Quote of the Day (Francis Sanzaro, on the Benefits of Walking)

“Study after study after study has proved what we feel, intuitively, in our gut: Walking is good for us. Beneficial for our joints and muscles; astute at relieving tension, reducing anxiety and depression; a boon to creativity, likely; slows the aging process, maybe; excellent at prying our screens from our face, definitely.”— Climber, athlete, and author Francis Sanzaro, “The Transcendent Power of Walking,” The New York Times, Sept. 18, 2022

Yes, walking can even feel good on a cold winter day, as seen here in this picture I took from nearly a decade ago in Saddle River County Park in Ridgewood, NJ.

Photo of the Day: Saddle River County Park, Ridgewood, NJ

The Northeast has had its share of low temperatures and damp conditions since the official start of spring. But warmer days (think: high ‘70s) have alternated enough with these periods to lure out the buds on at least some trees.

That was certainly the case the other day when I walked in Saddle River County Park, not far from where I live in Bergen County, NJ. I was especially taken with the landscape in this image, with cherry blossoms springing to life with the park’s wild duck pond and fountain in the background.

Photo of the Day: Fountain, Saddle River County Park, Ridgewood NJ

Many times over the past couple of decades, I’ve circled the wild duck pond in Saddle River County Park, north of where I live in Bergen County, NJ. But until this afternoon, I had never done so while so much of the surroundings in this suburban arcadia were taken up by snow and ice.

Most of the pond, it turned out, was still frozen over. But after two days when the thermometer exceeded 32 degrees Fahrenheit, the small northern part of the water had opened up, concentrating the attention of walkers like me, in a way it never had been in the non-frigid seasons of the year, on this fountain.

So I eagerly photographed this moment in time, this promise of better things, so needed now, in this season of death, in this region and even this country.

Photo of the Day: Brightest at the Center

I took a picture of this flower last weekend at the duck pond in Saddle River County Park in Ridgewood, NJ.

Photo of the Day: First Presbyterian Church, Ridgewood NJ

I saw this very distinctive-looking church while driving on East Ridgewood Avenue in the Bergen County, NJ community of Ridgewood last weekend, and stopped to take this shot. Though members of this church had been worshipping in town since 1823 and a prior building had existed elsewhere on Ridgewood Avenue since 1858, this particular site was bought in 1919 and a sanctuary built there eight years later.

The design of the First Presbyterian Church is Norman Gothic, floored with stone. Its materials come from a variety of sources: interior bricks from Holland, stained glass windows from England, and a slate roof from Pennsylvania.

Quote of the Day (Henry Ward Beecher, on the ‘Countenance’ of Flowers)

“Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock.”— American preacher Henry Ward Beecher, “A Discourse on Flowers,” in The General Baptist Repository, and Missionary Observer (1853)

I took this photo near the duck pond in Saddle River County Park, in Ridgewood, NJ.

Photo of the Day: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, Ridgewood, NJ

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church is located north of me in Bergen County, in the village of Ridgewood, NJ. I took this photo in the early spring nearly six years ago.

Quote of the Day (Henry David Thoreau, ‘By the Brooksides’ in Early Winter)

“By the brooksides, in the still, genial night,

The more adventurous wanderer may hear

The crystals shoot and form, and winter slow

Increase his rule by gentlest summer means.”— Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), “Pray to What Earth Does This Sweet Cold Belong,” in The Four Seasons: Poems, edited by J.D. McClatchy (2008)

I took this photo in late January of this year in Saddle River County Park in Ridgewood, N.J.