On July 21, the Prospect Park Youth Advocates, we four the youngest employees at Transportation Alternatives, set out on another adventure of bringing support for a car-free park. Today was as any regular T.A. day (at least for us lucky employees who get to work in Prospect Park), with the exception of a surprise special guest we were to meet at 5pm. A mystery, but until then there was work to be done.

I began work today in the Long Meadow. I was hot and dying of thirst, having forgotten to bring water. My goal became to sweep the whole Meadow, collecting every signature that I can. I would know that I accomplished my personal goal when I reach the hot-dog stand that's always at the edge of the baseball fields, with 100 postcards in hand. And I couldn't forget to get something to drink. So I made my way through the park, meeting a lot of people eager to make their park car-free. Today was a positive day, although I did meet a lot of car-drivers who tried to convince me that driving through the park was fun. My day went by smooth, but there were a couple of things that stuck with me. I met these French dudes that were sitting down smoking, and in complete perfect English, told me they couldn't speak English. It wasn't anything special; it was just an odd and awkward moment, and one difficult to not laugh at in front of them. Another thing, which caught my heart, was a little girl who came up to be with her older brother (after their mother refused to sign) and wanted to sign a postcard to the Mayor. She had to have been four or five-years-old and she took a postcard and tried to fill it out the best she could. She even refused her brothers help after he offered to write her name in. That was just sweet, I thought to myself. She handed back the signed postcard, which was adorably illegible, smiled and ran off back to her mom. The last of my "moments" were listening to a crying baby who, from what one of our supporters told me, had been crying for about an hour. The police had also came to address the problem of the unhappy kid, but I wasn't close or nosey enough to find out incident or the result.

But through all this drama, Ha Ha Ha, I made it to my destination, the hot dog stand to get my well-deserved drink. As I glanced at my phone, I saw that the time was 4:50 and I was supposed to meet up with our manager at 5pm. I had 91 post cards and a dry mouth: decision time - Get the 100 or stay thirsty? I tried to get to my goal of 100, but after five straight No's, it was time to re-hydrate. So I got my red Gatorade and headed back to meet our special guest. I meet up with Kelena at the exit and we headed on.

Our guest was none other than Robin Smith of Streetfilms, already capturing us with her video camera. For the rest of the day, we once again transformed into the trees of Prospect Park and went on strike, picketing the Park Drive. We stapled up our tree suits and walk down the West Drive. We have gotten many looks and laughs even from one of my good teachers at my high school, the Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment, Ms. Shen. People really seemed to like the suits; joggers stopped to sign, bikers gave the thumps up, babies awed, though unfortunately drivers drove on. We were being filmed on our whole way through the park. It was kind of weird to be followed by a camera, but I got use to it. We were ask some questions by Robin, about what we have been doing so far this summer, the reactions we have been getting, and our general feelings on the matter. We even got some of our supporters in the park to share their feelings and wave to the camera. On our way back to Grand Army Plaza, I had a wardrobe malfunction (this tree almost had Fall a few months too early), but lucky thing our manager was there with her trusty stapler, and fixed my costume right up. So all in all, the day was a good day, nice to be filmed and a good number of postcards to boot. And remember, if you see us in the park, let Mayor Bloomberg know you want a car-free park by making your mark.