Prospect Park: Snow

There aren't many things in life I love more than snow, and the city during or after a snowstorm is just about perfect. We had our first major snowfall of 2017 (and of this winter season) this weekend and I had to get out and explore. I tried to go to Green-Wood Cemetery, but—in what has become sort of an unfortunate tradition involving me, snow and cemeteries—it was closed. I did the next best thing and walked home through Prospect Park, which is lovely anytime of year but is a total dream land in the snow.

The snow was coming down pretty heavily during my entire walk so the park was deserted—just another gift that the winter gods bestow on the city at this time of year. The park is fun when it's teeming with life—sledding in the winter, picnics in the summer—but there's nothing quite like watching the snow fall quietly while you're standing in the middle of Brooklyn, without another person in sight.

After about two hours of frolicking like a kid during their first-ever snowfall, I got impossibly cold and tired of the snow blowing into my face. I exited the park and took a bus about three blocks home—wet and cold but already looking forward to my next snowy city adventure.

The 2016 Blizzard

It's currently in the 70s here in New York, which is wonderful no matter what time of year it occurs, but it's definitely not normal for March. It's no secret that I adore snow, and we've had a pitiful amount of it this "winter." In fact, this was one of the least snowiest winters we've had in a while, and the vast majority of the accumulation that we did manage to get came all in one day.

On January 23rd, New York City recorded 26.8 inches of snow in Central Park. We stayed inside for more than 24 hours during the actual snowfall, but the next day we ventured out to see how Brooklyn had fared. My favorite part of the entire blizzard was seeing the huge, car-shaped mounds of snow that lined the streets. I don't normally envy people that have cars in the city, but I was especially glad to be able to enjoy the snowy streets without worrying about digging out.

We walked to Prospect Park past the back entrance of Green-Wood Cemetery, which was unfortunately closed due to the snow. They actually opened their main gates later in the day but I wasn't able to make it in. I adore snow almost as much as I love cemeteries, so when the two combine I'm endlessly delighted.

Prospect Park was a true winter wonderland, although I did get overwhelmed at times by the amount of screaming children sledding on every possible snowy surface. I love the city even more when it snows because of how quiet everything usually becomes. The traffic slows to a crawl, there are less people out and everything just seems more magical and calm. I felt a bit robbed of this phenomenon since by the time we ventured out it was sunny and it seemed as if 90% of Brooklyn had the same idea as us.

Since we had gotten a slow start, there were already some really excellent snow creations scattered throughout the park, including a Madonna-and-Child sculpture that was hard to capture accurately and the most wonderful snow octopus I've ever seen (it's also the only snow octopus I've ever seen).

We tried to add our own creation, but couldn't get the snow to cooperate so I settled on flopping down into the snow and making a snow angel. Of course because I'm thirty years old now, I felt like I had whiplash for the next week—maybe I should be thankful that my chances to injure myself participating in snowy activities have been so limited this year.

Prospect Park: Fall

On Saturday my dude and I wanted to take a walk. Although it's already the second week in November, the weather still feels more like September. I've been commenting since the beginning of fall that I just didn't think the leaves were going to be very beautiful this year, and unfortunately I think I'm right. The leaves change in the city much later than I'm used to from living in Ohio, but I don't think we're going to get much of a show this year.

That didn't stop us from finding some trees in Prospect Park that actually came to work this year, although I think most might already be past their peak. Saturday was cloudy but warm, and just walking through the piles of leaves made me feel like a kid happily jumping into the huge piles of leaves my dad used to rake up in our front yard. We shuffled through some pretty beautiful spreads and saved a few of the better specimens.

I haven't talked much about my move this summer to Brooklyn, but I've never once regretted the decision to change boroughs. Sometimes I miss my morning commute through the park, but I love exploring new parts of the city and being so close to places I've always loved like Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It's been a little bit difficult to really appreciate fall this year when I'm still sweating in a light jacket, but I'm glad we got a glimpse of it before we're walking through the park in our snow boots again.

Prospect Park

All week long the weather forecast for Sunday called for "torrential" rain, so we didn't really make any outdoor plans. That forecast turned out to be nearly 100% wrong, however, so we ended up spending a large portion of the day in Prospect Park. It was muggy and hot but brilliantly sunny—something this Ohio girl has learned to cherish—and we made our way through the park slowly, without any real agenda.

Something I noticed right away was how green everything was, especially since it had rained the night before.

Like Central Park recently

, Prospect Park is filled with every imaginable shade of green—from the lightest mint to the darkest emerald, you can see the entire spectrum in just one scene.

I think I was most surprised/delighted, however, to find the portion of the lake by the Boathouse entirely covered in duckweed. The whole surface was moving ever-so-slightly, but mostly looked like a solid, bright green plane on which various bottles, sticks and one juice container had come to rest. It was a surreal scene and I had to poke the surface with a stick just to mentally confirm that the lake still existed underneath all that green.

The Boathouse is such a beautiful building—nearly torn down in 1964—and the adjacent bridge is my favorite in the entire park. We saw some really awesome-looking birds, one of which appeared to be, somewhat impossibly, standing on the surface of the lake, but as we got closer we realized it was actually just standing on a log that had obscured by the duckweed. It also seems impossible to me that I took very similar photos just a few months ago during our snow day—when the surface of the lake was similarly obscured, but by several inches of ice and snow.

Snow Day

Last week New York was supposed to get a "blizzard of historical proportions", but we actually ended up with about 7 inches of snow. Despite the blizzard being a complete bust, we still got the day off work and having an adult snow day was everything I dreamed it could be.

The subway was up and running by about 10 am, and so was I—I headed to Brooklyn to check out the winter delights in Prospect Park (with a stop to get second breakfast at a bagel shop near the park). I don't know Prospect Park as well as Central Park, but I always love the time I spend there. It's a bit more wild and less crowded than Central Park, although on Tuesday it was full of fellow snow-dayers, making the most of the meager snowfall, sledding, snowboarding and cross-country skiing.

We walked around the park for a while, hitting all of the highlights—the lake, the lookout points, the beautiful bridges—and I even got to check up on the swans, which (despite my fear of birds) are my favorite part of Prospect Park.

We haven't gotten nearly as much snow this year as we had last year and I'm hoping for at least a few more good storms before winter is over. I'm not greedy enough to expect another snow day—I've been told that they're very rare in the city—but that won't keep me from hoping for more perfect winter days like this one.

Prospect Park

On Saturday I found myself without a single thing to do, not a common occurrence for me. I have been sick with my second cold in the last two months (ugh) so I badly needed to get out of bed and away from my apartment.

I decided to go to Prospect Park in Brooklyn through a decision making process that looked something like this: I haven't been there in a while > the long(ish) train ride will give me time to read my book > if I'm lucky I'll find warm cider and cider donuts at the farmer's market in Grand Army Plaza because they had them back in February. These are pretty much my main concerns when it comes to most anything — scenery, books and food.

I lucked out on the food front and found both the hot cider and the cider donuts (two for a dollar — a total steal). I took my $3 lunch into Prospect Park and spent the next few hours walking around, taking in the bounty of fall delights still left to see. The leaves weren't as beautiful as Central Park, but there were still a few standouts.

I have generally have a good sense of direction, but I swear every time I'm in Prospect Park I get lost. I did a bit better this time, and actually made it to the lake, something I haven't been as successful at in the past. The lake is really the best part of the park, in my opinion, and I especially love the swans. No matter how many times I see them I am still shocked and thrilled when I spot one (or four). They're so striking and large that they almost don't seem real. I'm not a huge fan of birds but catching a glimpse of the swans will always feel special to me.

I ended up walking around the southern point of the lake and back north, ending up back at Grand Army Plaza which is quite the haul. It was a really beautiful, chilly fall day and walking under the falling leaves is always kind of magical. I also figure that walking about five miles in and out of the park totally justifies the fact that all I had for lunch was two sugar-covered cider donuts. That's how that works, right?