Saturday afternoon in the Park

I went to Civic Center Park this afternoon . As I walked into the park from Colfax, I noticed a police car in the park. Not by the park, inside the park. As I walked closer, I saw two more police cars parked by the statues in the center. Several policeman stood around chatting, another seemed to be stressing a point as he spoke to a woman standing next to a police car, her hands behind her back. Close by, two individuals were seated on a bench. On closer inspection, they both had their arms behind their back. Were the three in handcuffs? Probably. Nearby a parent and child walked through the park pointing at the gold dome of the state capitol. At the same time, slightly to the south of the police cars, a lovely bridal party was being photographed inside the Greek theater. I walked by, went into the library and came back. The bridal party was still engaged in photography and others walking in the park, politely walked on the pathways above the theater so as to not interfere with the photos. I followed their lead and we passed an individual asleep on a bench with two shopping carts very neatly packed with layers of blankets and other household objects. Reaching a bench in the center of the park- the police , the standing woman and the two people on the bench having departed, I observed another wedding party having photographed taken with the City and County building as a backdrop.
Skateboarders whizzed by. Some people sat on the steps of the Greek theater reading paperback books and others chatted in small groups.
Is this a terrifying image? To me the most interesting thing was that no one in the park found any of it remarkable. I only found it remarkable because the others in the park didn't and I felt OK. Not threatened, or scared, but feeling like I was where I wanted to be. A park in a city with gorgeous views of two of the major civic buildings in our state. A park with striking neo-classic structures,and well proportioned spaces that provided a respite from the severely undistinguished architecture of the buildings on Colfax. The Ponti tower of the art museum and the post modern colors of the library were much more engaging vistas on the 14th Street side. The Libeskind building receded, only the peaks showing and the red of the Di Suvero sculpture , perfectly framed by the entry to the Greek theater was a vivid streak of color animating the subtle tones of a Colorado November afternoon.