Escaping the Wrong Way from New Jersey in WINTER

Newark Airport – Terminal ‘C.’     Early morning, quite a few years ago. “Florida?”  “Hawaii?” …I could only dream!  

Retired now, but a glimpse back to years of employment often revealed necessary travel. How nice!  But mid-winter?  It meant up early in the cold, managing the slippery roads to the airport, and shuffle off to …Buffalo, or Detroit, or some other frozen landascape.Renting a car was the norm. Bringing it back in one piece was the expectation.

Yeah, there was work to be done, and yes, often pretty landscapes in between.

But, at the end of some of those days, there was always a little nervous anticipation, often by the windows of the waiting room, pretending to read “USA Today” while supressing the notion of helplessly skidding or sliding down the runway in that plane out there. I would maybe think: Is this the fun part yet?

Thanks for viewing, and comments are always welcome. Zoom in for a closer look.

M 🙂

 

 

 

 

Grand Canyon to Tetons

A slightly different take on two great national parks.

Above: Kaibab Trail, South Rim Grand Canyon – 8/7/95

Thanks for viewing, and comments are always welcome. Zoooom in for a closer look. M 🙂

Above: Early morning fog (referring to the photographer, me!) and Jackson Hole – 8/11/90

Resilience in the wake of Hurricane Isaias

About one month ago Hurricane Isaias brushed our area with 70 mph wind gusts carrying an abundance of salt water onto vulnerable trees and shrubs. Our Red Maple Tree suffered a significant loss of foliage facing the east side.

BELOW: One week after storm, 8/4/2000

                       BELOW: Five weeks after storm, 9/8/2000 

Below: Normal view at this time of year, (from a previous year.) Original leaves would already have been losing color saturation.


Thanks for viewing.  Comments are always welcome. Zoom in for a closer look.  M 🙂 (The old car was included to show
something more interesting than an old tree!)

 

The Piermont Pier

 

           About four weeks ago, in one of our last ventures before the Corvid-19 Pandemic, we visited the little town of Piermont, New York …on the Hudson River, and explored its 182 year old rock and earthen pier, which by 1851 served as a loading and unloading track bed for Erie Railroad trains picking up steamboat passengers from Lower Manhattan, twenty-five miles to the South.  On the then longest rail line in the world, vacationers would travel 450 miles (724 km) to Dunkirk, NY and the shores of  Lake Erie.   Some hundred years later, long after the excursions were outmoded, tens of thousands of WW II troops would depart from this same mile long pier to ferries, and transfer onto troop ships in NY Harbor. Sadly, thousands would literally leave their last footsteps on U.S. soil right here. A monument nearby is solemnly named “Last Stop, USA.”

The Piermont Pier is located about two miles (3.2 km)south of the new Mario Cuomo Bridge, jutting out a little less than one mile (1.61 km) into the Hudson River.

The old steamship/ferry slip from years ago is seen above,  …to the left.

Above: Today, the pier is a commercial, residential, and hiking park.

Remnants of the steamship/ferry docks can still be seen in this 2/23/20 view looking south. New York City would be just beyond Tallman Mountain to the right.

Above: A bollard, used for securing heavy lines, is seen here near the end of the pier, looking south.

Above: The trestle part of the new bridge, carrying the New York State Thruway, is about two miles (3.2 km) to the North; and Hook Mountain, overlooking the Hudson, is seen beyond.

Above: The striking new Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge; and two miles (3.2 km) further, Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse off Tarrytown, NY seen to the left of center span.

Taken some years ago while boating on the Hudson, Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse, also know as Tarrytown Lighthouse or Kingsland Point Lighthouse, was “installed” in 1883.

Thanks for viewing. Zoom in for a closer look.

And a special note: BE WELL, …and please use best judgement practices as we “navigate” through these un-precedented difficult times.    M

I’d like to thank the Piermont Historical Society for their added information concerning this topic, and Wikipedia. I am a proud contributer/donator to both sources.

 

 

 

Clearing the Air – of Fog… and Raising the Bar

My last post featured a barely visible bridge across the Delaware River near where George Washington famously crossed from New Jersey to Pennsylvania on Christmas Day, 1776. That experience was interesting because of the heavy air and dense fog, but the picture  didn’t quite convey the ambiance.

I like the following two images a lot better however, near where George Shaw has gained some notoriety…

Background Of These Images

Jeanne and I were in Canada at “Niagara on the Lake,” which hosts the Shaw Festival each year, …the second largest repertory theater company in North America, staging plays written and inspired by George Bernard Shaw. Located on the shoreline of Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Niagara River, this quaint little town is about 24km (15mi) north of the Falls.

These positive slide film images were taken from the scenic Canadian Niagara Parkway on April 23rd, 1997.

As always, thanks for viewing and you can click-on or finger-stretch to zoom in. Comments are always welcome. M 🙂 

Mercury Transiting the Sun, today 5/9/16

DSC_0140DSC_0140 - Version 2About 8:58 AM EDT this morning, Mercury (The round black dot) is seen beginning its transit in front of the sun. (Sunspots are visible above.) Image at about 600 mm f 6.3, 1/400 sec, hand held. 

As usual, click on to view closer, and Comments are always welcoms. M 🙂

 

 

Tibbets Point Lighthouse – On The Road

84.110     3-13-96    Cape Vincent, NY, Lighthouse with light, in car headlights
3/13/1996 – End of the Road,  Cape Vincent, NY

Tibbets Point Lighthouse is located at the end of Cape Vincent, New York State, where the waters of Lake Ontario flow into the St. Lawrence River, and eventually to the North Atlantic Ocean nearly 1000 miles to the east. On a frigid winter’s night 25 years ago, I visited this starkly isolated, ice and snowbound place; its silently rotating beam offering the only solace on a cold lonely night at the end of the road.

Screen Shot 2016-02-26 at 7.49.42 PM

Screen Shot 2016-02-26 at 8.13.44 PM

As usual, thanks for viewing, and comments are always welcome. M 🙂 

After walking the Brooklyn Bridge, 3/27/95

 A follow-up from my previous post about the Brooklyn Bridge, found here.

Just off the Brooklyn Bridge, is the 40 story Manhattan Municipal Building,  on the National Register of Historic Places. A magnificent structure with intriguing interior design elements complementing its Beaux-Arts architecture, topped by columns and cupolas, and …an impressive guilded copper statue:  “City Fame.” 

80.114     3-27-95   City Hall, NYC

Back in 1995, I was fortunate to see these features up close, but as was typical for those days, my camera was out of film. 

80.116     3-27-95   Very top of City Hall from Brooklyn Bridge
Picture taken from Brooklyn Bridge, 1995, Canon Rebel, SLR 200mm telephoto

.

However, 15 years earlier, in 1980,  I had photographed the Brooklyn and Manhatten bridges from the World Trade Center, as seen below.

38.076  8-17-80      NYC Daytrip, Top of World Trade Center, H, J, S and M (7)_edited-1

38.075  8-17-80      NYC Daytrip, Top of World Trade Center, H, J, S and M (6)_edited-1
The Manhattan Municipal Building would be just out of view to the left, at about the same height as the white “former” AT&T building shown here.

 As usual,. thanks for visiting, and comments are always welcome. M:-)