Tribute to “Our Heroes” by Peter Foley at the Firefly

Photos of firemen responding to September 11th

These images from September 11th and immediate aftermath, collectively titled “Our Heroes,” are on view at The Firefly Artists at 90 Main Street in Northport through 9/14. This is just a small piece of an incredibly moving collection captured by photojournalist Peter Foley

We of The Firefly Artists are honored to host this special window exhibition entitled, “Our Heroes.”

This show of works by photojournalist Peter Foley honors the NYC Firefighters who ran in to do what they could in the aftermath of 9/11.

It’s kind of nice the way we were able to tuck it in at our westernmost window. A few pieces face inward, a few out. It provides good space for quiet reflection.

May these pieces remind us that, no matter how bad things get, there are those among us who will run in to give all they have to make them better.

May we ever honor and care for the heroes. May we ever arc toward our most noble ideals. May we live to be worthy of such sacrifice…

Images are available for purchase. You may find Synchronicity’s own tribute to that day here.

We Will Never Forget…

Photo of the WTC memorial lights by Colin Hopkins

We Will Never Forget… Photo of the WTC memorial lights by Colin Hopkins, Local 580 Iron Workers. Colin was on week three of work when the towers fell, a day when these folks and many others who never expected to be such, came to serve as first responders and who continued working at the site for weeks after the attack. Later, Colin was also among those present at work who got to witness the Freedom Spire rise…

We Will Never Forget…

It’s been years since this was first written. The children are older…there are adults now who have no memory of this day, while those of us who lived through it will never forget. The sentiment remains the same…

Over the last two and half decades, we have learned a new rhythm….The end of summer comes, there is a flurry of activity about getting kids prepared for and off to school, and then, the moment all settles down the weight of solemn remembrance overshadows everything but the realization of how lucky we are to have that terrible event cast such a pall over our beings only once a year. Our hearts go out to so many others who lost so much…who experienced so much…who have since endured so much…

We remember the first puzzled and then stunned and horrified voices of the professionals whose job it is to tell us the bad news every day. We recall the images that replayed, the bells that rang, the world that all but stopped.

We remember the selfless bravery of firemen who went in where anyone in their “right mind” would be running out.

We remember the horrific loss of 2,977 innocent lives, including 343 of those firemen, 60 police officers and 8 EMTS. We remember the probability that anyone we encountered may have just lost someone dear. We remember how some of those who perished did so heroically apprehending hijackers and crashing their own plane.

Our hearts twist in the simultaneous gratitude for the miracle of how, despite intense confusion, so many lived to tell their tale or simply were not there.

We remember the people walking over the Brooklyn Bridge…covered in dust…the people being rescued from the end of Manhattan Island…the people desperately seeking people who would never be found.

We remember the school children who did not know. We remember the teachers who did, but could not tell them. We remember the beautiful day slowly overcast by those beautiful, yet terrible clouds. We remeber the taste. We remember the smell.

We remember the iron workers, the dock builders and the other hard working Long Islanders who heard of the disaster and raced to the scene to see if they could be of service. We remember those who spent weeks upon weeks shoveling through the twisted debris. We remember the price so many have paid for their commitment.

We give thanks to all who give so much to see them cared for. We wonder why they’ve had to fight so hard.

We remember being implored to go out and live. We remember being told it was patriotic to shop. We remember wishing there was something more meaningful to do. We remember Paul McCartney and the musicians he gathered to play for the world and those first responders. We remember Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick who were on Broadway as The Producers, and how they epitomized the notion that “the show must go on.”…how meaningful it was to simply carry on.

We remember the brave men and women who have been at war ever since that fateful day. We pray that they and all the others who bear intense burdens and indelible scars will be properly cared for. We pray for a peace that seems so very far away.

We look down at children, and now young adults, who never knew the days before then; who never wondered at those impossibly tall buildings but may have marveled at those even taller beams of light; who never felt that fateful day; who look at us in bewilderment at the ongoing challenges, both at home and abroad…who wish, sometimes loudly, other times in quiet sighs, that the adults of this world would finally grow up.

We remember the noble ideals that we stand for. We remember how innocent we were. We realize on how much has changed since then, including an explosion of communication that somehow seems to have opened chasms between good people of different perspectives, and tidal waves of information that seem to only muddy any sense we once had of the truth. We reflect on how much we still have to learn, and on how much we seem to have forgotten…

We remind ourselves that while the battle may rage on within our hearts and across this world, we must never let terror win. We must never let the blind hatred that enables it to win. We must overcome.

But how?

The words of many sages come to mind; visionaries and scholars of so many cultures and kinds. We keep coming back to the wisest ones; the ones who seem to have mattered the most…

Over and over they whisper from the ages the same small, powerful yet humble, healing, overcoming, uplifting light of a word…

And so…we reflect…on Love.

Share Your Story: Moth Style Story Slam to Return to Northport

Share Your Story

Story Tellers Wanted!  Your Theme: "I Had a Hunch"

Inspired by The Moth radio hour, Elizabeth Alexander has been organizing storytelling events in Northport Village and the surrounding area, In this, she is creating opportunities for the community to connect and be inspired.

They’ve been fantastic. What a way to get to know our neighbors!

We look to host the next one at The Firefly! Moth-style storytelling is a genre of personal narrative stories about an experience that took place in the storyteller’s life. Stories are crafted, planned- and told, not read-before a live audience.

Looking for somewhere between 5 and 8 willing humans to jump in and tell a crafted story before a live audience! Story should be no less than 5 minutes, no more than 10 minutes and based on event’s theme- “I Had a Hunch.” Check out graphics for details.

Storytelling Guidelines

1, Story should be no less than 5 minutes, no more than 10 minutes. 

2. Tell your story – Don’t read it!

3. STICK TO THE THEME:  “I Had a Hunch.”

4. Story must be true and be about a personal experience

5. This is not an opportunity for stand up comedy or political rants.

6. Spend time crafting your story – Prepare and rehearse!

To Register and for More Info

For details and to sign up call Liz 631-375-4414 or email elizabeth.krolik@gmail.com.

Moth-style details.

The Philosophy That Guides

We’ve been reflecting quite a bit as we endeavor to develop this communications platform centered on our Synchronicity Network Newsletter. Our mission, as currently understood, is this:

“The mission of Synchronicity Planning & Communications is to serve and celebrate folks who care for art, science and the common good, improving the quantity and quality of community engagement on Long Island via a networking and communications platform centered on the Synchronicity Network and its Flagship Newsletter.”

Digging deeper, we ask ourselves WHY? For her part, Katie has offered the following:

Continue reading

Rise and Shine

photo of bird rising over Cold Spring Harbor 2022

Photo entitled “Cold Spring Harbor: Rising 2022” by Katheryn Laible

I remember the wisest, sweetest, most incredible woman I know saying,

“People pray for power. It is better that they will Love,

for Love is the greatest power of All.”

 

I pray: May I remember her teachings well. May I understand them at least enough.

May we together channel more than ourselves;

Manifest Love and Light.

 

Pray for Love. Pray for Truth. Truth and Love in equal measure

For as many before and after have somehow said, “Truth without Love is brutal, and Love without Truth is false.”

This has long made sense to me.  I am still learning that it takes a third leg: Faith.

 

To make a sturdy table, we need Faith.

Faith, Faith, Faith

…to cast away fear, have faith…

 

“Nothing boils in lukewarm water,” she says.

Remember to command, to commune, to comfort; to will harmony in thy multifaceted being

…Truth, Love, Faith…

 

Faith in the Greater.

Faith in each other.

Faith that as we will it already is.

Faith that this Flame I feel deep within is far from mine alone.

Faith that you feel this, too.

 

Humble before God, equal before man, recognizing the God within and the human as well, each manifesting in its own way.

May we will and channel Strength and Dexterity, Grace and Mercy. Healing Light.

Open to the Greater Good without and within, in places that we do not know.

 

She reminds me:

“There is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future,”

“He loves you not for what you are but for what you are becoming.”

 

“Ho’oponopono. Ho’oponopono. Ho’oponopono,”

I hear other voices say.

She speaks to me of Lady Quan Yin.

They remind me to start on a path to Forgiveness,

to Uplift, to Enlightenment with myself;

to be grateful for every blessing and each accomplishment no matter how small, 

 

For the smallest is the greatest.

For so little do we know, For we all know a little.

May we appreciate all that is Good, Humble and Grateful to be so blessed. 

 

She advises Joyful Anticipation.

Discerning and Healing. Flexible and Strong. Reconciling.

Forgiving. Transcending. Overcoming.

 

Calling all who Will to Transmute the lesser,  To Receive, Accelerate and Amplify the Greater.

Manifest Love. Be the Light. Keep the Faith.

Honor the Divine within and without.

 

This indigenous wise-woman who communes with All reminds me of St. Francis’ Prayer. “Let me be an Instrument of Thy Peace.”

Faithfully. Humbly. Gratefully. Evermore.

 

This I Pray. Namaste. Amem.

This piece was updated 6/9/23

Come Find Steve and Other Fireflies at the “Oyster Bay Art in the Park” now SUNDAY 5/21

Photo of Firefly Steve Caputo with some of his photography

Photographer Steve Caputo is one of several Fireflies scheduled to be at the Oyster Bay Art in the Park Festival, now scheduled for Sunday, together with many other local artists. Photo credit: Bonnie Caputo

Over 50 vendors, including several Fireflies, are rescheduling their weekends for a hopefully sunnier Sunday at the Oyster Bay Art in the Park Festival. There will be family-friendly activities, live music by Gene Casey & the Lone Sharks, food trucks and more!

What: Oyster Bay Art in the Park
NEW Date: Sunday, May 21, 12-4pm
Where: Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park & Beach in Oyster Bay
 
Art in the Park is run by the Town’s Department of Community & Youth Services, Cultural and Performing Arts Division.

“Art in the Park offers local artists and artisans an amazing opportunity to showcase their best work for the public and gain local notoriety,” said Oyster Bay Town Councilmember Steve Labriola. “Art in the Park is certain to attract hundreds of families and seniors as the event also features live music, food trucks and activities for kids.”
 
There will be at least four — maybe more! — Fireflies scattered throughout the event. See if you can find them all!

Get Support for Going Green: LI Garden Rewards Program

Photo of Echinacea Flowers

As part of a broader initiative to address nitrogen pollution, The Long Island Regional Planning Council (LIRPC) wants homeowners to know about the LI Garden Rewards Program. Through this program, residents may be reimbursed up to $500 for installing green infrastructure on their properties such as rain barrels, rain gardens, or native plantings.

Receipts must show purchases made after 5/1/23. Funds are limited and granted on a first come first serve basis. Don’t miss out!

Folks living in the Peconic Estuary watershed can also be rewarded for removing turf or pavement, and adding rain barrels, rain gardens and native plant gardens. Residents of the Town Hempstead can also participate in a Native Plant rebate program.

Find information on all of it here.

Photo of Black Eyed Susans

About the Long Island Regional Planning Council

The LIRPC is one of the only organizations tasked with considering the long-term economic, environmental, and social well-being of Long Island as a whole. It conducts research, surveys and studies. It also serves as a forum for discourse and debate, touching on topics such as the economy, equity, tax and governance, the environment and infrastructure.

You can learn about various initiatives and insights on the LIRPC website. It’s a great resource.

Photo of Northport Harbor by Katheryn Laible

Photo of Northport Harbor by Katheryn Laible

Why Nitrogen

One major focus of the LIRPC is nitrogen pollution.

Nitrogen is the leading cause of water quality deterioration on Long Island. It comes primarily from a variety of wastewater sources, and stimulates algal growth. This leads to low oxygen conditions, fish kills, and degraded marine habitats.

It also contaminates the groundwater that is Long Island’s sole source of drinking water.

You can learn more about that and the LI Nitrogen Action Plan (LINAP) here. We also have a great, growing resource of sustainable landscaping resources here (tell us more!).

While solutions are multi-faceted, this is a place where individual effort can make significant impact. Go for it!!

Bee on Aster by Katheryn Laible

Photo of Bee on Aster by Katheryn Laible.