For decades before my first visit to the New York Public Library steps, I was enamoured of the Library Lions, those icons of literature that guard their entrance. These bookends, now in Julia and Andrew’s home, are ones I purchased forty years ago.

Yes, the lions’s dignified repose appeals to me. Even more, I respond to the names they acquired during the Great Depression: Patience and Fortitude–qualities I have been a long time in acquiring myself. In NYC, Patience looks to the south, toward the hallowed literary and artistic ground of Greenwich Village. Fortitude glances north, toward the glory of Central Park, an oasis of natural beauty with the incomparable Metropolitan Museum of Art in its center. One thing that I have learned is that to be any kind of an artist requires both virtues, and that one’s companions are essential in fostering them.

The New York Public Library’s website offers a wealth of history, fun facts, and whimsy surrounding this iconic pair, including reading lists for each, and a plethora of photographs of them bedecked with wreaths, wearing hats, and weathering time. There is even an invitation to send and/or create digital postcards with them at the center.

Here is a bit of swag I brought back for a friend, now a Northfield neighbor but for many years a resident of NYC.

Last September, I had an unforgettable first trip to New York City. Imagine it: taking a train from the country upstate, arriving at Grand Central Station to be met by an incredibly dear friend of the heart and the work, our first meeting in person! Then a few precious days of exploring at her side. Lynn knew that visiting the New York Library lions was high on my list. She led me there on foot, along a path I had never suspected exists: Library Way.

As we traveled from Park Avenue to Fifth Avenue along 41st Street, the marble facade of the New York Public Library’s flagship building gleams in the distance. Like a trail of fairytale bread crumbs, bronze plaques with literary gems gleam underfoot and led us on.

The full texts of all the plaques are available on the Library’s website. Each bronze is a unique artistic setting for a one-of-a-kind phrase. Below are a few images of my own favorites. (Who am I kidding? They are all my favorites!) And some images, too, of the rewarding journey’s end, appropriately at the base of more steps to climb.

Until tomorrow,

LESLIE