Fire Island

Just to the south of Long Island lies a half-mile-wide and thirty-two-mile long barrier beach with a lighthouse, called Fire Island.

Long prior to Manhattan highrises and the Long Island Railroad, this lush landscape was the home of America's natives, who hunted and fished here.  As early as 1653, FI started as a whaling station that continued for over a century.  In 1825, after its construction, the FI lighthouse symbolized the first American landmark seen by many European immigrants on their way through New York Harbor.  Then, all hell broke loose in the 1950s and it soon became a bohemian Shangri-la for escapees from the concrete jungle of Manhattan. Now, it is part of the National Park Service and bungalows dot the landscape for a few lucky residents or summer renters. In short, this place is paradise.

The National Park Service website presents several possibilities for the origin of the "fire" in Fire Island.  The less colorful version cites references to an inlet name.  Poor penmanship could have attributed to a mistaken reading of "fire" rather than "five" for the"Five Islands patented by William Nicholls in 1688 in what is now the western end of Fire Island."  The racier theory involves pirates setting fire to the island to lure vessels to the shore, and the grasping-at-straws version blames poison ivy, "either for its red leaves in autumn or its fiery itch."  As a tidbit for Long Island Trivial Pursuit, it may be useful to know that FI is the the ancestral home of one of the four signers from New York of the Declaration of Independence, the William Floyd Estate.

What makes FI somewhat unique is its accessibility--or, more accurately, its inaccessibility. Although visitors to the Robert Moses park and lighthouse to the west may visit that area by car, residents [with a few exceptions not worth disclosing here] and visitors may access the pristine beaches, beach rentals or homes, and the bars only by private boats or a ferry system. Once you arrive, if you are staying a while, you can use a little muscle to schlep your stuff by a wagon.

A grid of bicycle paths connects the villages and leads adventurers to coastline views of dunes and vegetation.  The comfortable temperatures are why all the New Yorkers leave both Manhattan [and Florida] to spend their summers here.  

While approaching the dock at Ocean Beach, melodies from Jimmy Buffett songs naturally float through my brain, and every muscle in my body instantly knows it is on vacation.  However your summer unfolds, I hope you all have at least one day that feels this perfect,shared with family and friends. 

The Light Within: Fireflies & Moontowers

At dusk on an unannounced evening in early summer, a firefly makes its magical appearance. Like mobile lighthouses, they flicker with a mesmerizing syncopated rhythm. Almost instantly I am captivated in the moment anticipating the next appearance of these insect illusionists.

Even though they appear annually, their appearance feels as random as the magical appearance of a shooting star. I feel special, as if chosen to witness this event at this particular moment. If I had been rushing somewhere and not paying attention, I would have missed it.

The firefly has the genetic ability to make its own light through bioluminescence. Because bioluminescence usually occurs in marine life, the random witnessing of these little bugs in the throes of their mating dance has even more magic. If you have ever been lucky enough to catch one, you know that the lightning bug has not exactly been blessed with beauty; it’s beautiful because of the light it emits.

On a recent visit to Austin, Texas, I thought about fireflies in the disjointed context of viewing a somewhat unknown city treasure: The Moontowers. These not-so-attractive moonlight towers, barely noticed by residents or tourists, have a rich history that designates them as an official state archaeological landmark and part of the National Register of Historic Places. Like many cities in America in the mid-1890s, Austin erected thirty-one of these towers to provide artificial light to some developing areas of the city. Now, only seventeen remain due to "construction, errant vehicles and other unfortunate circumstances." Austin is reportedly the only city left in America that has these artificial moonlight towers. [Visit austinpostcard.com/moontower.php for more details]

I was reminded of fireflies because something that appears nondescript becomes beautiful when sharing its light. I love that as humans, too, we flicker our own light, through our eyes, our energy, and our spirit. We can feel inspired to bask in this light amongst loved ones and complete strangers, if we are open to witnessing it. This sentiment reflects in the light of poetry by Sufi Poet, Hafiz [translated by Daniel Ladinsky]:

With That Moon Language

Admit something:

Everyone you see, you say to them, "Love me."

Of course you do not do this out loud, otherwise someone would call the cops.

Still, though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect.

Why not become the one who lives with a full moon in each eye

that is always saying,

with that sweet moon language,

what every other eye in this world is dying to hear?

We can all seek to connect to such light in ourselves and others.

Take Five: Boroughs & Bridges

If you want to really see New York City, I highly recommend cycling in the annual Five Boro Bike Tour held in May. Traversing by bicycle on the roadways and bridges normally relegated to motor vehicles evokes a rebellious giddiness—at least until the nearly two-mile and almost four percent grade of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge beginning at mile thirty-five. This forty-plus miles adventure was a good training ride for the big ride in a few weeks [http://thealchemyofbalance.blogspot.com/2011/03/my-support-your-heart-ride.html], and introduced my new tires to the five boroughs of New York City and five interesting bridges. The residents and visitors must have been thrilled to have 30,000 bicyclists and road closures that day.

In New York state a borough is a municipal corporation created when a county merges with the cities, towns, and incorporated villages within its boundaries. The five boroughs of New York are: Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.

The ride technically began in Battery Park at the southernmost tip of Manhattan, but many of us jumped in at other points to avoid the throngs of people. The route included Central Park, streets of Harlem, and a rest stop at Astoria Park in Queens.[pictured left] The ride officially ended on Staten Island, and the highlight for me was riding the Staten Island Ferry back to the starting point. Then came the serious business of eating Italian food in Little Italy!

The five bridges were exciting because they added some "hills" and history to the ride, in addition to the fact they were completely closed to car traffic. First, we ascended the Madison Avenue Bridge, a swing bridge, in order to get to the Bronx. As a side note, the Bronx is the only mainland parcel of the United States in New York City; the other boroughs are on islands!  At mile nine we crossed the Third Avenue Bridge, which connects East 135th Street and Third Avenue in the Bronx to East 128th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.

Six miles later the cantilevered Feelin’-Groovy Simon-and-Garfunkel [Queensboro] Bridge offered stunning views of the East River between 59th street in Manhattan and Long Island City in Queens.[pictured left]

We reached our fourth bridge at mile twenty-two: the Pulaski Bridge. This bridge connects Long Island City to Greenpoint in Brooklyn, crossing over Newtown Creek and the Long Island Expressway.

The grand finale bridge, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was a special treat, especially for commuters accustomed to waiting a while in their cars to cross it. The only two ways to cross this bridge without a car are cycling in this ride or running the New York City marathon. When this bridge opened to traffic in 1964, it was the world’s longest suspension span bridge [it has since been surpassed by six others]. The main span from tower to tower, at 4, 260 feet makes it sixty feet longer than the Golden Gate bridge. Cyclists enter the bridge at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn and then exit at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island. After visiting the finale festival on Staten Island, we had to cycle about three miles to the Staten Island Ferry terminal for the trip back to Manhattan.

On such a beautiful day, the ferry ride was an added treat.

Monumental Blossoms

Spring! Nature shares her beauty in a paint-by-numbers way, dabbing in one beautiful hue daily. Early on, delicate pink cherry blossoms brighten the dull remnants of the barren winter landscapes. Japanese culture reveres this beautiful, evanescent blossom, which also equates to a spiritual understanding of the innocent, ephemeral nature of life.

In 1912 Japan gave flowering cherry trees to the United States. Every year thousands of people visit Washington, D.C. to view these spectacular trees lining the Tidal Basin. The ephemeral nearly gossamer blossoms epitomize the beauty of the present moment; memories or photographs cannot replace the enjoyment of the actual viewing.

In Washington, D.C., the pale petals flutter against a backdrop of stark monuments. The contrast is remarkable.  Our nation’s masonic heritage undergirds structures built to commemorate the past and built to stand long into the future. For instance, the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria Virginia pays tribute to the Alexandria, Lodge for which George Washington held the office of Master when he was inaugurated as President on April 30, 1789. Thomas Jefferson had proposed this site as ideal for the nation’s Capitol. The cornerstone was dedicated in 1923, and the memorial was officially dedicated on May 12, 1932, the bicentennial year of George Washington’s birth. See http://gwmemorial.org/index.php

Along the Tidal Basin the Jefferson Memorial, completed in 1943, honors our nation's third President.  Nearby, the Washington National Monument stands sentinel over the National Mall.  Completed in 1884 after decades of delay, this 555-foot obelisk, the world's tallest masonry structure, houses 897 steps to its pyramid observation area.

Amidst all of this permanence, the gracefully cascading pink blossoms are dessert for the eyes.

        
         Though I searched all day for spring
             I could not find it.
         Carrying my staff
            I crossed over mountain after mountain
         Coming back home
            I happened to grasp a spray of plum blossoms
          There I saw spring, blooming at its tip.
                    --The Blue Bird, Tai-i [Sung Dynasty]




Beauty is in this fleeting moment.  It is the sturdy structures of our lives--relationships, avocations, and values--that ballast life's impermanence.

All photos by N.D. Mignone 2011

Keeping Step With a Vision

In Nassau, Bahamas, between 1793-94, slaves were forced to carve a 102-foot staircase into the limestone ridge leading to Bennett's Hill and Fort Fincastle. Although the staircase reportedly had sixty-six original steps, it now has only sixty-five. Later, this historic site was named The Queen's Staircase to commemorate the alleged sixty-five years of Queen Victoria's reign. For the record, Queen Victoria reigned from June 20, 1837, until January 22, 1901, about five months shy of sixty-four years.

Climbing these dauntingly steep steps resembles progressive goals journeying toward a bigger vision. Start with the vision, memorialize it, then take the first step. Incremental achievements motivate us upward. If we feel discouraged, we can see how far we have come.

Creating the vision occasionally presents challenges. Unlike the Queen’s Staircase, though, a vision is not carved in stone. Starting from even glimpses, the vision over time becomes crystal clear.  A vision can change, too, or it adapts to changed circumstances. For example, this octagonal building built in 1797 as the Nassau jail now houses the Nassau Public Library and Museum!


What vision do you hold for your life? The day-to-day duties of life can feel more like trying to stay afloat in an endless ocean than traversing a groomed trail to a summit. When life feels off-course from what we think we envisioned, take refuge in the words of George Eliot, that "It is never too late to be what you might have been." 


At any moment lies the opportunity to reclaim or create a vision, and then you can take that courageous first step.

A statue of a young Queen Victoria guards the former British colonial seat of government in Nassau, Bahamas.
All photos by Nicole D. Mignone

Spring On the High Line

Within just a few short blocks from Penn Station on Manhattan's West Side, you can elevate yourself from the chaos of the street noise and escape into a picturesque mile-and-a-half long nature trail on the former High Line railroad tracks.   In the 1930s freight trains were elevated thirty feet off of the industrial district's streets.  The elevated freight trains no longer operated after about 1980, and in the late 1990s, the City considered demolishing the elevated structure.  A community conservancy formed to preserve this historic structure, and it became a beautiful public park that runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues. See  http://www.thehighline.org/about/high-line-history.  These pictures were taken on Section 1 of the High Line, which opened to the public on June 9, 2009; the remaining sections running north are currently under construction and renovation. 

This beautiful trail offers public artwork, gardens, nature, city vistas, and history.  Remarkably, this peaceful public oasis exists amidst the busy noisy streets of downtown.  This green space reminds me that a little creativity and collaboration can rejuvenate something outdated. Sometimes we discard that which is no longer useful to us, and other times we can recycle what we have into something else beautiful to share.  With the advent of spring today, the idea of renewal and revival feels abundant and possible.  No matter how busy and chaotic life seems, the possibility exists to create a beautiful, peaceful, elevated space to give your life a whole new perspective.

Happy spring and may creativity continue to bloom in your life.