imagine if this is what you saw when you came home

years ago, probably more than a hundred years ago, but my history of the spot is a bit foggy, this was the entrance to a grand estate. the owner was one of the biggest developers in manhattan. however, this developer built his estate out of wood - obviously he hadn't read 'the three little pigs' - and didn't plan for a possible fire. well, a fire broke out in his glorious house, and he hadn't built a water pump strong enough to pump water up to his house to extinguish it. his house burned down and now his estate is fort tryon park. the park itself was designed by one of frederick law olmstead's sons, and if you know your new york history, olmstead designed central park. central park is a masterpiece of man emulating nature, but fort tryon is a beautiful symbiosis of man and nature. the park was in such disrepair until recently that nature had almost taken over most of it. bette midler stepped in in the 1990s with her new york restoration project, and added the spit and polish necessary to make it one of new york's grand parks again.

i ask you to imagine if this grand driveway were part of your morning commute, how would it make you feel? this is pretty much all that's left of the estate.