An Oasis in the City

For nearly 20 years the Friends of Christopher Columbus Park (FOCCP) has been dedicated to creating a vibrant urban oasis in the Park. This has always been a vital mission and never more meaningful than now. Christopher Columbus Park offers solace and even some fun, in this precarious time.

FOCCP member, Katie Kelly, shares her experience:

My husband Joe and I take our little spaniel Murphy for a walk in the park every afternoon. We saunter, noticing changes from day to day, especially in this season. Grass starts to green, buds and then blossoms appear on trees, cloud configurations drift – or sometimes a bright blue sky. Maybe there are puddles from a morning rain, reflecting the beautiful trellis. We’ve been unexpected witnesses to a number of proposals and wedding pictures in the kissing-est locale in Boston.  Boats come and go, We may greet friends (waving, be-masked these days, from a safe distance.) Each day, we check the daffodils the park friends group planted last fall. Daffodils make everybody smile!

Please come visit this special Park to relax and recharge.

Practice safe social-distancing while there and…

• Contemplate the hundreds of daffodils planted by FOCCP’s horticulture volunteers and now coming into bloom.
• Bring the kids and/or be a kid at heart by playing hopscotch. FOCCP Board Member and Park Art Curator, Robyn Reed, with the assistance of Meredith Piscitelli, recently created a colorful hopscotch grid on the walkway between the Richmond St. entrance and the statue of Columbus.
• Read ‘The Thirsty Dragon’ story by FOCCP member, Meredith Piscitelli, posted on the park bulletin board near the Christopher Columbus statue. Walk over to the classic rose garden to imagine the dragon’s trail.
• Visit in the evening. Stroll under the trellis and enjoy the myriad of blue lights brought to you courtesy of FOCCP.
• Check out the quotes on the new park benches installed through FOCCP’s Park Bench Program
• Choose a bench and take Maya Angelou’s advice:  “I think when we don’t know what to do it’s wise to do nothing. Sit down quietly; quiet our hearts and minds and breathe deeply.”

Remember to respect the curfew in Boston and be home by 9 p.m.

Photos courtesy of Meredith Piscitelli.