I Heart NY: A Central Park Bike Tour. Sunday, October 14, 2012.

It all started with a big green park and a little man in a camouflage helmet. His luscious mouth held me in thrall. By his leading, I caught a whiff of park air and that is how I contracted the infection.

The going was rough at the beginning. New York was all honking, move just move, ants up and down, above ground, below ground, weaving between the trash piles. Finding a way took up much of our time. But then our bikes were delivered, our tour guide (Joel) appeared, helmets were adjusted, "LA Woman" was sung and he called me 'baby'. And yet, that wasn't enough. We stood on the sidewalk in front of a cafe tourists would deem 'very good'. I, on the other hand  - your little four letter word would not undo me. 

Pedaling, I remembered an old love. Deep breaths sped me up the hills. At the tops, our guide would speak rapidly and there I would watch the words come out. No matter what was actually being said (something about the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr), just keep talking so I can be voyeur. I could barely see his eyes through his sunglasses but I have always been a sucker for a manly jaw. I laughed out loud at his antics. Our co-bikers from Arizona stood mute. Our Canadian ladies were eager and sweet. 

The Park, oh the Park....here's where I place the blame.

It thrust a crowd of humanity at us, in the form of a marathon. The others not participating in the race, shouted 'Share the Park!' in the only way a New Yorker knows how. We marveled, we were surrounded, there was no escape. And we flew by the endangered Elms, the English, French, and Italian gardens, the Mall, the performers, the views, the history. I wanted to study every green thing, to spend time with that plant whose name I did not know. But there was a schedule. And a man who held us to it.

In my experience travelling, even though my will to do so is driven by landscape and nature, it's always the interactions with people that stick. But here, it couldn't be taken as one individual person, it had to be measured en masse. I cannot isolate, Joel, the tour guide. Full stop. Or Central Park. Full stop. Or New York City. Full stop. I cannot think of Central Park as just a park. It has to go with Joel. It has to go with the City. Of the dozens of times we asked citizens for directions or for help on the subway, as lovely as each person was who took the time to aid us, I could never think of them as distinct entities.They wholly belong to this rigid, yet rippling creature called York, the new one. It has to be all one word - JoelCentralParkNewYorkers. Altogether now like the Germans do! Taking a complex idea and smashing it together into one mouthful of a word. 

So now I am back in LA (ambivalently). I tread through these days in a dream whose feeling has yet to wear off. My heart is a wanderer, wondering, could I? I expected to like you, but not this, not this smile that creeps in at the corners. My method for keeping you close is a song I heard at the Shake Shack on 86th and Lexington by a band called Husky. Here are the lyrics, for you, New York (that is, Central Park, Joel and all New Yorkers).

I went walking in the woods today
Found a path that led me astray
I couldn't leave it

On the bank of a river beneath the trees
I stripped down naked and fell to my knees
I washed my sins away

Morning came and gave the truth away
I wondered if I'd ever return
But as you say, time will pave the way
I just sit and watch our kingdom burn

I went walking in the woods tonight
Trees looked wicked by candlelight
I heard them whispering your name

Far away I saw the city lights
The dreams of mankind burning bright
It was so beautiful

Morning came and took my fear away
I wondered if I'd ever learn
But how will we explain the mistakes we made
When my fear will surely return

I went walking on my own and
Bright eyed spirits guided me home

I went walking in the woods today...

Glade Arch.

A night view.

If anyone's interested, we took the morning tour from Central Park Bike Tours.