Monday, December 31, 2007

A GWB w/ Merit











Riverside Drive. I mean, Riverside Park Path. On my final day of apt/cat-sitting for Du & Ojijo, I got in a great run along here, remaining (more or less) Hudson-side for the duration. Or until I found my way up to the bridge, which proved no small feat (again).

Riverside Park is a narrow four-mile strip (72nd to 125th) between the Hudson and curvy Riverside Drive, designed by the Central Park guy, Olmsted. All sorts of vegetation, monuments, quaint walking bridges and tunnels, rec facilities... lot goin' on.









GWB from my starting point. I think I zoomed in here, though, so it probably looked farther.













North River Sanitation Plant.











Closer...











Harlem, near Fairway Market. The trail was under construction, I think, so I had to re-route for a bit. Unexpected combination of industry, blue-collar pubs, and country club-variety cafes near the water. I guess I'm never up here, though, so wouldn't take much to surprise.

[insert pic]

Once back on the path, I experienced maybe my first 'wait, you say I'm in Manhattan?' moment. Obviously things had become a little tricky, causing me to skirt and dart and otherwise chance my way around.









Same crumbling point on the path. I edged down a slick hill of rock to get closer to this.













Beneath. Now, to get on it.











So close, yet so many roads, lanes, ramps...









On it. It was mid-afternoon, though it looks closer to dusk in this image. That's Jersey over yonder, downtown Manhattan to the left... Of all I've enjoyed in the last three years, this view (second time) is one of my absolute favorites. It's just so sweeping--and rare, given the little time I've spent up this way. I loved being able to pick out what must've been the Statue of Liberty--barely visible, the tiniest of lines--from so far north. And the ESB, closer but still so negligible looking. Just as mesmerizing was the appearance of the water--the slight shifts in current, the wavy, sparkling track of sunlight... This bridge's side rails are none too high, which you do your best to forget.









From Jerz.











Back homeward.











I haven't pinned down exactly what it is, and I probably won't, but since moving here my love affair hasn't dimmed at all. Maybe on some level I associate bridges w/ taking risks, yet w/ the assurance that substantial support is provided. Then there's the head-hurting beauty of such enormity, such painstaking craftsmanship...









Very much zoomed in on.











From down below, you don't realize how twisty the shoreline is. It is.











Another hit to the heart.













Shifting waters, shifting roads...











Washington Heights, somewhere around 178th. I took the train back to the UWS from here, catching said train from a station I'd seen once before (similar running route, I believe, like two point five years ago). It was precisely tube-like, reminding me of a) London's Underground, and b) those canisters you'd use at drive-thru banking centers back in the day. Rats make themselves right at home at this station, judging by the way a big fat one hung out on the platform and stared up at me for a good five seconds. (Happening upon this, I had to share. Apologies.*)











WH.

*Please accept this gentle poem [kooser.pdf] as compensation for any ratty and/or bloody dreams that befall you.

Posted by princess kanomanom @ 8:01 AM