Photo of the Day: Deep in Autumn, Olsen Park, Bogota NJ

There were a number of warm days early this fall, delaying the change in leaf colors. But here in Bergen County, NJ, it had truly turned around this week. The window of time to behold this beautiful change of scenery has significantly narrowed between the shorter days and the gusty weather that sent most of these leaves tumbling to the ground rapidly.

Today, I managed to get some walking in before, the meteorologists predicted, another major storm like yesterday’s arrived. So I ambled along on the west side of the Hackensack River in Foschini Park, then crossed the William F. Ryan Memorial Bridge to Bogota’s Oscar E. Olsen Park.

There, I sat in a gazebo, where I took several photos, including the one seen here.

Photo of the Day: St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Bogota NJ

Once or twice in the past, I had driven by this longtime religious institution in Bogota. But only two days ago did I approach St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church on foot and took this photo.

I have a special reason to be interested in this parish: it was founded by the Carmelites, who, from their base in my church, St. Cecilia’s of Englewood, went on to set up other parishes in New Jersey’s “Northern Valley” in the first half of the 20th century. 

In Bogota, the first mass in the parish was celebrated in 1913 in Bogota’s Central Avenue. It would be another 16 years before the present Romanesque structure, designed by the architectural firm A.F. DePace of New York, was dedicated.

Over the next eight decades, the Carmelites—including several who, at one point or another, also served at St. Cecilia—led the parish. But, as the order’s ranks thinned out, it felt unable to continue in this role. Starting in 2013, the parish has been run by archdiocesan priests outside the Carmelite order.

Photo of the Day: Environmental Walkway, Olsen Park, Bogota NJ

This afternoon, after walking in Foschini Park in Hackensack, I crossed the Lt. Ryan Memorial Bridge to a place I’d never visited in my 60 years in Bergen County: Bogota's Oscar E. Olsen Park. The park’s environmental walkway, seen here in this photo I took, affords a fine vantage point to look west onto the Hackensack River.

Nature watchers can not simply peer beyond the rail for signs of life, but also read the signs on the walkway that explain such matters as the plumage of birds, the food chain of the creatures below, and the river's function as a resting spot for ducks.