My Park

New York City is a crazy, fast paced city with honking horns, sirens, traffic, and people everywhere.
It honestly is the opposite of peaceful, but when you cross this traffic on Central Park West or 5th Ave things change...

Central Park from my first week in the city was my place of refuge.  It was my park and I loved it!  

I lived within 3 blocks of it for all my years in the city and except for those cold winter days I took full advantage of making the most of this beautiful place.  

I spent many early mornings or late afternoons running around this reservoir 

After stressful days I would go and sit on my rock and just breathe and decompress and pray

It was the place where I went on long walks with friends and many memorable conversations

It was the place where i could see the sky the clearest and see my neighborhood poking out from above the trees

It was my place of peace and quiet and rest.  I knew the park well and had my favorite go-to spots.  

It was my favorite place to photograph the changing seasons.

I watched plays in the park, listened to live music, had picnics with friends, played frisbee, practiced my photography, went sledding, took naps, had hard conversations and great conversations, I made new friends and took old ones there, I saw celebrities and watched movies being filmed, I chased kids and took them to feed the ducks, it was my place of exercise and my place of rest.  It really was the perfect park.

I spent many hours on "my rock" praying and crying out to the Lord.  It was my spot that I took no one to.  One of my last days in the city I took a picture of my shoes b/c this was my view for so many years. I always let my feet dangle over the water as I prayed.  I wanted to snapshot this in my head to remember those days and years of meeting with the Lord in this special place.

I'm thankful for my memories in this place and that it's not just a famous park like it is to so much of the world.  It's my park and I loved it so much! 

I knew when moving that Central Park would be a place I would miss greatly.  Now that I'm in Birmingham I realize how much I do.  It's a special place and a park like no other.  I know I will find my "special places" in Birmingham, but for now I miss it greatly and look forward to that day when I can take a long walk and sit on my special rock again.  I know it will be one of the first places I visit in the city when I go back again. 

Thank you Central Park for being so good to me during my time in New York City!