Thursday Challenge—"young #2"

I cannot tell a lie: I was in Battery Park
(at the tip of Manhattan) this past
weekend, and used my long lens to take
a bunch of pictures of this adorable
little redhead and his black Lab.
(I did trash all but this one though; I'm 
not a total baby-stalker, you know.)

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

ABC Wednesday—Y is for "yarn"

At my local greenmarket, there are some
nice people who raise sheep and
who sell—in addition to meat—yarn in
beautiful saturated colors.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Squad 18

The friendly firefighters on West 10th Street
in the West Village were feeling the
pride and sharing the love on Sunday, as
NYC's huge gay pride parade took
place a block away from their firehouse.

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

Ladies who lunch . . .

sometimes lunch here at La Grenouille,
where the noontime prix fixe is
less than half what dinner costs (though
that's not saying it's in my daily lunch budget)
and you're almost guaranteed to spot some
celebrity slurping split pea soup
with pumpernickel croutons or chowing
down on filet mignon sliders.

[Linking back to Blue Monday at Backyard Neighbor.]

inSPIREd Sunday

This is St. Bart's Episcopal Church, at Park Ave.
and 50th Street. It's just about 100 years old,
and more ornate on the outside than it is on the inside.
They have a wonderful children's choir,
and their pipe organ is the largest in New York
(and one of the 10 largest in the world).

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

The Weekend in Black and White

Most weeks I see this five days out of
seven.  Somehow it never gets old.

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

Weekend Reflections

I was walking across 50th Street the other day
and saw St. Patrick's reflected in the
windows of a nearby office building.  This is
something I never would have noticed
before I discovered James's wonderful meme.
Thanks, James!

[To see more Weekend Reflections, go here.]

Thursday Challenge—"young"

My dad (who made his living partly as a
producer/director) took this picture
of my mom and me (I was 3-ish and she
wasn't even 30). I'd like to think 
that he asked me (as a director) to make
 that face, but I was probably
just being a brat.

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

ABC Wednesday—X is for "extraordinary extending machine"

They've been working on the Brooklyn Bridge
for years now.  Recently, I saw these guys
under the bridge.  Not sure exactly what they
were doing with this excellent piece of
equipment—I just saw X's!

[To see more ABC pics, go here.]

Who knows?

Know the future?  Frankly, I'm not so 
sure I'd want to.  How about you?

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

catch of the day

Saw these at a crafts fair down in Virginia—
all the colorful fish are made from old 
barn wood, roofing, and siding.
Lots of boaters and fishermen
(and vacation homes) in these parts,
so they were doing a brisk business. 

Linking back to Blue Monday
at Backyard Neighbor.]

inSPIREd Sunday

These folks walked up 463 steps to reach the 
tippy-top of the Duomo, in Florence. 
 I've made that climb a few times (oof!)—
and it has always been worth it.

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

a rose is a rose is . . .

Right now, in the Cranford Rose Garden
(in the Brooklyn Botanic and one of the
largest collections in North America), there
are more than 1,000 kinds of roses
—both old and modern—in bloom. Some of the
original roses planted in 1927 are still there today!

[Linking back to Pink Saturday at
How Sweet the Sound.]

Weekend Reflections

This is the Secret Garden water-lily pond in
Central Park's Conservatory Garden
(the only formal garden in the park). The
statue was dedicated in 1936 to the
memory of Frances Hodgson Burnett.

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

Thursday Challenge—"large"

It's the tallest of the many, many (it's
getting to be a bit ridiculous now, frankly)
tall buildings in my hometown.

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

ABC Wednesday—W is for "wisteria"

I'm pretty sure I'll never have any of my own, so
every year I try to make it to the botanic
garden when I think the wisteria is in bloom.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

Happy Blogiversary

Eight years and counting!  I must be nuts,

but if some people I know, who shall 

be nameless—or not, Eric Tenin (who was 
my inspiration)—can do it for nearly 10 years 
then I guess I can keep on keepin' on.

I'm grateful to my wonderful "blogpals"—it's mainly 
thanks to all of you that this is still a lot of fun!

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

Fly By Night

Last night my kids and I went to seek Duke Riley's Fly By Night,
an homage to the rock doves (aka pigeons) that have 
been used since Biblical times to transfer messages
under the safe cover of nightfall.  

[Linking back to Blue Monday at Backyard Neighbor.]

inSPIREd Sunday

 There's no spire here, so does it count?
I took a shot of this little church from
a car that was going about 50 mph, just
because I thought it was sweet.

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

Pink Saturday

When I was in Virginia last week, we went to
a great waterside restaurant and I had
this shrimp three days out of four.  I'll bet
they're missing us this week.

[To see more Pink Saturday post, go here.]

After the rain

I was fortunate to enjoy this peaceful
view last week—and the company of good
friends and family.  Much appreciated!

[Linking back to Skywatch Friday
and to Weekend Reflections.]

Thursday Challenge—"black"

I thought I was done showing you fashions from
this year's Costume Institute show at
The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  But here's one
more:  this beautiful c. 1938 black lace dress
with a die-cut, hand-assembled white-linen corsage 
from—who else?—Coco Chanel.  

[To see more of the Thursday Challenge, go here.]

ABC Wednesday—V is for "violinist"

There's something about this young musician that's
special.  I've seen him a few times playing
with a group in the Paris metro.  Saw the group
sans him the last time I was there,
so maybe that means he got a dress-up gig.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

clown in search of caffeine

Penn Station, 5:30 a.m.

[Linking back to Our World Tuesday and
Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday.]

Mother Nature

This Obie Platon mural in Budapest was done
in 2014 (which is when I took this photo).  
Click here and scroll down to learn more about
it—and to see the part of the wall that's
hidden here behind the tree.

[Linking back to Monday Mural at 
Oakland Daily Photo and to Blue Monday
at Jeanne's Backyard Neighbor.]

inSPIREd Sunday

My colleague at work just spent a week in Italy, 
including several days in Venice. 
To say I'm envious would be putting it mildly—but
still, I sure hope she enjoyed this beautiful sight.

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

The Weekend in Black and White

Next best thing to a fire in the grate—at a
restaurant that was new-ish when
I visited Budapest a couple of years ago.
The owners were welcoming and the
bread was freshly baked (always a good sign).
I hope they've made a success of it.

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

Weekend Reflections

I rescued this geranium from being tossed
when we moved to new offices.  It's
been around a long time and is a bit the worse
for the steam heat in my apartment—but
it continues to bless me with blooms
on a regular basis.

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

Thursday Challenge—"flight"

This was the view from Flight 5164,
the last time I returned home 
from a trip down to Virginia.  (And if I'd
been on the other side of the plane
I could have seen my apartment building
just then as we flew over Brooklyn.)

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

ABC Wednesday—U is for (dead) "umbrella"

Just like the owner of this sad thing, I decided 
to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge despite
the rain.  But I knew not to try to use an umbrella.  
It can get mighty windy up there!

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]