Tuesday, May 31, 2016

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.] 


Monday, May 30, 2016

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.]

Sunday, May 29, 2016

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.]

Saturday, May 28, 2016

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.]

Friday, May 27, 2016

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, May 26, 2016

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.]

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

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.]

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

"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.]

Monday, May 23, 2016

"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.]

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Shadow Shot Sunday


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

[To see more Sunday Shadows, go here.]

Saturday, May 21, 2016

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.]

Friday, May 20, 2016

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, May 19, 2016

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.]

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

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.]

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

the azaleas


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

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

Monday, May 16, 2016

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.]


Sunday, May 15, 2016

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.]

Saturday, May 14, 2016

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.]

Friday, May 13, 2016

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, May 12, 2016

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.]

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

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.]

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Monday, May 9, 2016

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.]

Sunday, May 8, 2016

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.]

Saturday, May 7, 2016

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

Friday, May 6, 2016

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, May 5, 2016

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.]

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

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.]

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

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.]

Monday, May 2, 2016

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.]

Sunday, May 1, 2016

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.]