Ignore the above publish date (see main page for explanation). Publish date was June 28, 2018.
I have an almost-30-year-old nephew in Colorado named Brian (courtesy of my sister Geri +1) with whom I enjoyed great email communication as he was growing up, but I hadn’t seen him in person since last century, when he and Geri came east in 1998 and we attended a Mets game (Mike Piazza’s first game as a Met!).
Brian got married last fall in Colorado to a dear friend named Amber in a package deal that included a huge bonus named Charlotte (courtesy of Amber +1). BTW – Charlotte is NOT huge, but IS a 9-year-old sweetheart. Brian’s a doubly-lucky man.
He let me know recently that the 3 of them were coming east to visit NYC and, perhaps, an uncle.
Due to a computer problem on my end, I didn’t find out about their arrival until the night before he wanted to get together, so things were quickly rearranged and a meeting took place at their NJ hotel last Saturday, June 23.
1. History! Everyone’s recent friend, Alexander Hamilton, viewed the falls in 1778, foresaw the hydroelectric possibilities and was the impetus for Paterson becoming America’s first industrialized city.
2. It’s a pretty small national park – 42 acres – and the falls section is a much smaller part of that. You can easily do the falls area on foot in an hour or less. We did.
Ever hear of Larry Doby? If not, you should have. Everyone knows who Jackie Robinson was and that he was known for being the first African-American to break the color barrier in the Major Leagues when he was signed by the Dodgers of the National League in 1947.
Doby was “the Jackie Robinson of the American League”, signing with Cleveland less than 3 months later. He endured all the racial epithets, etc., that Robinson did, but hardly anybody knows who he is.
There’s a lot of work being done in the main entrance/reception area (Overlook), so Hamilton’s statue has been boxed (to be temporarily moved?). However, since my visiting family members didn’t get to see it, I’ve faintly superimposed a picture of the statue that I took a few years ago on the box. It’s even facing the correct direction. I hope they all come back soon to verify that.
I told Charlotte to look beyond the unsightly construction to the pedestrian bridge above the falls and that we’d be there soon.
I led the group around the corner and up the street to a you’d-never-know-it-was-an-entrance entrance that would lead us to the bridge over the falls. On the way to that bridge, there were things to shoot as we followed the Passaic River to the falls.
I don’t know how these “pre-falls” came to be, but I find them interesting. Some people who come here for the first time ask, “These are the Great Falls? Pretty puny!”. Then they come upon the real falls and are impressed. Fortunately, I didn’t hear that on this trip.
By the way, the bridge you see here over the river is on that street that we just walked up (Wayne Avenue). It’s also the street that we’ll be coming down when we finish our counter-clockwise trek (and shoot the same “pre-falls” from the opposite angle).
One more thing – as I was shooting this through the wrought-iron fence, Brian came up somewhere to my left and did the same. Unbeknownst to me (and probably to Brian), Amber was somewhere behind me and to my right taking a picture of uncle and nephew doing the photographic waltz.
I was given a quick glimpse of her shot and hope that she sends it to me (along with others) to possibly add to this post (with full credit, of course). Better yet, maybe she can post them here in a comment (is that even doable?).
I saw something else in Amber’s picture. If you look closely, you can see part of a third person it. PhotoShop carbon-dating tells me that that part is about 9 years old.
William Carlos Williams, by the way, is another local guy (Rutherford, NJ) and one of his more famous poems is “Paterson”. The pictured quote is from another of his poems, “The Botticellian Trees”.
I was going for a shot of the mist, but I………mist.
Cinderella loses her slipper. In the animated film, Cinderella loses her left slipper. In the live-action film, she loses her right slipper, so this couldn’t possibly be a live shot.
That means that Charlotte is a cartoon (but don’t tell her). OMG! – that also means that Amber’s +1 is Walt Disney!
Re-slippered, Charlotte slides down the hill and nearly crashes into her mother.
We escape from the Park, but the only one of us who looked graceful doing so was Charlotte, so here she is (you wouldn’t want to see me or Brian doing this – trust me).
Crossing the street to head back into the Park, I pointed out the bent sign (maybe someone tried to steal its pole too) and the lack of proper punctuation that changed its meaning. Placing an un-slow child in front of it provided the perfect contrast and made it a better shot.
Her pose was entirely her idea and it was the right one. I didn’t have to say a word…………she gets it.
Back in the Park, we came across the prosperous-looking Great Falls Development Corporation building. You can tell that Charlotte was impressed.
Behind the building, I did a 3-photo stitch that shows (l-r): the area where we did the family shots, the pedestrian bridge (with the lower Overlook area under it), the falls, the pre-falls and the Wayne Avenue bridge. Garret Mountain is in the background.
To view it full-size, click on the image. Once it enlarges, run the mouse over the image – it should become a plus sign – and then click again. You’ll need to scroll from left to right to see everything. To return to normal size, click on the image and then hit your back button.
We could hear a lot of noise on our short, inclined walk back to Wayne Avenue………..a parade? When we got there, we saw a crowd of THREE guys waving Mexican flags and yelling at passing cars. Apparently, Mexico had just won a game in World Cup competition.
On a nearby pole, I found a bright red Blocking Tag, but wasn’t sure what it was for. Maybe it was a penalty card for a catcher for blocking the plate and keeping a runner from scoring when he didn’t have the ball yet? Whatever it was, it made the whole background tilted.
Another great article, enjoyed Little Miss Photogenic AKA Little Miss Water Falls 2018!
Wow,just visited NJ 2 wks ago and Elaine, her daughter Meghan and I were right there! Didn’t notice the stadium nor learn of the history behind it. We rushed a bit since thunder & lightning were forecast.
this was terrific!!! So great to see all the faces and all the water and all the history!! Matthew and I both have a thing for waterfalls so this was especially enjoyable.
loved reading about the Colorado Contingent !
sorry it took me until today (8/17) to read it as I was getting on line to wish you a Happy Birthday Bob!