Parks "condemned by NYU"

In the picture, it's pretty hard to see, but one day when my mom and I were having lunch in a cafe in the village in NYC, we were right across from a fenced off park that had banners hung that read "CONDEMNED BY NYU. Gardens going... going... gone". I had seen several different parks that were locked up like this, forbidding visitors from entering. We asked our waitress who said that NYU was planning to build buildings in place of these tiny parks on street corners. They did seem a bit out of place in a lot that was meant for a building but that's what made them so charming. All of the different banners and posters show how the community around these parks really wanted to save them. Living in New York, they obviously don't have the luxury of a big back yard to run and play with the kids and pets like people in the suburbs have. I can definitely understand their hard work to keep their beautiful little parks for their kids to run and play in.

Central Park

This June, my parents and I went to New York City for Fathers Day and my birthday. The first day when we arrived, we went to the Gugenheim Museum and then went for a walk in Central Park. I have been there before when I was about 8 but it didn't fascinate me nearly as much as it did this summer. The way the buildings of NYC reflected on the water of the reservoir made such a beautiful contrast between bustling city life and the calm stillness of nature. The path we walked on was completely shaded by trees so it wasn't too hot and I enjoyed seeing all of the plants lining the walkway. Most of the people getting exercise had their dog with them and nobody seemed bothered in the least bit. The park was so welcoming and peaceful to visit, especially after a long day of traveling. The size of the park definitely made me stop and stare. I have always thought that Memorial Park was huge but Central Park is like the mother of all large parks to me. It just seems to go on forever and ever through shady and beautiful walkways surrounded by bushes, flowers and tall trees that seem to bend perfectly to cover the parks visitors with shade.

Watering Plants

I've already posted about this but google can't find my other blog... So early in June, I watered my neighbors plants while they were out of town for a week. They have A LOT of plants, all in separate pots, and all sporadically placed through their back yard. Twice a day, I would spend about 30 minutes watering their garden and trying to avoid the pesky wasps who tried to attack me because I'm deathly afraid of them. I noticed that the bigger the plants were, the quicker the soil would absorb the water and look dry again. I could definitely tell that some of the plants were placed in a half sunny half shady spot because they would peak out of the shade and into the sun in a bent manner. I definitely had to give them a ton of water because of the 100 degree weather and the fact that the plants didn't even have shade from the clouds. I can't remember if that's everything that I talked about in my earlier post but I'll find it eventually.