Westchester View

Happy New Year Everyone…

Westchester is one of those places where there is a New Years celebration to fit any mood.  To prove the point, during the course of the day and evening I decided to keep a photo journal of sorts of my New Year’s Eve.  I pulled my favorites for posting.  For those who prefer a more contemplative mood, there was plenty to do and see in lower Westchester.  You could walk the trails, take a drive, wonder around the towns and villages. For those who prefer to party – downtown White Plains had its annual ball drop and New Year’s party.  My personal preference leans towards the more quite and reflective celebration.  But that didn’t stop me from attending the annual ball drop and fire works in downtown White Plains.  Unfortunately, my camera didn’t catch the fireworks – let’s just say my camera picked the wrong time to need a change of batteries.  Too bad too, because the show lit up the sky to the point where it was almost like daylight for a moment. Hopefully, you will find a picture to suit your mood….

© 2010 – Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com.  All rights reserved.

Autumn in lower Westchester NY is a very colorful event.

There is something about the color of the leaves and how it lights up the sky that I find very compelling.  Forget leaf peeping in Vermont – our season peaks later, but the foliage is just as amazing.  At this time of year, people flock to parks in Westchester NY for the foliage and crisp weather.

This week had been particularly stressful – so Friday afternoon I escaped to the Rockefeller Preserve in Sleepy Hollow to regenerate.  Among the many things to do in Westchester, this is among my favorite places to decompress and get back in touch with what it is all about.  Although the leaves were more than half gone, the color of the sky and the sunlight caused the remaining leaves light up the sky with a full fall fire.  Jade and Tundra – my faithful Huskies accompanied me and enjoyed the blustery cold air.  We also ran into a friend from my brokerage – Monique another avid walker, arrived just as I was leaving.

Here are a couple of the photos I snapped along the way.    As a nature Preserve, you get to see the beauty of nature’s wild side.

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Manor Park, in Larchmont is a gem for those who enjoy water views and a nice walk.  Unlike the Rockefeller Preserve, where wildlife rules, Manor Park is  has manicured paths and wonderful plantings. The imppecibly  maintained masonry walls that separate the Park from the Long Island Sound, along with the stone benches built right into them flow almost seamlessly with the natural rock that has been smoothed by the flow of water.

The park was established in the 1870s. The Larchmont Manor Park Society was established in 1892 to maintain and preserve the park and is active to this day. Indeed, the society recently was responsible for   a $1 million capital improvement program. The park initially included 6 acres and has expanded to 13 which includes Manor Beach.  The park remains privately owned by the local residents but is generously  open to the public year round from dawn to dusk.  You can job, walk, stroll sit and enjoy the sights, read a book and walk your dog.  Dogs must be leashed and cleaned up after.

I spent part of an afternoon in the park just recently.  Jade and I walked the length of the park.  As usual, Jade was an attractant to kids, adults and dogs alike.  She met several new canine friends and enjoyed watching the boats and the waves.  She is unaccostomed to waves and was quite surprsied that the water was salty.  I had a fresh drink awaiting her – so no dogs were harmed or allowed to go  thirsty during the course of our photo shoot and walk.

For more photos visit my photo-stream on Larchmont Manor Park on  Flickr.

© 2009 Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com.  All rights reserved.

OK, I confess! I am a sucker for fall foliage and fall weather. This year has been a banner year for leaf peepers. Everywhere I go, I feel as if I am in the midst of a blazing fire show. In my previous post on the Rockefeller Preserve I displayed some photos from mid-October. These pictures from the Tarrytown lakes were taken later in the season – the first week of November. But what a display! The colors had deepened the yellows are morphing into a deeper more opaque gold and the reds are getting richer in color by the day. It really looks like Westchester County is on fire – a cool fire, because there is that wonderful fall snap in the air.
The Tarrytown Lakes provide a wonderful easy-going walking experience. Perfect for either biking or strolling or serious walking. The trail is about 1 mile long and the main portion is linear. Perfect for a nice two mile walk on a fall day. Dogs must be leashed and you must pick up after them.

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OK, I am digressing to my former life. I was a biology major in college and for many years pursued a career as a research scientist. I still teach at the undergraduate level as an adjunct professor. One of my favorite labs teaches students why leaves change color in the fall. When student’s crush green leaves into a solvent – and separate the pigments using a process called “paper chromatography” the different colored pigments separate out from the green chlorophyll – showing the wide array of color pigments that leaves possess. The pigments are there (carotenoids and anthrocyanins) even when the leaf is green, but you can’t see them because the amount of green chlorophyll simply overwhelms them.

As summer turns to fall, the days grow shorter and the chlorophyll starts to break down. This allows the other pigments in all their splendor to be revealed. Some years, the “show” is more vivid.
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