Photo of the Day: Purple Daze, Allison Park, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

For nearly four decades, I have taken advantage of the relative proximity of 2,500-acre Allison Park to my Bergen County home, to enjoy its scenic overviews of the Hudson River and New York City.

But yesterday, my eyes lit on this scene amid the rocks and winding walkways in this cliffside perch along the Palisades—just more evidence that, despite the up-and-down temperature swings so common this April, that Earth is welcoming spring, exuberantly.

Photo of the Day: Down by the Corner (in Allison Park, Englewood Cliffs NJ)

The Creedence Clearwater Revival hit from a half century ago (God, can it be so long ago?) came to mind when I was in Allison Park along the Palisades and saw the angle formed by these paths.

Photo of the Day: View of the Hudson From Allison Park, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

With the weather warming up to near-summer temperatures the last couple of days, people are becoming more and more restless about staying cooped up inside. I could see this plainly this afternoon when I visited Allison Park, an eight-acre park in Englewood Cliffs, NJ, not far from where I live in Bergen County.

I came to behold and photograph the spectacular cliff-top view overlooking the Hudson River. Plenty of other people did, too: By the time I got there in mid-afternoon, there was only one parking space in the whole lot. 

While most people seemed careful to give others a wide berth on the paved walkways winding through the grounds, they were not quite as careful about practicing social distancing in their own groups, as you can see here on the park benches (or, not shown, couples on blankets in the middle of the grass). But most, if not all, were careful to wear some sort of facial covering. 

And, lest anyone disagreed, a “Parkway Police” vehicle entered the parking lot to make sure everyone knew where they stood.

A writer friend of mine told me she was continuing to jot down her thoughts daily, in what she has come to see as a diary of COVID-19. While I have never been disciplined enough to maintain a diary (and have never been crazy about anyone somehow getting their hands on my innermost thoughts), I realize now that for the last two months, with my “Photo of the Day,” I have, in effect, been creating a photojournalistic equivalent of Life During Plague Time—with even pictures taken several years ago now acquiring a different meaning in the light of this catastrophe. 

Today’s post is squarely in that vein.