Walking Off the Big Apple

In sunny weather, especially on a surprisingly warm day in mid-winter, Central Park functions like a powerful magnet. The park's natural features, attractions, winding paths, and secluded corners offer a myriad of options for collectively reveling in the gift of a beautiful day. It's fun to whimsically follow a path for a long walk or to find a sunny spot to lie down and do nothing. The steps of The Metropolitan Museum of Art On this past weekend in Central Park, the three-day weekend for Presidents Day coincided with unseasonably warm and sunny weather. People looked more relaxed than usual, less frantic perhaps with the knowledge of an extra day to goof off or get the chores done. Bethesda Terrace Sitting on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and watching people walk by was a good choice. And, then when that was done, either dip back inside the museum to see an exhibition or walk in some random direction in Central Park, perhaps to Bethesda Terrace a

All walks are different, even in the deep snows of winter. This past week, walking at all has been challenging. Today, for example, I saw a large man slip and fall on the ice near the busy bus stop at Fordham Plaza in the Bronx. It's a hard thing to see, a big man falling in slow motion on hard ice, other than trying to compensate after the fall with an offer of help. Yesterday, a Sunday, the conditions were terrible for walking, at least in a safe manner. Tiny pellets of ice, mixed with rain and snow, glazed every surface. It was an odd week, all in all, for the weather in New York. Just last Wednesday, we had spring-like conditions, and the landscape shimmered in dew and green. People ate lunch outside, and birds took the change in weather as a cue to gather twigs and hunt for berries and bugs. Then, the next day, a vortex of low pressure sailed up the East Coast and dumped nearly a foot of snow on the New York region. School was cancelled. Intrepid types headed for the