the blemished heart

looking into the future: almost a vortex

preparing for the final journey: the lightness of being

a bird in hand . . .

bittersweet

framing the picture: Nature Framed

The Queen?: Milk Weed Pod Insects

family life flourishes

eyes

huddling together for safety

it's all a matter of scale

Seeds make Tenafly Commons a Hazard. Tenafly, NY 07670

Have you ever walked around the pond in Tenafly Commons in fall? Try it. If you are in proximity to the pond you will find that the beautiful purple asters of fall are now dangerous; they will ruin your clothing, hurt your children and your dog. When the aster loses its petals it forms a seed cluster. These seeds are small dark objects, with two prongs. The prongs catch onto flesh, fur and clothing. Try removing them from a coat. I bet it will take at least an hour or more to pull them out and even then you will find one piercing your clothing and pricking you on your skin. Is this the bast plant for Tenafly. Last time I went to Davis Johnson Park in Tenafly, I did not see a single wild aster. Why is that?

Tenafly Commons and E-Coli Bacteria, Tenafly, NJ, o7670

The Culprit

Geese were said to be a major contributing factor to making water unsafe since the birds cary e-coli, it was claimed. There may not be as many geese in the Tenafly Commons Pond, but other birds, water birds, carry e-coli: egrets, loons, herons. If you were to take a close look at the stands which are used by these birds you will find that bird poop covers the surfaces of the fountain heads. These foundtain heads are unsightly and are no infecting the water. The most effective way to keep birds from settling in the water is the use of dogs and the rock rattle, a container that is filled with rocks. When birds hear the sound and the water dog chases, the birds fly away. The unsightly and unsanitary fountain stands should be removed. When they are used in the summer the sound is deafening, making walking in The Commons, one of the least desirable experiences in the town of Tenafly

Drinking Water & Petrochemicals in Tenafly, N.J. 07670

Today, when walking along the Tenakill Brook, I felt faint; those petrochemicals again. A slick surface covered the water which was rushing into the brook from the Tenafly pond. The same old problem that I have called attention to in the past. The fuel leaks from vehicles, flows into the sewers when it rains and then runs directly through the Teafly Commons Pond and on into the Tenakill Brook. The Tenakill Brook is a feeder stream to United Water, the source of water for Tenafly and surrounding towns in Bergen County, New Jersey. The chemicals are never completely removed from the water when it is at the United Water treatment plant. That water is then sent to towns in Bergen County where it is used for cooking, bathing and watering lawns, among other functions.
We wonder why children have ADD, autism and adults have cancers. Take a look at these pictures and draw your own conclusions. This water is unsanitary and definitely bad for your. health. Even if ADD and Autism is incorrectly diagnosed, cancer is a fact and all too many people develop cancers that are in the environment. Petrochemicals are one of the triggers for cancers.

the playground at 97th street and Riverside Drive, Manhattan

fearless days

when I was three, before I spoke, I left the playground where my mother and grandmother were talking and walked north to 101st street. I stopped at the light, waiting to cross the roadway. I had never crossed this street by myself nor had I left my mother and Oma and gone off on my own; an adventure. People wondered. Consternation, and then my family appeared? Why? I could not explain or I could not explain easily. Perhaps I just wanted to go home.

The park still exists but the see-saws and the jungle-jims and the slides were removed long ago. too dangerous they were decreed, but what fun they were to play on.

a safe haven in a hunting preserve

two views, near and far

understanding changes; what appears to be a spot on the surface is actually a raised circular "pimple"

complementaries

taking flight

all is impermanent: let these plants stand for mountains

the air, earth and even mountains,

deadly, too dangerous, burn it, T said, yet it is so beautiful

fall: a fairy tale or not

. . . and the grass talked of many things of what had been and what is, but little did it know what was to become of it. Surrounded now by new surprising colors, the fronds shivered and trembled and delighted in the redness and brownness and the warmth of a blue-hot day. but it was fall, and fall, they sensed, was a time before the blazing glory would be extinguished. While their bodies would still exist, they would die or become dormant and sleep until spring might tickle them, but they did not know if spring was a certainty. They knew what had been but they were uncertain about the future. But the moment was blissful and bliss is but a moment and cannot be understood

memories: so this is the gift of age?

understanding perhaps but not applicable wisdom; who will listen and the lessons learned cannot be applied to the moments when knowledge was most needed.

looking back, the mind recapitulates what happened and damns the mouth that uttered those words, words that can now never be altered, inflected, softened. the line was cut then as fury burst into searing flames. no, never. but then the hurts inflicted were grievous and the response not surprising, but why did I not wait and reconsider, why did he call; what was he thinking? and how long ago was that anyway? yesterday? months, years, decades. within are experiences that can never be undone. they are. most of the time I did not think about it, but now life is lengthy, and memories mark the milestones and though time may not be any less filled the moments that are landmarks stand out starkly and are monuments of sorrow, folly or joy, but joy is overcast now by the drear of having done the wrong thing at a particular moment, decisions that cannot be undone or acts taken against me that cannot be undone.

sensation

Mind Imaging:

order yet a language that cannot be understood. birds flying through and around netting yet coherence still exists