A Walk in Central Park, Part 3

I was wondering if you were getting tired of my walk in Central Park this past weekend, but after reading so many of the comments I’ve received, I’ve decided that you’re not.

For years, the only things I had seen of New York City were on TV shows and movies, but to see it in real life is quite different. If you’re interested in reading parts 1 and 2, please see the posts below. As I said before, I travelled to the city last Saturday to meet my blogging friend, Daryl and then my son joined us for lunch. It’s always good to see my sons and the eldest one lives Downtown.

I left off at the steps yesterday . . . the steps that lead up under the Pergola at the West end of the Italian Garden, a very nice respite from the sun, which was beginning to grow warm.

I love how the city peeks through, don’t you?

Here we are looking out from under the Pergola, towards the south.

Few visitors know this, but on the walkway here under the Pergola, there are medallions inscribed with the thirteen original states.

I didn’t know this until I returned home and read about it or I would have taken photos of them.

If you look just to the left of the top of the fountain, you can almost see the Vanderbilt Gate where we entered this section of the park.

After strolling under the shade of the Pergola, we headed down the stairs and into the English Garden. The first thing we came to was an absolutely lovely water lily pond with a beautiful fountain at one end. The chirping of the birds who were taking a bath in the fountain’s bowl were all we could hear in this quiet little hamlet.

How can I describe the peace that I felt upon entering this place? I don’t think my words would do it justice. At the right side was a young couple, and the woman was wheelchair-bound. I almost felt as if I was intruding on their quiet moment, but it’s everyone’s park and I quietly began to take photos of the beautiful bronze fountain.

This is the Burnett Memorial Fountain, donated to the park in 1936 by the Friends of Frances Hodgson Burnett, who was the author of The Secret Garden (1909) and Little Lord Fauntleroy (1906).  The Friends wanted to pay tribute to the author with a storytelling area in the newly designed Central Park. It is believed that the young girl holding the water bowl and the young boy playing the fife are the main characters from The Secret Garden, Mary and Dickon.

The bowl is a functioning birdbath. And as I stood there, quietly taking pictures and trying not to scare the birds away,  a gentle breeze picked up. Suddenly, I felt a happiness that comes from being somewhere so beautiful, you feel as if your heart could burst. I’m sorry to be sounding so romantic about it all, but it was such a peaceful place under this tree and I could see why the young couple had chosen it as a spot to sit and stay for awhile.

If you ever travel to the City, and you find yourself near the area of the Conservatory Garden in Central Park, you must come to this place.

 

This is not a good photo because of the contrasty bits of white at the tips of the flower, but I didn’t want to leave it out because I liked the bokeh behind it.

(Bokeh describes the rendition of out-of-focus points of light).

This concludes Part 3 of my walk in the park. The final part is coming tomorrow, and then I’ll keep mum on the subject for now. I will tell you though, that the hydrangea above has an action on it that I love, although I don’t use very often. I acquired it at Coffee Shop Photography and it’s called Golden Vintage [link]. 

I’ve also attempted to do another collage and I’ve posted it on my Picture A Day blog.

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .

A note to my sister, Char. I love you and I love my family, too. I’m sorry I didn’t come yesterday to Pete’s house. Maybe there is something wrong with me. But it doesn’t mean I don’t love you all. It just means I wanted to be alone.