Another New York City Snow

Snow covered street in the Queens
neighborhood of Ridgewood

A week ago, the weather prognosticators were predicting what could be a major winter storm for the Northeast, but they were not predicting any snowfall totals. A few days ago, the forecasters started talking about 3-6 inches. A little later, the predicted snowfall increased to 4-8 inches, then 8-10 inches, and finally up to a foot.

It was supposed to start snowing in New York City yesterday around 10:00 AM. By 9:45 AM there was already an inch on the ground. The predicted change from snow to rain never occurred. There was a little sleet, and very wet, heavy snow, but no rain. By late evening, there was already several inches of snow on the ground with more and heavier snow expected overnight. It was snowing so heavily in the late evening that by the time I finished clearing the small sidewalk in front of our house, another half an inch had already accumulated on what I had already cleared.

As I walked our dog last evening, the wet, wind driven snow stung my face at times. There were places were the sidewalk was almost bare and other places where the snow had drifted to over a foot deep or more. Snow and ice was clinging to the windows and screens of the house, having been blown there by the wind.

When I woke up this morning, it had finally stopped snowing and blowing. Nineteen inches of new snow reportedly fell in Central Park. The MTA curtailed bus service. The City closed the schools. Parking Meter and Alternate Side Parking were both suspended. When I walked our dog this morning, I walked him three quarters of the way around the block by walking down the middle of the streets, as no traffic was moving on the side streets that had yet been plowed.

New Yorkers are now digging out, piling snow even higher on the snow mounds left over from the storm the day after Christmas. The sun has come out this afternoon and the temperature is now above freezing, melting the thin layers of ice, snow and slush left behind by plows and shovels. Parking, however, is still a bit of a problem. Some cars have been plowed in and their owners are just now starting to dig them out.

Later in the morning, I measured the snow depth on our back porch at 14 inches. Some of that was old snow left over from the day after Christmas storm, however. With the new snow being so wet and heavy, it probably compacted as it fell and had already settled some by the time I measured it.

The 2011 New York Boat Show

View of the 2011 New York Boat Show
from the aft deck of a Meridian 341 Sedan

Last Saturday, my wife and I visited the 2011 New York Boat Show. It was our first Boat show and the first time we have been to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

As boat shows go, the 2011 NY show must have been a power boater’s dream. Since we are not power boaters, however, it was, for us, a nice way to spend a cold afternoon indoors.

For the past ten years, we have been kayakers. Six months ago, we also became sailors, learning how to sail on a J-24. We have since been perfecting our skills on a 1983 C&C 24. Thus, we did not go to the show as neophytes, nor intending to buy a boat. While there were enough kayaks and small sailboats at the show to keep us interested, there were more than enough boat related and water sport related vendors to justify the $12 admission price.

One of the highlights of the show for me was the opportunity to reconnect and say hello to U.S.C.G. Licensed Master Captain Kevin Ivany. Captain Ivany was my instructor for the New York Safe Boating Course I took last August. He was at the show to help staff the Safe Boating America booth.

A second highlight was meeting Barbara La Rocco, author of Going Coastal New York City: Urban Waterfront Guide. I’ll say more about Barbara and her book in a later post.

A third highlight was visiting the Mount Gay Rum booth, where we were able to sample three different rum drinks. Even though I was nursing a sore throat and head cold and my wife was nursing a sinus infection, we both left the Mount Gay Rum booth feeling a bit better after the tasting. Each of us also received a tube of SPF 15 Mountain Gay Rum lip balm. Unfortunately, the lip balm is not rum flavored.

By far, however, the biggest highlight of the day for me was stopping by the Q104.3 table, where I registered to win a prize. Along with New York Public radio WNYC 93.9, Q104.3 is one of my favorite radio stations. Since I prefer Classic Rock to most other genres and regularly listen to Q104.3 when not listening to NPR, I did not feel at all guilty about registering. About an hour later, while I was still at the show, I received a phone call from one of the representatives at the Q104.3 table. The person called to tell me I won two lift tickets to Hunter Mountain and a $50 gas card, and to return to the table to claim my prize. When I arrived back at the table, I learned that I was the first of fifteen winners picked to have a chance at drawing an envelope from among fifteen that contained $5,000. I drew a random envelope but did not win the $5,000. I was still a winner, however, walking away with the lift tickets and the gas card.

Because I thought we could not really go to the show without boarding and touring at least one power boat, we stood in line to take a closer look at a Meridian 341 Sedan. With a LOA of 35’10”, this is the smallest yacht in the Meridian line, but it is still a yacht, selling for more than most small starter homes. Yes, I would love to be on the water in this beauty, but there is no way I could afford to fill up the 250 gallon fuel tank, let alone pay the purchase price.

Having spent about four hours at the show, we left with a bag full of small purchases as well as free decals, floating key chains, product brochures and safety information. I am already looking forward to the 2012 show.

y=mx+b

Perhaps you recognize the above slope-intercept form of a linear equation, where m is the slope of the line and b is the y-intercept, from high school Algebra. The math I learned in high school Algebra and other high school and college math, although those courses were over thirty years ago, is quickly returning to my dura mater as I tutor high school English Language Arts, Integrated Algebra, Geometry, and Algebra 2/Trigonometry.

To supplement my part-time income, I started tutoring part-time a few months ago. I tutor students in their home, two to three hours per session. I am currently tutoring two students. I am tutoring a ninth grader in English Language Arts and Algebra and an eleventh grader in English Language Arts, Geometry, and Algebra 2/Trigonometry.

I find tutoring personally rewarding. I confess that I experience a bit of a rush when I witness one of my students understand, for the first time, a difficult or complex idea. I feel satisfied when I observe one of them complete a writing assignment or math problem without my assistance. I am proud when they demonstrate proficiency.

Tutoring English Language Arts has been a no brainer. My education has been very language based, including the study of Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Greek, reading countless pages of Church History and Theology, and writing too many papers to remember, including a Doctor of Ministry Paper. My practice of ministry has included writing weekly sermons, monthly newsletter articles, and various types of correspondence.

Tutoring math, on the other hand, has taken a bit of review. For the past twenty-five years, I have not used much math in the practice of my ministry. There is the occasional budget, or calculating how much paint or carpet is needed to refurbish a room, but little call for linear equations. I confess that I have had to engage in a bit of review to stay a step ahead of my students. As I have reviewed, however, I have been amazed how much of what I learned over thirty years ago is quickly coming back.

Ever since I took Algebra in eighth grade, I have loved and excelled in math, and in high school also loved and excelled in Chemistry and Physics. I left math and the sciences behind, however, to pursue ministry. Sometimes I regret that decision.

Ministry is almost entirely a shade of gray, so nuanced that we may do well or poorly but never completely succeed or fail. Math, on the other hand, is primarily black and white. While there may be more than one way to solve a complex problem, almost every problem has an answer, and that answer is either right or wrong.

Even though math is somewhat an exact science, there is enough mystical beauty and symmetry in it to partially feed my desire for transcendence. From the distribution of twin primes, to the irrational value of pi and phi, to the Fibonacci sequence, I see enough of the awesome complexity and order of nature displayed in math to convince me that there is a higher and deeper dimension to our world that I experience as divinity.

Before and After the 6 ½ Inches



The forecast was calling for 23 hour storm that could dump 7-14 inches of snow on New York City. Here is the statement issued by the national Weather Service.

 The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for New York City from 7:00 PM Tuesday until 6:00 PM Wednesday. The current forecast calls for 7-14 inches of snow accompanied by strong wind gusts. The heaviest snow is forecast for after midnight Tuesday night into Wednesday. With visibility expected to be less than 1/4 mile at times, caution should be exercised when traveling.

Before the 6 1/2 inches

After the 6 1/2 inches

Like clockwork, snow started falling in my neighborhood around 7:00 PM. It snowed all evening and was snowing when I turned in for the night, around 11:00 PM. When I walked the dog a little before 11:00, there were already four or five inches of powder on the ground, and it was predicted to snall all night.

When I woke up this morning, it was no longer snowing. By mid morning, the Winter Storm Warning had been lifted and a bright sun in a clear blue sky was already starting to melt the snow from where it had mostly been cleared. 8.1 inches of snowfall was recorded in Central Park. In my backyard in Ridgewood, NY, a few miles to the east, I measured 6.5 inches.

The snowfall we experienced was on the low end of the prediction because the storm moved through the area faster than expected. Now Boston and other parts of New England are getting dumped on, with Boston expecting up to 30 inches!

Between the city plows and the bright sun in the sky, the roads and sidewalks are clearing and life is getting back to normal. For a few hours, however, winter had us in its grips and New Yorkers were hunkering down. Now we are out and about.

The photos above are before and after shots of a nearby street. Some snow remaining from the storm the day after Christmas storm can be seen in the before photo to the left.

Random Epiphany Ruminations

The Feast of Epiphany, the Feast of Three Kings, by whatever name it is called, it is today, January 6, 2011. In previous years, congregations I have served have marked this feast with an evening Service of the Word, including celebration of the Eucharist, but not this year. Sadly, there seemed to be little interest in it. Attendance has never been that great, but I always enjoyed leading the service.

I have thought it would be fun for worshipers to go outside after worship and, with a powerful home telescope, to engage in some star gazing, but that has never happened.

I am generally careful to stick to name the Gospel According to Matthew gives to the visitors of the Christ Child—Magi. They were not necessarily Kings. Nor were they necessarily wise. Nor were they all men. Some of them could have been female. Nor were there necessarily three of them. There were at least two but there could have been more, as many as three, four, five, or more.

Read Matthew 2:1-12 for yourself, without reading it through the lenses of carols, cantatas, plays, stories, or other cultural glosses. Be sure to read the footnotes that explain “wise men” is, in the Greek, Magi.

I think of the Magi as Babylonian (or perhaps Zoroastrian) astrologers/astronomers, who followed a star according to their star chart inspired universal planetary horoscope . . . that is if there really were Magi visiting the manger. The account occurs only in Matthew and is not essential to the Gospel story. On the other hand, I think the Gospel story would be impoverished without it.

I think some of the best ruminations on the Magi has come from John Shelby Spong, which tells you a lot about where I am coming from.

About the January 2011 Header Photo

Happy New Year!

It is not only a new month but also a New Year and time for a new header photo.

This month’s header photo, a shore shot, features a shot taken on December 27, 2010, looking out over the Atlantic Ocean from the 25th Street Access at Virginia Beach, VA. It started snowing at Virginia Beach late Christmas evening and did not stop snowing for nearly 24 hours. The storm that clobbered the mid-Atlantic and northern-Atlantic states dumped several inches of wet snow throughout the area. Some enterprising soul took advantage of the situation and constructed a snowbeing, towering over five feet tall, on the beach.

Winterization Blues - A Sailor's Depression

Solitary sailor upon the sea, as seen through
one of the lenses of my binoculars

This is my first winter as the owner of a sailboat. Warmer than average temperatures in mid-November and a mid-November sailing outing lulled me into postponing starting to winterize my 1983 C&C 24 until early December. Even though I will be keeping the boat in the water all winter, as the previous owner had done, there was still some work required before winter’s freezing temperatures set in.

My first winterization required two half-day workdays. On the first day, I cleaned the cabin, bilge, and storage compartments. I also added antifreeze to the fresh and salt water lines, spending most of my time winterizing the head. None of these tasks, however, made the boat un-sailable. Fortunately, I completed these tasks before the first hard freeze.

On my second day, I not only added a second bow line and spring line but also fogged the outboard, removed both sails, and removed most of the running rigging, rendering the boat un-sailable without an equal amount of pre-sail work.

I have never owned a vacation home in the mountains or at the beach, or anywhere else for that matter, but now I think I can empathize with how owners of vacation homes might feel after closing up their getaway for the season. Nearing the end of my second workday, I felt like I was saying goodbye to a good friend before leaving on a long trip, and we did not know when we would see each other again. No longer would I be able to drive the 20-30 minutes to the dock, and within another 15-20 minutes have the boat rigged and out on the water. Winter had not yet set in and I was already thinking about – dreaming about – sailing next spring, perhaps as soon as April, or even March.

My winterization blues intensified yesterday when, from the sixth floor window of a beachfront timeshare at Virginia Beach, I looked out over the ocean and saw a lone sailboat out on the water. I picked up my binoculars, lying nearby, and focused on this solitary sailor on the sea. As inches of snow and ice from a recent storm were still covering the beach and boardwalk, some sailor and crew were enjoying a post storm sail on a nearly glassy sea bathed in sunshine, and I wished I were out on the water with them.

Return to Narnia: Review of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Marquis Poster

It has been over thirty years since I last read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  So when my wife and I went to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 3-D yesterday, we did not remember all the details of the story and in some ways, it was like returning Narnia after a long absence. Fortunately, time in Narnia is not the same as time in our world.

The casting of the character that played Eustace, and his performance, were superb. We hated the character from the first frame in which he appeared. By the end of the film, his transformation was complete, a transformation evidenced in both his face and his demeanor.

The same actors who played the characters of Edmund and Lucy in the first two films reprised their roles. With a few more years on them, they fit perfectly into the story, which is set after the first two films.

We had seen the previous two movies on the big screed but this was the first one we saw in 3-D. While the 3-D certainly added depth, it seemed not to be exploited for shock effect. I do not remember, for instance, any swords, arrows, dragons or sea monsters flying out toward the audience, which in my opinion, was just as well. While the world of Narnia is certainly a fantasy world and a world of magic where good and evil often battle, it is not a world where 3-D would be used for any other reason than to tell a good story. I am not a big 3-D fan and I wonder what our experience would have been different if the film had not been presented in 3-D.

By the end of the film, I was saddened to leave Narnia behind and to return to the shadow lands where the work of the White Witch was still covering roads and walkways.

I heard a few weeks ago that while The Voyage of the Dawn Treader opened at number one, it was a weaker opening compared to the first two films. I hope it is grossing enough to bring at least one more film, if not all four waiting for the big screen, into production. This classic tale deserves to have all seven installments available for viewing if the remaining four are produced with the same artistry as the first three.

Review of First Aid Afloat . . . Mate

FIRST AID Afloat

When I ordered First Aid Afloat, prepublication and sight unseen, I did not realize that the publisher, Wiley Nautical, was a British Publisher. I encountered the first giveaway on page 18, when I read, “Heart disease is the main cause of death in the United Kingdom.” While British-isms abound in this 127 page paperback, the only time the British bias is a detriment is on pages 108-109, where all the directions for obtaining radio medical advice refers to the Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth, and the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, and where all the references to the “coastguard” are to the British coastguard.

I am new to sailing, having bought my first sailboat only a few months ago. One of the first things I did after buying the 24 footer was to assemble a first aid kit.

While I might be new to sailing, I am not new to first aid or emergency medicine. In my younger years I was an American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor and held various ARC First Aid certifications as well as both ARC and American Heart Association CPR certifications. I was a Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician and worked as a professional EMT for nine months. Therefore, I knew the importance of having a well-stocked first aid kit aboard my sail boat, and I know how to use everything in it.

I bought First Aid Afloat not so that I could read it and use it in an emergency, but so that I could put in my boat’s first aid kit for other people to use in case I was not on board or I was sick or injured and could not render first aid to myself. Not overly technical and written and illustrated clear enough for the layperson, First Aid Afloat could very save a life, includingmy own.

What I like most about this book is that it is small boat specific. Both a powerboat and a sailboat appear on the cover, but neither is large. The text assumes one is aboard a small yacht. This is most obvious on page 54, where the text reads, “Commercially available splints for the leg are available, but tend to be bulky, and would tie up too much space on board a small yacht to be carried as part of the emergency kit."

A couple other examples of the small boat specificity of the text are on page 106. “When moving a causality, particularly in the small confined spaces on a yacht, you must consider personal and causality safety, the condition of the causality, manpower and equipment on board, and basic principles of lifting and moving.” Also “Improvisation is useful. For example, a stretcher can be fashioned from jackets and dinghy oars. The oars can be placed through the jacket sleeves with jacket fronts closed around them to create the stretcher, but always test that it will take the casualty’s weight before using it.”

There are probably more books about emergency first aid than could fit on a small boat, including many about first aid in wilderness and backcountry settings as well as first aid manuals specifically aimed toward recreational boaters and professional mariners. I find this slim volume complete enough for the small sailboat I own, one that will probably be limited to day cruises, or no more than an overnight cruise, and probably never out of radio range or more than a few hours from shore. It might even be the only first aid manual I keep in my boats first aid kit.

The list price of First Aid Afloat, by Sandra Roberts, is $26.95, but I bought it from Amazon.Com for $17.95.

About the December 2010 Header Photo

This month's header photo is a recent one, less than a week old. I shot this looking south from Bear Hill in the Bear Hill Nature Preserve, Ulster, Co., NY, the morning of Thanksgiving.

Hiking around the southern Shawangunks has become sort of a Thanksgiving tradition the past couple of years, and this year was no exception. Since I do not get to the mountains as much as I would like, these Thanksgiving hikes have provided me with several "summit" photos that I have used for headers.

1,950 feet above sea level is barely worth claiming as a summit, even by eastern standards, but when one lives near sea level, it sometimes has to do.

Bear Hill

Signs at the Bear Hill entrance

Thanksgiving morning I enjoyed a short walk to and around the Bear Hill Nature Preserve.

After a fifteen to twenty minute walk from our friends' house in Cragsmoor, where we were staying for Thanksgiving, Justin, Myrrhlyn and I arrived at the Bear Hill Nature Preserve. As we walked into the preserve, we passed by some of Cragsmoor’s older as well as newer homes. All reminders of civilization eventually passed from view, however, as we walked further into the preserve.

A few minutes later some small outcroppings of boulders appeared through the trees to our right. Never having been to Bear Hill before, I thought that we had arrived at our destination. We had not.

The three of us, two humans and a canine, continued walking until the distant horizon came into view though a cut in the trees created by the trail. For a while, it looked like the trail might end in a sudden drop off. As we crested a small rise, I could see, though, that the trail did not end at a drop off but at a “T” intersection. Justin suggested we turn left, and we did.

The view from rocky Bear Hill

Some more hiking brought us to the real Bear Hill, an outcropping of lichen encrusted silurian conglomerate typical of the Shawangunks. Offering a spectacular 180-degree southern and western view, we explored the area, climbing over slabs and boulders, jumping across and climbing down into and back up crevices. The deepest chimney like crevice we explored was must have been a hundred feet from top to bottom. As we climbed through the rock and boulder strewn formation, sometimes passing over, under and around large and small boulders edged into the chimney, I had visions of the movie 127 hours. We climbed down and back up, however, without incident.

At an elevation of 1,950 feet, the Summit of Bear Hill is no eastern Everest. Its commanding view over the lowlands to the south and west, combined with its exposed rocky ruggedness, suggests an elevation much higher.

While the nearby Sam’s Point Nature Preserve offers many more miles of hiking trails, far more flora and fauna, and a slightly higher elevation, I think the Bear Hill preserve offers a better view and far better rocks for scrambling. I am glad that this most recent Thanksgiving we explored it rather than hiking trails I have already hiked in the Sam’s Point Preserve.

Lectionary Ruminations Coming to Summit to Shore Every Thursday

This photo will accompany every
Lectionary Ruminations post.

For the past several months, I have been contributing the "Lectionary Ruminations" post on the Presbyterian Bloggers blog. I will continue to do for the near future, but beginning this coning Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, I will begin cross positing the same "Lectionary Ruminations" here at Summit to Shore.

Climbing, kayaking and sailing readers of Summit to Shore might not find these every Thursday posts of much interest. Then again, who knows? However, Presbyterian as well as religiously and spiritually minded readers might want to read the every Thursday posts for the own edification and /or to prepare for participating in or leading Sunday Worship or lectionary based Bible studies.

While I have been positng this every Thursday column at Presbyterian Bloggers for some time, Lectionary Ruminations will become the first regular and weekly post on Summit to Shore.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1




Theater Poster

 Less than three weeks after visiting Hogwarts, my wife and I were sitting in a theater watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1. This seventh installment in the Harry Potter movie franchise did not disappoint us.

I am NOT the world’s biggest Harry Potter Fan. I have not read any of the books. I have seen all the movies however, some more than once. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy occupy the top spot on my list of all time fantasy favorites, followed by C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and Frank Herbert’s Dune, all of which I have read. Even the Star War’s films and Star Trek in all its television and film permutations, excluding Enterprise, fall on my list before Harry Potter.

My wife, on the other hand, is a BIG fan. She has purchased most of the books the day they were released and finished reading them within a few days of their release. She knows the Harry Potter characters and story line much better than I do. Because she is such a Harry Potter fan, we have seen moist of the films on their day of their release.

We bought our tickets for the 7:00 PM show in advance over the internet. When we arrived at the theater, more than thirty minutes before the show, there was no line. My wife popped her credit card in the pre-sale kiosk and immediately our two tickets spit out.

By the time we rode two escalators to the third floor auditorium the doors had just opened and people were walking into the theater. We located two seats near the center front, two or three rows back. The seats were large, comfortable, and included cup holders at the end of the armrest.

After previews and commercials, the theater darkened, the sound came up, and the movie started around 7:15 PM.

During the film, the woman next to me gasped several times and almost jumped out her seat once. A man behind me audibly cursed at one of the characters and sighed a couple times when all seemed lost. The audience seemed engaged. When the credits started rolling, however, there was no applause as I have witnessed at other movies. I did not hear any audible comments, pro or con.

I enjoyed the movie and only a couple of times had to ask my wife about a character or place I was not sure about. She loved it and claimed that the film contained more of the book than the other films. Apparently, by dividing the book into two films, less of the book was cut out. The only thing she really missed was the internal monologue of the character’s thoughts provided by the book which the film does not try to recreate.

I am actually looking forward to the final installment because I am still not sure whether Severes Snape is a good guy or a bad guy.

Guests Without Gusts

Tony and Dottie

My wife and I recently passed a couple more sailing milestones when we sailed (sort of) for the seventh time a C&C 24 named Mischief. One landmark we passed was that we have now sailed Mischief more times than we sailed the J/24’s during our sailing class. The other highlight of our most recent trip was that it was the first time we sailed with guests aboard.

Having sailed a dozen times under various conditions I finally felt comfortable enough with our experience and skills to invite some friends aboard the Mischief for a sail on Jamaica Bay. Walter, Dottie, Tony and Fran arrived as planned to join us for a wonderfully sunny and warm afternoon on the water. The wind, forecasted to be between 6-8 miles an hour, failed to show up however.

While nearby JFK International Airport recorded winds up to 4.8 mph, we barely enjoyed a breeze and relied more on the outboard motor than the sails to maneuver. A single small gust lasting about 15 minutes did help propel as northward though Jamaica Bay but was all too short-lived. Even though there was not much wind, the glassy smooth surface of Jamaica Bay combined with a deep blue sky and warm sunshine combined to leave us with excellent memories of our first sail with guests. The other memorable event from the afternoon was passing a lone seal in Mill Basin both as we motored out to Jamaica Bay and motored back in at the end of the day.

Walter and Fran

As soon as the sun rested upon the western horizon I turned on the running lights, started up the motor and headed back to the slip. Now that fall has arrived and daylight savings time has ended, the nights are not only longer and coming sooner, there is less twilight between day and night. By the time we drifted into the slip the half moon was shining brightly and we flaked the mainsail, tied off the lines, and closed up the boat in the dark.

During the afternoon sail, everyone but yours truly enjoyed some red wine, supplied by Tony. As the Captain and helmsman, I abstained. After Mischief was secure in the slip at the end of the day, however, I broke out a bottle of Captain Morgan, filled six shot glasses, and we all toasted a fine afternoon on the water. I think ending each sail with a shot of rum will become a Mischief tradition.

Tony, Dottie, Vicki and Walter

It was appropriate that Tony, Fran, Walter and Dottie were our first guests aboard the Mischief because all four, but especially Walter and Tony, have been instrumental in helping my wife and I experience Jamaica Bay via kayaks. Tony is the recently elected Commodore of the Sebago Canoe Club and Walter is the club's is kayaking chair.  Some of my favorite paddling memories are memories of paddling on Jamaica Aby with Tony and Walter.

Upon leaving Kings Plaza Marina, we three couples rendezvoused at Nick’s Lobster House, along the banks of Mill Basin, and enjoyed a post sail dinner together. I think dinner at Nicks has already become a post sailing tradition for Vicki and me.

Backyard Fall

Autumn has finally arrived in New York City, at least the vibrant leaf colors I usually associate with fall, and particularly in the little corner of Queens that is our backyard. Recently one morning I opened the back door so that I could take food and water out to the cat. Flaming yellow leaves of the single maple tree growing in our small patch of urban wilderness greeted me, foliage brilliantly illuminated by the morning Sun to the southeast, vibrant translucent gold set against a cloudless dark blue patch of sky that hinted of winter.

Some trees in my Ridgewood neighborhood have already lost most, if not all, their leaves. Other trees are still dressed in full green, holdouts against the season. The tree in our back yard falls into the middle of the spectrum, still holding on to most of its leaves but every leaf offering its previously hidden pigment. If its leaves were fiery red, I would claim the tree was a descendant of Moses’s burning bush, aflame but not consumed. Its leaves are golden yellow however, suggesting this particular tree ought to be sitting at the end of some rainbow and guarded by leprechauns.

Now that the morning temperatures have cooled, I have taken to wearing a hat in the morning when I walk our dog, and I have totally abandoned wearing shorts, a past habit I mourn, as I have surrendered to fall’s onslaught. While the mercury has fallen, the blond leaves on the tree in our back yard lift my spirit whenever I see them, interest paid in advance of winter’s debt. If it were not for this and other such bright spots in what could otherwise be canyons of brick and mortar set amidst concrete and blacktop plains, I would be tempted to crawl into my urban den, not to stir from hibernation until the first hint of spring.

Veterans Day Prayer

Eternal God, strong to save,    

     we pray for all the women and who have served in the armed forces of this country,

         from the battles at Lexington and Concord

         to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We thank you for the freedom and security their dedicated service has won and preserved for us.

Help us to cherish our freedom and to use it well.

We ask you to bless all veterans in a special way, not just today, but every day.

Comfort those veterans who grieve for the fallen comrades

     who gave the last full measure of devotion.

Strengthen those veterans who bear physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds.

As a nation, may we live up to the commitments and promises we have made to our veterans.

Moreover, we pray for the day when your peace will reign,

     and no nation needs to defend itself

     and no one needs to serve in the military.

Help us to live not only as people who long for peace, and who pray for peace,

but as peacemakers in this, your world.

City Lights



Looking South from the Williamsburg Bridge

City Lights
Inspired by the opening pages of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s San Francisco Poems

On the elevated M
Rolling over the Williamsburg Bridge
Passing from Brooklyn to Manhattan
City lights awe me
Reflecting off the mirror like surface of the East River
Appearing as bioluminescent diamonds
Randomly strewn about
On a jeweler’s back velvet cloth
Or stars planted in the night sky
By a capacious creator

Egmont Key

One of the dolphins we saw
on the way to Egmont Key

After a fantasy getaway to Hogwarts and Margaritiaville, my wife and I were looking for a vacation activity that was a little more natural and water related. After an internet search of possible activities, we decided to take a boat ride to Egmont Key.

We hopped a ride with the Tropical-Island-Getaway ferry based out of the Gulfport Municipal Marina. Aboard the ferry, named the Quest, with Captain Randy at the helm and assisted by Captain John, we and eighteen other passengers enjoyed a smooth ride out to Egmont Key. As we were leaving Tampa Bay, dolphins played in the boats wake, offering us our closest look at dolphins outside of an aquarium. We have kayaked near dolphins as we paddled off the North Carolina and South Carolina coast, but never paddled as close to them as they were from the Quest. Along the way, we also passed out from under the cloud cover and arrived under more sunny skies.

Thirteen miles later, having arrived at Egmont Key, Captains Randy and John anchored the boat near the shore. Passengers climbed down from the bow by descending an aluminum ladder suspended from the port bow. Stepping into about a foot and a half of water, we slowly walked to shore, shuffling our feet in the sandy bottom to scare away any hiding stingrays.

Donning our own masks, fins, and snorkels, we explored around the collapsed remains of an old power plant. Once located in the middle of the island, due to erosion, most of the power plant is now in the ocean. While our snorkeling around Egmont Key in no way compared to our snorkeling around Eleuthera in the Caribbean, we still enjoyed the experience. We saw pinfish, a few shells, and stingrays.

Power Plant ruins off Egmont Key

After snorkeling, we enjoyed a small picnic under palm trees on the beach. The white, powder like sand was some of the finest and cleanest sand we have ever seen. There were few, if any, bugs. The sun was warm. A gentle breeze was blowing. As we looked out over the Gulf, we could even see patches of turquoise water reminiscent of the Caribbean. All that was missing was our sailboat and rum punch.

After a couple hours on Egmont Key, we and the other passengers climbed back aboard the Quest. Our return trip more or less followed the same course we took out, but in reverse, except for a small detour to Fort De Sota County Park, where we encountered some more dolphins.

The Gulfport Municipal Marina, homeport of the Quest, offers clean, air-conditioned restrooms with showers. The small store also sells packaged snacks and bottled water, soft drinks, and beer. A few picnic tables are also availble near the store.

A Fantasy Vacation

Hogwarts, at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Too many vacation destinations lure vacationers with promises of making their vacation “a dream vacation” or the “vacation of a lifetime”. I generally do not succumb to such hype. This post, therefore, is not about “a dream vacation” but one day of our family’s vacation, a day that included a trip to fantasyland.

My wife is a BIG Harry Potter fan. She has read all the books, most within a few days of their hitting the store shelf. Together we have watched all the Harry Potter movies so far released on DVD. For my wife’s birthday, since we are vacationing near Orlando over her birthday, I gave her a trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando.

Our favorite attraction was Hogwarts. Not only did the recreation of Harry’s Boarding School look spectacular, the thrill ride inside, featuring gyrating motion synchronized with IMAX type visuals, was a delight. We liked it so much we rode it three times. Even waiting in line (the lines were short) was entertaining as the line led through various rooms of Hogwarts, each room with its own thrill.

After a long afternoon, when we were hot and tired, the “Butter Beer” slush was quite refreshing and tasty. I regret it is (as far as I know) available only in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We enjoyed our beverage with a few chocolate fudge flies.

The day we visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was Halloween, so I found it hard to determine how many of the Harry Potter look-a-likes and Hogwarts gown clad youth and adults dressed up for their visit to the Park and how many dressed up because it was Halloween. Nevertheless, their presence added to the fantasy.

As if the above fantasy was not enough, on the way out of the park we decided to eat and imbibe at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritiaville. My wife enjoyed the Jerk Salmon. Wanting to keep the fantasy alive, I enjoyed a Cheese Burger in Paradise. We both enjoyed the drink of choice: Margaritas, of course. Though we were not in Keys, we were in Florida and the palm trees next to our open-air seating added to the illusion.

Visiting Hogwarts and Paradise in one day—now that is a fantasy vacation!

About the November 2010 Header Photo

This month’s header photo features a “shore” photo, but a photo taken from on the water looking back to shore rather than from shore looking out over the water. I took this shot from the cockpit of a C&C 24 looking north while sailing south on Jamaica Bay, NY. The skyline of Manhattan is visible on the horizon.