For thanksgiving break I had the opportunity to go to New York City. For most of my stay there the weather was very cold, cloudy and I got to experience snow on two different days. Since I was in this beautiful city, I decided on writing my blog about Central Park. On November 29, 2014 I went to central park around 3:00pm. It was cloudy, the temperature was 36F and because it was windy it felt like 30F. It was pretty cold to be outside, specially for me since I am not exactly used to this weather. Still, I was able to appreciate the beauty of this park, the first thing I noticed were lots of birds singing and flying from tree to tree. Also I was shocked by the variety of colors the fall bring, most of the leafs had already fallen to the ground and turned brown. However, the few that were still on the trees had beautiful colors of yellow and orange and some were still green. There were also lots of ducks swimming in the lake. I was able to notice a little bit of ice in the lake but the ducks did not seem to be affected by it. Also, there were lots of other ducks around the lake, which I was curious about because I thought ducks migrated south during cold weather. I also noticed lots of New Yorkers working out in the park, walking their dogs or playing with their kids. It surprised me because people here adapt to the weather just fine, it doesn’t matter how cold it is, they still keep going with their routine and adapt perfectly to the weather changes. There were also lots of tourists, most of them were in pedicabs, which were ridiculously expensive, or walking around taking pictures. Even though it was a little cold for my taste, I was able to enjoy the time that I was at Central Park. I took some time to observe the animals, the people and how the season has affected the trees, the lake and the grass. Another thing that I noticed was different here than in Texas was that squirrels are darker, kind of gray/black. Overall it was an awesome experience for me to be in NYC during the fall and experience the temperature changes, and also the changes in the plant life. The quote that I chose from the Sound and County Almanac book is “Land is not a commodity that belongs to us; land is a community to which we belong.” I chose this quote because by being in Central Park I noticed that it is a park that covers a good part of the city. People from New York has decided to build around the park, leaving it untouched. I was also able to notice that the City of New York does a huge effort in keeping the park clean and well kept. For the while that I was there, I saw lots of signs about preserving the park, lots of trash cans and benches so it is enjoyed by the people. This quote makes me think that easily this park could have been destroyed in order to build buildings in that space, specially since New York is such a crowded city. However, people hear has decided that they as a community belong to the park. That it is their responsibility to take care of it, keeping trash out and investing money in having people working there daily in order to keep it as beautiful as it is. I sensed a feeling of responsibility from New Yorkers and tourists towards the park. It is understood that this is not a commodity for anyone, instead it is a gift, it is a space were people from both the community and from outside go and enjoy themselves and nature.
Nitza and I in Central Park
Tree in Central Park