With fall being a last chance for most of us to spend longer durations of time outdoors (and the Sukkot holiday sort of demanding it), why not take a local trip to walk parts of the Teaneck Creek Conservancy area, situated right off of Teaneck Road.
An outing on a day of Chol Hamoed can last a couple hours, or longer if you wish. You’ll easily avoid the lines of the popular (and advertised) destinations, and get to check out some of the many acres of what is essentially reclaimed or preserved land, replete with groomed trails, Teaneck Creek tributaries, a selection of animal life and an abundance of…trees and leaf cover.
Trees and leaves might not excite every population, but the chance to declutter from the everyday, disrupt the disruption (to use more modern business lingo) and see the trees from the forest should provide inspiration and some moments of sanity you can take back with you. If you’re a photographer, or sport a nice camera-taking-device that lets you see differently and deeply, all the better.
Last fall I wandered, even if not too far off, along the pathways and made my way with a basic sense of direction as to where I was headed (I only got confused once toward the end, and though not sure which direction to head at one fork, made it back to the car).
Truthfully, at times I was not so enthralled by the sameness of the trees. It’s like that. But photographic seeing is a commitment to look again at the ordinary, or look from a different place, to find something novel enough to resonate and pull us in further. I climbed no trees and maneuvered no hovering drone for overhead shots. I did see patterns in the leaves, fallen twigs that could be worked into a nice composition, gradations in the earth tones in front of me, and light from the sun far away that consistently defines our visual existence, in addition to the more vital physical existence.
After parking your car in the parking lot (20 Puffin Way, Teaneck, New Jersey), you can start your modest journey with a peek at the art to be found in the Puffin Sculpture Garden just alongside. Then head over to the trail map to acclimate yourself. After that, enter the trail area and start your nature walk (there will be joggers, too, clocking a faster pace). You’ll notice inviting places to sit along the route, including ornamental benches, and accessible areas to visit that are slightly off the trail and worth a look around.
I’d recommend to others something I have yet to do myself, and that is to come back in a few months when there’s snow covering the ground. It’s easy enough, close enough, and even—in mostly a black and white palette—colorful enough to offer more natural fare than you’d perhaps meet up with in your own backyard and certainly at the office, where the word trail, if even uttered, is either a plastic-bagged mix or something that involves too much paper correspondence.
By Judah S. Harris
Judah S. Harris is a photographer, filmmaker, speaker and writer. Visit him at www.judahsharris.com/folio.
