Project Parks-Inwood Hill Park

Yesterday, even though it wasn't the best day weather-wise (spotty showers, damp, humid) I decided to visit Inwood Hill Park with a friend. It's located at the uppermost edge of Manhattan, accessible only by the A train taken to the last stop. Honestly, I've never travelled that far up so it was kind of exciting for me. It was just a new experience in this city I call home. At the last stop I exited the subway station and walked towards the park. A set of stone steps greeted me. And so began my ascent into a part of New York City that I have never been before.

The first thing I noticed was the silence. All the cars, all the sounds of people, all the hustle and bustle of city life...it was as if it could not enter here. The sudden quietude was disorienting. I realized just how quickly it could feel like you're entering a different world, or a different lifetime even. All the buildings, all the modern creations of man had no effect here. This was nature, pure and simple. It's a rare moment indeed when you can be in NYC without FEELING like you're there. I walked on.

I noticed this carving on a tree. It was a cute little surprise to stumble upon while walking down the path. I couldn't help taking a picture. Lol.

I realized why they called it Inwood Hill Park. The climbing could get a little steep. I was definitely getting a good workout as well as beautiful views. All I could see was green and I loved it. Here spring was in full bloom. I could hear birds chirping high up in the trees and each path I decided to take (there were moments where the paths forked) led me deeper and deeper into the park. I was glad that I brought along a friend. Yet even though we had each other for company, nature demanded our attention. We gave it willingly. 

The general quiet, serene nature of the park allowed my mind to wander. The famous poem by Robert Frost popped into my head and I found myself reciting part of the poem "The Road Not Taken".

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth...

It's beautiful to me how a walk through the woods can inspire poetry. The merging of thought and nature is art, simple and organic and powerful.

Eventually the path I chose led me to a clearing where I saw a bright green meadow and a body of water I think may have been the Hudson River. There was also this sign with interesting information about Inwood Hill Park. The park consists of a forest, a salt marsh, meadow and many flora and fauna including the Bald Eagle. I was hoping that I would get a glimpse of the majestic bird so that I could take a picture of it. For bird watchers, this would be the perfect place to be since there are a reported 150 species of birds that have been spotted here. For those interested in Geology, there are various kinds of bedrock in this park including marble. For the history fans out there, Inwood was once home to a Native American village. And for the general nature lovers, this area provides a beautiful place to hike and enjoy the beauty that is Mother Earth. 

Here you could see a picture of the Hudson River and some ducks relaxing by the waterside.  I walked along the pathway by the water, enjoying the peacefulness of the day and the fact that the area  was crowd free. It's hard to find a serene spot in the city that isn't packed full of people. I had plenty of room to roam. I savored it. 

My friend allowed me to take a photo of him enjoying a moment of peace in this frequently hectic city. Thank you so much Cliff!

Every now and again I'd come across a runner or just a person looking to do the same thing I was doing, enjoying the outdoors without the congestion. This little fellow happened to be straggling behind his owner who had walked farther up ahead. She was following behind me for a while and when I turned to take this picture, she politely stopped and allowed me to do so. 

I thought somehow the bedrock on that side of the water would spell something out for me but alas, only a solitary "c" could be seen. I wonder what it stood for. The only words my friend and I could come up with happened to be food related lol.

I am obsessed with the concept of a few things. One of those things are  pathways (doors, tunnels, corridors, hallways) and the other is the juxtaposition of nature and industrial. There's something so compelling about seeing the massive structure of a manmade steel bridge and then the delicate curve of leaves on the trees and the sharp tips of branches brushing up against it. The bright splash of green coinciding next to the cold grey shows two worlds forced to coexist. I love looking at the two together, it makes me feel as if we can all exist on the same plane no matter how vastly different we are.

More paths showed me the way. At this point the wind had started to pick up. The leaves rustled gently. The feeling was...otherworldly. Once again there was no one around. I could see the water through the break in the trees. I saw part of a railroad track and thought about about the duality of man and nature, how we exist beside each other, holding our own power. But the power of nature is ancient, and mankind is still young compared to even the youngest forest. We are spring blooms while nature has already seen many winters. I looked at the trees to either side of me and thought of what they must of have seen, a world ever-changing, ever expanding, pushing their boundaries back further as we humans expand and evolve and desire more. There was a wildness to the green around me that I found captivating. No matter what, we couldn't control this. Nature is untamable.

My friend Cliff once again played a good sport and allowed me to take a photo of him.

I'm not really good with the names of flowers but I saw some pretty little ones while walking and decided to snap a photo. 

I had walked for over an hour, time moved way too fast when you are unaware of it. I knew that that though there was plenty more to see I had to save that for another time. While enjoying the last length of this walk, I saw the train tracks and once again couldn't resist taking a photo. Man and nature. There's something beautiful to me in the contrast. I guess because I exist in the world of man but will always appreciate nature. This walk through the park showed me that. I loved the feeling of setting foot in another world but at the end of the day, I live among the cars and the computers and the pulse of a society growing day by day, become more advanced and maybe tragically, more removed from nature. It's important to put down the phones and the tablets and come back to where the trees grow. Center ourselves. Appreciate that there is more to the world than skyscrapers and technology, there's nature in abundance, waiting for us to acknowledge it and remember its beauty. That's something I must always keep in mind. 

The Fall

I often daydream about living a different life. Not in a "woe is me" kinda way, but more in a "hmmm what if" kinda way. I would watch a music video or see a play (on or off broadway) or a really good movie and wonder how it would be to live that life. In fact, as a child I would listen to my favorite songs and close my eyes, imagining the kind of music video I would put together for it. I still do that actually. I guess it's because it's fun for me to wonder and imagine. That's something that never left me, even as I've become an adult. 

I think about the people who make it on broadway, or the ones who are directing those music videos or acting on screen and I try to imagine how they got there. Hard work? Sacrifice? Chance? Luck? How did those who are able to create, whether it be a riveting character or beautiful crafted visual style, rise up to the level they are now. I feel like the process is like a roller coaster going up, up, up. You climb and you slip and you climb again and don't stop until you reach the pinnacle. I also think about the fall. How fast it came for some celebrities and well-known icons. It's slippery up there at the top. 

I think that why you must always keep climbing. Or find the plateau. It's the only way to avoid the fall. 

Then my mind wandered to the ones who can't seem to make it. The ones in which the bottom is all they've ever known. I thought about the struggle and despair of it all, having a desire but unable to see it through. It's heartbreaking. But even then, the dream is too powerful to give up on. It fuels them. They keep trying to climb up. 

I'd like to be able to be a climber. Reaching upward until I've found my peak. Balancing there and creating that plateau. But there's always struggle and that causes so many slips and trips that I often wonder if I will ever get up there. But I firmly believe in the determined spirit. I believe in the people that never give up. They are beacons, those dreamers. I want to shine like they do. Even when times get dark, I want to shine. 

To Run.

Earlier this morning as I made my way to work, I witnessed something that really made me stop and think. 

I was on an overly crowded bus (thank you Queens) headed to work. The rain was slapping against the windows and I happened to look out one of them and I noticed a man hunched in the rain, waiting by the bus-stop. Unfortunately for him he was standing at a local bus-stop and I was on the limited bus so I knew he would be passed by. But this man took one look at the bus and started running. At first I thought he had forgotten something at home. It took me a moment to realize that wasn't the case at all. He was running towards the limited bus-stop. He was trying to get there before we did. 

If that had been me I would have cursed my miserable luck and continued waiting for a local bus in the rain. That made me think. What motivates a man to risk running to a limited bus-stop when he was already at the local? Why would he run and not wait? Surely one would think the chances are too great to make it to the stop before the bus would. But he ran, even with the odds against him. 

He knew he could make it. 

This man saw a chance and took it, leaving the security of the place he was at to chase something better. I realized how different that would have been from my own actions. I also realized that while I would have still been waiting in the rain he would already have been on a bus heading towards his destination. 

Success feels like the same thing. It's an action, a chase. It's a man running towards a bus-stop three blocks down while a speeding bus drives by. It's no longer waiting for something to reach you, but instead getting up and getting it yourself. Success is not passivity. You've got to make a move. As he climbed into the bus, soaking wet and out of breath, I smiled at this man who had, in the flash of a moment changed something within me. Suddenly the world seemed to make more sense. It's amazing what the actions in everyday life can teach.