It was 5pm on a Friday and I found myself with no plans for the evening. Instead of going straight home to a bottle of pinot noir and the new season of Kimmy Schmidt, I decided to take a long walk in the park. Central Park.

Is that weird?

Is it weird it felt weird?

Going for a walk is not what the kids are doing these days. That is, unless we’re sneaking a cigarette, or cooling off after a fight with a significant other. A run in the park or a romantic stroll? Sure. But just a walk? Just for fun? Millennials don’t have time for that! #BUSY #YOLO! We don’t have the attention span! Squirrel! Or the balls to be alone with our thoughts for a prolonged period of time!

It’s the perfect time of year for wandering.

It’s so lovely outside, I dread every descent into the subway. Yet a solitary walk on a Friday night felt slightly bizarre. But you know what? It was beautiful. And a little lonely, but also in a beautiful way.

I took a long walk in the park and thought about how much I miss my best friend.

Is that weird? Whatever. Welcome to my walk-in-the-park musings.

See, for years she lived in one of the high-rise apartment buildings on the north-east corner of Central Park. I walked towards her old building, admiring the blossoms, but wishing I could take the elevator up to the 30th floor for a night of eating cheese and avocados. Of laughing at poop jokes so hard we almost pee ourselves. There’s no one I’d rather pee myself with, no one in all the world.

Who knew an ugly concrete building could stir up so much nostalgia?

It’s not that that my friend is dead. No, no, no!! I won’t even joke that she might as well be. She’s just left New York. She’s living out world-traveling dreams, working in Germany. She’s brave, she’s incredible. Further more, she’s only a 6-hour time difference Skype call away.

That’s a shitty thing with living in New York for eight years. It’s long enough to get mugged, it’s long enough to watch many, many of your friends move away.

It’s nice to miss people you know you’ll see again. It’s nice to know that most people who lived New York, loved New York, and left New York come back to visit.

Is it weird I’m okay spending my Friday evening walking through flowers and thinking about how much I love my friends?

Is it weird I much preferred it to Saturday night which I spent on a third date with a guy who mansplained the building of the Egyptian pyramids?

I may be kind of hopeless when it comes to boyfriends. But best friends? I’m the best at best friends.

Now if only I was the best at saving money. Spending hours working for free really isn’t helping me save money for a plane ticket to Germany…

Friends and family and friends who are family: the only things I love more than spring in New York.

I walked across the very top of Central Park at 110th Street and then down to the Conservatory Garden on the east side. The Conservatory Garden is in peak bloom, the crab apple blossoms (not cherries like more people think!) are absolutely stunning. Do everything you can to go see for yourself!

Take a walk in the park. Admire the flowers, “aw” at cute dogs, listen to a podcast or three. Think about people you wish you were walking with. Give them a call if it’s not 2Am their time.

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts on solitary walks and friends who live far way. Check me out on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat @newyorkcliche if you want to be my best friend more NYC spring!