Central Park

We spent Saturday afternoon at a picnic in Central Park. My friend Nicole, from college in Ohio, organized it. Excellent afternoon. Douglas, Nicole and her son Kai, our friends from college: Turtle, Eric and his wife Erica, Monifa; my friend Mark; and many friends Nicole made in graduate school - I can't possibly remember all their names but a few stand outs: Eboni, Rich, Raul, Fiona, ... oh geez, and about 10 more. Hopefully at the next meeting I'll do better about remembering names.

Central Park is huge. It was created via eminent domain in 1853. It is 843 acres, situated between 59th Street and 110th Street, making the park larger than the nation of Monaco. (By another contrast, the park is a rectangle 2.5 miles long and half a mile wide. South Bass Island is a wobbly 3.7 miles long and 1.5 miles wide.)

The plan of the day was to meet on the Great Lawn. Which, as its name suggests, is immense. Thank God for cell phones and the gift of patience. Nicole's voicemail message informing me that she had set up camp under "a big tree" was amusing. My call to Mark telling him we were lost and "near a big pond" was followed by a discussion disagreeing on whether it was the reservoir or the turtle pond.

Endurance won and we all met up successfully.

© 2005