Denise Goldberg's blog

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Winter approaches

As much as I'd like the ground to stay dry and uncovered, winter creeps in on quiet feet.

quickly flowing water

peering through snow gaps

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

No stopping!

Sometimes it is very difficult to behave.

I was driving west on the New York Thruway, heading to my parents' home for a weekend visit. Driving, down a long stretch of road, when my camera eye was drawn by reflections in the quiet water of the Erie Canal.

Sometimes, it is so hard to not follow those camera desires. I would have loved to have pulled over, to have tromped down closer to the canal accompanied by my camera, to have grabbed a few images. It was a very gray day, and yet there were still distinct reflections in the water. A beautiful sight, captured by words instead of pictures...

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Ghost town art

Rhyolite beckoned, an abandoned town, ghosts of the gold rush. I gave in to my curiosity and left Death Valley, heading over the Amargosa Range to visit a ghost town. Little did I know that I would also find some amazing art there.

"Just outside of Rhyolite, Nevada, a spectacular ghost town off the road leading to Death Valley, California, a group of prominent Belgian artists, led by the late Albert Szukalski, created a self-described art situation consisting of seven outdoor sculptures that are colossal not only in their scale, but in their placement within the vast upper Mojave desert."
...quote courtesy of the Goldwell Open Air Museum

goldwell open air museum ghosts

goldwell open air museum mosaic sofa

Monday, November 24, 2008

Jumping into my camera

Visions of the desert, intense colors, sand, rocks... My too quick trip to ramble in Death Valley National Park lives on in memories, and in photographs. You can follow my ramble in words in my journal or in pictures in my A return to death photo galleries.

In the valley... Badwater to Golden Canyon:


In the valley... Badwater to Golden Canyon


High... Zabriskie Point & Twenty Mule Team Canyon:

High... Zabriskie Point & Twenty Mule Team Canyon


In the valley... Furnace Creek to Mosaic Canyon:

In the valley... Furnace Creek to Mosaic Canyon


Sand Dunes sunrise:

Sand Dunes sunrise


Rhyolite... ghosts & sculptures:

Rhyolite... ghosts & sculptures


Red Rock Canyon:

Red Rock Canyon

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Seeing things?

The first time these two planes passed over my head as I wandered the sand dunes in Death Valley I thought I was seeing things, that my imagination was working overtime.

The second time? I knew they were real, my first view of a stealth fighter in the air.



Yes, the images are really tiny. The planes were moving quickly, and I had to just use the lens that was on my camera at the time.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

A return to death...

Death Valley, that is! I'm heading west today for a short wander in Death Valley National Park. I hope to be updating my journal from the road, but whether I will have web access is questionable.

Please look in on my wanderings in my journal, A return to death.

I'm wandering with my camera, happy...

Sunday, November 16, 2008

A windy day

Morning brought an end to yesterday's endless wet. Instead of rain, the wind prevailed, a howling wind, a wind that swept clouds across the sky. It was a day of cooling temperatures, a good day for walking...

painted sky

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Patches of green

The leaves are down, the colors have faded, and yet... there are still visible patches of green.

meanders, green surrounds flowing water

Will the light change?

I haven't been able to turn left into or out of my drive since the end of May. A relatively short chunk of road has been under construction for far too long. And finally... yesterday the left turn restriction was removed. How nice! Now I no longer need to go in a circle when I simply wanted to turn left.

The new puzzle? I noticed signs on the pavement that imply a bicycle will trigger a change in the (currently non-existent) traffic light. It looks like a new light is about to be installed. And there are bicycle "spots" on the pavement, indicating that my bicycle and I will be able to get the light to change. I've been suspicious of these pavement markings for a while, thinking that they were just a placebo as opposed to a way for me to get a red light to turn green. It will be very interesting to see if this set of markings really hide a trigger. That would be a real change; I can't tell you how many times I've had to go through red lights because there was no way for my bicycle to trigger a light change. In fact, one of the locations where I regularly stop, looks, and ride across on red is right in front of a police station.

road sign

Monday, November 10, 2008

Sometimes...

Sometimes there isn't anything you can do except to be there, to offer silent support.

This past weekend was consumed by a quick trip to upstate New York. It was a time to be with family, and a time to be frustrated by not being able to help. My dad had emergency surgery last week, and what he needs now is time to heal. It was hard to accept that there isn't anything I can do that will speed the process of getting better. Time will help, time, good medical care, the presence of friends and family, time...

I was there, a silent observer, there to offer aid if needed, there to send healing thoughts. Each day brings more strength, more healing.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

From salt marsh to ocean

I felt a need to wander today, to hear the ocean, to see fading autumn colors. I headed to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge for some walking and camera play. I haven't been back since my first visit in April; somehow visits to the ocean feel right in the cooler seasons. There weren't too many people there when I visited before, and there were even fewer today.

Walking, peering through the plants to see flitting birds, stopping to chat with the few other people who were wandering too. The trail, really the boardwalk, near the Hellcat Wildlife Observation Area kept my attention for a while. Then I headed out to the beach, a beach I wasn't able to see on my last visit. Why? It's a piping plover nesting area, and as noted on the refuge's web site:

"Each year the entire 6.3 miles (10.1 kilometers) of refuge beach is closed to all public entry beginning April 1 to provide undisturbed nesting and feeding habitat for the piping plover, a shorebird species threatened with extinction. Portions of the beach not being used by the birds may be reopened beginning July 1. Typically all sections are reopened by mid-late August."
It was a joy to walk to and on this very deserted beach. As my feet covered the boardwalk leading to the beach, I could hear the sound of waves crashing. I found an almost empty beach, miles of sand with only 2 other people within view. Sand, birds, waves pounding, water making shapes in the sand...

autumn leaves

ocean patterns

Saturday, November 01, 2008

From colors to bare branches

I'm not ready for the change in seasons, for cooler temperatures, for shorter days.

Change is coming though, and there is beauty in the changes. Bright colors are fading, lingering flowers pose against autumn-toned backgrounds, leaves are falling leaving skeletons of trees.

daisy against fall colors

yellow leaves

bare branches

Morning painting

Sometimes it looks like someone has been painting the sky. Early morning, sun rising, backlighting, clouds...

sky painting