Photo of the Day: Sunday Reflections

Have you ever seen a photo or painting and sensed that you’ve beheld the setting before, but can’t quite place it? I had that not-quite realization this past Saturday, when, on my way into my local Starbucks, I passed a painting showing a familiar park. Unfortunately, the talented local personality who painted this was otherwise occupied, so I couldn’t ask him where it was.

The next day, however, I knew—and also realized why I had previously sensed the source as being local without being able to identify it concretely. Many a time, I’d passed Coopers Pond Park in Bergenfield, NJ, a few miles from my home. I had wanted to stop, but was always in a hurry to get someplace else. This past Sunday, however, a friend’s brief Facebook mention of power walking led me to look around for local parks where I could perambulate. As I did so, I spotted the now-familiar gazebo and the reflections in the pond, and had to pull over.

Before long, I was snapping picture after picture. The rain had abated long enough for me to feel comfortable as I took in the setting. Visitors to the park also seemed comfortable, leaning over the railing in the gazebo to fish for bass and carp.

The height of fall seemed right at the brink of my consciousness, just as, not so long ago, the identity of a lovely little park in a painting lay in the same realm.