Wave Hill

Heather told me last week about Wave Hill, a former country home built in 1843 by jurist William Lewis Morris. It is now a public garden and cultural center. I had said I was looking for places to escape the city. I had told her about my dissapointing experience at the Environmental Center and she suggested these gardens in the Bronx.

I didn't leave the house until the afternoon. I took the train to 207th street and then switched to the bus. We drove under the elevated 1/9 trains and over the bridge into the Bronx before turning left to follow the Henry Hudson Parkway. I alighted at 252nd street and followed the signs, past gigantic houses. One girl was setting up a party on her deck. At the gates to Wave Hill, I showed my museum membership card and was let in.

The grounds are well kept and manicured. Wildflowers are pushing up through the grass. Trees are beginning to bud and bloom. I walked to the cafe and ate a sandwich on the terrasse, overlooking the Hudson River. The sun shone off its surface.

I followed the half mile nature trail around the perimeter of the grounds and then found a chair in the elliptical garden. I sat and let the sun warm me. I read and watched the river. I listened to children race through the park.

As the sun began its descent, the hour drew towards closing time. I got up to walk aound the rest of the gardens before heading back to Manhattan. Children splashed around the marine garden, set in between trellised walkways. To the side a secluded bench lorded over another garden. A group of art students set up beside a large tree, its branches still bare.

I took the 1 train back to the city, to ride over the Bronx and Inwood rather than under it. But soon I was again underground. And as the train rocked on its subterranean tracks, surrounded by darkness, I slept. Posted by eku at April 17, 2005 11:03 AM