The stare - I think bird photos are most effective if you are eye to eye with them. This is an American Coot who may be saying “Get off of my pond.” Welcome to Bird Week VI. You can almost hear the cheers ringing out across the land. Almost.
Florida - Canaveral National Seashore
The serenity of this shot belies the great power and strength of the animal. The beauty of these tigers is a delight to behold. The creation is awash with intricate details designed for us to appreciate the Master Designer.
“She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” Proverbs 31:25 NLT
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Change of Command Ceremony at the Navel Shipyard with the official photographer and my less official one. A very neat experience to witness the formality of the handing of the command of the ship from one officer to another.
This is a portion of the way to visit one of the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde. You have to negotiate two ladders, scores of stairs, crawl through a rock tunnel and wind your way through this rock crevice all the while being reminded that the natives that created this had none of your advantages and children as young as three did it on their own. Impressive feat. And totally worth the effort today to get into this complex of rooms and kivas and realize it was abandoned nearly 1000 years ago. Easy to see why T Roosevelt named this a National Park in 1906.
Mesa Verde National Park
To get here!
This is the second of two buildings to occupy this spot, the first one, long gone, is where George Washington took the oath of office to become our first President. All that is left of the structure is a slab of the balcony that he stood on. The museum also houses the bible he used and was used by several other Presidents. The current building built before the Civil War is impressive with a large rotunda and marble columns.
Federal Hall National Memorial
When Thomas Edison died this chemistry lab - where he often worked along with several chemists, was sealed and not opened for years until acquired by the NPS. So it is a time capsule of what was the finest chemistry laboratory in the world. At Edison’s death, he was working on trying to develop a different plant based rubber. The building was really interesting. President Hoover was here in 1928 to tour the operation. There is a lab coat hanging on a hook in the back that might have been Edisons there were only a few men working in here. Edison also had a private lab next to his office but usually worked here. Just an amazing man who developed the whole idea of a complex research laboratory here in West Orange, NJ.
Thomas Edison National Historic Park
This is the Culinary Institute of American located on the banks of the Hudson River in Hyde Park, NY. There are multiple restaurants you can enjoy from casual to “oh my goodness” and all of them (or at least the four we have tried) are wonderful. Seriously a delight. The school has a lot of students and you can see many of them at work in restaurants across the globe after graduation. There are two primary tracks, baking & pastry arts and culinary arts. They do offer other professional degrees as well as a master’s program. We have taken tours of the school and it is a treat to do so and learn from the perspective of a current student. Plus it is a beautiful campus in a jewel like setting. In town are the Vanderbilt and Roosevelt homes that you can tour. And quaint shops to roam through.
You have to smile at the student crossing signs.
Someone is having a birthday today.
You will have to guess the year, I’m not telling.
This little flower in the intense heat and sparse moisture still blooms and delights people passing on the trail.
“Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
1 Coriinthians 13:7 NLT
Colorado National Monument
Sitting on a pylon at the dock of the Jamestown - Scotland ferry on the James River. The Great Blue Heron was waiting on the Jamestown side of the river.
This is the interior of the Old North Church in Boston. It was from this church’s steeple that the lantern was hung to alert the patriots of the movement of the British troops and sent Paul Revere, William Dawes and Samuel Prescott on the night ride. Revere was made famous by the Longfellow poem. The church is just remarkable. I love the brass chandeliers that were hung here in 1775 and have been in place ever since.
The colors of this arid landscape are beautiful and ever changing as the sun traverses the sky. The park is found in the extreme western edge of Colorado just a few miles from Utah. We never even heard of this place but the trek to all parks led us here for an afternoon. We ought to have stayed longer but we could not this trip. I had no idea it would be as interesting or have so many hikes. Points out why you need a bit of research before you arrive. We are doing our homework on Alaska - or so we think.
Colorada National Monument
We walked a distance in a Louisiana swamp, a part of the Jean Lafitte National Park site. He was a pirate who helped turn back the British at the battle of New Orleans. The park encompasses several separate places, this being one of the reserves in the delta south of the city. These blooms were stunning in the contrast to the surroundings. I loved the lazy arc and the Japanese feel to the composition.
Louisiana: Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve
I hope it is magical for you.
I don't really get the exuberance of a New Year Eve celebration. Seems a bit arbitrary to me. Yet it is good to occasionally look back and take stock of life, feel gratitude for what God has seen you through - challenges and joys. Is that what the raucous crowds are engaged in - I kind of doubt it. Anyway, for those who find this day one of great fun, happy new year, to those who are more reflective, God’s peace and to those who do neither, go take some photographs, take a hike, go to a movie, play a game with your kids or sleep in. Enjoy.
And to my Grandson, Kellen, happy sixteenth birthday to an amazing, kind, disciplined, hard-working, clever young man of whom I am justifiably proud.
My favorite new park of 2018: Weir Farm National Historic Site is located in Connecticut. This is currently the only NPS site in Connecticut but there is one more slated to open “sometime,” the Colt Firearms complex. Weir Farm is one of two parks set aside to honor visual arts. J. Alden Weir was an American impressionist painter who initially disliked impressionism when he first viewed works in Paris. He not only embraced the genre he was the first and foremost of the American impressionists. He also hosted many other painters on the farm for short or long stays including John Singer Sargent, The farm (originally bought for $10 and a painting) is about 60 acres of the initial 158. But there are 16 buildings, a pond, trails, woods, meadows and stone walls lacing the property.
I am not sure why I was so struck with the site. The light, the contrast of the woods, fields and walls, the interesting tour - extra engaged and helpful rangers, maybe all of them together but I simply fell in love with this small, hard to get to park. I hope to go back and spend time making photographs instead of just a quick shoot.
“The grasslands of the wilderness become a lush pasture, and the hillsides blossom with joy.
The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep, and the valleys are carpeted with grain.
They all shout and sing for joy! “ Psalm 65:12,13 NLT
The Studio
Number two is not a mature park having been brought into the National Park Service recently under President Obama. But it is one that the story outweighs any deficiencies in the park as they expand and prepare the area for completion. Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn, NY is a special place because of the remarkable story of Mrs. Tubman who lived her last 20 plus years in this village. The home she built is nearly complete, the church is under renovation, the home she created for women who had no where else to go is open for visitation - having been under private control for years and her grave is nearby as well. Inspiring courageous woman who deserves to be remembered and celebrated.
Mrs. Tubman’s grave stone with remembrances scattered about. While origins of this practice differ, some military, some mythology, some other eras, the trinkets and coins are left as a sign of respect.
Sand, surf, history, marsh, woods, lighthouses, dunes, ocean, sunsets, trails, bay side - hard to tell our two tied for third place apart, except for the alligators, no alligators in Cape Cod. The Gulf Islands National Seashore is found in Florida and Mississippi and was a great place to explore. Cape Cod National Seashore in the arm extending into the ocean from Massachusetts. Both were wonderful, both had interesting history both inside and near to the parks, both had a host of great restaurants. Can’t go wrong at either place.
Marsh ponds, dunes and a bright blue ocean at Cape Code National Seashore
a good evening at Gulf Islands NS
Our second park is in Alabama, the Tuskegee Airmen NHS. This is the field where the first African-American troops began flight training. The little yellow “cub” is the first of the planes they flew as the progressed in the program up to the Army's PT-17 Stearman bi-plane. Then on to actual combat planes and then into the fray. And the did well, contrary to many opinions of the day. This airfield is neat not only for its history, its importance in the wave of civil rights legislation but also as a time capsule of the era. A lot of original buildings are still intact and the field of view is very much what men training here in the 1940’s would have seen. Nice museum in one hanger and the club where Ella Fitzgerald and other greats preformed for the pilots in training is also one you can visit.
At number five, a dark horse (check out the political meaning:) was the low expectation park for Martin Van Buren and his home Lindenwald near Kinderhook, NY. The house is nice and well-presented but does not have the grandeur of the Roosevelts or the Rockefeller’s a bit further south. It is on a rather small portion of the remaining farm and fronts on the old Albany Post Road a few yards of which still remain. The presentation by the ranger was excellent and we were impressed with the setting that still retained much of the rural feel of the early 1800’s when Van Buren served as the 8th President of the United States. And his role as father and grandfather added a lot to personalize his story. Nice day here.
Van Buren bust reflected in the mirror of the dinning room
An avid fisherman, here are some of his lures in one of his tackle boxes.
