When crowds of TASCA picnickers cover every inch of park grass and bumper to bumper traffic engulfs New York City along with stifling, summer heat, a natural barrier as old as time, Flushing Meadows Lake separates two types of people: those that are on the water and those that are not.
Relax, as a meditation removes you from distant sirens and horns, jet engines, worries and cares. Drift far away as concrete, metal and tar dissipate like so much fog. Like a laundry-line parade of black shirts, sea birds file along the finger docks, wings spread to dry feathers. An elegant, sleek, perfectly-white egret proudly struts the marsh, and a curious muskrat looks on while carp jump.
Members of TASCA (The American Small Craft Association), escape city constrictions with as little as a puff of air that carries them away from shore to a place where everyday rules and restrictions quickly fade. Invisible as the wind, subtle, bold, powerful, thoughts become tangible as your sail catches the air, fills the senses, gives rise to the imagination.
Somewhere free, between the ever searching gull and a cormorant as it swallows an eel, amid the windy rush of waves or calm steady breeze, you explore, a visitor from another world.
Satisfy a small call to the sea with blue skies and orange sunsets, a race around the buoys, barbecue, a double rainbow, and good times with friends. You know what to do.
“TASCA is a non-profit sailing school with the goal of introducing the sport of sailing to the general public. We work in cooperation with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to provide inexpensive basic sailing lessons to anyone interested. No prior sailing experience is necessary and passing a swim test is the only prerequisite to taking the class.” Contact: http://www.sailtasca.org/
