“There is something infinitely healing in the
repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and
spring after winter.”—American scientist and nature writer Rachel Carson
(1908-1964), The Sense of Wonder (1956)
Over the past week, as the dread and horror of the
coronavirus have spread, I have felt even more urgently the need to get out of
the house. My office, library, and theaters were closed. The other day, I was
even surprised to see the gates locked at a local stadium where I often walk
around the track.
It was with relief, then, and with a sense of joy that
I discovered Foschini Park, a
few miles from where I live in Bergen County, NJ, to be open. I got to
photograph what I came for: signs of spring on the first day of the season.
There were few people out in this nearly 28-acre
park on this sunlit day: a couple and their son on bicycles, four or five kids
playing baseball, and two joggers, running separately. (Surely glad to comply with the federal
government’s new directive: stay six feet away from the nearest person.)
Maybe,
at some point a few weeks or months ago, more people will rediscover the hope generated
by nature that Ms. Carson alludes to.
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