Member-only story
The Long, Slow Slide into Autumn
What our backyard (aka Central Park) looks like now
Twenty-four years in Cleveland, Ohio — which is not land-locked, btw — taught me that spring next to a large body of water usually sucks. It’s generally cold, rainy, and unpleasant until it suddenly explodes into summer. This is because the water stays cold and that cold affects everything around it. Conversely, because that big wide expanse of water has soaked up the summer heat for several months, autumns near large bodies of water are long, languid, slow slides into winter.
Here we are, languidly sliding towards what most of us dread and savoring every minute of the ride there. Ok, I am savoring every minute. You do you.
We have several trips planned around the city to take in the foliage as it nears peak vibrancy and color but in the meantime, there’s always the backyard. Ten minutes from where we live in Harlem is all 840 acres of Central Park. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. You are true heroes of the city.
Having ambitiously set out to visit both China and Russia in recent weeks, we were a bit more laid back this weekend and contented ourselves with a backyard stroll.
We entered the park at the south end and were immediately transported away from everything citified except all those people. Nice weather always means that end of the park is going to be packed. My partner in art and life says he heard no less than five different languages within the first two minutes in the park.
I love this city.
