If you find yourself at the anxious intersection of Route 34 and Ella T. Grasso, feeling idle and exhausted amid the idling and the exhaust, turn down the driveway behind the Barnard Nature Center. Park at the line of squat concrete blocks. Pass them on foot to a muddy, rocky opening on the bank of the West River. Watch your step.
Then watch the current. Smell the breeze. Listen to the birdsong and the whispering reeds.
A sign along the driveway calls this place an “urban oasis,” and, humble though it may be, that’s exactly right.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims.
