Photo of the Day: First Sunset After Daylight Saving Time Change

Somehow I wish the period from the start of fall to now could be lengthened. By the fall equinox, in my area of the Northeast, the worst heat and humidity of summer have abated, so it’s comfortable for one of my favorite activities, walking.

It all changes when the clocks are turned back an hour, as they were this weekend. From this point on, there are few hours to take advantage of the waning sunlight—a difficulty for those of us on a more-or-less 9-to-5 schedule.

It can be mid-afternoon, with the sun burning brightly, and before you know it it’s time to turn on the headlights as you follow the line of cars heading home—as happened to me yesterday, shortly after I snapped this picture of sunlight in Overpeck County Park, not far from where I live in Bergen County, NJ.

Photo of the Day: Carnival, Overpeck County Park, Bergen County NJ

This afternoon, I took the attached photo while visiting—or rather, for the longest time, attempting to visit—Overpeck County Park, not far from where I live in Bergen County, NJ. That effort proved so fruitless that I had to park quite a way off, in a lot near a theater.

I thought at first that the throngs outside were merely there to enjoy the warm spring temperatures. But I soon learned otherwise: Unbeknown to me beforehand, this was the third and last day of a carnival being operated to benefit the Teaneck Armory.

In years past, the sight of a crowd at this kind of event would not have bothered me in the slightest. With COVID-19, however, I could not view so many people close to each other, even outdoors, without feeling some residual dread, even after last week's much-trumpeted (if ambiguous) easing of restrictions.

I dearly hope I’m wrong, but we shall see. Somehow, that gray, cloudy sky in this picture seemed an appropriate background for my fears.

Photo of the Day: New Jersey’s Big Melt

Throughout the past month—and especially after the blizzard that afflicted my area a few weeks ago—New Jersey residents have been praying for an end to the cold and snowy weather. Judging from the last few days, that request now seems to have gone straight from our lips to God’s ear.

All around my house, for instance, the height of the snowbanks I erected out of necessity a few weeks ago—and kept adding to every couple of days with several more inches—has now noticeably diminished. It was even more apparent this afternoon in one of my favorite places for walking, Overpeck County Park, near me in Bergen County NJ.

As you can see from this photo I took, the sun was out strong, creating puddles everywhere. Thankfully, the snow has been able to melt gradually, over a few days, so that we have not been beset by a flood to follow the blizzard.

A meteorologist on the news channel I watch said early tonight that we should get average to warmer temperatures compared with the seasonal norm over the next 10 days.  That should help keep our reservoir from going dry, at least for a while.

Only one “weather event” at a time, please! Okay?

Photo of the Day: Snowman in the Park

Even after three days of consistent melting, the remains of this week’s blizzard were everywhere when I walked around this afternoon in Overpeck County Park, not far from where I live in northern New Jersey. I only saw one snowman—the picture I took here—but many more could have been built amid this near-blinding expanse of white.

Photo of the Day: Dogs, Snow, and Sunset, on the First Day of Winter

 

I took the attached photo late this afternoon while in Overpeck County Park, not far from where I live in Bergen County, NJ.

Though I have taken many pictures in this park over the years, the number of these snapped in winter is relatively small. And until today, I had never seen anyone coming off the field in this park carrying skis. (The field is completely flat, so the skier is, shall we say, highly unlikely to pick up speed or face any sharp turns.)