Virginia is for Love(rs)

I'm down in the Virginia Delta for the long weekend
(and a few extra days), enjoying a slightly 
(understatement) slower pace than I'm used to.  
Not far from where I'm staying is the pretty little town of 
Urbanna, which puts its feelings right out there. 

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

a bouquet of blue balloons

I could make up some romantic story about the 
balloons, but they all say "Team Kenneth Cole," 
so my best guess is that this spot near the
Conservatory Gardens in Central Park was the starting
point for a run for charity.  Lots of companies 
in NYC do that (mine included).

[Linking back to Blue Monday at Backyard Neighbor.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

Another image from Manus x Machina, on
display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art until
mid-August.  These gorgeous gowns are
from Christian Dior, c. early 1950s
(and both great examples of the postwar 
exuberance in fashion).

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

"He who plants a tree is a servant of God.
He provides a kindness for many generations, and
faces that he has not seen shall bless him.
—Henry Van Dyke

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

moon over Manhattan

When I came out of the Metropolitan Museum
last Friday, the moon—big and hazy— 
was rising over the city.

[To see more Skywatch pics from
around the world, go here.]

Thursday Challenge—"barrier"

When you ride a boat along the Canal St. Martin,
in Paris,  you do it for the experience—not to 
get anywhere fast.  Those locks take their sweet 
time filling up to the proper level . . .

but eventually the gates open
and the barrier is breached.

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

ABC Wednesday—T is for "Tiffany"

Three turn-of-the-century Tiffany lamps
on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:
a chandelier with "blossom globes,"
a standing lamp with a peony shade, and a
table lamp with a lotus shade.  I hope that whoever
got to live with these lamps at the time
had the good grace to fully appreciate them!
(Louis Comfort Tiffany made the little 
oak and bronze table too.)

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

"Transitional Object (PsychoBarn)"

That's the title of this art installation currently
on the roof of the Met.  The artist,
Cornelia Parker, got her inspiration partly
from the house in the movie Psycho—and like
that movie-set one, this is also unfinished on two sides.

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

"There is a rose in Spanish Harlem"

This huge crocheted flower (yes, I know it's not
a rose; actually it looks like a hibiscus to me)
decorates a fence at P.S. 72 in East Harlem
—not really called Spanish Harlem anymore, but 
sometimes referred to as El Barrio.

[Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows.]

Shadow Shot Sunday

These are actually Sunday shadows—seen
a week ago at Grand Central Terminal.

[To see more Sunday Shadows, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

This beautiful gated courtyard is in Florence.
 I'd love to be there right now!

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

Weekend Reflections

I was here at Lincoln Center to attend the
graduation recital of a very talented
young friend who's been studying at Juilliard.

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

Thursday Challenge—"best" (#2)

Last week I chose an image of Paris, the
best place for me.  This time, it's
my second-best place—Venice, of course.
I think the best times of day to explore
la Serenissima are very early (when I took this shot) 
and very late, because that's when 
the city really is serene. 

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

ABC Wednesday—S is for "smoggy skyline"

Took this shot of the skyline of lower Manhattan 
shortly before we came in for a landing at 
LaGuardia Airport.  It's home and I think it's 
beautiful—even when it looks like this.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

the azaleas

Mother Nature's not afraid of
bright colors, is she?

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

Manus X Machina

A detail from this awesome exhibit currently on
view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
This is the Costume Institute's huge new 2016 show,
which explores how fashion designers
are reconciling the handmade vs machine-made.

These dresses feature 3-D-printed
embellishments.

[Linking back to Macro Monday.]

inSPIREd Sunday

One of the twin spires of the Basilica del Voto Nacional,
in Quito.  You can probably climb up inside it,
but I wouldn't even if I could, since this church sits at one
of the highest spots in the city (which is already
at 9,000 feet); I live at sea level and definitely felt the 
effects of the extra altitude when I was there. 

[To see more churches from around the world, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

If I ever built my own house, I'm pretty
sure that most of the materials
would come from architectural salvage.
I found this winsome angel in
a place near Bordeaux, back in my
pre-digital days (2002).

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

Weekend Reflections

Park Avenue reflected in the façade of the
Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where the
president stays when he's in town—also
a fun place to cut through when
it's very cold or rainy (or if you're looking 
for a high-class public loo).

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

Thursday Challenge—"best"

And because today is also National Limerick Day:

I know of a city in France
That's the best place for finding romance.
In a café or strolling the quais
In the Grand or the Petit Palais—
I'd be on the next plane if I had the chance.

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

ABC Wednesday—R is for "Radio Flyers"

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden held its huge
annual plant sale last week.  And to
help you buy even more than you had planned
to, they provided these little red wagons
that you could take as far as the garden's exits.  
After that, you were on your own!

My daughter Katie and I managed
to fill one up—no problem.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

the purple door

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

my favorite part of the garden

. . . is the bluebell wood—at least for the short time 
in May when the 40,000-plus bulbs bloom, 
carpeting the ground with their bright blue flowers.

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

a pretty pink peony . . .

for all the moms and grandmas.
Enjoy your special day!

[To see more flowers from around the world,
visit Today's Flowers at An English Girl Rambles.]

The Weekend in Black and White

come back

believer in shade

believer in silence and elegance

believer in ferns

believer in patience

believer in the rain

—W.S. Merwin, from The Rain in the Trees, 1988

[To see more b/w shots, visit

Dragonstar's meme.]

mirror, mirror

  on the wall . . . of the apartments of
Napoleon III, in the Louvre.  This is the 
salle à manger, where Nappy 3 and
his wife, Eugenie, could join 48 hungry 
guests at their very long table.

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

Thursday Challenge—"multicolored (2)"

And this is less than half of one tulip border
in bloom right now in my fave garden.

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

ABC Wednesday—Q is for "quandary"

And my quandary is:  How do the people
who live here get in and out?
Most of the brownstones in Brooklyn are
now multiple-family dwellings, but
this one must be a single-family house, because
the only sure way in and out is through 
the doorway under the stoop.

{Here's another quandary—how did my baby bro
get to be so old?  Happy Birthday, Chris!}

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Sakura Matsuri*

*The Brooklyn Botanic Garden's annual
cherry blossom festival, that is—which
took place last Saturday.  Some people come
in costume to be in the proper party spirit. 

And some get seriously into character.

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

What would George Washington Carver think . . .

of this?  The peanutmobile was parked out
in front of my office building recently. 

And they sent some cupcakes up to us.
Don't be fooled by the blue icing—
it tasted like . . . peanuts, of course.

[Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows
and to Blue Monday at Backyard Neighbor.]

Happy May Day

In France on the 1st of May, people offer
each other un brin de muguet, a sprig of my favorite
flower, lily of the valley.  This is the last
bouquet of these sweet little blooms
that I picked from my mother's garden before
it was destroyed four years ago by
Hurricane Sandy.  (I kept this bouquet; it hardly
looks like this now, but I still can't
bring myself to part with it.)

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