Sunday Reflections

This Sunday morning I walked from the apartment to Olmsted Park yet again. This time I walked all the way around Jamaica Pond, back through Olmsted to past Brookline Village and Coolidge Corner until I reached my stretch of Comm Ave. I have a feeling that this will be a new ritual to my weekends-forgive the repetition of posts, but the water that filled these parks was so lovely and fraught with the magic of reflections that I couldn't help but snap these photographs on my iphone and want to share them. So here they are. 

Allston Art + A Bit of Brookline

There's much to notice in Allston. Add Brookline to the mix and I've got months of exploring the details ahead of me, months of sifting through the layers and stumbling upon the surprises. I really enjoy living in the near space between these two neighborhoods. The street art on Harvard Ave (and nearby streets) is perhaps one of the first things you notice about the stretch between Allston Village and Brookline. Mural after mural abounds and its through them that I feel the pride of the inhabitants here. I feel it more than I did in Somerville or Cambridge-it's much more pronounced here, thanks to the time artists have spent decorating the sides of these buildings with their appreciation. When I miss my old neighborhood, these murals remind me that I've moved to an area that people love, and have loved for a long time. 

Olmsted Park

The day was still quite young on Sunday morning when I made my way to Olmsted Park, about two miles from my new abode and easily accessible by the 66 bus. I ached for greenery on such a beautiful, near summer morning and found my peace nearly as soon as I began walking the path along the edge of Leverett Pond. It was still early enough that the trail could almost be called my own, but that soon changed as the sun climbed the sky. I had never set foot even near Olmsted Park before this weekend and was shocked at the beauty I found waiting for me. I miss the woods and mountains of Acadia, but this will more than do for life in a city. Olmsted Park, established in 1891, is one of the nine parks that make up the Emerald Necklace, a series of green spaces designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and all of which are on the National Register of Historic Places. If I wanted, I could walk all the way to Arnold Arboretum if I so chose, but this weekend, I only walked to Jamaica Pond and then nearly all the way back to my apartment. I'm grateful, that this space is so close to where I now live and so easily reachable. I can hear the T come and go from my apartment bedroom, which has its own charm, but I miss time spent in nature, so this will certainly, certainly do.