Boston Common, Boston MA
Boston Common dates back to 1634 making it the oldest public park in America. During its storied past it has welcomed grazing cows, protesters against slavery, the pope himself, hardened criminals on the way to the gallows, and a British garrison during the Revolutionary War. Chances are, Bostonians didn’t take kindly to the English troops using the Common as a base of operations when they were off causing a ruckus in Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill.
On this spring day in 2015, it welcomes an eclectic mix of college-aged hipsters, business people, and quite a few Asians. Boston’s China town is just two blocks away. I find myself in this park because my son Adam will be a freshman at Emerson College this fall. The school overlooks the park which is probably more picturesque than any college quad in America. It boasts forty-eight acres of grassy lawns with crisscrossing paths, dozens of stately trees, one grave yard, two baseball fields, and a “Frog Pond” for winter skating and summer cooling.
I can’t remember the last time I just sat on a park bench and watched. I start wondering about silly things like why does a pigeon’s head moves to and fro when it walks. Can’t buses be quieter when coming to a stop? And is there a really a lesson to be learned when a taxi honks at another?
Meanwhile, people mill about enjoying a sunny day with temperatures in the 40s which is a welcome relief considering Boston received 108.6 inches of snow in early 2015. There are, however, a few bathmat-size patches of smoky colored snow slowly relinquishing their hold on winter. I make my way to the center of the park away from the bustle of Boylston and Tremont streets and locate a park bench near the Parkman Bandstand. The bandstand was named after George F. Parkman, who died in 1908 and willed a whopping $5 million dollars for the care of Boston Common and other parks. With a name like that, he was destined to leave his mark on the Boston park system.
Strollers stroll and toddlers toddle. A couple walks by carrying on an exited conversation in Russian. Squirrels gingerly approach a man who has handful of crackers only to skitter away when he tosses a few morsels in their direction. A man walks by with a slobbering bulldog that is sporting a tattered red scarf. Surprisingly, I don’t see a single person transfixed to a cell phone. How odd.
The Central Burying Ground. The resting place for early Bostonians and British soldiers who died during the occupation of Boston from 1775-1776 and those who died from their wounds at Bunker Hill.
Across Charles Street from Boston Common is Public Garden and its famous swan boats, miniature version of London Bridge, and statue of George Washington astride a horse. This park is roughly half the size of Boston Common but when combined there are 72 acres of bliss smack dab in the heart of Boston, a block over from the theater district and a half a mile from the financial district and the site of the Boston Massacre. It’s one tenth the size of Central Park in New York City making it quaint, easy to enjoy.
I’ll return to this park in late August when I move my son into his dorm at Emerson College. Wow, how time flies. I hope the park will be a nice break from unloading everything a college freshman could possibly need and more. However, I suspect the park may feel a bit different on a busy summer weekend as opposed to a Tuesday afternoon in April. We’ll see. Regardless, I’m looking forward to finding another park bench to take it all in.