I was happy to learn from The Flatbush Gardener that the hill I'm fond of, the one that rises from the Brooklyn Museum parking lot to the hilltop lined with Ginkgos in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, is called a Berm. I somehow had missed out on that term all my life, perhaps because I've participated in too little medeival fort building.
Soon after I quit my full time job two years ago there was a day when the two littlest ones and I were hanging out there on that hillside, drawn to it for some subtle promise too delicate to tie down. We were exploring the hill and talking about the trees when all of the sudden my son became terrified and told me he'd just seen a man with rainbow hair come out of a hole in the ground. I found this very interesting.
Last I heard the Garden will be building a new welcome center somewhere around there. Change is hard for people, and from the Icelandic tales I hear it is also hard for fairies, trolls and the like. I hope the man with rainbow hair doesn't pick up and look for a new berm.
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