Category: Pondering

Tokyo, Pan Am, the SST and Hawaii

On By mvschulzeIn 1980's, Adventure, Airplanes, Beach, Career, Hawaii, Photography, Pondering, Travel5 Comments

          As a follow-up to my previous post here back in the 1980’s, I departed from Narita Airport in Tokyo on an overnight and almost empty PAN AM 747 to Hawaii. I would meet my wife, Jeanne, as she arrived from New York, where there was a glimpse of the British Airways Concorde Super Sonic Transport, at that time providing regular transatlantic service at over 1300 MPH (~ 2100 kph.) 

Above: British Airways SST as seen landing at JFK, NY, March, 1981
Above: From the waiting room at Narita Airport, …my overnight ride to Hawaii.
Sleep, stretched out on empty seats, was easy on the overnight, above  …and  approaching Honolulu, below.

39.120 3-7-81 Hawaii Approaching Oahu_edited-1

Above: Jeanne arriving from the mainland, later that afternoon.
Above: From our balcony in Waikiki. Rainbow courtesy of “Pineapple Showers.”

Thanks for viewing, …and comments are always welcome. M 🙂

PANDEMIC BLUE

On By mvschulzeIn 2020, Back Yard, Color, Observation, Pandemic, Photo, Pondering7 Comments

            Yes, a new world-wide color: Pandemic Blue. Particularly those in urban areas have likely noticed what is one of the effects of significantly reduced airline and surface-traffic exhaust.

             Doesn’t the sky in this image, taken this morning in my suburban backyard,  look …nice?  Pandemic Blue. AND, as a bonus, if you are into “star-gazing” or astronomy, check out the night-time skies. Yes, …it’s more transparent! Pandemic Black! 

A small silver lining to an event that has become almost incomprehensible worldwide! 

Thanks for viewing. Hope all is well with you and yours during this thing! And you can zoom in for a closer look.  M! 

 

 

Strength!

On By mvschulzeIn Gratitude, New Jersey, New York, Perspectives, Photography, Pondering7 Comments

        Sitting here at home during the Corvid – 19 Pandemic, I looked back on an image taken ten years ago, on Mother’s Day, May 8th, 2010. It was right out of the camera, with really nice lighting and conveyed a simple thought about …strength from above, the highlighted cables holding up the mighty George Washington Bridge. Today we reflect on the strength of our first responders and health care workers; and the universal pause for Mother’s Day, as we endure this most unprecedented time.   
Thanks for viewing. Zoom in for a closer look, and comments are always welcome. M 🙂

 

Fly-Over Salute to First Line Heroes

On By mvschulzeIn Airplanes, Buildings, Close Up, Corona Virus, Coronavirus, Corvid-19, Daytrip, Geology, Hiking, Hudson River, New Jersey, New York City, Perspectives, Photography, Planes, Pondering, sadness, Skyline photos, Telephoto, virus, Weather6 Comments

Most of the country, and particularily cities like New York, continue in a state of shut-down due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Today, a most welcome and meaningful show of support was heralded simultaneously by the Navy’s Blue Angels, and Air Force’s Thunderbirds, seen below flying from just south of the George Washington Bridge, to The Freedom Tower in lower Manhattan.
I joined about 30, mostly masked onlookers atop a basalt outcropping near Goffle Road, Hawthorn, NJ, to witness the event some 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) distant from Manhattan. Close-ups are seen through ground haze, and a 600mm  lens.


Thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcome, and zoom in for a closer look. M 🙂

Feeling the Pain – Pandemic At Home

On By mvschulzeIn coping, Corona Virus, Coronavirus, Corvid-19, Crisis, Family, Flower, Home, Hope, isolation, Memorial, New Jersey, New York City, Photo, Photography, Pondering, sadness13 Comments

From our home in western Bergen County, N.J. a neighbor’s half-mast flag seems to echo sadness and guarded apprehension, as our budding cherry blossoms perhaps offer at least a small glimmer of hope for the months ahead.           

Statisitics for our town (population about 13,000) – 4/16/00:

141 confirmed “Corvid – 19” cases, 11 fatal.

Comments are always welcome.       Marty

 

 

Home Bound – What To Do

On By mvschulzeIn Coronavirus, Corvid-19, Do it yourself, Electricity, Family, Gratitude, Home, Hope, New jersey, Oakland N.J., painting, Photography, Pondering, sadness, stripping5 Comments

A Covid-19 Bathroom,  DYI Update – Before (wallpaper?) to After!

The hall thermostat was actually a earlier holiday gift, presented and installed by our daughter’s husband before the outbreak. Here we were testing for sufficient heating range. I liked the way it looked, and so, just threw it in here!

Thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcome, …but more than ever at this most trying time in our lives, Be Well and Stay Safe.  Our thoughts are with those on the front lines, and all …enduring these most rapid changes in our lives. M 🙂 

 

 

The Piermont Pier

On By mvschulzeIn 1800's, 1940's, 1990's, Airplanes, Boating, Boats, Cars, Curiosities, Daytrip, driving, Exploring, Geology, Hiking, History, Hudson River, Lighthouses, Memorial, Nautical, New Jersey, New York City, New York State, Perspectives, Photography, Pondering, Railroad, Remembering, Telephoto, Trains, Travel, WW II8 Comments

 

           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.