Fall Foliage, Right Here At Home
A few years ago, we took a walk in Prospect Park on the very day that the leaves had changed color and fallen off the trees. Strolling through the Midwood, we were up to our shins in brilliantly yellow leaves the color of a French’s mustard bottle, which also dangled from the branches overhead. We went back the next day with our friends, excited to share perhaps the most beautiful sight we’d ever beheld, but by then the leaves littering the forest floor had dried to brown. The moral is that you should walk through Prospect Park at least once a day, especially in autumn; nearly every foot of paved road has a corresponding secret, sylvan trail running alongside it, and ‘tis the season when they’re their prettiest. Also check out McGolrick Park in Greenpoint, whose big old trees make it a lovely, leafy oasis. And visit the north edge of Bay Ridge’s Owl’s Head Park, right behind the half-pipes, where you’ll find a wooded trail atop a steep hill where at least a few homeless folks are likely to be camped out.
Photo Cody Swanson