A Socially distant celebration in the park

 Our older son has the misfortune of having a birthday that very often falls on Passover. That has put a damper on the celebrations over the years. We have done various celebratory workarounds.  We have discovered that a home-baked cheesecake is a nice alternative for a birthday cake. A custard-filled meringue shell will do the trick as well.

My son spent his gap year in Israel. He was anticipating a birthday evening of revelry with his buddies only to realize that his birthday was Holocaust Remembrance day and revelry was just not going to happen.

This year our son's birthday took place last Sunday, long after the Passover dishes were put away. He had planned a socially distant celebration in Central Park. 

The weather was awful last Sunday and our son was sick as a dog from his vaccine. The celebration was postponed until yesterday. The weather wasn't great, but it wasn't awful and the trees were in full bloom.

My husband and I walked across the park to join the celebration.

With dandelions in bloom, it was absolutely spring.

We got to the appointed spot early as did our son.

I needed to use the restroom so walked over to the conservatory garden just down the hill.

Everything was in bloom.

I think that this is jasmine---or at least it smelled like jasmine.

The magnolias reminded me of showgirls.

The cherry trees are in bloom.

Someone was doing a Japanese-themed photo shoot.

Despite it being an overcast day all of the colors of the blooms were heightened.

After using the facilities I made my way back to the party.

I stopped to take photos of the flowers that caught my eye. I thought of my friend Rachely, in Israel who stops on her walks to take pictures of the bits of beauty that catch her eye.

 

 

With my eyes filled with pretty stuff, I rejoined the party.

Some people had set up a drone to film the skateboarding tricks of a group of really talented young men.

My husband and I left early and headed towards home.

These new skinny towers just south of the park look like we live at the edge of a large factory.

Central Park near the Conservatory Garden is planted with tons of showy flowers.  The west side of the park is a little less glamorous, 

but still has its moments.

We walked along 100th street. Just to the south of us is a post-WWII apartment development. Just to the north of us is a public housing development of the same era. Both were heavily planted with cherry trees.

The public housing development has more trees and was planted to put on a show not only in the spring but also in the fall.

Robert Moses did many terrible things. He did however allot more money per public housing unit in the country. The gorgeous plantings in the Frederick Douglas project are a treasure.

We turned  onto

and then turned the corner to our street

and went home.