As I've written about in these pages before, I've been traveling back and forth to Massachusetts for a while now because of some business that is very important and part of my own life in a very deep and meaningful way. A few times I've written about the wonderful place I've been staying while there, The Ritz Carlton Boston which is a newer hotel, and also my own history with the first Ritz Carlton that was there that is now under new management as another hotel. My life history has so many parts of it that are part of Boston and Massachusetts, and I've written about that too, but today I want to share a little bit about the last trip I took and how a walk in the Public Gardens brought back so many memories all at once that I found myself feeling like I was walking back in time.
The times that I've been traveling to Boston before over this past year since last fall have been in weather that is either wintry or rainy or not the best weather for wandering, The other difficulty I've found in taking my usual walks is the timing of how I am traveling and staying and where I need to be when. I usually arrive in the afternoon by train, and the first time I traveled I needed to get my bearings, but after that trip I did find that I had a little bit of time. But the weather wasn't encouraging for walking, and it was so lovely to just stay indoors in such a wonderful environment that the Ritz Carlton and the staff provide that I didn't venture out except when I needed to leave the next morning and head to another train and get to another place, and then at the end of that day I headed straight back to New York. On my way from North Station to South Station, and sometimes if I had a little bit of time on my way from the Ritz Carlton to North Station, I'd look around and try to remember my times in years past in the places I once knew so well, but it's hard to take the time to reminisce when you're trying to figure out the best route to catch a train and you're on a schedule.
When I traveled in late May, the weather was really beginning to be beautiful, and I needed to meet with someone in the afternoon for part of the business I've been traveling for, but then after that I decided that I'd try to take a walk in the Boston Commons nearby. It's right near the hotel, and I walk through it or around it often to get somewhere else when I'm on these trips, but I decided that afternoon to enjoy the sunset time of golden hour before going inside for dinner and the rest of the evening. That short walk made me want to take another longer one the next time, and so when I was traveling more recently, even though I had less time this time around, I decided to take a longer walk during the longer days of sunlight we have now.
I began in the Commons, and then walked through from one end to the other, allowing my feet to follow the leading of where I felt I needed to go to rather than letting my head try to figure it out, and I found myself crossing a street and walking into the Public Garden where the Swan Boats are. As I've written in these pages before, I love the E.B. White story "The Trumpet Of The Swan" and have loved it since I was a very young child, and though I knew the Swan Boats were near to the Ritz Carlton, I hadn't realized exactly where they were in relation to the Hotel until I walked in the Public Garden and saw them. Memory is such a strange thing, because all at once when I walked through the gate of the park so many feelings came rushing back, all very beautiful and special. I remembered having a picnic with my first love one afternoon and some of the beautiful walks we'd taken together there, and I remembered being a little girl and asking if I could have my birthday have part of it be taking a ride on a Swan Boat and how excited and happy I was, and other times after that when I'd had so much fun and joy on one of those wonderful boats.
As I walked through the Public Garden I saw the willow trees and the beautiful plantings, the bridge and foot path, and all of the people out enjoying the beautiful afternoon. I remembered things in the way that memory can be, that brought back my own life to me in a way that only deep memories can. Being in that Garden and seeing the Swan Boats and knowing that though all this time has gone by I can still walk there and even take a ride on a Swan Boat if I want to is something so precious and meaningful. There are places that we have in our hearts that we sometimes wish we could go back to, and knowing that sometimes we can visit and see and feel the person we once were is a way to bring us in a fuller circle to who we are now.
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