Madison Square Park

On our walking tour of the city on Friday, Matt and I came across a lovely little park called Madison Square Park, which Dad informed me later was the original site of Madison Square Garden--you learn something new every day. I don't even remember where exactly it was; I believe we were on 5th avenue but I could be wrong....anyway, it was a gorgeous day, warm for January and sunny, and we sat there for about a half an hour, just enjoying the view, talking and people watching.

Another thing we watched was a fat squirrel. It being Manhattan, there were a lot of squirrels there because it was just about the only grassy area for several blocks. Plus there were plenty of folks who threw bits of bread to the little creatures, who showed off by sitting up prettily and taking the prize practically from outstretched hands. We watched one little guy take a bit from a lady walking by with a baby in a stroller, nibble at it for a moment, and then industriously stuck it in his cheek and searched for a hiding place. Unfortunately, the hiding place it chose was by the fountain...it scrabbled at the concrete at the wall of the fountain, which we watched to see what would happen. Apparently he thought he'd buried it, because he left it there and ran off to find more.

A pigeon had seemed to be paying attention, and started waddling over towards the fountain wall. It being a pigeon, this took quite a while, and Matt amused me by doing the voice of the bird, talking about how it was going to steal the bread from the squirrel who couldn't even bury his prize properly. We watched as it hopped and flew when disturbed by pedestrians, but still went in a more or less straight line to the bread--and then promptly hopped right over it onto the fountain wall, and then dropped into the dry fountain! Maybe it hadn't noticed the bread--but it had looked for all the world as if it had! I guess that will teach us to think we know the mind of a pigeon....

--Jen