Harlem First Ward and Central Park

Alfonso invited us to attend his ward at Stake Conference last week. They were short a deacon, so Sterling helped pass the sacrament. He was the only white boy in Priesthood (all the boys meet together), but in Sunday school, there is a white girl (there is also only one class for the youth). They are going to Riverside Park for mutual Wednesday, so he wants to go with them and keep attending that ward. The building is actually closer to us than the Lincoln Center building. We took a bus (first time!) east across 125th and then walked three block north. It's a new building, five stories high. It"s partially completed. Meaning that they use padded folding chairs unstead of pews and the 4th floor (where the Relief Society meets) is a large room that doesn't have the lower acoustical ceiling yet and there is no door. The other part of the floor is sealed off. It is a beautful builing with room to grow. currently, the two Harlem ward meet there. One is Spanish-speaking.
The cool thing they do is that after sacrament meeting they ask all the visitors to stand and and introduce themselves. Then the enitre congregation says, "Welcome" to you. One of the counselors in the bishopric was conducting and he looked familiar to Quint. After we were welcomed, he commented that he had Dr. Randle as a professor at BYU for the research class. We also met the friends Professor Cutrie stayed with while he was out here last week.
For dessert with Sisiter Randle, I made two types of homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I have now decided that I don't like the white chocolate chips — too sweet. I had two choices: white and semi-sweet chocolatechips with pecans OR semisweet chocolate without nuts. If I had made pecan and semi-sweet choc ships that would have been perfect. But the kids appreciated the no-nut option, as did Sterling. We met in Central Park to eat them. We got off the subway at 79th strreet (I think... ) and walked three blocks to the American Museum of Natural History. We entered the park on the north side of the museum. We found Diana Ross playground. Then ate our cookies on the other side of this big rock.
Next, we were off to Turtle Pond. It is located just south of the great lawn. Some fellows there were feeding them. I doubt hamburger bun is the best food., but they did say they also fed them hotdogs. Ah, a true city turtle. They were of the opinion that they didn't get enough food, but I doubt it. There is lots of vegitation in the pond. Although there isn't a central basking place — just several rocks on the south end of the pond. We'll have to go during the day and see how high the turtles are piled up in the sun. Red Ear Sliders are kid of the "rat" of turtles, they are overbread and commonly dumped when they are tired of as pets. Another man commented that there is really no place for the turtle to nest. However, he said, by naming Turtle Pond as such, it has been christened as the cast-off pet turtle dumping ground. I think the lack of a formal nesting place is a good thing and probably planned. They said there is a large snapper, a map, the native painted and a cooter. But they are all outnumberd by the red ear. This is a shot looking straight down from the observation deck. The largest turtles are the size of our female river cooter. Our pair are aobut 12 years old. The "babies" in the pictures appear to me to be at leat a couple years old. Of course captive turtles, when kept heated all year, can grow faster than naturally kept turtles
This fellow also feeds "George"a red-winged blackbird. He calls on a reed, or the top of the post, or from across teh pond and this man answers him. The man holds out his palm, filled with seed. George come and eats out of your hand. He said he will do it to anyone. A while back, a man claimed to have been attacked by a black bird. The bird landed on his outstretched hand and pecked until he drew blood. The man was inscensed and demanded the birds be detroyed. He was ignored.