Our Own Private Park

Bradley and I have our own private little pathway and park just across the street from the house. The leaves on the trees looked great a couple of weeks ago when this shot was taken. It's nice to have your own private little park. Of course, it's not ours alone but I often think of it that way.

Jim

Americans Need To Watch Al Jazeera

There's a must read article in today's New York Times penned by Roger Cohen on the topic of Al Jazeera, the Arab news network. Cohen believes that the English language version of Al Jazeera news should be widely available in the U.S. because Americans need to see and hear what the rest of the world can see and hear, namely the news from that particular viewpoint. We don't realize the degree to which Americans are insulated and isolated from the world community, Cohen seems to be saying. As our power and influence wanes, we had better wake up and wise up. The world is changing around us in ways that we may not like and can no longer control. However, keeping our heads buried in the sand doesn't help. Of course, the current president and his administration would not want Americans to have access to this information even though Bush's approval ratings can hardly go much lower. They're afraid of Al Jazeera English language newscasts, with good reason.

PHOTO: Geese are ever present on the river banks here in Fairmount Park

Jim

The Seasons Are Changing

This is the entrance to one of the beautiful old boathouses along Kelly Drive in Philadelphia's famous boat house row. Most days we pass by the row of quaint nineteenth century structures on one of our daily walks.

We've had a few days of much needed rain. It's been a dry early Fall. Hopefully, we'll still be able to enjoy the changing colors of the leaves, since that occurs here later than it does further North.

Halloween is on Wednesday, but the stores downtown have already begun installing their holiday decorations. Time flies.

Jim

Lemon Hill Mansion

Here's the picture I tried to post earlier. Driving or walking long Philadelphia's "Kelly Drive" through Fairmount Park, you can catch a glimpse of "Lemon Hill," one of several Fairmount Park mansions. The mansions can be visited, and they are usually decorated around the holidays. Maybe this year we'll get to visit them in December.

Jim

Our Morning City Routine Starts Here

Back in the city, my early morning walk with Brad starts out with this view looking downtown. The huge new skyscraper will be the tallest building in the city when completed. In the distance is Philadelphia's beautiful old City Hall complex with a statue of William Penn on top at 500 feet, saved from the wrecker's ball decades ago only because it would have been too costly to demolish it. Now it's one of our treasures. The street is Pennsylvania Avenue. A hundred and ten years ago there were five or six active railroad tracks at street level at this location. About a hundred years ago, the tracks were buried below in a large tunnel. The tracks and trains are long gone save a single track that is used for freight, but the tunnel remains directly underneath this scene. Just to the right out of camera range is the Philadelphia Museum Of Art. It's about a three minutes walk from this point to Fairmount Park, the largest park in the country within the limits of any city.

Jim