I attend Trinity Grace Church, which has 4 locations in Manhattan and 1 location in Brooklyn. Today was a church-wide picnic at Prospect Park in Brooklyn. As iconic, intricate, and beautiful as Central Park is, Prospect Park, in some ways, is better.Prospect Park has never-ending fields of grass, making it the perfect location for a picnic. In fact, everyone else in NYC agrees me. The park was filled with people picnicing with family and friends, but there was still more than enough to invite thousands of more picnicers to join us.
The majority of TGC’s picnic was spent playing flag football. I was on the UWS Marrieds team (Team Name: High Flyin’ Kites...another blog for another day), and my primary offensive role was to hike the ball while my primary defensive role was to rush the quarter back. I thought for sure I’d hate it. Not so. I loved it. (Team Pic to follow)
Anyway, on our way home, walking through the park, we were able to see what others were doing on their day off work, on their day to picnic. The diverse nature of the City was made very clear.
One group had been transported to the 21st century from the medieval era. On their patch of grass, they were challenging each other to duels and fighting “to the death.” They wore medieval garb and fought with medieval weapons (made of foam so as not to hurt anyone, of course).
Another group was barbecuing and steaming foods in giant pots that resembled the trashcan that Oscar the Grouch lived in. What were they steaming? You’d never guess it...crabs and lobster tails. Even more intriguing, it was a reunion, recalling old times when they were in...nope, not college or high school...jr. high. I’ve never known anyone to have a jr. high school reunion, but they sure did seem to be having fun.
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| When our group went to look in the "trash can," they offered us crabs. We took 4, and Philip and our friend Andy ate some. Apparently, it was yummy. |
There were, of course, the standard birthday parties, barbecues, tanners, and families just spending time together. No park in the City would be complete without the people and groups that seem typical and the people and groups that defy expectations. If one is missing, you’re surely not in NYC.
