By Vladimir Brezina
Paddling through the silver sea…
(2014 Watertribe Everglades Challenge, Florida)
A contribution to Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge, Dazzling.
By Vladimir Brezina
Paddling through the silver sea…
(2014 Watertribe Everglades Challenge, Florida)
A contribution to Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge, Dazzling.
Posted in Kayaking, Photography
Tagged Dazzling, Everglades Challenge, Florida Kayaking, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2016, Sea Kayaking, Travel, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
Many benches in NYC’s Central Park bear engraved metal plaques. For a donation, one can endow a bench as part of the Park’s “Adopt-a-Bench” program.
As you might imagine, the engravings are sometimes sentimental, and often heartbreaking. Too often, they memorialize a loved one who’s clearly still missed by grieving friends and relatives: “To my beloved…”, “In memory of my dear…”
.
And then there’s this one:
It made us laugh. And agree that it’s something to be grateful for!
Posted in Humor, Life, New York City
Tagged Central Park, Endowment, Manhattan, New York City, Park bench
By Vladimir Brezina
Tendrils of light and shadow…
A contribution to this week’s Photo Challenge, Abstract.
Posted in Nature, Photography
Tagged Abstract, Grasses, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2016, Tendrils, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
This trip dates from last fall, but took us this long to post in part because we wanted to include a lot of detail to guide paddlers who might want to go to these places, which are very accessible to NYC paddlers of all skill levels.
So each photo is numbered, and the third image down is a map showing where each photo was taken, so you can associate the photo with the location. The body of the post includes only a small selection of the photos; for the rest, see the slideshow at the bottom.
And don’t miss the special bonus: A link to a GoPro video from the trip, at the very end of the post!
The currents weren’t really right for any of our usual trips, ebbing most of the day, and turning back to flood around 4:30 PM. So a long trip to points south would mean returning close to midnight, which neither of us wanted to do.
But it was an effervescent fall day, with a gusty breeze, blue skies, and sunlight sparkling over the waves. We wanted to do something a little out of the ordinary, for us, at least.
“Why not visit Port Liberté, and meander down the Jersey side of the harbor?” Vlad suggested.
What a splendid idea! Port Liberté is one of the many weird and wonderful things on the New Jersey side. Vlad calls it “the would-be Venice of New Jersey,” and it truly is: According to Wikipedia, it was designed in the 1980s as a waterfront community patterned after a similar one in Saint-Tropez, France, complete with canals lined with docks and waterfront walkways.
The idea is, to my mind at least, flawless: Imagine living right on the waterfront, with your own personal dock, just a few minutes by ferry or private boat from Manhattan! Unfortunately, though, the market crash of the late 80s ended the development plans, and what remains, though beautiful, is just a wistful indication of what might have been.
We’d last been to Port Liberté several years ago—maybe as far back as 2011. So it was time for another look. Then we’d continue down the Jersey side of the harbor, our moods and the currents permitting, until it was time to turn back. Come to think of it, despite our many years of paddling in the harbor, neither Vlad nor I had ever really properly explored all the ins and outs of the Jersey side.
Posted in Kayaking, New York City
Tagged Bayonne, Kayaking, Marine industry, New Jersey, New York City, New York Harbor, Port Liberte
By Vladimir Brezina
Let’s eat before the rising tide submerges this sandbar, or the bugs bite us to death…
(During the 2014 Everglades Challenge, Florida.)
A contribution to this week’s Photo Challenge, Dinnertime.
By Johna Till Johnson
Photos by Vladimir Brezina
April is the cruelest month, breeding
lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
memory and desire, stirring
dull roots with spring rain.
—T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land
I’ll admit it: I used to hate Spring.
Why “admit”? Because from what I can tell, most people are thrilled by lengthening days, soft fragrant breezes, and the sight of new flowers pushing up through the fresh grass.
In New York, Springtime is especially noteworthy. Everyone takes to the parks. Lovers canoodle. Pets frolic. And we walk around with goofy smiles and say unexpected things to each other, like “Please,” and “Thank you” and “After you!”
So what’s not to love?
Tagged Alfons Mucha, Art Nouveau, Changing Seasons, New York City, Running, Spring, Weather
By Vladimir Brezina
Balance is easier with some support…
A contribution to Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge, Balance.
Posted in Kayaking, Photography
Tagged Balance, Hudson River, Kayak Strokes, New York Harbor, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2016, Sea Kayaking, Travel, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Vladimir Brezina
Future personified…
This was some years ago. What was then in the future is now far in the past…
A contribution to this week’s Photo Challenge, Future.
Posted in Life, Photography
Tagged Future, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2016, Pregnant, Weekly Photo Challenge
By Vladimir Brezina
Straight out of the Hudson River cooler! What could be more refreshing after the day’s paddle?
(Kayak camping at the Hudson River Islands State Park: see here and here.)
A contribution to Ailsa’s travel-themed photo challenge, Refreshing.
By Vladimir Brezina
Just as wild as the natural landscape
.
.
.
.
is the urban landscape in which we live
A contribution to this week’s Photo Challenge, Landscape.
Posted in New York City, Photography
Tagged Landscape, Manhattan, New York City, Photography, postaweek, postaweek2016, Puerto Rico, Sunset, Weekly Photo Challenge