Sleeping With Your Head in the Fridge

The sweltering heat has slowed down my urban explorations. I've been spending a lot of time camped in front of the pathetic little window fan, trying to move as little as possible. Not even the rain seems capable of cooling things down.

Yesterday I walked by Gramercy Park - the only remaining park in New York that isn't open to the public. Residents in the immediate area are bestowed with a key to the garden, while the rest of us lurk woefully on the outside, peering through the fence with smudged faces. Actually it's not even that spectacular of a park. There are plenty of others scattered about the city that would do just as well. This one does contain a statue of Edwin Booth, esteemed Shakespearean actor. His brother, John Wilkes, earned some notoriety of his own. The townhouses on all sides of the park are lavish, & scraggly dressed vagabonds can expect to be glared at with suspicion.

Much preferable is The Ramble, a densely wooded area located deep within Central Park. Wooden bridges, still ponds, steep twisting paths, gurgling brooks, stone arches, a variety of birdlife - it's surprisingly easy to forget you're smack dab in the center of the largest city in America. That is, until you suddenly come around a bend & spot the gothic structures which line Central Park West looming over the treeline.