Small Moments: A Scary Bike Ride and a Stroll to the Edge

I really thought for sure my small moments series was going to be put off, like I so often do with things relating to my blog.  It's so easy to get caught up in all of the hustle and bustle of the daily grind, all the while brushing off the little nag in your ear, whispering for you to slow down, to just let go and make some time to enjoy the environment around you.

Today, I (kind of) begrudgingly took to the city streets on my bike, to join my husband on his ride to class.  I say begrudgingly because up until today, I have only ridden on trails, free of cars, and not too much to think about in terms of my LIFE.  He thinks I should get used to it, and the only way to do that is to just do it.  So, I did...And, I survived.  We went only a little ways from our home to where he had his morning class at Rutgers University.  While he was in class, I moseyed around, through a part of the campus, and a little ways beyond, to the edge of downtown...Then, I got distracted by another project of mine, walked into Harvest Moon, a local Bar/Brewery to photograph a bartender, who also happens to be their brewer.....but we won't talk about that project because it's a secret....

it's electric!!
after I shot this, I started seeing different types of electric covers all over the place.

Draining.

Not my bike.

I love that fire hydrants around the city are old--no matter what new buildings are erected, these guys pretty much remain the same.

Observe...the observatory.

I even had a social moment! I know, me, talking to strangers.  This guy is a local.  
We chatted and I photographed him...because I could.
Dude has some nice cheekbones, doesn't he?

 A little note on photographing people....After I took this photo of the gentleman above, people started to become interesting to me.  Several times along my walk I wanted to photograph a person, without them knowing I was doing it...But I was terrified of getting my ass beat, especially by the homeless guy smoking his cigarette.  Any advice in regards to getting comfortable aiming a lens at someone who can easily tell you are photographing them would be awesome.  I know it's legal and all (thank you, public domain), but still...awkward much?

oh autumn, you are here.

yea, that's right, NYC we have one too....except ours is some alley-type street sandwiched between the train station and an apartment high-rise.

ohhh, this crane...I have photographed this thing several times recently from different locations.  I love it, what can I say.

this was pretty much the last photo I had time to take before I headed back to the bikes.

After my walk, I met back up with my husband to journey back home.  We took a different route back, which was on Easton Ave, a street with considerably more traffic, and less room to ride than the street we took going out.  Several cars beeped; overall it wasn't too bad though.  Once we got home I reflected on the ride, and came to this conclusion: I don't know if I could get used to using a bike for transportation in a city.  I like to think of bike riding as a relaxing activity, not one that's like this: GO, GO, GO, don't blow out your knee, but GO, GO, GO!!!  Cars and lights and pedestrians, OH MY!!

I may continue to make an effort to get used to the bike, but for now, I prefer my own to feet, against the solid ground.

Small Moments: A Familiar Walk

For the past few days, I have been thinking a lot about several things:

*I neglect my blog and am very erratic with my posts.
*I need to get outside more when I am home alone.
  -I have a tendency to become a recluse.
*I need to slow down more often.

This morning, while being a work-crazed, antisocial recluse, I decided to create a photo-project that would require me to venture outside, and maybe...even.....out of my safe zone (area immediately surrounding our home, which pretty much consists of a rather large park).

It's pretty simple: I go for a walk somewhere and take photos of the minutia--the small things that are often missed by most people....Edit and delete more than half of what I shot, and hope there are a handful that are "blog-worthy".  As a companion to these posts, I will also be posting additional photos on Instagram with my trusty iPhone, so be sure to check those out too.

Today, I chose to start with a familiar walk through a section of the park.  I was out for about an hour; it felt like 10 minutes.  I became so immersed in searching for and observing the little things.  Even things I couldn't photograph, like the sound of a little creek... the random motion of a dead spider, still hanging from a strand of web, being blown by the wind.  I found it all very meditative and motivational....I actually felt excited when I thought of journeying out to the urban-landscape, all alone.

This little maple is actually what inspired my location choice today.  It lives in a rock garden.  I remembered that in the fall, it turns a deep purple.  I was a little early in the season, but I still found it delicate and beautiful.  The clumps of leaves have a soft wispy texture to them.  Today, though, I was more interested in the sweet little seeds.

These beautiful seed pods were found hanging not even five feet away.  Their texture caught my eye, and the purplish accents drew me in for a closer look.

Next door to the pods, on a different bush I found this little creeper hanging out on his front stoop.  I hate spiders, but I must admit this is strangely beautiful.

Beneath the spider, was this leaf, damaged by I-don't-know-what.  To see that something as thin as a leaf has obvious layers is pretty awesome.  And, the colors, and organic shapes created by the leaf's "wounds" are perfect inspiration for future art.

I continued on, out of the rock garden.  The contrast on this wall caught my eye...plus, I have a thing for man made and natural forms coming together and/or responding to one another.

The sunlight was filtered and hitting this grass, creating a warm light.  The complexity of this baby is mind-boggling...And, did I mention, soft to touch--a fuzzy caterpillar of the plant world.

This guy is small, but honestly, around this park squirrels  are hard to miss--they beg from anyone with food, and will rob you blind if you aren't careful.  One time, a friend had a box of crackers outside.  She left it open, and walked a little ways away.  Immediately, a squirrelly boy had moved in and helped himself to some tasty cheese-its.

I continued on, through a nearby playground, to the edge of a wooded area.  These berries were striking; never knew they existed even though I had walked past the bush thousands of times.

These flowers are on their way out, but I found something beautiful about that.  More moving than beautiful...The ephemeralness of nature is something I have always been attracted to...I suppose that's a part of what makes me want to appreciate it more.

And then, I came to the bridge and started across...but then I paused eyeing a little path that led down to a little creek that passes beneath the bridge....I argued with myself for a full minute about whether or not to go down it (I know it seems silly, but there are unscrupulous people around and about from time to time--but really...in the middle of the day?)  I decided to go for it,and am happy to say, there was no one there but me myself and i....

oh, and this dude....this is the dead spider I spoke of...it was in constant motion from the wind, but I managed to get two semi-clear shots.  It was a beautiful sight to watch this thing bob, weave, and float around.  In the time I was there, it went up a foot, floated down about two feet,  and then proceeded to be moved by the wind in a horizontal motion back and forth, covering an area that was about three feet wide....I know there was a strand of the web, but it still was kind of mystifying how the range of motion was so great for such a tiny object.

Again, some damaged leaves.  I wished that more of the veins were intact, but I still found the positive/negative spaces interesting.

As I crossed the bridge I spotted these seed pods on a plant.  Oh, the complexity of nature...it never ceases to blow me away.

I climbed the stairs at the opposite side of the bridge, and noticed this, along the side of the rock path.  The symmetry of the leaves caught my attention, and of course, the complexity of the seed pod, became my focus.

Nearing the end of my walk, I came to this tree--it's one of my favorite trees in the park.  The way the branch twists and cuts through the space around it is wonderful...and it's a great place to sit....when there aren't spider webs all over it.

This was the final photograph on my walk.  The branch was probably sawn off a long time ago, the marks of aging and wear and tear are what i found lovely...oh, and the smattering of bright green moss contrasting with the duller brown.

This walk reaffirmed my love of the complexity found in objects so simple, that their beauty is often overlooked.

I will leave you with a message I found on a fortune cookie years ago: 

there is beauty in simplicity.