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Autobiographical Essays
Beate Caspari-Rosen, MD (1910 - 1995)
Once Upon a Spring Day
The day before it rained heavily, but the next morning I woke up to a beautiful sunny day, though it was quite windy. I could see the trees outside my window performing a stately dance. When Ed [Ed was a practical nurse who assisted my mother] came, we decided to drive to the' West Rock Park. On a clear day one can see downtown New Haven, Long Island Sound and, on the horizon, a thin line, Long Island. On the way we discovered a small parking area which up to then was always closed by a barrier. A sign said Wintergreen Lake. We parked, and discovered a beautiful meadow and two paths diverging from it. We were on a ridge and one foot path turned downward, the other one went parallel to the road we came on, through the woods. I considered that whatever goes down has to be climbed up again we turned to the other path, and I felt transported to the Black Forest in Germany. On one side there was a thick stand of evergreen trees. The smell of the wet needles surrounded us with its delicious odor; on the other side were trees whose leaves were hardly opened, their tips covered with a green veil. Birds were singing and flitting between the branches. The road turned quite muddy and one of my shoes was nearly sucked off my foot. We came to a clearing and there was the lake far below us shimmering in the sun. One stately swan was swimming there and there was a small sandy beach. Turning to the other side, West Rock stood out. I knew that the Merrit Parkway was only five minutes away, but no sound of traffic reached me, only a man with a dog passed by. Who would ever guess that I was so close to the city? Next time I shall walk down to the lake and never mind having to walk up again. Somehow I shall make it and enjoy every moment.