Central Park, NY on a Winter Day

“Scrap!” “Scrap!” “Srcaaaap!”  This was the sound that woke up NYCity Mama this morning.  Not even 8AM and already building superintendents and business owners were busy clearing sidewalks and walkways, while others chipped through the thin sheet of ice they found on their cars.

She slowly climbed out of bed, and looked out her window.  It was a sunny day.  ”Wonderful”, she thought.  It was Sunday, and her husband and 11 year old were getting ready to head out to her son’s weekly flag football practice and game.  Mama was going to stay home and wake up slowly, coffee in hand, kids in room playing.

This is one of those days she is thrilled she didn’t marry a jock.  Though her husband, a gorgeous, green eyed, mild mannered Wisconsin boy, was an avid football player in middle school and high school (and she found out, he was also homecoming and prom king, which she teases him about constantly), and has been great in educating her about football so that she knows when to cheer at her son’s games, he is not one of those guys who has to watch every game, every weekend.  And she appreciates this every so often when men across the country plan on being glued to their couches, eating chips and drinking beer, while hers will happily go do something completely non-football related.

Today is one of those days to feel grateful.  The Giants are playing against the Eagles.  She only knows this because as she logs on to Facebook, she finds her friends have updated their status to express their sheer joy over the upcoming game.  She comments on the walls of some who she knows are hard core Eagles fans, “GO GIANTS!” or “You’re rooting for the Giants, right??”, but she really doesn’t care, although she knows they certainly will!

She prepares a light breakfast for the boys and takes a quick shower, long enough for her to wake up, short enough for the boys to not burn the apartment down, and she knows exactly what she wants to do today.

Despite having warmer weather than the day before, and the sun’s brightness promising to melt all the snow away by the end of the day, she knew there was still enough on the ground to allow the boys to play in, especially if they wandered into one of the city parks further downtown.

So once her husband and son came home they immediately headed back out towards downtown to walk around and take pictures in Central Park.  They drove and quickly found parking on 85th St and Central Park West.  There is an entrance to the park there, and a decent size playground to the right a few feet in. However, due to the snow, and now ice, all the playgrounds were locked.  Something her little ones were not at all happy about.

Though she and her husband tried to explain, they would not move on without first trying to climb the gate and pick the lock securing the chain around the entrance.  It was actually quite funny watching them try to break in to the playground and Mama knew that this was only a glimpse of what the future had in store for her with these two working together causing trouble.

Once they realized their efforts were in vain, they joined their parents and walked away feeling a bit defeated, but still hopeful that there was some fun in store for them.

The park looked beautiful.  The naked branches were covered in ice, causing them to glitter like precious diamonds every time the sun peeped out from behind the clouds.  People where out walking their dogs, or taking a stroll with their significant others and/or kids.  Because the streets are closed to traffic on weekends, and there were sporadic layers of ice along the trails, there was a very limited number of joggers and no bikers to fear would run them over, thus allowing them to let the little ones run freely down the paths.

They stopped frequently as the kids tried to climb the frozen rocks, or played with the icicles hanging off benches and bushes.

They ventured in Belvedere Castle which the boys were excited about the second they saw, telling Mama, “Look Mama!  A dragon’s castle!!” Despite Mama’s best efforts to explain there wasn’t a dragon, her 3 year old walked in and immediately approached one of the employees sitting behind the desk at the entrance and asked her, “Please, where’s the dragon?”, to which the lady smiled and replied, “Oh sweety, we don’t have any dragons here today.”  But her boys were undeterred and eagerly climbed the narrow, spiral stairs to the tower in search of the dragon that was not to be found.  They did, however, enjoy the views and enjoyed walking around taking it all in.

They walked past the snow covered Delacorte Theater, where during warmer weather Mama and her husband come to enjoy the various “Shakespeare in the Park” performances.  They passed the frozen Turtle Pond, the majestic Metropolitan Museum, and the playgrounds that once were frequented by Mama when she lived on the Upper East Side about 3 years ago.

It amazes Mama how quickly the hours fly every time they visit the park, and though she comes here often, she can never get enough of it, and enjoys visiting in all seasons…but especially on days like today when it is covered in snow and beautifully frozen.

After staying there a bit longer, they decide to have a late lunch.  It’s 3:00 now, and the boys have been having so much fun and have been so distracted, they don’t even think about how hungry they are until daddy mentions eating something.

So, they exit the park the same way the entered and walk down to Columbus Ave.  There on the corner of 85th St., they stop into Jackson Hole, known for their amazing burgers and yummy onion rings, though today Mama is having a late, late brunch.  And this is because for $15.00 she gets to order two Mimosas with her South of the Border Omelette, a treat she felt she deserved for…well, just because.

Though the boys also order breakfast, her husband goes for a cheeseburger, only to admit that despite it being delicious, he thought the burgers he had a Shake Shack the day before were much better.

The waitstaff were super friendly and the place is incredibly kid friendly, but it is also “daddy friendly”, for there in the far wall, positioned up high so it can be seen from any corner of the small space, was a huge, flat screen tv turned on to the Giants vs Eagles game.  Mama can’t help but look at the tv, as she is positioned directly in front of it.  She notices that by 3:30PM the Giants are loosing by two points..”or is it a touchdown?” She isn’t sure what the terminology is, just that they are behind.  Shortly everyone in the place, customers, cooks and wait staff cheer and clap over a catch by someone on the Giants team.  Her husband finally looks at the screen and she says, “I am not sure.  He catched the ball.  The replay showed the play again and it looked really good.”  He smiles at her, and says, “It’s ok baby. It doesn’t really matter.”  And he goes back to his burger and keeping the two year old from putting a whole silver dollar pancake in his mouth.  She looks back at the screen and realizes that she again has no idea what is going on…and is glad to know that no one who matters really cares.

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