jersey shore...first visit this year

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It so happened that this year I and our four-legged family member, Naomi, were able to visit the Shore the first time only in mid-October. We missed it dearly to say the least.

 

Naomi enjoys the sun and the ocean breeze

 

Regulars enjoy the sun and the ocean breeze

 

I, behind the scenes, enjoyed the sun, the breeze, and taking these photos.

 

last days of summer

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For a long time I was not in a mood to post something in this season of the covid-instigated turmoil. Just a year ago it was the consensus that we really were living in the most peaceful time in human history. What an irony!

A scene I drove by today reminded me of the peaceful summer life and made me wonder ‘Isn’t it the last one?’.

I would prefer, however, to stay positive. As Golda Meir once coined: ‘Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself’.

lake luxembourg…dragon boat racing

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Yesterday I went to the Core Creek Park without a camera just for walking and relaxation. And sure enough there was a colorful event - the 5th Annual Bucks County Dragon Boat Festival. As I found out later the dragon boat racing has become the world’s fastest growing water sport. Although, for some reason I never heard of it before, the Bucks County Dragon Boat Association was established seven years ago and is doing very well - next year two of its teams will compete in 2020 IDBF Club Crew World Championships to be held in Aix-Les-Bain, France.

It would be a pity to miss this photo opportunity but the only option I had was to use my old iPhone’s camera. Its pictures quality supposed to be a far cry even from my 12 years old D2H camera so I never tried to take a photo with it. But as they say - ‘The best camera is the one you have with you’.

To my surprise (I know, I know that the latest and greatest smart phones produce great quality images but mine is a 6 years old patriarch) the camera performed better than I expected and pictures came out pretty usable for online posting, even though not good enough for enlargement and printing. On the bright side it’s always with me and it saved my day. So here we are.


d.c. and vicinity...mount vernon

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This is the third post about Washington, DC and vicinity inspired by my 2018 trip. The previous ones are here and here.

 

“Ethics and aesthetics are one.”

― Ludwig Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, 1921

Wittgenstein published this thesis just a mere hundred years ago. However, long before it happened this idea was a lifelong philosophy of George Washington. He believed that a personal character meshes with the person’s aesthetic world to form an ethic of moral excellence and he himself was a perfect proof of this belief.

Washington is universally recognized as the most influential figure in American history, a hero of the Revolution, the first president of the United States. Much less known is his artistic and creative side - Washington was a talented landscape and interior designer, architect, and passionate art collector. For many years he carefully assembled his aesthetic world designing and supervising the remodeling of his family’s estate, Mount Vernon, to become a public face of his virtue.











hyacinth...the man...the flower

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Hyacinth in some way is a very disturbing flower.

According to the Greek mythology Hyacinth, a beautiful Spartan youth, was killed by a discus thrown by Apollo, his lover, during a friendly competition. It was not clear what actually did happen then - either the discus change its direction because of the wind controlled by the abandoned jealous lover, Zephyrus (Apollo’s version) or the disk just bounced back from the ground (Zephyrus' version). The Greek also believed that Apollo had created the hyacinth flowers from Hyacinth's blood and inscribed the word 'AI' (alas) on its petals to commemorate the death of his lover. To add to the confusion, the flower we today call hyacinth is probably a different flower than the one mentioned in the myth.

Hyacinth flower was considered to be the most beautiful flower by the Greeks. However, with the tragic story behind its origin, its spear-like phallic form, queer vibrant color, and intense scent it can more easily be associated today with a feeling of disquietude than joy. And the recommendation to wear gloves when touching hyacinth bulbs does not necessarily improve its controversial reputation.

That being said, for some reason we have a lot of hyacinths in our garden. They are generally the first flowers that popped up there in spring. Here is the one from this season blooms, disturbing and lovely.

mr luxembourg lake...golden hour...waterfowl

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Almost every time I visit Lake Luxembourg I meet my old pal Blue Heron. It has a couple of favorite spots there and it is not shy to show off its glamour physique. This most popular image of it so far was taken in 2015.

In my judgment, it still easily wins the Mr. Lake Luxembourg title in 2018.

And the runners up are… our own Canadian geese

The honorable mention goes to the cormorants for the great teamwork.

Sadly, nothing good ever last long enough. The golden hour quickly ended with dusk and everybody looked forward to a good night's sleep.

lake luxembourg...thoreau...controlled solitude

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All solitude are equal, but some solitude are more solitary than others. The loneliness of Robinson Crusoe is not quite the same as the solitude of Henry Thoreau. I would define the latter as a controlled solitude in which one lives kind of divorced from society knowing that this status can be interrupted at any time if desired.

Thoreau did not invented this lifestyle but he was one of the most famous practitioner of it. All in all he lived alone over two years in a small cabin near the shore of the Walden Pond in Concord, MA. Here he enjoyed the feeling of solitude living on $28 per year (in 1845; it is equivalent in purchasing power to about $900 in current dollars) and growing crops to feed himself.

On the other hand, in all honesty the wildness of his life was slightly overstated taking into account that the distance from his cabin to the closest house was just a mile and he visited friends and family several times a week as well as had sometimes up to 30 visitors in Walden. And his Mom helped him out with laundry and food over these two years. Still it’s quite an achievement for a modern Western man.

As for myself, I also consider the solitude a very valuable part of my life but I prefer to enjoy it similarly but conversely – to live in a comfortable house and drive a mile to the Lake Luxembourg shores for my daily portion of solitude.

Its shores are extremely beautiful and completely emptied this time of the year.

Unoccupied garden benches stay here and there as reminders of a cheerful summertime.

Corn is still drying in the well manicured field.

Occasionally one can come across a lonely fisherman,

a solitary hunting heron,

a family of ducks that can’t stand each other anymore,

or a dreaming cormorant.

 

To finish on a lighter note, not only introverts enjoy the lake in the fall - this company of extravert turtles, herons, and egrets was photographed at the lake in early September.