Gold Rush or King Midas Touch

Today’s Post by Mildred Alpern

Gold rush or King Midas touch, take your pick. Autumn has arrived in New York City, evident in the flow of “bullion” plummeting from the trees. By Riverside Drive alongside Riverside Park at 116th Street, honey locust, maple, and pin oak trees are decked out in fall color. Cascading golden yellow swirls about. The pavement alongside the park’s retaining wall is thick with leaves that invite a kick or two in remembrance of childhood pleasures.

I mounted a wide-angle zoom lens for this outdoor excursion, hoping for encompassing views of trees, paths, and dog walkers. In every direction lay an autumn-filled view of tarnished gold colors, nature’s bounty, embellished with benches on the Drive and railings winding into the park.

Notable along the Drive at 116th Street is the Woman’s Health Protective Association (WHPA) marble stele monument and drinking fountain, created by Bruno Louis Zimm and dedicated in 1910 to commemorate the 25th year of activity of the organization (1884-1909} founded in New York City.

For a bit of history, the stele depicts two female figures holding a lamp, representing a commitment to shed light on unsanitary public health issues, such as foul odors from slaughter houses, the water supply, school hygiene, street cleaning, garbage disposal, sewer system, and expectoration on steps and railroad platforms. On the benches alongside the monument are inscribed the names of women who were part of the WHPA, including those who helped found the New York City Women’s Suffrage Association and pushed for the 16th Amendment giving universal suffrage to all races, genders, and religions. Nice to have a camera image, lest we forget.

All images were shot with the Olympus E-M5 Mark II and the Olympus M.Zuiko 7-14mm f/2.8 Pro; the abundant leaves at 12mm, 1/100 at F/4, -1EV, ISO 400; the railings at 13mm, 1/80 at f/5.6, -1EV, ISO 400; the memorial at 7mm, 1/160 at f/5.6, -1EV, ISO 400.