Tuesday, November 18, 2008Hiking through GarrisonA couple of weeks ago, I decided to visit my friends Phil and Karen at their house by the river near the Bear Mountain Bridge. I had already missed the morning train to Manitou, where they live, so I decided to take the train to Garrison and hike back to their house. It's only four miles, and I was able to make the hike in under 90 minutes.View Larger Map It was a beautiful day; the leaves have just started to fall off the trees, and the last of the fall foliage was visible. The hike was very relaxing, even if most of it was along Route 9D. It's a bit difficult hiking along a highway because the road is sloped and there are no pedestrian trails.   After around three miles along Route 9D, I headed down a twisty road towards the Outward Bound headquarters. The headquarters is a large 10 bedroom building on 18 acres; it's for sale for $9MM. Taxes are around $51K per year. You cross over a bridge over the MTA tracks to get to Mystery Point.  After walking by the Outward Bound headquarters, I walked down Mystery Point Road towards my friends' house.       I hung out at Phil and Karen's house for a few hours before catching the 5 pm train back to New York City.   I also took a stop-motion video of the hike down Mystery Point Road; unfortunately, it didn't compress well. Friday, October 24, 2008Spider over BrooklynI wasn't sure I would see the spider hanging outside my window this time of year. It's been around 40 degrees for the past couple of nights; and I'm not sure what spiders do in the winter. I was a bit surprised to see it outside my window when I got home this evening. After taking this photo, it nestled into my window sill.
Thursday, October 23, 2008Bear Mountain State ParkLast weekend, I visited Rich and Lisa with Betsy to see them and visit Bear Mountain State Park for their annual Oktoberfest. The leaves are starting to change, and the weather is getting cooler.   This photo is a picture of Anthony's Nose from Bear Mountain State Park, where I hiked a couple of weeks ago. Labels: nature Tuesday, October 14, 2008Boating and hikingLast weekend, I rode on a yacht, had food poisoning, and climbed Anthony's Nose.I took Friday, October 3rd off to sail around the New York Classic Week Regatta, a schooner race around New York Harbor. Anne, Ginny, and I met at Chelsea Piers to board the yacht Manhattan. We paced most of the race to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and then made our way up the East River before heading back to the finish line at the Hudson. There was a bit of extra time, so we continued up the Hudson to see the Intrepid before returning to dock. The day was overcast, but it was still pleasant outside and we all had a great time. We were supplied with a brunch of waffles, quiche, ham, salmon, and bagels; not to mention a fully stocked bar.    The Pride of Baltimore  New York harbor is a working harbor, and the sailboats navigated along large container vessels and barges.   Turning at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.  Anne and Ginny  The Manhattan was comfortable, fast, and fun. It's worth looking into if you want a pleasant cruise around the city.  The New York City Waterfalls. The project just finished this past weekend. We were able to get very close to the falls.  The day before our ride, the Intrepid returned to its permanent berth.  The view of Manhattan from the middle of New York harbor. Unfortunately, several hours into the ride, I started to become sick. I was still fatigued and weak after the ride, and took a nap when I went home. I woke up shaking several hours later and realized that I had food poisoning. I don't think it was from the food on the ship since no one was ill; I think it was from my breakfast at a coffee shop or my lunch the day before. The details are a bit gross, but the good news is that my fever broke that night at 3 am, and by the end of Saturday I was in good shape. So on Sunday, I went up along the Hudson to visit my friend Phil at his house in Garrison. Anne, Mary, Phil, and I started out the day by climbing Anthony's Nose, a peak overlooking Bear Mountain. We climbed the mountain fairly quickly; it's a fairly easy, but steep, climb with a beautiful view.  Phil and Mary at the peak of Anthony's Nose.  Bear Mountain Bridge  Me (Sam Greenfield) overlooking Bear Mountain Bridge from Anthony's Nose  Anne, me, Mary, and Phil Climbing down the mountain, I saw many weird looking mushrooms. I would have taken more pictures, but I didn't want to keep everyone waiting.    I didn't do as much this past weekend, but I did walk down to Brooklyn Bridge Park with a friend of mine. It was a clear, warm day.   I finished up the weekend playing with my camera. I want to work with the strobe to see if I can capture better images of water droplets.  
Monday, September 08, 2008Spider weaving and eatingI haven't seen the spider in my window since the rainstorm this past Saturday. However, I did catch it weaving a web the other day. I think I pushed my camera a bit to the limits; macro mode can be a bit difficult to use.  Here is the final image magnified and over-sharpened:  I also captured some images of the Araneus diadematus (Cross Orbweaver) eating a fly. I've decided to just link to the images, as some folks might be a bit squeamish: Sunday, August 24, 2008Spider over BrooklynA spider has been hanging outside of my picture window. Spiders eat mosquitos, so I'm glad it is around. Tonight I tried to catch it so that I can release it in the garden. There's a huge storm coming tomorrow, and I wouldn't want it to get washed away. It was too fast for me, and scampered up to the top of the window. Does anyone know what kind of spider it is?   Update: After a little bit of searching on the web, I think it is safe to say that this spider is a Araneus diadematus, or Cross Orbweaver. See more photos at BugGuide.net and Wikimedia Commons. 
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