John Lennon 25 Years Dead

Even from several dozen blocks away, I can hear the hippies wailing over at Strawberry Fields. John Lennon was assassinated at the nearby Dakota apartment building 25 years ago today. The famous "Imagine" mosaic nearby gets flowers, candles, and all manner of folderol dumped on it all day, every day, by Lennon fans from all over the world. Every hour or so, a parks department groundskeeper has to come out and clear the stuff off. If you get a chance to visit the mosaic, try to endure the many Beatles-imitating buskers and wait for the janitor to show up. Since there's always a fresh crowd of tourists each time he comes out, the groundskeeper has to continually deal with people angry that he's taking the crap they just set down. Last time I saw this happen, one of the buskers actually intervened and peacefully told the outraged mourner, "It's OK, John would have wanted it that way, and there's always more, you can go get something else to put here later." I'm sure that made the groundskeeper feel better too, contemplating the endless, fruitless nature of his labor.

Strawberry Fields [Central Park]
Music, flowers and candles for Lennon, 25 years [Reuters]

[Photo: Yahoo!]

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