The Weekend in Black and White

Paris—looking a tad telescoped because
of the zoom lens, with the Pont du Carrousel
in the foreground and left to right
behind it the spires of the Sainte Chappelle, 
Notre Dame, and the dome of the Institut de France
(home of the Académie Française).

[To see more b/w pictures from around the
world, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

candlelight

Didn't have to go far for this reflection.
The modern candelabra was a
gift from someone who knows me well. 
I guess the mirror was too—I came across 
it in a charity thrift shop and it 
was love at first sight.

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"multicolored"

To whoever first thought of making
coloring books for adults, I'd like
to say:  That was a really good idea!

[To see more of the Thursday Photo
Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—P is for "polar bear"

The polar bears who live at the Bronx Zoo have 
a cold-water pool to play—and keep
cool—in, but don't have nearly the space they
would in the wild and don't enjoy their 
preferred diet of seal meat either.  But then 
again, they also don't know the difference.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Or . . .

If I had to choose, I'd much rather be calm,
happy, and wearing mom jeans.  Just
kidding; I wouldn't be caught dead in mom jeans.
This is a pretty popular T-shirt slogan, but I
won't be wearing one of those either.
Oh well—we all have our priorities, I suppose.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

art in the subway

New York in Transit is the name of this big
(only half of it is visible here) glass
 mosaic mural by Harlem Renaissance artist
Jacob Lawrence.  It was installed here
in the Times Square subway station in 2001
to coincide with a retrospective of his
work at the Whitney Museum.

[Linking back to Monday Mural and Blue Monday.]

Today's Flowers

There are dozens of different tulip
cultivars blooming right now in
the botanic garden.  I think my faves are
these ruffly, romantic parrot tulips.
Stunning!

[To see more flowers from around the
world, visit An English Girl Rambles.]

The Lone Toddler

This is a scary shot if you're familiar with
the big, usually very busy intersection
where it was taken.  On this day, though, they had
closed off Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza
for a few hours to accommodate the runners
of a half-marathon.  This independent
little person just stuck her hands in her pockets
and marched across the street.

[Linking back to Pink Saturday.]

Weekend Reflections

The arcades around Piazza San Marco—one 
of my favorite places, especially early 
in the morning when it's just me and the 
sweepers with their twig brooms.

[To see more weekend reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"straight"

The Mall, which runs from 66th to 72nd Street,
is the only intentionally straight path
 in Central Park.  It's flanked by one of the
largest—and last remaining—stands of American
elm trees in North America.

[To see more of the Thursday Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—O is for "owl"

One more cute critter from the latest visit to the
office from our friends at Sea World—a
young (but already very loud; seriously, you
can't imagine) screech owl.

[To see more ABC shots, go here.]

North meets South

Here's what happens when you carry real

New York bagels to your relatives

south of the Mason-Dixon line—you get to

enjoy them with something besides a schmear: 

pimiento cheese and tomatoes.

For me, this is a cross-cultural idea that works!

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

Blue Monday

As they do every year, these grape hyacinths are
carpeting the ground beneath a dozen or
more about-to-bloom lilac bushes.  In some light
they appear purple and in others blue.  
Of course, for this post I'm going with blue.

[Linking back to Blue Monday at Jeanne's Backyard Neighbor.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

Lots of shadows on the Brooklyn Bridge on 
a (finally) sunny morning this week.  
Those two pups kept pace for me the 
whole way across the bridge.

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

This is my friend's cute kitty, Lily.
I love those extra-long whiskers and her
wide-eyed "Who, me?" expression.

[To see more b/w shots, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Happy tax day (if that's not too much of
an oxymoron), fellow Americans.
Whether you got them done early and have
already received a fat refund, or
you've procrastinated and plan to slip 
them in just under the wire on Monday—you 
can probably use this.  I know I could. 
Cheers!

[To see more Weekend Reflections, 
visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"words"

I've had this poster—which features a Gerald Laing 
silkscreen that illuminates words from a
story by Galina Golikova—for about 30 years.  
It's always been a favorite of my daughters, and it
occurs to me that these are probably the exact
attributes they're looking for in a guy.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge,
visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—N is for "neighborhood"

I live in "brownstone Brooklyn," but not
in one of these old beauties.  I opted
instead for a prewar apartment building: waaay
more closet space but—unfortunately—no
stoop (I'm a big fan of these imposing stoops).

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

He was asking for it

[Linking back to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)
at Imag-in-ing and to Our World Tuesday.]

Monday Mellow Yellows

A gorgeous wall of forsythia—I look forward
to its brilliant (if brief) time of bloom
every year, and it never fails to cheer me up.

[Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows.]

pansies for sale

I don't have any outdoor space for planting,
but I once bought a flat of pansies like
these for a little windowsill garden.  Didn't
quite work out though—it turned out
my cat Buddy liked the pansies
even more than I did.

[Linking back to Today's Flowers at
An English Girl Rambles.]

The Weekend in Black and White

I took this picture of my brother David in 2008,
when we were hiking in Italy's Cinque Terre; we took
the trip two years after he'd been diagnosed
with Stage 4 cancer.  He managed to hang with us until
April 2011 and stayed in character—energetic, positive, and
gregarious—until the end.  Missing you, David. 

[To see more b/w photos, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Spring is springing

Or at least it was until the temperature
dropped to 25°F (-4°C) a few
days ago.  I put this shot on Instagram and
an observant friend commented 
that it looks like Snuffleupagus from 
Sesame Street.  I agree!

[Linking back to Weekend Reflections
and to Pink Saturday.]

signs signs

"Madame dreams.  Monsieur snores."
A little sign seen in Paris—another
piece of clever street art from Miss•Tic.

[To see more signs, go here.]

ABC Wednesday—M is for "magnolia"

If we could see the miracle of a single flower
clearly, our whole life would change.
—Gautama Buddha

free as a . . .

"A robin redbreast in a cage/Puts all heaven
in a rage."  William Blake said that.
This little robin has an entire garden to enjoy—
and a tree full of crab apples
to get drunk on.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

Istanbul

I've borrowed this photo from my daughter
Lila—the magical blue hour, with
a full moon rising over the Bosphorus.

[Linking back to Blue Monday at Backyard Neighbor.]

inSPIREd Sunday

Not exactly a church, but a rather small—
and probably at one time fairly 
private—chapel somewhere in the very large 
Chateau de Versailles (where privacy
was definitely at a premium).

[To see more place of worship from 
around the world, go here.]

Coming soon . . .

to a garden near me—and I can hardly wait!

[Linking back to Pink Saturday and to 
Mosaic Monday at Lavender Cottage.]

A slice of blue

This is not "big sky" country.  Here, you
get what you can between the tall buildings
and Con Ed's ubiquitous steam vents.

[To see more skies worldwide,
visit Skywatch Friday.]