I made it to the triathlon yesterday for the end of the race, after these amazing athletes had already swum in the Hudson River, bicycled to the Bronx, and ran around Central Park. I positioned myself near the finish line, where I figured I could observe some interesting expressions of people who had just one more curve to go around before finishing their journey.

Special congratulations go out to my friend Ben Collins, who placed 11th and who is a professional triathlete. He writes a blog about his experiences which you can see here:

www. bencollins.org

And my condolences to the family and friends of the man who passed away during the triathlon. It’s not clear what happened, but you can read the Times’ story on it here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/sports/othersports/21triathlon.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin

All images ©Elizabeth Leitzell 2008

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On Sunday, I attended the dancing of the Giglio and boat, hosted by the Shrine Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. 100 men lifted this 3+ ton structure honoring San Paolino and the virgin as part of a 12 day feast honoring San Paolino. You can read the story and history of this festival here:

http://www.olmcfeast.com/main/

And here’s the Italian website of the same feast in Nola, Italy, which has some great music and photos:

http://www.giglidinola.it/main.htm

If you live in NYC, check it out! There are still two more chances to see the Giglio dance, this Friday night, and Sunday afternoon. It’s definitely worth seeing. N. 8th and Havemeyer. The website listed above provides a schedule.

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Summers in the northeast continue to delight me. Heat and humidity build up until you’re ready to melt away, and then the thunder begins, and soon those huge drops of rain pour down to alleviate the heavy, wet air. These photographs were taken in between thunderstorms, when a low fog covered the Connecticut River in Massachusetts.

All images © Elizabeth Leitzell 2008.

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I hiked along the Ramapo-Dunderberg Trail (which joins with the Appalachian Trail briefly) this week. I’ve heard that one of the reasons people lighten up a bit in spring is that the color green has therapeutic effects. Coupled with slight dehydration on a very hot May afternoon, I was experiencing something of  a transcendental journey in this lush environment.

All images © Elizabeth Leitzell 2008

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Mid-May, I found myself on the Southern tip of Florida, on the island of Sanibel. During my stay, I got about 40 bug bites, and a fun sunburn, but the creatures and plants that thrive in Florida have a very meditative and pleasant demeanor. Maybe it has something to do with warmth, the sounds of the ocean, and the fact that you just can’t build a big city with a lot of noise and rushing around on such a tiny island?

All images © Elizabeth Leitzell 2008

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when the only birds you run into on a daily basis are pigeons, it’s nice to see that there are other birds surviving on the outskirts of the city. on the windy shores of far rockaway, i observed several types of beach birds.

all images ©Elizabeth Leitzell 2008

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In the northeast, spring has only just begun to emerge, but it is still an exciting time to explore the woods.

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I was lucky to have a free morning during a job earlier in April so I could take a hike in Joshua Tree National Park. I was even more lucky that it happened to be that brief time of year when the wildflowers in the park come into bloom, dazzling visitors with their small but robust beauty.

It is amazing that such an arid climate can produce the most radiant of colors – coming from the big city in the east, it is easy to forget that each of the ‘pantone’ shades was not created by man, but discovered in nature and then labeled by man. Man has done amazing things with this color palette provided on our planet, great works of art that evoke emotion for centuries, colors that unify a country or a political movement. More recently, colors are used in popular media to invoke feelings of thirst, hunger or eroticism, to make us feel like buying beverages and cars and cigarettes and clothing.

But when I see these colors in their natural habitat, I do not feel an urge to purchase things or to assign a cultural value to the different shades of reds, blues, and greens; I am just filled with awe that these colors are simply a product of a particular amount of water, carbon dioxide and sunlight! It is peaceful and invigorating all at once. It seems impossible that such colors could emerge from the pale and hot sand of the desert, but is just an example of the earth’s ability to take what resources are available to create life.

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Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Read the rest of this entry »

The first two images were taken when the ice was still frozen over enough (temperatures the prior week had been as low as -45 Celsius) to safely traverse the Tanana. However, only a few days later, weather in the 30s and 40s had melted all the snow around here and I was unsure of stepping onto the ice with my precious cameras…

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