Of many things

America, October, 2004 by George M. Anderson

CENTRAL PARK LIES just a few blocks from America House, and no matter what the season, I sometimes walk there to join other office workers for lunch, on the grass in warm weather or on a bench. Preferring to be on the move, though, I continue on, sandwich in hand, to the center of the park's 800-plus acres, designed by two of the country's pre-eminent 19th-century landscape architects, Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvin Vaux.

The park is more than grass and trees. Taking any of the winding paths, what I have long noticed are the huge outcroppings of glacial rock. They rise up as reminders of the prehistoric beginnings of the island of Manhattan itself. Some are long and smooth, like ancient sea creatures half risen from the depths, and I often see people stretched out...