Overlooking the water beside the Bethesda fountain, Sam Poddell stands, donning a Yankees cap with the setting sun at his back. Beside him, a speaker plays LoFi hip-hop beats while he freestyles over the tracks with a tenor saxophone. He enters and exits the song on his own accord producing an effect that seemingly emulates freestyle rapping over the looping rhythm. 

Sam is one of three musicians located on the terrace this late afternoon and while people seem to not pay him much mind in this particular moment, the sound of his saxophone has intertwined itself into the mosaic of noise from park goers. Sam navigates the barking of dogs and laughing of children to provide an excellent musical addition to the end of the day.

I couldn’t help but experience a sense of gratitude towards Sam in listening to him play as the sun sank low. It was at this incredibly busy intersection of foot traffic that so many people found themselves on this afternoon and perhaps, though unacknowledged, Sam provided the perfect accompaniment to a long commute home after work, an unwinding in the park with a loved one, or perhaps just a dog walk. In a city filled with millions of people going throughout their day independently, it is nice to know that music can unite us all, if only just for an instance.