Sunday in the Park

"The sum of the whole is this: walk and be happy; walk and be healthy. The best way to lengthen out our days is to walk steadily and with a purpose." 
~ Charles Dickens


The weather was glorious today. I wish you could have been there with me in Central Park. But maybe you were — the place was filled with people, but still somehow serene.

When walking on the sidewalks of this crowded city, my serenity depends on tuning things out. The park is different. Out in the fresh air and moving at a slower pace, I find it easy to focus on the details around me. Here are a few of the things I noticed today:

• So much music: two jazz bands, a lone saxophone player, a singing guitarist and a one-man-band with an accordion, percussion and a fiddle
• People in motion: strolling, pushing strollers, jogging, riding in pedicabs, riding in horse-drawn carriages, on skateboards, on bicycles

• Hans Christian Andersen waiting to tell a story
• A female mime dressed as the sort of porcelain ballerina you normally see in a music box
• Scantily clad souls stretched out in the sun on Cedar Hill
• More languages than I could identify
• A carnival — yes, with rides. Where did that come from?

• Flotillas of model sailboats navigating the Conservatory Water
• Waterfowl of several colors and kinds
• Turtles swimming and turtles sunning themselves on rocks
• A Koi the size of a small submarine

"I stroll along serenely, with my eyes, my shoes my rage, forgetting everything."
~ Pablo Neruda