Hello and Happy Halloween. I had a great walk on Thursday and I thought you might enjoy seeing the pictures. As Ken Burns so aptly pointed out recently, our parks are our strongest affirmation for "Big Government"so perhaps this belongs here. Or maybe I just like taking pictures. This is my ninth diary that is tagged Van Cortlandt Park but in this diary there are sections of the 1,146 acre park that I've never shown before.
Here's a view I've now shown in all four seasons. In photography like elsewhere, when you find a good frame you need to stick to it.
As I've mentioned before Van Cortlandt Park is named for the first native Mayor of New York City and is right on Broadway, a few stops out of Manhattan on a scenic elevated subway, the last stop on the Number One train. It is not the only park with hiking trails but it is still a must see for NYC visitors because the views are so similar to the Hudson Highlands.
Below the fold you can see the glory of New York State without leaving New York City on a colorful autumn day that went from overcast to glorious with so much autumn color on both sides of a surprising day.
For me this day was like a Christmas present and an inspiration on how to start future days. I woke up and looked at the box that was not wrapped so nicely but I opened it anyway and was pleasantly surprised. Actually I changed my plans because the morning looked so crappy but I got out there.
For the longest time I've been trying to put together enough autumn photos for a diary that will be far more useful than this one. I figure my fellow bloggers really should know about the "Rocking Chair Riots" before visiting New York City so Central Park can be enjoyed more fully. My problem with writing "A Visitor's Guide to Central Park with Autumn Photos" is that inclement weather can make fall foliage very frustrating on a New York City photo buff. I just can't seem to get there on a nice day.
So on Thursday when the weatherman claimed the sun might come out in the afternoon I was going to head down to Central Park to see the views. But it was so ugly that instead of the subway to Central Park I walked my cameras (a Nikon P90 and Canon G10) with my umbrella down to more familiar turf.
My Van Cortlandt Park, all New Yorker's Van Cortlandt Park and opened to all visitors too holds a rich history and offers some of the nicest hiking trails I've ever seen. As days go I was very pleased to be there early in the morning rather that waiting until the sun came out and it seemed more like two separate days squeezed into one.
In the morning I was thinking it would make a good study day for getting a decent forest photo on a crappy day and I already knew the rocky outcrops that saved this Bronx park from the developers always looks better in soft light.
Both cameras can be tweaked to enhance saturation but I think white sky is just ugly. It just never seemed to make a good photo to me.
So I got in close and tried to capture the subtle colors of this season while kicking up some wet leaves.
Many of the maples that the northeast are famous for are already past peak here in the Bronx. There is still some color to enjoy and I even found a late season insect enjoying a snack. Can you see the well camouflaged bug? I wonder if this critter that is getting ready for a different sort of transition changes colors with the season too.
I thought, not for the first time, that autumn is the color of passion. For the first time I did realize that "Spring is for lovers" might be a newer development.
Back before the joy of consumer economy when people lived off the land springtime must have left little time for loving but autumn ushered in a whole lot of time under the covers. And check out what wineberry looks like this time of year.
Here's another autumn thought or a thought about "Fall." Yesterday on
All Things Considered" an interview on "Krulwich on Science" pointed out that this passionate time of year really shouldn't be called "Fall." It is more like "The Rejection Season."
According to Peter Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden and a renowned botanist, the wind doesn't gently pull leaves off trees. Trees are more proactive than that. They throw their leaves off. Instead of calling this season "The Fall," if trees could talk they'd call this the "Get Off Me" season.
Here's why.
Around this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere, as the days grow shorter and colder, those changes trigger a hormone in leaf-dropping trees that sends a chemical message to every leaf that says, in essence, "Time to go! Let's part company!"
Once the message is received, says Raven, little cells appear at the place where the leaf stem meets the branch. They are called "abscission" cells. They have the same root as the word scissors, meaning they are designed, like scissors, to make a cut.
And within a few days or weeks, every leaf on these deciduous trees develops a thin bumpy line of cells that push the leaf, bit by bit, away from the stem. You can't see this without a microscope, but if you looked through one, you'd see those scissors cells lined right up.
Keep on Rockin' in the Tree World!
The same view on the way back from the northwestern woods, now with added sunshine!
I was trying to capture the autumn look of a white oak and saw some sunshine on the leaf.
Looking up the oak was now singing. There was blue creeping into the sky and the sassafras now had flavor.
Isn't a little sunshine an amazing improvement?
With all of that sudden brightness the forest that still has plenty of leaves seemed a bit dark. Time to go out and see some meadows, marshes and the lake.
First stop is the overlook that really does feel like the mountains of New York State. Well it is upstate to some Manhattanites, about two miles upstate. The view is a bit different from the Hudson Highlands but the rocks feel just like the high points in Harriman State Park.
The view is only 169 feet above sea level so a little imagination is necessary. All you need to do is pretend you don't see the graffiti and don't look for any mountain laurel. There are also no Krumholtz formations to be found here but the summit breeze feels the same.
The overlook is name Vault Hill because years after Stephanus Van Cortlandt became New York City’s first native mayor, at the onset of the American Revolution, City Clerk Augustus Van Cortlandt feared the British would destroy the city records, so he hid them here. Vault Hill is also where the Van Cortlandt family established their burial ground when his father Frederick Van Cortlandt died in 1748. The structure like the historic Van Cortlandt House, stills stands. It can be seen from the overlook.
On the walk down to the wetlands a very pretty pests, Asian bittersweet that is widely hated and rightly so but adds so much color to the winter forest. There was also two flowers that are still hanging in there.
A Sweetgum leaf tossed into the duckweed by an ungrateful parent.
And a few that are still enjoying the security of home.
Walking to the lake, a Maple in the late afternoon sun.
And it was a perfect afternoon for the lake. First the little pond that is the last time Tibbetts Brook gets the see the light of day before a long sewer pipe ride to the East River.
That a day can turn from one extreme to another is one of the many joys of a walk in the park.
But I was still carrying that umbrella.
There is another pond on the long walk back home. A wildlife sanctuary where I think I heard the last call of the Red Winged Blackbird for the season.
I walked all the way home with shaky legs but feeling better than I've felt in a long time. It was like a long day of sun worshiping for me or a whole day in church for some. I was home just in time to get a sunset look at the park from my window with the moon above.
And because Thursday was so wonderful instead of letting my aching knees and ankles get in the way, I was out the door early Friday morning for that walk around Central Park. I felt like I made it to the finish line, two days early.
This is my personal Carpe diem photo diary and I hope you've enjoyed it. I had great dreams that night. I hope viewing these photos will do the same for you.