Photo of the Day: Gazebo, Horsey Centennial Park, Harrington Park NJ

My eye would have been caught anyway by the ¾-acre triangle formed by Harriot Avenue, Harriot Place and Parkside Road in Harrington Park, NJ. But the crowning feature of Donald T. Horsey Centennial Park (named after a town clerk who served 42 years) is this covered gazebo, which makes it a real community center.

As you can tell from this photo I took a few days ago, this spot has been decorated for Halloween. But newlyweds have also been known to use it as the backdrop for wedding photos.

Photo of the Day: Gazebo and Pond, Wood Dale County Park, Bergen County NJ

Until recently, I had never even heard of Wood Dale County Park, let alone visited it, since it was carved out of a section of Bergen County, NJ—parts of the communities of Hillsdale, Park Ridge and Woodcliff Lake north of Prospect Avenue—that I seldom drive through. But, having found this on the Web site of Bergen County’s parks and recreation areas, I decided to see it at the first opportunity.

Today was practically ideal—a bit nippy, with the temperature about 40 degrees, but no wind. Best of all, it wasn’t hard to get in and out of the 118-acre park, as untold numbers of shoppers were clogging the traffic arteries around the area malls.

Just a handful of people joined me on the pedestrian pathway around the path, and—except for a pair of young boys fishing—just about all of them were groups of twos and threes, being led around by frisky canines who didn’t mind a bit of cold. (Heck, they had all that fur to keep them warm, and weren’t bothered this time of year by mosquitoes.)

I thought of my possible choices for the day—wasting time on endless store lines, fighting my way along major highways, spending twice as much money (and given all the previews, twice as much time) in a dark theater than anyone should—or glorying in the blue skies and bright sunshine in the waning days of fall, when everything seemed sweeter because at this time of year, everything seems so fleeting.

Look at this picture I took this afternoon. I think I made the right choice, don’t you?

Photo of the Day: Great for Sitting Outside With a Book

This past weekend, rather than wait several days for a book I wanted to be shipped to my library, I decided simply to drive to the Ramsey Public Library in Bergen County, N.J., where I live, to pick it up. I was doubly glad I did when I caught sight of this gazebo just outside.  What a nice place to sit on a lovely spring day when you don't want to sit inside while experiencing the joys of a book!

Photo of the Day: Gazebo Glory

This antique gazebo, atop a brick-paved walk and next to four small gardens, provided one in a series of photographs that I took this past Sunday at Thielke Arboretum in Glen Rock, N.J., not far from where I live in Bergen County.