Central Park on a Winter Day

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“Scrap!” “Scrap!” “Srcaaaap!”  This was the sound that woke up me up this morning. Not even 8AM and already building superintendents and business owners were busy clearing sidewalks and walkways, while others chipped through the thin sheet of ice they found on their cars.

I slowly climbed out of bed and looked out my window. It was a sunny Sunday and my husband and 11-year-old were getting ready to head out to the weekly flag football practice and game. I was going to stay home.

Despite having warmer weather than the day before and the sun’s brightness promising to melt all the snow away by the end of the day, I knew there was still enough on the ground to allow the younger boys to play in, especially if we wandered into one of the city parks further downtown.

So once my husband and son came home we immediately headed downtown to walk around and take pictures in Central Park. We drove and quickly found parking on 85th St and Central Park West. There is an entrance to the park there, and a decent size playground to the right a few feet in. However, due to the snow, and now ice, all the playgrounds were locked, something my little ones were not at all happy about.

Though we tried to explain, they would not move on without first trying to climb the gate and pick the lock securing the chain around the entrance. It was actually quite funny watching them try to break in to the playground and I knew that this was only a glimpse of what the future had in store for me with these two working together causing trouble.

Once they realized their efforts were in vain, they joined us and walked away feeling a bit defeated, but still hopeful that there was some fun in store for them.

The park looked beautiful. The naked branches were covered in ice, causing them to glisten like precious diamonds every time the sun peeped out from behind the clouds. People were out walking their dogs or taking a stroll with their significant others and families. Because the streets are closed to traffic on weekends,and there were sporadic layers of ice along the trails there was a very limited number of joggers and no bikers to fear would run us over, thus allowing us to let the little ones run freely down the paths.

We stopped frequently as the kids tried to climb the frozen rocks or played with the icicles hanging off benches and bushes.

We ventured in Belvedere Castle which the boys were excited about the second they saw exclaiming, “Look Mama!  A dragon’s castle!!” Despite my best efforts to explain there wasn’t a dragon, my 3-year-old walked in and immediately approached one of the employees sitting behind the desk at the entrance and asked her, “Please, where’s the dragon?” to which the lady smiled and replied, “Oh sweety, we don’t have any dragons here today.” But her boys were undeterred and eagerly climbed the narrow, spiral stairs to the tower in search of the dragon that was not to be found. They did, however, enjoy the views and enjoyed taking it all in.

We walked past the snow covered Delacorte Theater, where during warmer weather we come to enjoy the various “Shakespeare in the Park” performances. We passed the frozen Turtle Pond, the majestic Metropolitan Museum, and the playgrounds that we frequented often when we lived on the Upper East Side.

It amazes me how quickly the hours fly every time we visit the park and though I come here often, I can never get enough of it. I enjoy visiting in all seasons, but especially on days like today when it is covered in snow and beautifully frozen.

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