Shadow Shot Sunday

It's rare on a weekend—even late in the
day—when you can take a shot of this bridge in
the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden at the
Brooklyn Botanic with not another person in sight.

[To see more Sunday shadows, go here.]

San Miniato al Monte

Up on a hill overlooking Florence
is the beautiful 12th-century basilica
of San Miniato. For me, a visit to Firenze
is not complete without a hike up
here. After spending some time in the church
and in the cemetery, I step through this
doorway to head back down to town.

[Linking back to The Weekend in Black and White
and also to inSPIREd Sunday.]

Weekend Reflections

I borrowed this bucolic reflection from
my daughter Lila, who got in a boat and rowed
out on a pond to capture this shot of
her friends' home north of New York City.

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

Thursday Challenge—"sky"

Seen from the Brooklyn Bridge: 
the beginning of a dramatic sunset 
behind the buildings of lower Manhattan.

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

ABC Wednesday—G is for "gravestones"

These are in Père Lachaise cemetery, one
of the most beautiful, peaceful spots in Paris.
Though it makes for a good photo op, it
also saddens me to see how some of
the graves have fallen into a sorry state.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Prometheus photobombed

I came by Rockefeller Center on my way to
work recently and snapped a few shots of this
famous bronze gilded statue (apparently the most
photographed piece of sculpture in NYC).
He's being photobombed by that couple, but . . .

He's being seriously photobombed
by Jeff Koons' gigantic half-pony,
half-dinosaur topiary. You can
learn more about it here.

[To see more of Our World Tuesday, go here.]

the butterfly's brunch

I went to the garden to play with my new
camera, which has a 50X zoom.  I was
impressed with what I could capture from
a fair distance—and handheld too.

[Linking back to Mandarin Orange Monday,
 Macro Monday, and NF Blo-Ma.]

an empty barrow

Actually, this wheelbarrow isn't
empty—it's full of shadows!

[It's Shadow Shot Sunday. To see more, go here.]

pink lotus

Look what's in (very full) bloom
in the garden right now—
so beautiful!

[It's Pink Saturday. To see more, visit Beverly's meme.
Also linking back to Today's Flowers.]

Moving in

 . . . on the Upper East Side, just down the block
from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
I didn't see these folks' furniture, but they
had some beautiful mirrors.   And no, I didn't—
it was already (conveniently) uncovered.

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

Thursday Challenge—"yellow"

I captured this tiny flower
with a close-up lens on my iPhone
(so hard to focus, but lots of fun).

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

ABC Wednesday—F is for "fairy lights"

Somewhere in the West Village:
I took this shot at the end of February—so if
these started out as a holiday decoration,
I'd like to think that they decided to
keep them up.  Because what's more festive
than fairy lights (at any time of the year)?

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Las Bicicletas

That's the name of this art installation by
Gilberto Aceves Navarro.  There are 122 bike
sculptures spread out over 10 public spaces in 
Brooklyn and lower Manhattan this summer.  
The sculptor hopes that we'll visit them all—
by bike, of course (a ten-mile loop).

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

Canna show you a pretty plant?

I looked for a plant label for this beauty
and couldn't find one.  But I could tell 
by the foliage that's it's a canna cultivar, so
I'm going with 'Orange Bengal Tiger'.

[Linking back to Mandarin Orange Monday, 
Macro Monday, and Today's Flowers.]

inSPIREd Sunday

This is the church of Santa Maria Assunta,
more commonly called the Gesuiti,
in Venice.  I showed the façade on this post.
But to me the interior is what's special—
the "fabric" (valance, fringe, and tassels too) draped
around this pulpit are all made of marble. 

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

The Weekend in Black and White

This is a mosaic plant—it's a Zone 10
pond plant, i.e., tropical.  Brooklyn's not exactly
in the tropics (though on humid summer days 
it may feel like it is), and that's where I
found this one growing.  It won't winter over,
so I guess they'll have to plant another one next year.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

I'd love to be here today, enjoying
a plate of oysters and some
nice, crisp white wine.  Care to join?

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

Thursday Challenge—"water"

Small boy vs. large wave: It's a standoff.
This kid was fearless!  But not to worry—he
was not quite as close to the water as he
seems to be here, and his parents were close by.


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

ABC Wednesday—E is for "early"

And also for "empty":
Parisians seem to sleep in a bit on Saturday
morning, so when I'm there I like to get up early
and wander the unpopulated streets.  I do see
 someone sitting on the terrace of that little corner
 café—probably another "visitor" like me.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Pretty packaging

I think it's past time for me to thank whoever
it is who makes these little cartons in this
beautiful blue color. They definitely
add a certain je ne sais quoi to all the pictures
I can't seem to resist taking of greenmarket berries.

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

one fish, _ _, _ _, blue fish

This koi (I assume) lives in the pond at the
Japanese Hill and Pond Garden at the
Brooklyn Botanic.  I've never seen one that
looks like this—have you?

[To see more things that are blue, visit Smiling Sally's meme.]

InSPIREd Sunday

This is the 17th-century church of
St. Etienne du Mont, in Paris.  Though I used to
live just down the street from it and have been
here many times, I never cease to be
amazed by the intricate stone cutwork.  There's
a matching staircase on the other side. (On a 
21st-century note, it's from the steps of this church that
Owen Wilson time-traveled in Midnight in Paris.)

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

The Weekend in Black and White

Rome can be surprisingly quiet at night—
at least in the un-touristed areas.  I love
its back streets and shadowy alleys
and feeling like I have the city all to myself. 

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Skywatch Friday

Who do you see?
(I see Bob Dylan, circa 1966,
singing "Just Like a Woman.")

[For more Skywatch pics, go here.]

Thursday Challenge—"simple"

"Simple" turned out to be not that . . . simple.
I thought about it for quite a while, then
looked around the house for inspiration and found
it in the kitchen: These eggs were in my favorite
 bowl, coming to room temp before being hard-boiled.

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

ABC Wednesday—D is for "Dall sheep"

And also for Denali National Park,
in Alaska—which is where my
 daughter Katie took this shot of a
mama and her sweet little baby in June.

{Can you guess what's coming when 
we get to the letter K?}

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

one lone radish

My friends down in Virginia have a
very impressive garden, where they grow
all kinds of yummy veggies.  When I
 visited in June, however, this was the
full extent of the radish crop.

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

And the winner is . . .

These pretty poppies were growing
side by side at the botanic garden, looking
like so many contestants in a beauty pageant.

[Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows,
Mandarin Orange Monday,
Mosaic Monday, and Ruby Tuesday.]

inSPIREd Sunday

I think this may be the most beautiful
altarpiece (certainly at the top of
my list)—Titian's Assumption, over the
altar of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari,
aka just simply the Frari, in Venice.

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

Scotch thistle

Not the friendliest-looking plant, is it?
This one towered above (5' 2") me
at the Brooklyn Botanic.  I found it in
the Shakespeare Garden, where all the plants
grown there are mentioned in the bard's
works (this one in Much Ado About Nothing).

[It's Pink Saturday. To see more, visit Beverly's meme.]

Skywatch Friday

This big blue sky is compliments
of my daughter Katie and her recent
trip to the wilds of Alaska
(hiking and rafting and bears—oh my!)

[To see more skies from around the world, go here.
And it's the first of the month, so I've posted to my Paris blog.]