cherry blossoms high
and low
always make my mother glow as their
perfume fills the air
the sparkling petals fair
a squirrel’s claws scrape up wood
playing wind and waves with the dancing blooms following behind
nature is very peaceful
E penned her poetry, from her top bunk at home, the evening after our visit to see the ROOSEVELT ISLAND cherry blossoms, April 2014.
From Manhattan, and for the cost of a NYC Metrocard swipe, one can take the RI aerial tram from 60th Street and 2nd Avenue in Manhattan, up 250 feet and over the East River to what is now Roosevelt Island.
The tram ride alone is worth the short walk from Manhattan’s Upper East Side favourites – Serendipity 3, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues on 60th Street. Or Dylan’s Candybar on 60th Street and 3rd Ave. Two floors of sweets and confections – some literally encased in those two floors. Or Bloomingdales, anyone? 60th and 3rd. I love this neighborhood!
Oooo… I am diverging.
Ahem. The tram ride alone is worth the short trip from Manhattan to Roosevelt Island, with its lofty views of the Manhattan’s midtown and the East River.
But the tram ride was not our purpose in visiting last weekend.
Once off the tram, we walked south on the island’s West Road, under the Queensboro Bridge, past the recreational centre, and onto the west promenade, to follow the much acclaimed blossoming cherry trees – 600 cherry trees blossom each Spring, on Roosevelt Island. And, if you are lucky enough to be visiting during the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, always in April, you can enjoy a day of Japanese culture – food, music, vendors, and live entertainers, celebrating these pink blooms.
Though we missed the festivities this year, by only days, E, L, J, and I enjoyed the smaller crowd and the subsequent availability of benches along the path.
We walked. We RAN.
The children stopped to climb the trees’ low branches.
Further down the footpath, we admired the view of the United Nations Building. We counted the boats going up the East River. We meant to walk far enough south to reach the new Franklin D Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park. But our entire afternoon was spent otherwise.
What can a family do on Roosevelt Island? I cannot do the Island justice, but mommypoppins.com does a pretty good job!
The temperature cooled, the sky grew dark. And we started our way back toward the F train, to Queens.
L, always quiet, always observing, usually somber, confided in me: “This was the very best day of my whole life!”
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