Quotation | The Beauty Around Us

1000 Islands Vacation Day 4: Kring Point State Park

On Day 4 (Wednesday, June 22) of our 1000 Island Vacation we visited four New York State Parks: Keewaydin State Park, Kring Point State Park, Jacques Cartier State Park and Grasse Point State Park. We also visited the Chippewa Bay area and, later in the evening, downtown Alexandria Bay. In my first Day 4 blog post I wrote about our Keewaydin State Park visit. Today’s blog post is about our visit to Kring Point State Park.

The second park that we visited was Kring Point State Park. We used our Empire Passport for admission to the state park. Kring Point State Park, which is located approximately 10 miles north of Alexandria Bay, is a narrow peninsula that juts out into the St. Lawrence River. Its south shore faces Goose Bay and its north shore faces the St Lawrence River. We spent about an hour at Kring Point State Park, where our main activity was exploring Morgan Island.

Here are three photographs of the Morgan Island footbridge. The first two photographs were taken from the peninsula, and the third photograph was taken from Morgan Island.

Morgan Island Footbridge
When I took this photograph, I was standing in the area where we parked our car.

Morgan Island Footbridge

Morgan Island Footbridge
with boat dock

We crossed over the footbridge and hiked all over Morgan Island. There was no need for a trail map. No one can get lost on this small island!

The crystal clear, aqua blue St. Lawrence River was so beautiful. Please enjoy the photographs that I took, during our hike on Morgan Island, as well as the nature quotations that I applied to each photograph.

“The poetry of the earth is never dead.”
~John Keats

“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.”
~John Burroughs

“If there is magic on this planet it is contained in water.”
~Loran Eisely

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods…”
~Lord Byron in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

“Go and walk with Nature; thou wilt find
Full many a gem in her enchanted cup.”
~Issac McLellan, Musings

“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”
~Henry David Thoreau

“We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts.”
~William Hazlitt

My next 1000 Islands Vacation blog post will provide details and photographs from our visit to Jacques Cartier State Park, what we saw at a scenic overlook near Chippewa Bay and our lunch stop at Schermerhorn Harbor in Hammond, NY.

Winter Sunrise

I was sitting in the living room reading today’s local newspaper. The glow of light through the window across the room caught my eye. I raised myself up from the chair and walked to the window. I look to the western sky from this particular window. The sky was deep blue, not a cloud in view. The house at the end of our street was bathed in light. “There is going to be a beautiful sunrise”, said I. I opened the front door and looked to the eastern sky. Oh, yes, a beautiful sunrise was in the making!

I hurried into the bedroom and got my camera, changing settings as I walked quickly to the back door. Still in my pajamas and wearing a pair of fuzzy socks, I walked out the back door and onto our concrete. I know it was chilly, but I didn’t feel the cold. I was warmed by this morning’s sunrise!

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts”
~Eleanor Roosevelt

What a glorious show of color in this morning’s sunrise!

How a Portrait is Made

Two photographs that were shared on Facebook earlier this year came to mind, as I read a quotation made by photographer Edward Steichen.

“A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.”

This photograph was taken by Allan Branthoover.
I downloaded this image from Allan’s Facebook page, with his permission.

On one side of the camera is the photographer, Janell Gable. By kneeling down Janell is on the level of the children. Getting on their level makes for intimate photographs of children, although shooting directly from above or below can also give a great result.

On the other side of the camera are the children — Janell’s nephew, Owen, and her daughter, Lilly.

When they posed for this photograph, Owen and Lilly were relaxed and having fun. Janell captured some of their spirit, as she released the shutter button. The resultant photograph appears genuine and engaging.

This photograph was taken by Janell Gable.
I downloaded this image from Janell’s Facebook page, with her permission.

I, then, inserted the photograph into one of my Photobacks templates.

Thank you Allan and Janell for use of your photographs in this blog post. The two photographs illustrate well the words of Edward Steichen: “A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it”.

First Day of Spring 2013

This is what it looks like this morning, outside our living room window.

“The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another.
The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month.”

~Henry Van Dyke

Where is Heaven?

Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” Henry David Thoreau

“

A Sunny Dandelion Bloom

“A weed is just a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yellow on White Daffodil

I see so many daffodils that are dead or dying; however, some pretty ones can still be found.

“If one daffodil is worth a thousand pleasures, then one is too few.”
– William Wordsworth

This post is a contribution to the Today’s Flowers meme (#90). The Today’s Flowers meme was created by Luiz Santilli Jr. You can find beautiful and unusual flowers from all over the world by clicking here.