Photo Friday: Darkness

Photo Friday: Darkness

September 30,2005

Darkness in the water, darkness in the sky,

Darkness on the river except for the few lights at the ferry dock.

Beautiful, calm morning

calm water and reflections in the early morning

This is an untouched photo...no photoshop, no color enhancements...nada.

Notice the perfect reflection and color.

Totally done by nature, not me.

I feel so fortunate sometimes to be able to enjoy this, see it, feel the coolness of the morning, smell the air. I often think of other people and their hardships and wish they could see this. I'm sorry they can't.

I also know people who are capable of seeing the beauty of nature but won't let themselves enjoy it. Trivial things upset them and stress controls their lives. It may not be their fault due to mental illness or major life problems...but that's why I feel so lucky.

Every morning I am thankful for my health and the beauty I see around me.

just two chairs on the beach

Small rapids in the park. There is a hatchery north of this spot to stock the river with trout.

Did I post this photo yet? It just is so pretty...Connequot River in the State Park and Preserve. Very natural, untouched land, the way all of Long Island looked at one time.

The small things, the details, are what makes the park beautiful!

Photo Friday: Burn

Photo Friday: September 23, 2005

Burn

Fireworks on the Great South Bay.

"Where there's smoke, there's fire." Something is burning.

Fly fishing in the park

September 22, Beautiful day.

Very few trees are just starting to turn colors for fall. Autumn begins at 6:23 pm.

For additional photos of the park see below and don't forget to check out my other blog, which is mostly just photos,

Alida's Photos.

There are the fish....umm...which fly will interest them?

Connequot River State Park and Preserve. This is where I have been fly-fishing. There are always trout, but they are not so easy to catch.

Ring-billed Gull on Fire Island

Another seagull in flight. This one is a Ring-billed gull.

Notice the black ring on his bill and yellow legs and feet.

Click on the photo to see it large!

Balloons on the beach...

Balloons on the beach.

We went to the beach today to relax and barbeque our dinner. The weather was perfect!

These balloons must have landed here after getting loose somewhere on Long Island. They can be very dangerous for the fish and birds. I took a few pictures because they were so colorful and then I destroyed them.

Picnic on the Beach

Sunday...another picnic on the Fire Island beach.

It was a perfect weather day and the air was warm and dry. Our friend, here, is at the barbeque, bay side of this beautiful barrier beach.

For a map of where we spent the day, click here.

A Naked Girl on the Appian Way

A Naked Girl...the Broadway Play...

We went into Manhattan today, Saturday, to see this new Broadway play. It was a very funny play, with Richard Thomas (remember John Boy?) and Jill Clayburgh, two very experienced and excellent actors.

The "city" as we call Manhattan here on Long Island, is a little over one hour away, by car. We drive in but can take the RR for a little longer than that.

My husband and I belong to the Roundabout Theatre Company. As subscribers, we get to see seven plays a year, on and off-Broadway.

We always enjoy the plays and even if they are not the best, they are always entertaining and performed live (of course!). There is nothing like a live performance, whether theatre, music or dance! Roundabout always has at least one actor who is well known or very recognizable.

Each performance is unique and like no other!

For more info click here for Roundabout.

We first went to the craft show and market at the Lincoln Center Mall. It was NOT a flea market! The crafts and art for sale here were top quality and certainly not cheap. I didn't buy anything...$$$

Tonight Lincoln Center is having a major jazz show/benefit to raise money for the Katrina Hurricane victims. Many famous jazz musicians will be there.

For lunch we went to a new Cuban restaurant, azucar, on Eighth Ave off 55th Street.

My opinion...delicious food, but not the best Cuban.

For better Cuban cuisine, I recommend Victor's at 236 W 52nd St!

I'm back home and totally relaxed, feeling like I had a great day. It was wonderful to be in Manhattan but it's wonderful to be home on Long Island.

Beautiful place for fly-fishing. Serene, peaceful and connected to nature.

Connetquot River in the Connetquot State Park and Preserve. Fly-fishing on Friday morning began with a mist over the water. Eventually it rained very hard. We did not stop or leave and by 10 am the sun came out again.

Black-crowned Night-Heron. This bird was fishing very close to me while I was fly-fishing. He did not seem frightened by me, even when I approached with the camera!

Friday morning on the Connetquot River.

Photo Friday: Divine

Photo Friday: September 16, 2005

Divine

Seeing a beautiful sunset brings to mind the divine power that creates such beauty...

Our first day fly-fishing!

Our first day fly-fishing! We fished the Connetquot River in the State Park Preserve.

We caught these 4 trout and had them for dinner last night.

Two of them had a pink colored flesh, like salmon, and all four were absolutely delicious!

This park has fishing by permit only and there are many regulations for catching fish to keep the park in its pristine condition.

An absolute beautiful experience. The park is quiet and full of wildlife.

Read below for more info.

If you would like to learn more about it, click here!

This is my husband. He's wearing the waders and vest, two very necessary garments for this sport. In Connequot Park, you are only allowed two fish per person.

Wildlife on Long Island

Beautiful Park and Fly-Fishing. My husband and I went fly fishiing yesterday in the Connequot State Park on the Connequot River. Read above for more details.

Within the first half-hour that I was in the water, I saw a small woodpecker on a tree near me and a small hawk that landed on a branch about 40 feet away. The hawk looked at the water, then left and right, took a look at me and quickly flew away. I was trying to decide if I had time to grab my camera. I didn't.

It was probably the most quiet place on Long Island.

I heard splashing and saw it was a family of mallard ducks, just catching their dinner.

A seagull came and parked himself on a log in the water when all of a sudden, he swooped down and scooped up a fish in his mouth.

I also saw a little chipmonk running through the brush. I thought at first it was a little bird but then realized it looked like a very small squirrrel, brown with stripes. I haven't seen a chipmonk in 30 years, not since my brother had a summer house in Greenwood Lake.

I also saw a very strange bird. Large. I thought it was a Great Blue Heron. On closer observation, I realized it was not, so I grabbed my camera and walked through the river, (I was wearing waders) and took his picture. It didn't come out clear enough to post here but I was able to identify it as a Black-crowned Night-heron. They hid in the brush and feed at night. And I got to see it!!

The entire day was a wonderful experience! We came home and cooked our fish dinner, complete with farm stand vegetables in season. Wow, what a day!

Ocean Beach, Fire Island, NY

We passed this woman on the beach at sunset...very peaceful, uncrowded beach with a setting sun. From her tan, I think she is on the beach often!

Click here for a map of Fire Island.

The town of Ocean Beach at sunset...large beach community with lots of rules.

An old jetty at Ocean Beach. The sand is very much eroded at this point and it was difficult to walk the beach at high tide.

Leaving the river and entering the bay at sunset to find some fish.

Fishing on the jetty at sunset. We saw these people when we were sailing back from the beach. It was a beautiful night. The water was calm and the weather was perfect!

Photo Friday: Massive

Photo Friday, September 9th, 2005

Massive

Massive: adjective) a : forming or consisting of a large mass;

b : impressively large or ponderous;

c : large, solid, or heavy in structure: d : large in scope or degree

Ocean Beach, Fire Island

I think these wagons in the village of Ocean Beach are massive.

Since there are no roads through the towns, everyone needs a wagon. They are locked to the posts for immediate use when the ferry pulls into the dock.

Atlantique, Fire Island, NY

There are no streets on Fire Island but there are students and school buses and yes, a very un-crowded school!

We spent the last few days sleeping on the boat over on Fire Island.

Atlantique is the Islip Town Marina that has boat slips providing electric and water.

It's like camping, and the camper is your boat.

Below is a link to a map of Fire Island.

The ocean photos I post are on the Atlantic side. Our boat stays in the bay.

Click here for the google map.

quiet beach..The water was rough the last few days, due to the hurricane activity off Florida, so there were no swimmers.

Just another gull..he doesn't know Labor Day is over and it's back to school.

Click here for a map of Fire Island.

Horses...Long Island still has a good number of privately owned horses. Each town has a requirement as to the size of the property, but in some towns, it is as small as 3/4 acre for each horse.

horse necessities

The barn

Saturday Morning...We took an early boat ride on Saturday morning, before the weekend boaters take to the water. Just beautiful with the morning light!

Real Work

Real work. The beach we go to has been having some construction work done...new dock, pilings.

I always feel so quilty, maybe it's sad, to see these men working so hard. It was a beautiful day, a 10 on that scale that people always refer to, and these men were working, watching the beach-people, pass them by.

Maybe, to them, it's all in a day's work and they don't even think about it.

Me? I'd be wishing that I could be walking on the sand and watching the surf.

There are worse things in life for sure...working in a stuffy office, not working and wishing you could...the list goes on, but I do admire the work they do.

Good luck guys, and may you have beautiful days of your own!