Finding Nemo in Central Park

The blizzard Nemo struck the US northeast coast on February 8.  It brought more than a foot of snow to New York City and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands, and stranded drivers on the Long Island Expressway. In addition to a massive amount of snow, Nemo also brought gale-force winds and coastal flooding. This was The Pond last Friday afternoon, when snow started to fall heavily in the city.

I had a seminar in Manhattan on Thursday and Friday, and after our sessions, I dropped by Central Park for short walks. This was how midtown Manhattan looked like from the park late Thursday afternoon ..looks like the calm before the storm.

That Thursday was the day before the blizzard Nemo was expected to strike the northeast. When I was at the Bethesda Terrace, I could already see some storm clouds gathering, and for once, the terrace was empty of people.

On Friday, snow was already falling by the time our seminar was over around mid afternoon. I went to the park just to skirt around the Pond area, there were just a few of us walking amidst the falling snow. Somebody even made a snowman, you can lend him your hat and scarf for some photo-op, and take it back after. He's here by his lonesome posing in front of The Plaza Hotel.

I didn't stay long at the park as snow was starting to fall heavily. The snowflakes of winter storm Nemo were fat and stings when then hit your face. Took this pic of a people-free Gapstow Bridge and tweeted it to @EverythingNYC and The Weather Channel retweeted it. How cool!

Saturday dawned clear and bright but with snow everywhere. When I entered the park at the gate from 6th Avenue, this was one of the scenes that greeted me.

It looks like I'm in a middle of a fairy-tale land. There were a lot of people at the park enjoying the winter wonderland. Snowmen, sleds and toboggans were everywhere. It was great to see the park full of visitors that day.  

This was the Pond area taken from the top of one of the rocks. Central Park was a vision in white! 

Even the Dairy House looked like something from a fairy-tale.

When I passed by Strawberry Fields, the marker was cleared of snow and somebody left flowers.

♫ Imagine all the people, living life in peace .. ♫

A sharp contrast to my pic taken last Thursday, Bethesda fountain was teeming with people that day.

The wings of the Angel of the Waters were dripping a little bit because of the melting snow. The angel looks beautiful whatever the angle.

 
At Belvedere Castle, you can see the Great Lawn also teeming with people enjoying the snow. The shadow of the castle can be seen reflected on the frozen Turtle Pond.

Passing by Cleopatra's Needle, I saw this guy painting the scenery before him. Isn't he good?

I thought Cleopatra's Needle looks best in spring when it is surrounded by magnolia trees. Seeing it standing in the snow, now I'm not sure which is better.

Snow in the park means lots of snowmen. I love the ones made by kids, here's a collage I made.

But I think the best snowman award goes to this guy .. he is just too cute!

I was so entertained by the all the snowmen projects that by the time I reached the Reservoir it was already late afternoon.  The Gothic Bridge lies between the Reservoir and the tennis courts by the North Meadow. It looked gorgeous in the snow and setting sun.

And so is the Pool, looking peaceful in the snow when I reached it.

Entering the North Woods after a snowstorm is like entering a different world. Snow was clinging on trees and it was very quiet, the silence broken with a few bird calls. And amidst all the winter white were flashes of red.

I stayed there for quite some time watching the cardinals play in the snow. It was already late when I reached the waterfalls but it was so great to stand there seeing beauty amidst the solitude of a hushed forest in the middle of the city, and being thankful for a beautiful winter day.

By the time I reached the Harlem Meer it was already dark so the following day, Sunday, I dropped by the Conservatory Garden and the Harlem Meer for a short visit. Ahh, I love it here, would you like to come and walk with me along this pretty alley?

The fountains were full of snow which I think, added to their charm.

When I went to Harlem Meer, the frozen lake made the area look a little wider and made me appreciate more the beautiful sky. Isn't it stunning?

All the waterfowl were at the west side where some parts of the lake were not frozen. 

There were a lot of the usual ducks that you see in the park and one swan. I remember seeing her before last autumn, also at the Meer.

Blizzard Nemo may have dumped a lot of snow in the city but it sure made the park looked beautiful. That weekend after the storm was also a kind of family day as kids and their parents enjoyed many winter activities which I'm sure created lots of memories to last a lifetime.

“The color of springtime is in the flowers; the color of winter is in the imagination.” 

~	Terri Guillemets ~

For the rest of my pics, here are the albums on Flickr:


Taken during winter storm Nemo - Nemo in the Park

Taken the weekend after winter storm Nemo - Central Park: The Day After Nemo

Pics taken the day before winter storm Nemo are part of the album - Central Park, February 2013

My First Blog

Two years ago, I read about Matt Green http://imjustwalkin.com/usa/ in an article on Yahoo. He was walking across America from Rockaway Beach, NY to Rockaway Beach, OR. He was taking pictures of the things he saw and people he met along the way.  He inspired me to do the same. I love to walk, especially on weekends when I am free and have taken lots of pics during my walks. Although I've shared some on my public albums, on Facebook and on Twitter, I still have lots of pics in my hard drive. So I thought of doing a blog to share some of my walking pics.

I'd like to start by sharing my day. I took a walk in Central Park today. I love the Park, and even if I walk there every weekend, I will always find something new to marvel at and make me smile. I entered the Park through the Artist's Gate and skirted along the path to the Pond. Last weekend we had our first snow fall and I was able to take a short walk in the park.

This was how the Pond looked like then.

 This was the Pond earlier, taken from almost the same spot.

That's Gapstow Bridge on the picture, one of the Park's 36 bridges.  I went around the other side of the bridge to try to take a pic.  The sun was in front of me and my pic came out like this.

My walk took me past empty ball fields ..

to the Lake where Bow Bridge can be seen like a jewel in the sun ..

the Ramble where I saw some cardinals. I was so happy the cardinal didn't fly as I was taking the pic ..

and up to Belvedere Castle but it was closed today. It still looks as pretty as ever.

The castle had a great view of Turtle Pond.  I didn't see any turtles sunning but there were a lot of ducks and geese around ..

Time to go home now, it was a good three-hour walk. As I was on my way out, I took this pic of the Midtown buildings from the Great Lawn. I don't know what happened but the sun was kind of reflected on my pic ..

Hopped on a bus and dropped by Battery Park to take a pic of the sunset.

All in all I had a good day. How was yours?