new york cities greatest attraction
central park.
my central haven.
*****
for the unfairly unfamiliar, i share with you a few facts.
it
was created in the 1870's as a class leveler. a place where all new
yorkers (no matter the race or class) could come & escape the
insanity of the city.
-amazing, 142 years on, it's still working a treat.
it spans 843 acres!!! HUGE!!!
it has 8 ponds, 1 used to be a fully functioning reservoir supplying drinking water to manhattanites.
it has it's very own zoo.
in summer you can catch an outdoor show at one of the stages,
in winter you can ice skate on 2 of the ponds.
apparently, people even cross country ski & sledge through it during snow storms!!
it boasts 8 baseball fields.
you can hire your very own row boat to explore "the lake".
(or grab a gondola ride if walking around this beast wears you out).
yoko ono paid $1mill to build "strawberry fields" across from the apartment where john lennon was shot -a large field for picnicking.
cars & taxis drive the many roads that run through it,
whilst people & horse drawn carriages take to the wide foot paths.
every sat & sun in spring you can be thoroughly entertained by the roller disco set up right in the middle!! Hilarious.. a must!
it's trees are so abundant you feel as if you are in a rain forest.
the park is smack bang in the middle of manhattan. the worlds most visited city. the city that never sleeps. the city that never shuts up!!! -yet once its' dominating trees & rocks surround you,
you could be anywhere...
now that you are familiar, you may be able to grasp the next paragraph a little more closely to my wave length.
*****
today i said goodbye to one of my most beloved nyc hide outs.
my central haven.
-what will hypnotize me now that you have left my life.
i entered it aware that this was goodbye.
i knew that this was it.
it was a sunny 25degree saturday, i had my comfy slouchy pants on (perfect for laying in the grass), i had my trusty grass laying sarong in my bag (can't walk around with a moist bum..), a full bottle of water & nothing to do all afternoon but enjoy my haven.
the fun thing about central park is when you go, you never really need a plan. sure it's HUGE & you couldn't possibly walk it in a day. but once inside, the trees capture you & the paths adopt you. therefore, you just end up where you end up.
somehow.. after 7 visits i found a new path.
the path led me to some regular sights & some new ones.
but best of all, it just took me winding around my haven.
i took my last stroll through massive bike lanes.
sat for the last time on the grassy patches near the baseball field, (jac!! so clever sitting on the seats last week -i had to dodge that many fly balls today!!!).
took my last grass lying gaze at the romantic row boats.
i laid shoeless in the grass staring up at the beautiful trees.
i stumbled across a violinist playing songs from pride & prejudice (my favorite movie...), i could have fallen asleep on my chair listening to her play & the birds chirp in the tress - one of the most beautiful things i have ever heard.
i lay reading in the sun whilst listening to an old folk singer.
& i took my last hysterical glimpse at the roller disco.
...all for the last time.
*****
i left just as the sun was setting.
my sadness over shadowed by my hypnotic state.
i was relaxed.
i was at ease.
& i was ready to face the insanity once again.
...tried for an hour to post a video of the roller disco for you.
will keep trying!!! you really MUST see it.
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