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My Love for My City in Fall
Autumn in John Jay Park
My habit is to spend the mild Fall late afternoon and early evening, reading my newspaper in the park. I look forward to this relaxed, end of day ritual.
The park faces the East River just below the FDR Drive. I sit on the hard wooden bench sucking in the breeze laden with gasoline fumes from the rush hour traffic on the packed road.
I watch the black green river as it flows swiftly back to Atlantic Ocean. It is busy with small red tugboats pulling giant barges of oil dragging down into the murky water or when empty floating upon its surface. Water taxis ferry passengers from downtown to uptown every couple of minutes.
Clusters of hungry pigeons compete for crumbs left in the park’s playground’s ground having fallen from the children snacks, eaten earlier in the day.
At twilight, it’s the doggies’ time to do their business and gleefully greeting their playmates. Their owners toss balls for the pets to fetch. What fun they have!
Lights from Roosevelt Island turn on automatically- across the from me, on Manhattan Island. They stream across the shining the satin-black wavy water. I am magically bewitched with its splendor.
Perhaps it doesn’t take much to thrill this old gal who remains in love with New York…
