Little baby sparrows keep falling out of the magnolia tree that canopies me. A yellow swallowtail butterfly and a monarch  dance around my bare feet. I’m sitting in my summer office – basically a folding chair in my local park with my laptop perched on the armrest. To me it’s bliss. A few feet in front of me, the East River’s sage green water burbles and curls in whorls. And in the distance, the Triborough Bridge hangs like a dove colored necklace strung from Queens to Randall’s Island.

Each morning I arrive here with my trusty laptop, a Thermos of tea and a flask of water and I sit for 3-4 hours and meditate and write. The doormen laugh when they see me leave the building in my shorts carrying a deck chair. They think I’m goofing off. But I get more done in this patch of paradise than sitting inside twiddling my thumbs.

I always wished for an apartment with a garden and a little pavilion where I could sit outside and work (something like the picture above). Today I was thinking in some ways this is even better. I am free to enjoy it and I don’t have to weed, tend or water anything. I can send love to the plants, animals and birds and focus my attention on pure enjoyment. As I typed away, a very nice Brazilian woman appeared with a wheelbarrow. She is the volunteer gardener who tends the lavender, pink nicotinia, black lilies and little roses in front of me. I thanked her for her daily ministrations. And told her how much it means to me. I feel blessed to live in a city filled with so much green and generosity.