"Was it buggy?" I asked my friend Mary when she told me the other day that she had recently been to Roosevelt Island to walk its boardwalk and trails.
"Not really," she answered. "It was a pretty good walk."
I thought of that conversation when we were trying to think of a place to take Lucy and her pal Beckett while we were watching him this morning, and so after picking him up at 9 AM we turned the car north on the GW Parkway and made the quick trip to the island.
It was a little more crowded than I expected it to be on a hot summer morning in July, and there was a lot more noise than usual, too. Somewhere chainsaws and chippers were ripping up fallen trees, and we were startled by several white pick up trucks rumbling down the unpaved trails. Even so, by the time we made it around to the back of the island things were quieter, and it was easy to keep social distance from the other pairs of visitors and their dogs. Continuing on, we had the upper trail to ourselves until we made the turn into the memorial itself. There we found all the pick ups and park workers converged, and we paused to make sure we could pass at least six feet from the nearest crew.
A friendly workman smiled at the dogs. "There's a lot going on here today!" he reported cheerfully. "President Trump gave us the word that he wants to pay a visit here!"
All of the activity suddenly took on new meaning.
"We are even filling the moats and fixing the fountain to run," he told us.
"Wow!" I answered. I couldn't remember the last time any of the water features had been running. "When is he coming?"
"Who knows?" he shrugged. "They won't say. And you know the worst part?" he asked. "Nobody will be allowed here to see the park when it's all fixed up! Not even us! You can bet the secret service will see to that."
"I'm sure it will look great, though," I assured him. "And I guess we can all get a look at it on TV."
He seemed unconvinced, but he laughed. "You all have a good day."
"You, too!" I replied, "And thanks for all the hard work!"
"Not really," she answered. "It was a pretty good walk."
I thought of that conversation when we were trying to think of a place to take Lucy and her pal Beckett while we were watching him this morning, and so after picking him up at 9 AM we turned the car north on the GW Parkway and made the quick trip to the island.
It was a little more crowded than I expected it to be on a hot summer morning in July, and there was a lot more noise than usual, too. Somewhere chainsaws and chippers were ripping up fallen trees, and we were startled by several white pick up trucks rumbling down the unpaved trails. Even so, by the time we made it around to the back of the island things were quieter, and it was easy to keep social distance from the other pairs of visitors and their dogs. Continuing on, we had the upper trail to ourselves until we made the turn into the memorial itself. There we found all the pick ups and park workers converged, and we paused to make sure we could pass at least six feet from the nearest crew.
A friendly workman smiled at the dogs. "There's a lot going on here today!" he reported cheerfully. "President Trump gave us the word that he wants to pay a visit here!"
All of the activity suddenly took on new meaning.
"We are even filling the moats and fixing the fountain to run," he told us.
"Wow!" I answered. I couldn't remember the last time any of the water features had been running. "When is he coming?"
"Who knows?" he shrugged. "They won't say. And you know the worst part?" he asked. "Nobody will be allowed here to see the park when it's all fixed up! Not even us! You can bet the secret service will see to that."
"I'm sure it will look great, though," I assured him. "And I guess we can all get a look at it on TV."
He seemed unconvinced, but he laughed. "You all have a good day."
"You, too!" I replied, "And thanks for all the hard work!"
Ugh. Why does he want to go there? It doesn't have a golf course!
ReplyDelete