the jackie o. sump.

I went to New York City over a December weekend with another Big Apple Virgin. I get very self-conscious about being seen as a tourist. And so it was always a small thrill to me when some other out-of-towner asked us what to do. Of course, those other people were the fanny pack and freshly-bought "I (heart) NY" t-shirt crowd, but it was still nice to think that we could pass for natives, provided you weren't very hip yourself.

One morning we were on our way to Central Park. We had consulted the map and knew the general direction, if not how many blocks we needed to take, figuring we would know it when we saw it. We saw the sidewalk turn to grass, with picturesque running trails and a small soccer field. As we waited on the corner across the street for our turn to cross, a lady came up to us and asked, "Excuse me, do you know of any cafes or bakeries near the park?" We shook our heads sadly and explained that we were not from around here. We congratulated ourselves, both on our navigation and on our masquerading as city folk, and started along one of the picturesque running trails to enjoy the nation's most famous city park.

We'd walked about half a block into the park, consulting our little map as discreetly as possible, when we started to think that something was awry. For one thing the Jackie O. Reservoir looked like a sump (a fun word to say, but really more of an insult if it's named after you). Also, the park appeared to be only a block or so wide. I was a newbie to this whole New York thing, but I was pretty sure that Central Park was supposed to be bigger than the park at my middle school. Finally, we saw a sign saying Morningside Park. We felt a little silly, but we felt worse for the woman wandering around looking for bagels.

We did find Central Park. It's much nicer than the park at my middle school, or really anything in my home town. It might be bigger than my home town. And Jackie O. will be relieved that her reservoir is worth photographing, which is what I did.