Before we moved to Hawaii we lived in Astoria for a blink of an eye. Since I was four when we were NYC based and five in Hawaii, my memories of NYC prior to my epic return in the Fall of 2000 are hazy and magical in the way a very big big city is for a very small small girl.
One of the clear as day, pin point sharp memories I have of those New York days is of a ladybug explosion. My mom was pushing my baby brother in his stroller and I was walking along side her, sporting my go to sun hat. (Even in my youth I was fabulously stylish.) We turned a corner and walked smack into a fest of hundreds and hundreds of ladybugs. They covered the sidewalk, they covered the walk signs and the street lights. Ladybugs as far as the eye could see. In seconds they were in our hair and on my hat and dancing along my arms. In retrospect it was possibly rather macabre, but for me it was a moment of pure magic.
My desires to ride unicorns barebacked or sprout a mermaid tail and never walk on dry land again were just inklings at this point, but it's sure that this moment as ladybug tamer was a lead in to those life long fantasies. This print, Ladybug Love, is inspired by that blisteringly hot day when I was very small and covered head to toe in polka dot magic.
Your memory is rather other worldly. I do remember this now that you mention it, but I was like 27 and you were 4 and you remembered it and I didn't? I should have been WAY more careful as a mother. ;)
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