been missing. Immediately after turning, I become enveloped with the scale of the trees and plants that extend completely shade my path. Well, this is different. Normally I’m not covered by plants. But alas, the path is quiet. I walk by a person. I walk by another person. Oh! There’s a dog walking on the same path as me! Now I see a familiar structure that I haven’t stepped afoot in years: my middle school. Looking at it sort of made me reminisce my time over there. Their backyard was empty (well, the children have been already dismissed). The playground, which I almost never went to, had some people in there. There is a grandmother trying to maintain her two little rascals. Next to them is a mother with a stroller. By the swing set, there is a small group of teenagers. I kept on walking. Something that I’ve taken a noticing are that there are a lot of houses under construction. I ponder to myself: Who’s moving in? Who’s moving out? Where are they from; A different town? A different city? A different state? Or maybe a different country? I wonder how much this neighborhood is changing… I wonder how the people of this neighborhood would shift within the next decade or so. I walked down to the highway where there are more cars than usual (is it rush hour?) I walked on Horace Harding Expressway, the road next to the highway & every second there are at least 3 cars passing by me. By the time I made it back to the main road, I realized it was time for me to head home. Well, things indeed take itself to an interesting turn.
After taking the dérive, I come to have realized that when there’s no clear objective, no clear path that I need to walk in, I tend to take a look at my surroundings a lot more… and to think and wonder more about it. When you’re on a wander, you notice more. In contrast to the city, there’s also a lot going on over here… but it’s just less bizarre and the main focus is more towards the little things. It gave me an epiphany that even though this part of the city is really quiet, it’s still constantly changing even if it’s the slightest thing.
