What's a girl to do when she finds herself in midtown, in autumn, sans baby, husband-free, with her errands finished and a moment to herself? Why, run off to the park of course! Hot tea and camera in hand, I found a quiet spot at the abandoned tables by the carousel and sat for a minute, alone. The clouded sky reflected off of the tall buildings lining Bryant park, casting a quiet cold light over the mid-afternoon bustle, while the plants and trees within brimmed with the colors and smells of fall. The park was in a rare state of transition, preparing for the icy magical days ahead, but not quite ready to let go of the warmth of seasons past. The infamous central yard, where I've watched old movies at dusk each summer at the park's Summer Film Festival (one of the highlights of my summertime!), was in the midst of transforming into the annual ice skating rink. I first came to this park with my sisters, on my first visit to NYC at sixteen years old. We took the F train up from downtown, had a picnic on the grass, and drank fancy sparkling lemonade from glass bottles. I remember sitting in that patch of grass sipping lemonade from the prettiest bottles I'd ever seen, watching the whole world, so fashionable and busy and excited, buzz around me, and thinking, "this is where I need to be." And now, twelve years later, I sat here in silence, sipped my tea, and humbly watched as the park-goers frolicked, the businessmen buzzed, the carousel spun, the taxi cabs honked, and the workers worked to build an immaculate winter ice-skating rink. This city keeps moving, keeps evolving, season to season, year to year. Nothing stays the same for too long, eras pass, people come and people go, and it is bittersweet. But that is what keeps it alive, and that is why I love it. The parallels to watching your children grow are undeniable. You miss your tiny baby of yesterday, are eager for your child of tomorrow, and try your very best to soak up every single moment of your little one today. And the magic is in the perpetual change and constant newness of it all.
And on this day I was lucky enough to have time alone, to reflect and explore and remember. I finished my tea and took a walk around the park, realizing that this was the first time that I had ever peeked behind the scenes of a New York City ice-skating rink- how lucky of me to wander by on such a rare day. So I turned on my camera and tiptoed onto the construction site, because a girl's got to break the rules every once in awhile...
