Mornings in Central Park

• 23, Feb, 2012
• 2 comments
• Tags: bart of darkness, city culture, leather gloves, perpetual summer, skycars, warm sun

On March 1st, it will be exactly 5 months since I abruptly packed up my belongings in San Francisco and moved to the Big Apple. (It will also be my birthday, but more on that later.) Settling into my new surroundings has been exciting and adventurous, and re-acclimating to the city culture that I was raised in has been an interesting experience. Oh, and remembering what “cold” is — that’s been rather interesting as well!

On my morning walk to work today, it suddenly occurred to me — it won’t always be cold in New York. Obvious enough, right? Well, after having lived in California for the past six years, I’ve grown accustomed to having only one season: perpetual summer. When I moved to NYC, I arrived with the expectation of snow and sleet and rain, and although it’s actually been a lovely winter this year (apparently), it’s still been between 20 – 40 degrees every day. But not this morning.

I got a bit of a late start today (probably because I was laughing my ass off at the Comic Strip until about midnight last night). I showered, poured a cup of French drip, and put on an episode of the Simpsons to listen to as I got ready (fun fact: it was “Bart of Darkness” — such a classic). At 8:30am (about an hour later than usual), I wrapped my scarf, grabbed my leather gloves and headed out for the 3.2 mile walk to my office in Bryant Park. As I stepped out of my building, it became immediately clear that I would NOT need my gloves and scarf this morning. As I unwrapped myself from my winter essentials, I watched the sun glittering on the East River for a minute, soaking in the warm sun rays and just imagining how amazing my walk will be in a month or so, when it’s consistently lovely.

When I first started walking to work back in November, I would try to go as far down 1st avenue as I could, because generally speaking, the further “in” on Manhattan you go, the busier and more crowded it gets. I’d usually get to the 59th street skycars and then start zig-zagging over to 5th ave. There’s actually a concept called “Manhattan Geometry,” because Manhattan is the only place in the world where you will walk exactly the same amount of mileage regardless of route. For instance, I will always walk exactly 3.2 miles to work no matter which streets or avenues I take. So I used to walk with the lights, figuring it was quickest. Well, that may be true, but about as month ago, I realized that I could walk through Central Park every morning if I just went straight over on 79th. Since that revelation, my morning walk has become indispensable. And now that it’s getting warmer, I have only more to look forward to!

I feel so grateful that I can walk to work in such a beautiful park in such an amazing city. And although I get urges to live in pretty much every neighborhood I visit here, I’m starting to think I’ll never be able to live downtown, because that will mean I won’t be able to enjoy Central Park as often! I’m looking forward to spring (and then summer!) with renewed excitement!