A Spring Afternoon, Washington Heights, NY

“So much to do!” thought NYCity Mama as she stared at the mess in their tiny apartment and at the writing projects flooding in on her computer.  She wishes she could get away with spending a sunny day inside, working on projects and cleaning up, but as she quickly twitted (or is it tweetered?), replied to and checked Facebook messages and emails, she could hear her two toddlers getting on each other’s nerves in their room.

“Go on time out!” demanded the 3.5 of the 2 year old. “No! You go to time out!” yelled back the 2 year old. “No, you!” “No, you!”  

Good grief!  It seemed that their apartment was getting smaller and smaller with each new day!  It never ceases to amaze Mama that they survived an entire Winter here, in the closet they call home.

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” hurried Mama, almost at wit’s end as the boys ran down the hall towards the front door, as if it had been months since they last saw the light of day.

Mama quickly finds out that the bright sunshine is terribly deceiving as she feels the chill in the air rip through her thin leather jacket.  

She decides to warm up by speed walking uphill to Jabob K. Javits Playground, near Ft. Tryon Park.  

Mama has managed to nail down the perfect time to come visit the park.  As she watches her boys run around, climb, swing, and slide, she realizes how she is more often than not, able to do just that, sit down and watch them.  ”They are growing so fast!” she thinks to herself, feeling a little sadness in her heart at the realization.

They soon head over to Heather’s Garden which has been one of their favorite places to visit in the area.  The boys wanted to see if the bumblebees were busy at work, and though Mama knew they wouldn’t be, she thought the stroll through the garden would be a nice quiet break from busy play.

There’s a certain peace that comes over them when they enter the garden.  Even the boys calm down a bit.  Somehow they’ve developed a deep appreciation for the beauty around them and insist on walking slowly and kneeling down to smell the flowers as they walk through.  It’s quite a touching scene.

Everything was colorfully coming to life around them, and the boys took notice, pointing out the “baby” flowers sprouting from the ground and whispering as they passed them so as to not “scare them and make them sad”.

There are so many things to do here.  Mama is looking forward to taking advantage of some of the Family Workshops offered at the Cloisters Museum with her kids, and having picnics in the park as soon as the weather gets warm.  She also looks forward to the late afternoon strolls with her family, particularly her husband, as the views from the park are so amazingly romantic.

But right now, her boys wanted a late afternoon snack.  So they headed to Frank’s Market, where they have an amazing bakery (and other selections as well: produce, meat, deli, etc.), to get the boys their chocolate muffins. These muffins are huge, and the boys never eat past the top, which leaves Mama with a lot left over muffin bottoms at home, but, every once in awhile, she lets them indulge in their favorite treat.  Either that or blueberries and strawberries.  Also favorites from Frank’s.

They slowly head back home, not even realizing they had been out for almost five hours!  But that is what happens when one gets caught up in the enchantment of the beginnings of Spring.

 

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Tags: food
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