Photo of the Day: Shimmering Reflections

I took the accompanying photo three weeks ago at the James A. McFaul Environmental Center in Wyckoff, N.J.

Photo of the Day: The Gingrich Peacock

A couple of weeks ago, when I was visiting the James A. McFaul Environmental Center in Wyckoff, N.J., I was startled by a sound from within one of the cages. I rushed over to get a better look when the peacock inside raised its plumage (inviting this photo), then squawked some more, as if to say, How dare you! Oh, by the way, get a load of what I’ve got….

As I watched, it occurred to me that this creature—with its inexplicable annoyance that you are noticing it, even as it draws further attention to itself—was nothing if not Nature’s counterpart to a certain media-baiting, media-centric, now former Presidential candidate. Turning to The New York Times the other day, I saw that at least one columnist, Frank Bruni, felt the same way I did: “Gingrich shuffled pointlessly through a zoo in Asheboro, N.C., a peacock with faded plumage, still preening and still campaigning, though the attentions of most reporters and the affections of most voters had moved on.”

Listen: unlike many pundits and late-night comics, I had no problem with Newt Gingrich’s advocacy of a space colony. Advocating an unusual idea should not be discouraged.

No, it was Gingrich’s vast shamelessness—his willingness to pander to the worst elements of his party, to say nearly anything in pursuit of a dying dream—his boundless hypocrisy, and his feigned rage—over the media, over the president he continually derides as “the most leftist” in our history--that got to me.

In his piece, Bruni linked Gingrich to fellow narcissist John Edwards. The columnist missed the obvious implication of Gingrich for Edwards’ future, however. In the wake of Gingrich's withdrawal from the Presidential race, the most obvious legacy of the former Speaker of the House was his demonstration of the electorate’s startling amnesia about the huge mistakes and character flaws that led him to withdraw from elective office in the first place. You can believe that the former Senator from North Carolina and would-be Vice President (but for some votes in Ohio in '04) has been observing it all breathlessly. 

If Edwards's lawyers can throw enough fairy dust in the eyes of those jurors, he has to believe that people’s current fury will fade and his debts can be ignored, and there’s a President looking back from the mirror that long ago became his best friend and (no, not deceased wife Elizabeth or much-too-live mistress Rielle) the true love of his life.

Photo of the Day: Gnarly Tree

The headline for this post comes with apologies to Jeff Spicoli, Sean Penn’s stoned surfer in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I took this photo this past weekend at the James A. McFaul Environmental Center in Wyckoff, N.J.

Photo of the Day: Garden of Delights

I took the accompanying image this past Sunday in an open field at the James A. McFaul Environmental Center in Wyckoff, N.J

Photo of the Day: Fall Creeps In

Here is yet another photo I took this past Sunday from the James A. McFaul Environmental Center, in Wyckoff, NJ, about a half-hour drive from my home in Bergen County, NJ. It still didn’t quite feel like fall, but as you can see from the landscape, it was getting there. The weather from this past week should bring the scene a good deal closer to a classic fall foliage scene.

This being October, the month of Halloween and all, “creeps” is the operative word in the headline, I suppose.

Photo of the Day: Yellow Arboreal Pattern

Here is another photo I took this weekend at the James A. McFaul Environmental Center, in Wyckoff, NJ, about a half-hour drive from my home in Bergen County, NJ.

Photo of the Day: Couldn’t Ask for a Better View

That’s how I felt this past Sunday while walking around the James A. McFaul Environmental Center, in Wyckoff, NJ, about a half-hour drive from my home in Bergen County. I’d never even heard of this park, let alone seen it, until I read a Bergen Record roundup about several parks within driving distance in the area.

One of the delights of this 81-acre parking is the 2.5-acre waterfowl pond in the background of this photo I took. This short was taken from an observation deck overlooking the pond.

(Thanks to my friend Emil for the photo suggestion.)