We blinked and the summer was over. Taking a walk through Central Park the fall is here in all its glory, the light is different, the leaves are changing colors, the weather is getting colder. What does it feel like to be here. Why is this place so magical. We see Central Park in movies, but what does it actually feel like to be here. How to describe the tactile sensations of being in this place, at this time. The sounds, the sights, the smells, it’s all changing, preparing for the upcoming winter.
The falling leaves create a rustling carpet under our feet that smells like fall. It’s a magical time of year. The seasons changing and upcoming Halloween, then thanksgiving and year end holidays. Putting on a sweater and going for a walk, it’s not like the summer time picnics, it’s too cold to stay still but the cold air is refreshing. It also changes how we feel about ourselves, our bodies need more comfort, warm clothes, hot meals. When people lived off the land, before supermarkets and importing of food from across the globe, this would be the time to dedicate all energy to harvesting and preserving food for the winter. The fruits and berries used to make jams, the vegetables pickled, the fish smoked. The nature is preparing to buckle down for the cold months and so were the people.
In our modern times, we are not dependent on the seasons and can be pretty cut off from the changes of our Mother Earth. But something in our biology still earns to be in step with nature, we crave comforting food, soups and stews, as the weather changes, warmer clothes, bigger blankets. There’s nothing better than a hot cup of tea after a walk in the cold, with the wind blowing stronger, coming inside into the cozy, comforting feel of your heated space. Putting on the kettle, brewing a cup of favorite tea, using the bounty of the earth for sustenance and comfort. It’s the season of apples and pumpkins, colors of the fall, oranges and deep reds. It’s the time to dry herbs to make teas and spices. Lavender, lemon balm, lemongrass, mint, oregano are some of the local plants that grow in abundance in the summer and can be dried to make amazingly delicious and healthy tisanes – herbal teas that are natural and caffeine free.
I’ve always wanted to live with palm trees and warm weather, places like Los Angeles, where I wouldn’t need to swap out the wardrobe, and can enjoy the outdoors all year long but nothing beats the changing of the seasons and the beauty of the fall. I get out the step ladder to climb up to high storage to put away summer stuff and get out the big comfy winter gear. Sweaters, scarves, hats, gloves. Everything oversized, designed to comfort. Living in small apartments requires a wardrobe swapping exercise at least twice a year, utilizing every inch of the space, finding nooks and crannies to store stuff in boxes we don’t need for the season. But once I get out the warm stuff, It’s the perfect time to take a walk through Central Park, to see explosion of colors changing from green to yellow, orange, red, burgundy.
Walking through Central Park, the huge maples and ancient oaks provide a gorgeous kaleidoscope of colors. The fall light shines through the canopy, while the leaves cascade to the ground, with rushing urgency as the wind picks up. Part of the magic of this place is the curved roads, leading down or up hills, eventually hiding behind the curve. Peaking my curiosity, I want to know what’s around the bend, even if I’ve been to the spot a thousand times, there’s always something to explore, something new to discover.
Central Park Conservancy has a beautiful interactive map of the best places in the park to see changing foliage.
It’s like being a live museum where every second provides an opportunity for beautiful pictures and unique experiences but its also ever changing and evolving. The transient nature of the park means the colors we see today will be deeper and darker tomorrow and then the leaves will all be on the ground and will see the naked geometry of branches and greater visibility of buildings around the park.
Central Park Conservancy is a great organization, if you’re looking for a nonprofit to support and/or volunteer, this is truly a worthy cause and they do amazing things. This organization was started in 1980 by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, who was a photographer and art historian and saw the potential of restoring the parks’ green spaces to honor its grandeur and beauty. She raised money with the help of people living around the park and started major clean up works.
It’s hard to imagine now, walking through this world famous landmark, but in the 1970’s, Central Park was dirty, abandoned, its iconic lights and bridges were in disrepair, its lawns were covered in garbage and its meadows were turning into mosquito infested marshlands. It was dangerous to be there at night and sometimes even during the day.
The story of Central Park began in the 1850s, when Olmsted and Vaux designed the space to serve all New Yorkers, as a place of refuge and tranquility. They envisioned the park as a journey into nature for rest, respite and entertainment, for urban residents to feel like being out in the country. At the time, wealthy people had beach houses and summer estates and would leave the city during the summer months to enjoy tranquility and nature. Olmsted and Vaux wanted to provide this respite for all residents, to have a feeling of being out in the country, without having the need to travel and own properties.
Like the city itself, in the 1970s the park suffered from the urban flight with wealthier New Yorkers moving to the suburbs and reducing the tax base. The city simply didn’t have the money to clean up and maintain the park and it wasn’t a priority. In the past four decades, Central Park Conservancy has played a key role in restoring and maintaining the park, the green areas and the iconic structures, while honoring the original designs of its founders, the landscape architects, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.
The park is now more than ever a refuge in a bustling, loud city. It’s a respite from all the hassle, a place everyone can enjoy in the way they choose to. It hosts 42 million visitors a year and is a top tourist destination for people visiting NYC. Central Park Conservancy played a huge role in giving us back this space, continuing to maintain it and funding restoration as well as new projects. There’s a free Shakespeare theatre, Belvedere castle, countless playgrounds, the famous Bethesda fountain and plaza, the mall designed after European plazas that serve as open spaces to bring people together. There’s summer stage for free concerts, the great lawn, the turtle pond, Alice in Wonderland statue, NYC marathon, places to meet for walks and fundraisers, gardens. There’s even a traditional Swedish cottage that puts on puppet shows for the kids:
Photo Credit: Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre
One of my favorite spots is the Shakespeare garden. Located right behind the Swedish cottage, next to the Belvedere castle, it’s a place so charming, I can spend hours there reading, taking pictures, walking around, exploring the flowers, and observing the birds. It’s a form of active meditation that takes me away from day-to-day reality and lets my mind wonder to a time long ago, where one could spend an entire afternoon reading in the garden, without picking up the mobile device, without rushing from one thing to the next. Appreciating the moment and being present to enjoy it.
Sources of research and inspiration:
- Central Park Conservancy nonprofit
- History of Central Park
- NYC Parks bio post on Frederick Law Olsmed and Calvert Vaux
- Bowery Boys – amazing podcasts about NYC history, check out episodes about Central Park
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