September/October 2013 Photographs and Perspectives

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Stone Church Brook October 27, 2013

We live across the road and up the hill from this brook.  As much as I enjoy seeing it, I only go there every few weeks to get water for my aquariums.  There are brooks and streams like this all over the Hudson Valley.

Hope you’re enjoying autumn.  Easily my favorite part of the year.  I wish October lasted three months.  It’s always over too soon.

DPW

October 30, 2013

Hudson Valley Autumn – October 17, 2013

I’ve been driving by these places (on the way to Poughkeepsie) since January but didn’t stop to take pictures until recently.  Mostly because the roads are two-lane and the shoulders are narrow.

As much as I liked looking at the big pond, I had no idea it had koi in it.  They’re about two feet long.

I saw the old house last winter but the vegetation hid it during the spring and summer.  It would look better with overcast.

I guess more vibrant autumn color was inhibited by the wind and rain but the area is still beautiful.  Hope you like the pictures.

DPW

October 18, 2013

 Autumn Color – October 4, 2013

These pictures were taken on route 343 on the way home from Poughkeepsie after I saw “Gravity”, which I reviewed for this site.  After living in Berkeley, West Hollywood, and Chelsea in Manhattan, it’s a fascinating change to have Poughkeepsie be the big city compared to where we live.

The overpass in the first picture is the Taconic Highway, which is very beautiful.

DPW

October 5, 2013

Tim Tebow Brought This Upon Himself

That’s not meant in a mean-spirited way.  I was glad to hear he threw those two touchdowns against the Jets in that pre-season game, even though I always want the Jets to play well (I’m bracing myself for the worst this year).  Then I cringed when he gave credit for the scores and the win to Jesus Christ (who neither blocked for him nor caught the TD passes) because I knew there had to be backlash from it.  Here’s a Christian Press article about his post-game comments: http://www.christianpress.com/index.php/opinion/columns/dr-jim-denison/96-opinion/uncategorised/227-tebow-denver-broncos-football-jesus

The next day, the Patriots released him:  http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/patriots/2013/08/31/patriots-release-tim-tebow-cut/2750815/

It was conflicting that Belichick even brought him on board at all, since he had repeatedly said he had no interest in Tebow.  This article says Belichick hates Tebow as a player and the Patriots didn’t want the circus that comes with Tebow, although no one with the Patriots organization, notoriously tight lipped, is directly quoted:  http://nesn.com/2013/05/report-bill-belichick-hates-tim-tebow-as-a-player-wouldnt-want-circus-he-brings/

Any time a player does any kind of personal flag-waving, religious or not, he’s asking for attention and trouble.  I’ve long hoped he’d stop making comments about his faith to the press, who live for this sort of thing, and just focus on the game.  We’re heard so much about Tebow and so little of it is about his actual playing that, as a fan, I just don’t want to hear about him anymore, and I know I’m not alone.  I think religion is a personal and private thing and, other than services, it should be kept that way.  A friend shared Matthew 6:6 with me:

The Lord’s Prayer
5“When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6“But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 7“And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.…

As I’ve said for decades, my religion is trying to do things well and treating people well, unless they give me reasons to do otherwise, at which point I ignore them.  Pretty uncomplicated.

A public figure wanting to use his position to be a positive role model is admirable, but you really have to be consistently good at what you do (that got the microphones in your face in the first place) for it to be effective and impactful.

If he attributes the good things that happen to him to God and his faith, how does he personally account for things like getting cut from the three NFL teams he’s played for after short (in the case of the Jets, disastrous) stints?

Still, I’m not rooting against him and would love to see him come back and have a healthy NFL career, although it’s not looking good at this point.

DPW

September 11, 2013

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