For “What I Hear,” I spent it on a sunny afternoon in Central Park. Towards the south end entrance of Central Park, I managed to find an empty bench next to the pond. It was an afternoon on a week day, and it was surprisingly filled with people. Left and right, I heard different ethnic languages being spoken. Very few I understood, like English and Tagalog, and others that sounded like words to me without any meaning. In the background were distant noises of horse carriages. The horses heels would make a patterned noise as they walked their path, and then a couple seconds later, drifting far into the distance. That noise gets replaced in seconds with passing cars. Occasionally, sirens would emerge in the distance. During my sitting, I managed to hear a total of two sirens occur between a twenty minute span. In the foreground were people and ducks who shared the lawn. Some kept to themselves, as others would talk amongst other people in a appropriate tone. From overhead were the sounds of squirrels jumping off one branch to another. Some would scurry in race for a nut falling fresh to the ground, and another would be quickly chasing after it. People who were mesmerized by the interaction of squirrels were mostly tourists, and since I was sitting in a nearby entrance of Central Park, there was always a new face walking by. Central Park holds a location for being so diverse. It’s considered one of the top places to visit in NYC, so it’s welcoming thousands of visitors each day. Of all the locations in the city, it’s also one of the most calming. Away from all the hustle noises Manhattan is known to have, being in Central Park gives a relaxing feel because you’re surrounded by nature and less of the heavy crowds in comparison to Times Square. And if you’re there long enough, sometimes you forget that you’re in the heart of Manhattan.
