The Final Jewel

“The one thing in the world of value is the active soul.”
Emerson

I have a confession to make:
I failed you people.

And it’s time to make amends.

When I did my blog on Boston’s Emerald Necklace, I omitted the final jewel: Franklin Park.
On that day, I had walked all the way from Boston Common

and the Public Garden

to the Arnold Arboretum.

But I neglected to go on to the end of the necklace.

(Of course, it could have been fatigue. 
I am, regretfully, getting on.)

So today I had to put things right.

This time I strolled down via a different route: The Southwest Corridor Park.
It starts off Copley Square, near the Boston Public Library.

And then goes past Northeastern University, following the route of the Orange Line of the T (short for MBTA: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority).

It continues all the way down to the end of the line: Forest Hills.

The northern end of the Orange Line, which is close to where I grew up, is called Oak Grove.
So Massachusetts was originally a very woody place.

Most people have heard of Franklin Park (named for Big Ben) because of the zoo that is located there. 
But it’s the park that is the real gem.

Like the rest of the Emerald Necklace, it was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The man who created New York’s Central Park.

Even an urban park such as this bears witness to the violent forces that created the New England landscape.

The place is littered with boulders that were thrown around by glaciers during the last Ice Age.

Before the park was created, Ralph Waldo Emerson lived in a cabin on the site for two years while he taught in a Roxbury school.

But he found he would rather go on nature walks and write about his reflections.

Which I can totally dig!

You will be hearing more from him as the blog proceeds.

I hope you will forgive my lapse.

And can finally enjoy the last jewel.