Nature is Everywhere - even in NYC

My family had a great trip to NYC for our annual birthday celebration for our children Josh and Sydney.  The theme of this year's trip was nature.

We started off by visiting the South Street Seaport Museum where we stumbled upon Manhattan before people! The Mannahatta Project tells the story about what Manhattan looked like when Henry Hudson stumbled upon it in 1609.  To learn more about this incredible glimpse into the not so recent past take a look at this clip: http://www.wcs.org/multimedia/videos/the-mannahatta-project.aspx

Manhattan now and as Henry Hudson saw it in 1609

From there, we went to the new Freedom Tower at Ground Zero and saw the Survivor Tree which is a pear tree that was the only tree to survive after the 911 attacks.  It had to be removed and nursed back to

health before it was transplanted back to its original home. This is a moving and inspiring place which is a testament to the resilience of our people and nature.

Survivor Tree

 

After a nearly sleepless night which is always the case when our twins spend the night on a pull out couch in a hotel room, we woke up the next day and took the subway to Madison Square Park to see a famous elm tree that we had been reading about in a great children's book entitled, The Tree.  The book is about New York growing up around this tree which sprouted from a tiny seedpod in the 1700's and still stands. We were there at the perfect time to see seedpods from another elm blowing down with the breeze and I thought back to what it must have been like when that first tiny seedpod drifted down with the wind and took root at this very spot.  More on the book can be found here

The old and famous Elm in its last days

We ended the day by walking on the verdant and popular new High Line Park.  What an amazing testament to the power of nature which took root by human design on this old abandoned elevated freight rail line on the West Side of Manhattan.  The kids loved it and so did I.  

High Line Park

My little peanut, Sydney

So, whether you are in New York City, the Rocky Mountains, Adirondacks, or hiking on one of our nature preserves at Aspetuck Land Trust, nature will find you.  It is resilient and it is fragile. It is inspiring. And it is absolutely essential for our own preservation.

David