down by the river

It was so quiet... noone else was there until one young man came to sit and listen to the sounds of nature for while, too. The air held the scents of the river life as it waifed by... like a gentle, ever so slightly cool breath, on this warm June night. There were the cries of laughter and rollicking on Esopus Island in the distance (with people looking like little dots on the shoreline rocks there) and the sound of the trains in the distance among the mountains on the west side of the river, and rushing past on the shoreline not far from where I sat, once or twice, looking like black dragons breathing white fire. There was a dog barking somewhere along the river... a cruiser speeding down river to port before dark, and the slowly meandering party boat with its laughter and music on the west side of the river. The whooperwills, meadowlarks, herons, ducks and geese were getting ready to sleep. The treefrogs, an owl, and crickets were waking up for the night. A few BIG fish lept out of the gently lapping water, and the nearby environmental PILOT boat banged against the dock now and then... The river so long and wide. The sky so wide and filled with billowy clouds with an occassional airplane dancing through them... THIS was MY Saturday night... as quiet and peaceful as ALL Hyde Park was when I was a little kid. Down by the river is like being sent back into gentler times... As it says in WIND IN THE WILLOWS... the river: always changing, yet always the same ... HEAVEN on EARTH

from Norrie Point

                           From NORRIE POINT State Park< Staatsburgh, New York, at sunset...



                           A peaceful picture to look upon when the days get really hot and humid...

                          I'll be walking down by the river, somewhere, you can be sure of that...

                          Down there where the water laps gently and the breezes are cool
                                       and the air is fresh with the scent of life;
                                Where my heart is as free as the sky above
                                        as the River sings a song that speaks to my very soul;
                                                                   I'm HOME            

When I was growing up, I spent most of my time outside, in the woods, by a stream, or on weekends with the family at a park with a lake, or down by the river > Dad was never a one to be indoors unless he HAD to be. When he got home for work, just about every night, unless the weather was lousy, we would go to Vanderbilt's or Mills/Norrie and take a walk while Mom made supper. I remember in the Fall and Spring, we went on Sundays too, when noone else wanted to go along. We just went meandering there. Walking and talking. Him showing me things and telling me things he learned in life, and stories from his childhood here. He taught me most of what I learned about nature, and like him, I love it... and there is something special about the river.... yes, there is.

*************************************************************************************************************************

BELIEVE!!!

Sometimes there are dark days, when the clouds are so thick it's almost like twilight, and the rain keeps falling like it will never end, but just as night is about to decend, the sun comes out, totally unexpectedly, and the golden-orange-rose color of the rays dance on the clouds that were so dark just a short time before ... as a rainbow appears in the eastern sky...

September 15th 2011 was one of the DARKEST rainy days I've ever experienced. Usually I find rainy days to be restful, but on this day it just seemed to dampen my spirits. I was feeling annoyed and disheartened, when the sun came out just before it set for the day.

As I headed south on Rt 9G to St Andrews Road the whiper blade was squeeking on the windshield because there was a light rain falling. Then as I turned west onto St Andrews, this (above) is what struck me ...

AS I turned in to the the little plaza by the Credit Union, this is what I saw as I turned parking the car facing east (below) ... a big, brilliant, complete rainbow!


... and as I watched, where there had been one, now there were two (look closely) ... more brilliant than any I remembered seeing in years ... It seemed to say: BELIEVE!!!

































with FAITH all things are possible .... BELIEVE!!!









(* two by two ; )

the river and the river of light

Thursday evening

April 14th around 7:30 pm ...

... down by the Hudson River

    ...  and the River of Light______

                                                  ... something gentle this way flows ...

RiverLightRider