park posts

i know, i know, i never post, i'm so lazy, blah blah blah. here you go, reader. (just reader, correct? i don't think anyone but me reads this. and s when i remind him.)

i grew up in greenery, and there were multiple parks within walking, biking and bus-ing distance of my house throughout my childhood, so sometimes i miss me some trees. manhattan parks are certainly not the same lush wilderness we used to create grass tunnels in when i was still allergy-free, but in the last month i have "discovered" two new parks i adore beyond belief. for entirely different reasons. (when i say discovered, i mean new to me. reader will not believe i had never been before.)

new favorite urban park: bryant park. while it was a day in central park, in unbelievably perfect weather, that inspired this blog in the first place, bryant park has taken up a permanent residence in my heart. as an original and fervent project runway fan (back nov 14th, thank the gods), i had of course oft heard of fabled bryant park, but i had never actually been. s and i had time to kill (i know, these posts make it sound like we live a life of leisure, but really we live a life of unemployment and internship) and it was a lovely afternoon, so we walked to bryant park. he had been, and knowing me, knew i would love it. i did. first of all, i love a park with its own food kiosks (especially those of top chef's - another bravo fave - own tom collichio's 'wichcraft) and flower stalls and classy european-style chairs and tables. the lawn is a beautiful emerald green, and it is bounded by a new york mix of sleek new and funky old architecture. (who can tell me what that crazy black and gold building is? please? i want to live in it. or on it.) there were children toddling across the grass and a supercute dog at the table next to us, and a man even asked if we were jewish. (and there is nothing i like more than being mistaken for jewish. he wanted to bless us. it was a holiday.) bryant park felt special. in a fabulous way. does that make sense? it makes sense to me. i fall in love with parks on sunny days.

new favorite borough park: prospect park. slightly edging out bryant park for most favorite of all with its a) extreme proximity to the apartment, b) "cool things" factor (botanical garden, ZOO! - i love a zoo, a later post indeed - , boat tours), and c) dog heaven. i must explain. we are dog people, s and i. i come from a family of dog people (though my father might be a cat person), and we treat dogs as family members. the loss of a pet is terrible (our precious pup, alice the schmalice, died last christmas) and we always give the griever a copy of "dog heaven." (dog heaven you need to buy yourself a copy.) anyways, dog heaven features, among other things, rolling green hills filled with dogs of all shapes and sizes and plenty of balls and sticks and laughing children to chase. as it turns out, dog heaven exists on earth, and it is in prospect park. we first came upon the dog beach, which made me happy, as there dogs can leap with fuzzy abandon into the water, paddling out to sticks and balls and returning triumphant, smiling their doggy smiles around slick prey. after further park exploration (we were prospect newbies, s and i) we found dog heaven. and we just sat on the park bench and watched the dogs play. and it made me that bittersweet mix of happy and sad. i really miss my dog.

i also love prospect park for the audobon boat house business by the water. i love weddings, and wedding planning, and often view every new place i visit as a possible wedding venue. (this is not even a new thing. i fall in love with spaces, and then i envision them decorated while strands of love songs waft through my head. i get it, i'm a weirdo.) anyways, i love the boat house. i saw the front room filled with tables, the window-doors flung open to a cool spring evening breeze, and steps down to the water lit by luminaria. how famous do you think i have to be before i can ask new york city if i can get married in prospect park?