OK, forget Spring fever….it is Summer here in the city! I have the sunburn to prove it! (And I as one who usually doesn’t get sunburn I can vouch that the sun is super hot!) I am extremely fortunate to live close to one of the best oasis in the city: Central Park.
The park holds a ton of memories for me. Family jogs, picnics, strolls, bike rides. It has been a blessing for a nature loving city girl! This weekend with unseasonable temps well into the 80’s, winter skin desperately in need of some sun, and some bonding with nature called for, I enjoyed some solitude in a park that is like a second home to me.
I usually “perch” in the Conservatory Gardens which is home to many flora and trees and fountains. I enjoy sitting in the area which houses the famous English Garden’s Burnett fountain dedicated to the writer Frances Hodgson Burnett (“The Secret Garden” remains to be my favorite book.)
Crabapple and Magnolia trees gather around rectangular and triangular plots of daffodils, tulips, and countless other flowers. I remember as a little girl I loved this spot. The flowers were always changing depending on the season. I would squat down really close to the flowers and imagine these garden kingdoms. The flowers seemed like people to me. You could study a flower up-close and begin visualizing a face or a creature. (My favorite were the snapdragons, I loved how they would grin! Snapdragons aren’t out until later in the season though.) Ok, so I was a peculiar child with a vivid imagination but I am not ashamed to admit I still get lost in looking at flowers and trees and allow my mind to visualize the life and the strength buzzing within it. How can anyone not believe in magic or miracles when seeing it manifest from seed to plant?
Outside the Garden is the Harlem Meer where the geese, ducks, and fishies play! Along it’s circle people of the city seem to slow down, take off their hustle and bustle caps and forget for a little while. (At least it seems like it, frown lines are hard to be found!) Kids play along the walkway and in a little playground to the east of the Meer. Folks lay out on various grassy areas to have picnics and catch some rays. People fish and/or meditate across the Meer. Despite seeing NYC buildings in the distance the city seems miles away.
I know I could not survive city without Central Park! So you city dwellers, find your nearest piece of nature and you non-city dwellers appreciate the nature outside your window and while taking in it’s beauty get lost in your imagination!