Today's walk in the Bryant Neighborhood included a long stop at Utopia Heights. I wish I had read about this sanctuary prior to my walk. Finding this post later, helped me understand what I had seen.
 

If I had read the post, I would have searched around the corner of 62nd and 37th to find the entrance to the Garden of Souls. 

This house, across the 62nd, is part of Utopia Heights and both gardens and sidewalk parking strips offered much to see and think about ...

... including this shrine where people have left thoughts and prayers. Plaques on benches and in the ground contain snippets of wisdom; I particularly liked: "The camel never sees his own hump, but that of his brothers is always before his own eyes."

Utopia Heights has its own Utopia Height Library System - its side appears to be an art gallery. I expected the contents to lean towards Eastern wisdom but they were similar to other Little Free Libraries.

Elsewhere on the Bryant walk, I observed many blooming flours and trees, including this Magnolia which appeared bigger than the house behind it.

A few streets contained homes that had been remodeled but maintained the character of the street. It was more likely to see a large, modern box next to a bungalow or four tall houses on one lot.

I did spot this corner house which looks as if it could have been an old corner store. I do remember that it was bakery which supplied expensive cakes to restaurants and shops. That may have been in the 80's. There are a few shops at 35th and 55th; Met Market and the Firehouse are at 40th and 55th. I passed an Asian Book Store on 65th - it used to be a Jewish Book Store.

There are quite a few alleys in this area from 55th to 65th Street between 35th and 40th Avenues; I walked down this one. I also waked through Bryant Neighborhood Playground. The avenues were fairly flat but I got a mild workout on the hilly streets.

Along my five and a half mile walk, I passed a Little Free Poetry Box. I selected a poem by Edith Sodergran because I was walking and it started out "On foot I had to walk through the solar system..." Here is a link to the poem. The wording varies slightly from the one I picked up but, I think the poem has been translated from Swedish so versions may vary but still capture the intent. Between Utopian Heights and this poem, I have much to think about on this April Fool's Day!

I spotted a painted fire hydrant, a tree with two swings, ...

... a bike counter sign, ...

... garden art, street art ...

... and a rocking horse on a parking strip.

One Little Free Art Gallery, Six Little Free Libraries and one Read and Return Library contained art, novels, a book on American Government, advertising, cooking, children's books, Bible study guides, a book on CD and a book on National Parks.