Sunday, September 10, 2006

Sunset at Chelsea Pier


Cities have always drawn life from the waterways that adjoin them. They're modes of transportation, foundations of trade and commerce, or simply a whimsical place to visit and contemplate the meaning of life.

Earlier this week, I was privileged to be invited to an Intel-sponsored dinner at Chelsea Pier, on New York's west side. Just before dinner was served, we all meandered outside and chatted with each other on the pier. We watched an almost endless parade of kayaks, ferries and sailboats float past under the fading light, as well as helicopters from the helipad next door.

As I tried to mentally remember what this place looked and felt like, I chatted about photography with some of HP's best technology minds, the folks who decide what your next computer will look like, how it will work and how it will remain secure.

It was one of those moments where you wonder how you got so lucky to be there. My only regret was I didn't get to share it first-hand with my family. Soon.

Your turn: Describe a perfect moment you may have once had.

16 comments:

Shephard said...

Chelsea Pier. :)
Great photo.

My perfect moment... sounds cliche, but... eating a salmon dinner alfresco, with my sweetheart, on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. Fell in love with the place, and the colors were so saturated and old and yet alive, I just wanted to stay there all day. Luckily, the Italians do not mind if you nurse a cup of coffee and sit and enjoy for 2 hours.

~S :)

Anonymous said...

There are so many....but being on a boat on the lake at sunset sharing a bottle of wine while the sky grew dark and nothing but the laps of the water against the sides of the boat could be heard. Not having to speak, just enjoying the moment. Michele says hi.

Thumper said...

I'm drawing a blank here... I know I've had those moments, but there's nothing like trying to remember them to cork them up...

Or maybe I'm just getting old...

Moon said...

One of my most recent perfect moments was last month. The moment that Chris and I walked hand in hand towards our 26th floor window view to see the Niagara Falls together for the first time. It was jaw dropping! The perfect way to start our honeymoon. That same night, while sitting in the jacuzzi tub relaxing in the dark. we noticed flickers of light on the wall. We sat up and with amazement watched FIREWORKS... sparkle outside, perfectly level to our window...in the luxery of the tub and watching fireworks! How cool is that?! lol All this with the one person in the world I would want to share it with.

Moogie said...

One of my perfect moments (and there are many to draw from) was when my husband and I actually got to spend a week together without the kids (they were with my mom and dad). One of the places we went was Ichetucknee Springs in Florida. We went down the springs in a raft (you can use inner tubes as well). The water is so calm and clear. It's a brilliant color of blue and you can see all the way down to the bottom. In many places along the way, the trees form a canopy over the top. It's so beautiful that I have a hard time finding words to describe it.

Anonymous said...

A perfect moment, one that I do not have captured by photo, but only memory...is of a midnight hour in the desert of Wyoming, listening to Robbie Robertson's songs and watching wild horses thundering by me.

Here via Michele

keda said...

ooh i think my most perfect moment to date was about 2 days after i gave birth to the hoglets. this may be TMI but you did ask :)
i was lying in bed in my room in the hospital. i ahdn't slept at all for 4 days. and for the first time since the birth both were asleep.
i was lying on my side with one child lying along side me asleep at my left breast, and one literally hanging over my side drinking upside down from my right breast.
all was quiet, calm and we just fitted.
i suddenly knew what life was all about, and was struck that thibgs could not really be any more perfect than right at that moment.
wonderful.

sage said...

Nice photo and I have to say that most of my "perfect moments" have been around the time of sunrises and sunsets...

Anonymous said...

I have been looking forward to seeing your NYC pics! Beautiful sunset you captured at Chelsea's pier! I so wanted a night pic of the city and didn't get one...yours was amazing! I have so many perfect moments that I can't pick just one...and I am very glad for it to be that way! :)
Hope you are feeling less blue soon.
Here from Michele's

Anonymous said...

You're an amazing writer. I'm looking forward to your tributge for the 2,996 Project...

Mike said...

Another great picture.

I think the night my son was born was a perfect night.

Here from Michele's

Toni said...

I'll go with a sunset moment too.

I was standing by a coconut tree, watching the sunset in Manila Bay. I was alone, but I enjoyed the beauty of the pinks and oranges.

A friend asked me, "How many more sunsets do we have to watch alone?"

I hoped then I would find someone I could share moments like that with.

I now have that special someone, but I'll always treasure that moment when I watched the sunset alone. I was alone but not lonely. I was calm, serene, peaceful. It was beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous image! I used to have some amazing sunset pics I took on the eastern shore of Maryland years ago. Three moves later, who knows where those might be. Please keep up your fine work.

Michele sent me.

Sandy said...

As a NJ native, I am smitten with this photo. It's not often I get to see the inbound view from that particular waterway. At least not photographed - I tend to see it one my way home which is nice and sweet but somehow I'm never really "looking" at it then, if that makes sense.

Hope you had a fruitful trip!

Anonymous said...

Hi again my Canadian friend.
Here from Michele again
I'll be back to read your 9/11 tribute. I've been waiting for your words on this subject

Twisted Cinderella said...

I remember not that long ago, my family and I spent the day together just doing various fun things. Kind of like tourists in our town. We went to a fair in the park, we went shopping, we played in the park, we fed the ducks and we went to see a movie. Just Prince Charming, Little Princess and I. and I remember looking over at Little Princess who had fallen asleep all folded up in the movie theatre chair with her head on her feet, and then looking down at my hand holding Prince Charming's hand, and I just breathed a sigh of contentment. It was a perfect day of relaxing and fun together.