Photo of the Day: Tappan Slote, Piermont NY

Over the past several years, while driving through the Rockland County village of Piermont, I have seen, out of the corner of my eye, the surging waters of a creek. Last week, on a bitterly cold afternoon, I got out of my car, took this picture, and learned a bit more about what I had been seeing, as well as the larger Rockland Road Bridge Historic District of which this forms part.

The formal name of this body of water is the Tappan Slote (derived from the Dutch sloot, or “trench” or “ditch”). But it is also called the Sparkill Cut (with “kill” coming again from the Dutch, for “creek”). The names are a remnant of the first European settlers in this section of New York State.

The industry that arose in this area depended on water, starting with this creek, the only water passage north of New York City which allowed sloops to get on the western side of the Palisades ridge. Across the street from this spot arose a textile mill where, during World War II, ripcords for parachutes and ribbons for good conduct medals were manufactured.

Photo of the Day: The Brook on My Street

Since my childhood, quite a bit has changed in the waterway that runs parallel to my street in Bergen County, NJ—notably, the wall and fence around it, meant to contain the flooding that periodically occurred. But though the features may change, the outlines of the landscape are still there, and the memories endure—particularly of how lovely it can look on spring days like today.

Photo of the Day: Valley Creek, Valley Forge, PA

I took this photo four years ago last week. I got back home to New Jersey just before Superstorm Sandy struck New Jersey, and in the weeks that followed, the time I spent in the pastoral environment of eastern Pennsylvania made me all the more nostalgic for sights like this.

Photo of the Day: Blue, Green and Black

Late Monday afternoon—the same time when I took this other picture—I snapped this shot of Overpeck Creek through a clearing in Overpeck County Park, only a few miles from where I live in Bergen County, N.J.

Photo of the Day: Creek Boulders, Ringwood Manor, NJ

I photographed this scene of a creek in the woods while visiting Ringwood Manor, on the New Jersey-New York border, early in May.