Evergreen

It has been overcast a lot, when the sun makes an appearance, the light has been soft and white.  A few days ago it was raining and I went down near the Brooklyn Bridge.  The traffic barriers are painted celery green and the color was reflecting in the puddles.

 It was difficult taking pictures in the rain with the tripod and an umbrella, I didn't even notice the graffiti until later.

There is green everywhere.  I am surprised at how much for January.

 

I thought that lichen only grows in non-polluted areas.  It is nice to see some in Brooklyn.

 

The mosses are happy in spite of the strange weather.

The green thornbush reminds me of something from a fairytale.

Manhattanhenge - winter edition

I finally made it out to the dawn version of Manhattanhenge when the sun rises or sets in alignment with the Manhattan street grid. This compliments the sunset view which I had photographed previously.

Gilles was in town again and delighted to join me in the early morning as he did for my Deborah Moody project. It was pretty cold out but not unbearable. We went to 42nd St. to get the Chrysler building in the picture. Once again I marveled at the New York sunrise that bursts up suddenly from the horizon.

The alignment was brief. The sun moved quickly behind the sky scrapers, its illumination shifting to one side of the street.

It was a clear crisp morning with the light spilling out down the street. Gilles and I marveled at the beautiful morning. Life was good.

Mystery Lost on the Bridge

Top of the stairs to the Brooklyn Bridge

My friend Regis came to New York last month. He was the inspiration for my Wish You Were Here project. It was a hectic visit, he was only here for a week and Christmas was coming. After he left, I found a small scrap of paper in a book he gave me. On the paper was written "Say hello to NewYorkNewYorkNewYork for me Cheers". I thought maybe it came from one of Regis' friends. He carried a picture of me around Moscow and brought it to Jordan so I could 'visit'. He left the photo behind in a hotel room and my traveling days ended. Perhaps this paper was from some Russian friend who wanted to see New York. I thought to take the paper around and photograph it at places I would take any friend who visits.

I started at the Brooklyn Bridge because it is the best view and the only place in the city where the sky is unobstructed.

I stopped here because the light was so nice but that is when things went awry. I sensed the paper might fall before it did. I snatched it but it slipped out of my fingers through the wooden slats of the walkway.

There was really nothing more to be done. The mystery paper is probably still fluttering around the bridge. It is not a bad place to end up I suppose.

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.