Monday, May 15, 2017

A hectic trip to New Jersery and Florida

Supposedly I’ve been on vacation for the past week… a vacation that involved driving to Princeton, New Jersey for my daughter’s intercollegiate regional regatta for crew.  She’s a coxswain.  The regionals were on Lake Mercer, where the Olympic Teams practice.  Her boat was pretty beat up (they had a girl with a broken ankle and another with knee problems), so they didn’t do well, but they made it.  For her to be on the varsity team as a freshman was something of which I was proud.  I also enjoyed the cooler weather!

Her boat gaining on a competitor (they didn't quite overtake them)

Old canal house with tollbooth
While she and her team got ready, I spent the day walking along the Delaware and Raritan Canal, enjoying the beautiful dogwoods reflecting in the water.  I also ran into some folks I knew at Princeton and who invited me to a lecture on John Calvin’s piety.  I jumped at the opportunity and was blown away by the speaker, Dr. Else Anne McKee.  I was familiar with some of her work, but this was the first time I was able to hear her in person.




The regatta was on Friday.  We had planned to take several days to make it back down to Stetson, in Deland, Florida, but my daughter got a frantic text saying that she had to be out of the dorm by Sunday!   So instead of a leisurely trip south, stopping to see things, we drove like crazy.  I am now not feeling very rested, but I don’t have to be back in the office until Thursday, so maybe I’ll be able to do something fun.  Enjoy some photos:  



Towpath and canal

Reflections

The dogwoods were beautiful (ours was too, two months ago!)

22 comments:

  1. Gorgeous photos! Nice to see dogwoods blooming since ours, too, bloomed ages ago. Lucky you for getting to see a second round in person.

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  2. I think it great that your daughter made the varsity team - fantastic!

    Your collection of photographs here are lovely, especially the reflections.
    I hope you can rest, relax and recuperate before returning to work on Thursday.

    All the best Jan

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  3. I've passed through a good share of this country with no time to stop. I can't wait until I have all the time I want to stop and smell those proverbial roses.

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  4. Hi Sage - brilliant - love that your daughter took part and they 'competed' .. she'll remember for ever. Lovely thoughts and photos. Amazing to be able to hear Dr Mckee give her talk - she's obviously very knowledgeable ... lucky you. Cheers and enjoy the rest of the time - Hilary

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  5. Beautiful scenery. I'm sure it meant a lot to your daughter to have you there.

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  6. It's beautiful there - so glad you had some peace before a frantic drive!

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  7. Great photos. Hope you did get a bit of rest.

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  8. The pictures are beautiful. We just don't have anything like those spots here.

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  9. Sounds like a hectic time for you! Hopefully things will calm down a little so you can rest. Those are lovely pictures!

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  10. Wow man, that's a fair bit of traveling !.

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  11. I hear you, Sage ~ I've been traveling too and fast! How lovely that you got to see your daughter compete in her intercollegiate regatta. We have a nephew who graduated from Princeton a couple of years ago. He really enjoyed his years there.

    I caught up on the T-Z astronomy posts I missed, and they were informative and enjoyable. The Roman/Greek stories were fun to hear again. I can never keep them all straight. When I saw "Yellow Dwarf" for Y, I immediately went to the sun. My understanding is that while the sun won't become a red giant for a few more billion years, its increasing temperature will be hot enough to boil Earth's oceans in about a billion years. That seems a little too close for comfort ~ LOL! I had to track down the name of that 13th constellation in the zodiac: Ophiuchus, and now I'm curious how ancient people figured out the zodiac when the sun was in the constellation at noon. I did burn green spots in my eyes sneaking a peak at an eclipse when I was twelve. They didn't disappear for months, but fortunately my vision recovered.

    The book "Empire of the Summer Moon" sounds really interesting, so I've added it to my wish list.

    Have a great rest of the week. At least you have one more day to hopefully take it easy!

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  12. Lovely pictures. It must have been fun watching the regatta. Hope you enjoy what is left of your vacation.

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  13. Way to go for your daughter being on the varsity team! And those are great pictures.

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  14. So instead of a leisurely trip south, stopping to see things, we drove like crazy.

    Yeah, my wife is the same way on all vacations. Once we leave the house she doesn't rally want to stop until we reach our destination.

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  15. Sounds like a fun trip (except for having to drive like crazy). I love the photos. Everything looks so healthy and green.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  16. Cracking shots! :-)

    Re your question, the answer is yes. It is hard to believe that at some point there were not non-religious people in the world. Either you were pagan or you were a member of one of the Abrhamic faiths. The word "atheist" used to mean one who did not belong to Christianity, Judaism or Islam. So, Socrates's philosophical principles, although atheist-sounding, were coloured by his polytheistic beliefs.

    Greetings from London.

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  17. lovely photos and congratulations to your daughter

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  18. Sounds like a great trip, even tho not particularly restful. Our children, bless them, seem to give us many "opportunities" like that!

    Would love to hear more about the speaker at Priinceton sometime.

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  19. Beautiful images. Looks like a wonderful place to walk (or kayak).

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  20. What an interesting adventure/vacation! Like father like daughter, I know where her love for the water comes from! What a wonderful event for you to share with her. You are a great dad! Thanks for the photos, they are great.

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  21. Beautiful photos! Sounds like a busy and eventful week! Love water views. :)
    ~Jess

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