The Long and Winding Lens

E134: Field notes and photos from a 1000-mile road trip. And a total solar eclipse.

500 miles and a day of driving each way. Some observations from a long drive and some wonderful days in New York this past week, despite/made better by the weather:

Lights On:

How can you not love that view? It is a sight that never fails to roll back the decades on my life, dropping me right back into my twenties. Nothing about this ever gets old.

As the skyline of New York City unfurls before me, its mesmerizing panorama spans my eras and my emotions. From the left - just out of view - the Statue of Liberty, standing tall and copper green. The view across the East River, up Wall Street anchored by the towering silhouette of the (new) World Trade Center. Scan through to midtown where the Empire State Building remains iconic and identifiable. But my heart skips a beat at the sight of the Chrysler Building, its wedding cake spire reaching skyward with perfect grace, a marvel of art deco design. And the majestic familiar dual arches of the Brooklyn Bridge. And ending with those wrought iron and wood benches, the perfect place for a slice and some meditation.

The crisp clarity of the air after the storm that came through its incessant rain and high winds just serves to make my favorite view more enchanting. And oh, that sparkle! New York City glistens like a galaxy of stars, a million points of light dancing in the night sky, each window telling a story of dreams and adventures waiting to be fulfilled.

Lights Off:

I’ll admit! I chased the sun. I’d held off publishing in the hope of including that once-in-a-lifetime photo of when the center falls out of our sun [so many metaphors just begging]. But Nature thumbed her nose at me! Cloud. Big beautiful billowy CLOUD. Which behaves as a great filter. But it prevented me from that spectacular full eclipse photo that I know you will see all over CNN and Twitter/X.

Cmdr. Chris Hadfield watches the solar eclipse

https://x.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/status/1777423461738045524

It was amazing, however! As our town hit totality for a brief minute, sirens blared in the distance, and the street lights come on in response to the dark, the blue twilight haze on the horizon in the prime of mid-afternoon. And wouldn’t you know it? A mere half hour later, the sun is blazing down on me out of a clear blue sky.

You can’t make this stuff up, people! Timing is everything. “The best laid plans …”

Photo credit: Karena de Souza

But this little girl caught my eye. I hope she will always remember this special moment - gathering with a community of strangers to watch the sun disappear, the paper plate. Isn’t it a beautiful world when something that lasts for mere minutes can captivate millions, enthrall a three-year old and still bring jaw-dropping awe to an veteran astronaut?

Road signs:

(mental photos)

• Banks of bright yellow forsythia cascading down each side of Rte 17 north of Paramus

• An eagle flying over the highway carrying a 3-foot long root or branch as it builds its nest

• The melting snow from the previous day creating mini waterfalls cutting through the rock on each side of I90

Spring is in the air. Just read the signs!

Heard on the road:

“If you want to learn, you have to make mistakes.”

Audio book: The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (87 chapters, it kept me engaged and enthralled on my solo drive and I’m only at chapter 28. I guess I’ll have to keep driving! Or walking.)

---

Thank you for being part of Tribe Tilt! And welcome if you have recently joined. We believe we can make a difference to the people and places that are precious to us - that we have hope and agency within our own lives that ripples through to others.

Stay healthy. From there all else becomes possible. Treat your health as the precious resource it is.

Until next week,
Karena

Dateline: New York, NY

Would you like to join our Tribe Tilt?