Summer, Some Strange Eyes

Midsummer

The Solstice was hot and moody. I suggested burning a small bonfire, but before we could, it started to rain. 

It was a big cooling storm with lots of wind.

The sun made brief appearances lighting up the raindrops on the screens.

Today is midsummer's eve and another storm blew through, this time with some excellent thunder and lightning. Still no bonfires.

Light of Return

About a week after the solstice the days begin to get slightly longer. I usually notice it in the afternoon as the sun hesitates before sinking behind the buildings.

It is young light, really bright and short lived.

I walked across the Williamsburg bridge the day after Christmas, amazed that I was able to do anything at all.

It was cold and the colors on the bridge were rich.

Summer Solstice

I finally managed to properly celebrate a solstice with a bonfire. I had old branches from the Christmas tree that I had used to protect the plants in the winter. They made the fire leap up and dance.

It was a jolly bonfire.

The needles from the old tree branches mad a little confetti along the edge of the flames.

Delayed Solstice, New Year

I was really enjoying the weeks leading to solstice this year. It was surprisingly stress-free, mostly because I left too many Christmas chores to the last minute.

Solstice morning was rainy, but a break in the clouds brought a flash of sunlight through the raindrops. The storm soon passed, I had plans to burn an offering of evergreen boughs in honor of the shortest day. However, after an overly enthusiastic holiday celebration, I decided it was best not to play with fire. Then things were hectic for a few days.

The light changes so quickly around the winter solstice. The days leading up to it seem darker than a few days after. The sun comes from a different angle. Here is the morning light of the young sun in my kitchen. I could celebrate the returning light as well.

Then the weather got weird; promised snow turning into cold nasty rain, gale force winds the next day.

Finally on New Year's Eve, things dried out, the winds calmed down and we got to the burning. The branches went quickly. Solstice went to the new year hopefully bringing joy and good things.

Solstice Light in the Kitchen

As I have mentioned before, the light that comes around the winter solstice is my favorite. Here it is spilling out over my kitchen. Unfortunately, I am usually too crazy with the holiday preparations to take advantage of it.

Coco has been doing her best to help although she seems to think that trimming the tree involves nesting on the decorations.

At least the tree is finished! I am not so sure how much posting I will be doing before the end of the year as there is to this holiday than a pretty tree.

Summer Solstice

The sun sets on the longest day of the year...

Summer Solstice

When the solstice came, I was cleaning the kitchen which makes this seasonal picture even more apt.  It is my favorite kind of light, especially prized when it lights up mundane objects.

I am still getting back into things.  Printer troubleshooting does not make for interesting blogging unless it is on a tech blog.  Luckily there was this light.

I did visit the north side of Central Park, the less traveled side.  The place was crawling with children, toddlers and school age, which wasn't surprising given the time of year.  I found an area called the ravine.  The path climbed a lot and besides one troop of students in matching t-shirts, I was pretty much alone.

It was green and wild except for a few traces of the city peeking through, the birds were singing.

 There were no traffic sounds. It did not last long, soon the path led to a fishing lagoon, baseball fields, a bike path and a transverse road.  There seem to be a lot of parks vehicles.  It was all pretty hectic after the calm of the ravine.

Almost Solstice

Each year, I yearn to post pictures of my tree with its ornaments gleaming in the morning light and each year I resist fearing to fall into worse kitsch than catblogging or posting autumn foliage pictures. Given the cats' delight in the tree I could have gone one step further and included a little catblogging as well. I have allowed this one picture to slip in because it is of a very old ornament which I refer to as the Ancestor. I like how weird it looks with its stars for eyes, its round styrofoam body and the tassel for hair.

Last night, two days before the winter solstice, we had a snow storm. It was a fine blizzard drifting down throughout the night and blanketing the city. I love when it snows at night and the falling flakes reflect the street lights. It seems as bright as day outside and the sky turns pink from the light. In the early morning, things were still quiet for a moment, the city transformed.

Cars vanished under the drifts.

The Grand Theft Auto ad looked almost festive.

The silence was soon broken as people shoveled walks, dug out the lost cars. The snow plows growled, the sun came out. The children were soon outside shrieking and flinging snow boulders left in the wake of the plows. Perfect solstice weather.

Solstice Light

The days have been stretching out longer and the light has been beautiful. I am always trying to do the summer solstice light justice with my pictures.

There was brilliant morning light when I came across this bundle of construction materials.


I couldn't figure out why this stuff was just plunked in the middle of Crosby street. It made pretty swirling shapes, though so I didn't dwell on it.


There was even a little grass in the netting.


When I stepped away, I realized it was some sort of protest piece, albeit a slightly frumpy one



The word 'peace' is written on the bottom left and there are peace signs painted on the blue netting. Maybe it was originally spread out like some kind of barricade only to be rolled up by an irate counterprotester.

I went back to Cortlandt Alley where it is always dark. The light was here if only by reflection and the chemicals used to remove the graffitti left black shadows of the former tags.


I love the small triangular vents, they look like models of houses glued to the wall.


My favorite time of solstice light is the evening when the sun graces my north facing windows. It is such a joy to see, but it doesn't last long. This time I was ready with a little of the moss I had gathered before. It has not died, but it hasn't prospered either. Nevertheless, little bits of the moss are hanging on intrepidly and they looked lovely in that brief moment of the north face sunset.

Solstice (midsummer)

The days leading up to the solstice had the most beautiful evening light. It is one of the rare times of the year when my north facing windows receive direct sun. It was fantastic, but I was always doing something when it came. The night of the solstice brought thunderstorms with wind that smelled green. When finally I tried to photograph the evening light, it had changed, in a few days, completely different.



Here it is shining on part of the installation, but it doesn't gleam the same way it did before the solstice.

I thought to capture the blue of the midsummer dusk sky. It lingers a little longer than usual and has a soft velvet feel.



Here is the sky against the old Williamsburg Bank for Savings which is being renovated as condos. But I was was dissatisfied with my attempts to capture the light.

Finally I went out with my son just as it was getting dark to try and photograph the fireflies. It might seem silly to search for fireflies in New York, but there is a park near us which is brimming with them on the summer evenings. Unfortunately they are not easy to photograph, elusive beasts.

Here is my son running like a ghost through the park with the equally ephemeral fireflies.





It might take some concentration to make him out against the park, maybe then the fireflies will come into focus as well.