My lens smudged and dirty, I walk into Central Park, where I am greeted by a smiling dog

I had barely stepped into Central Park when I saw this little dog, smiling at me.

I also saw this woman, photographing what I took to be a cherry tree. She said that she did not think it was a cherry tree, but rather a tree that she thought was pretty, but could not identify.

I still think it was a cherry tree, but I could be wrong and she could be right.

I saw a big rock, with many people upon it.

A jet passed overhead.

A girl slid carefully down the rock...

...another slid down a slippery slide...

...as did still another.

I saw a bunch of boys, sitting upon a rail fence as they watched...

...another boy leap over a picnic table.

I saw a young man practicing his rock climbing skills. I asked him if he ever did serious rock climbing and where. He said yes, and named the Adirondacks. He radiated pride when he told me that, so I did not tell him that I was from Alaska.

He was loving his mountains and I did not wish to upstage him in even the smallest way.

I saw a little boy, shooting bubbles at a little girl.

I followed the sound of a drumbeat, and then came upon this fellow. I looked for a container into which I might drop a coin, but found none. He was not begging, he was practicing.

I was amazed to see leaves like this so early in the spring.

I found a little road upon which a pretty woman roller-bladed.

Other people pedaled bicycles...

...some rolled by on push scooters...

...one fellow cranked his way past on a hand-cycle.

Along came a trike, followed by a horse-drawn wagon.

I found a pair of lovers, intertwined with each other, oblvious to my presence.

Another pair of lovers had just taken their vows before a justice of the peace. Now, they had begun their honeymoon. They told me their names, but I did not speak them into my iPhone and so I forgot.

A helicopter passed overhead...

...as did a squirrel.

A little girl rode a horse without using her hands while eating a sucker...

...and a teen wearing high-heeled boots jumped between two oppositely oscillating ropes.

Since I got this pocket camera in December, I have been working the battery hard and heavy and all of a sudden, it has grown weak. It died immediately after I took this picture of a young woman teaching a younger boy how to manipulate his skateboard. If the battery had still had the ability to retain a charge that it had up until very recently, it would have still been good for at least 200 more frames - maybe 300. There was much left in Central Park for me to see and photograph.

I did not feel too badly about it, though, because I figured that I had taken enough pictures and if I were to take anymore, I would just have to spend that much more time editing them.

Yet, just as I was exiting the park, I saw something that I had to photograph.

So I pulled out my iPhone - as I would two more times after my pocket camera battery would again die in New York. I will post some iPhone pictures on another day.

Next up: A quick stop in the old graveyard across the street from where the Twin Towers once stood.