August 23, 2008 (pics)

What a beautiful day this has been! I did a little housework and ran to the library this morning. Then I was blessed with 4 hours of walking around the lower half of Central Park. It was great, sunny weather and low 80 temps. It was a great day to be out and about. I didn't realize until I got home that I had taken over 100 pics!

When I first walked into the park at Columbus Circle, I saw some people gathered for a rally/protest. There weren't many people by New York standards, but I thought I would check it out anyway. There was a girl wearing feathered angel wings and giving a long winded speech about some kind of equality. After listening for a few moments and seeing a poster, I realized that they were furthering the cause for "freedom to be topless". They said if women weren't allowed to go topless in the city, then men should be required to always wear shirts. I'll let you know if they make any changes to city laws - ha!

I walked past the Dairy;stopped by the Chess/Checkers house, where you can sit and play at tables along the outside veranda; many different types of playgrounds; I rode the carousel; visited the Balto statue; walked along the Mall (a wide walkway that is featured in many movies); enjoyed the views at Bethesda Terrace; watched the boats (and turtles) at the Boathouse; watched the remote control boats at the Water Conservatory; watched kids climb all over the Alice in Wonderland statue; looked at Cleopatra's Needle (a centuries old statue by the Met); went by the Great Lawn; the Delacorte Theatre (where they have Shakespear in the Park); climbed up the tower at Belvedeer Castle; saw tons of people sunning at the Sheep Meadow; watched people play softball, volleyball and beach volleyball and climb the cool rock structures all over the park; enjoyed a hotdog from a vendor; watched numerous horse drawn carriages and pedicabs giving tours; dodged many joggers, roller bladers and bicyclists; heard many different languages being spoken and just plain people-watched. It was a fine day! Some other day off I would like to visit the zoo and explore the other half of the park.

Here are some pics of the things I've described above.




















































There are street performers and musicians all over New York City. It was so pleasant to walk from one place to another in the park and hear different types of music. This is just a few of the performers I ran across.




























I spent a lot of time talking with the Lord today. He really blessed me with beautiful sun, comfortable weather, health to walk all afternoon, eyes to see the beauty, ears to hear the laughter of kids and the sounds of nature, and a peace that can only come from Him.