»In which we go island-hopping

Governors, Coney, and Manhattan Islands with Aram and Mary.

We saw the Sideshow by the Seashore (although Insectavora was off that day), replete with fire-eaters, human blockheads, tight-rope walkers, snake charmers, and the mysterious mummified baby — was it really human?); we wandered through the toroids of Richard Serra at MoMA; we drank beers; we drank wine in the park.

Anna and I shared a Swingers cabin on the Wonder Wheel, and got an extra trip 'round because we didn't jump off after the second rotation; we were perhaps too busy looking at the piebald cat sitting on the fence surrounding the massive works of the Wheel itself. Just beyond the fence, a massive clearing where the go-kart track was just recently reminded us that the last days of Coney Island are nigh: at least, the last days of Coney Island as dissolute all-New York playground. Some rides are going, going, gone; condos are coming. Anna and I enjoyed a last swing on the Pirate, although Mary's camera had succumbed to the enthusiasm of the day and was out of battery, so the screams and expressions of glee are as fleeting as Astroland itself.