Picnics in the Park

I've actually only got a few more weeks of unemployment ahead of me (I accepted a job here today!), so I'm trying to relax and enjoy my last free days. Which translates to me having had three picnics in Central Park in the last two days, and I'm not complaining. It's pretty much too hot and humid here to do much actual moving of body parts. so laying on a blanket in heavily shaded areas eating chilled foods is pretty much all I'm capable of achieving lately.

On Monday I headed out for a late lunch solo picnic right by Turtle Pond, which is one of my very favorite areas in the whole park. While I was leisurely devouring my cherries, strawberries and tomatoes, I noticed that they were setting up for a concert on the Great Lawn. I did my research, and found out that the NY Philharmonic was playing that night for free. I ended up making some quick plans, ran back to the apartment to grab a bigger blanket and was back in the park by 6:30 pm with even more picnic foods to grab a spot. My friend Katie joined me, brought even more food and we sat in the shade and dined like kings (who happen to love a variety of organic snack foods).

When the Philharmonic started at 8, they were actually pretty hard to hear — we were seated about halfway back, and to the left — but mostly because the crowd was still filing in and making a lot of noise. By the time the second act came around it had gotten dark, and calmed down a bit, and we could hear much better.

I love classical music (hi, my cat is named Mozart) and it was my first time hearing the Philharmonic. It was a beautiful night, and another I-can't-believe-it's-free New York moment that I seem to be having a lot lately. The night ended with a nice fireworks display, although the trees surrounding the Delacorte Theater blocked about half of it from view (and my phone died so there exists no evidence that it even really happened).

Next time I think I'll choose a spot better conducive to listening (and fireworks watching), but in this ridiculous heat the shade was pretty necessary, too. I've also added "wine" to my picnic must-haves list, and next time I'm making friends with the guy that had 6 whole pizzas delivered right to him in the middle of the Great Lawn. I could definitely learn a thing or two about picnics from that dude.