Ways to Keep Cool in New York: Central Park

Where is this? Vermont? Western Massachusetts? The Catskills? Nope, it's in the heart of New York City! One of my favorite places in the whole wide world is this incredible oasis of greenery smack dab in the middle of an otherwise relentless concrete jungle. The first year and a half I lived here, Graham and I would force ourselves up and out the door early on Sunday mornings for coffee and long leisurely walks in Central Park. Our point was that the park was its most peaceful and the crowds were at a minimum. Like so much else that takes a little work and yet is a pleasurable practice, we let this go by the wayside. It's a haul for us: 45 minutes on the subway and we got used to sleeping in or thinking we were too busy. This weekend, we had a spontaneous desire to get up and go and man, oh man, am I glad.

Here's some reasons why:


Nature, the breath of trees, the temperature being a bit cooler among the green, the sound of cicadas and birds wafting up in the air, and the relative quiet. Maybe because I grew up in California, where the summer is so dry, I can never get enough of the GREEN GREEN of the East. Before moving to New York, I would have called myself an agnostic naturalist, meaning that while I loved nature and felt good in it, I did not feel the need to be in it all the time. I felt comfortable being in an urban area, with connections to nature. New York has brought out the HUNGER and THIRST for the calm of nature. Whenever I go to places like Vermont or the Northwest, I just want to LIE DOWN and consume it all. The extreme urbanism of New York has made me more in touch with my love and need for the peace and beauty of nature. Central Park is like a hit of that and thank the SWEET STARS FOR IT. We literally just sat down on one of the paths in the shade and drank coffee, listening to...nothing. Honestly I think this park gives the city humanity. It's like a living, breathing pulse of this city. It calms it down.

Then there's just the magic of it. Call it what you will, I feel something deep in my blood when I enter this park. It's an inspiring place to me filled with magic and history. I walked around with my cup filling and filling.

And where else can you go to sit in the shade and listen to a man play "Que Sera Que Sera" on the accordion, while you watch the clean white sails of toy boats? Incidentally, all the boats that were being driven by remote control were run by middle aged men in khaki shorts and boating shirts. There wasn't a child among them. It cracked us up.

We've been here in the dead of winter, when it was so cold that there was nothing but the sound of the branches creaking in the wind. We've seen a hawk eat a squirrel in park branches. I've laid on the grass and stared at fireflies glinting in the distance. On our way in, we discovered buildings that were built just for musicians and artists, so each apartment is sound proof. We saw funny dogs make their serious owners look silly. Our little jaunt made us want to recommit to our weekly sojourn because the thing about the park for us is that it reminds us what we love, not just about this place, but life in general. Although we've been having a tough time of money lately, we felt so rich.