City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from New York.

This has been a beautiful late October day. Sweater weather. Blue sky. And from my point of view, even better that all that, it has been a day off.

The past week has been a bit too full of activities that have left me searching for extra hours of sleep, and for more time for pursuits of my own choosing. In other words, work has been demanding. I am glad that it's been busy on the work front, because that situation might signal a continued improvement of our economy. At my age, I am glad to be employed, and to have the energy for that employment.

I will now tell you a bit about some places I visited on my time off. Let's start with Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, absolute midtown, and the location of the main branch (and total architectural gem) New York Public Library. The Fifth Avenue facade of the library is currently undergoing some clean up processes, but the two stone lions, affectionately known as Patience and Prudence, who guard the stairs to the library's entrance way, are definitely looking very good. I liked the composition of the following photo featuring a gent catching up on news via a printed newspaper, not via a more modern medium.

I was on my way to a sample sale of a wonderful Italian company that specializes in cashmere knit accessories and beautiful leather gloves. The giant mums below were amongst the plantings just the other side of the stone lion. At all times of the year, the library makes a point of having this little garden space full of beauty.

The sample sale was very well organized, and full of beautiful bargains, but I resisted. This company will hold two more sessions of this sort of sale leading up to Christmas, and at each subsequent session the prices will be reduced. It's a great place to find fabulous gifts.

I had more errands to do that day, and managed to get through much of my list. Some of this list involved boring bits like housecleaning and laundry. It also involved the gathering of food. I visited the big farmers market at Union Square and got some fresh veg and a vast selection of various apples. Many of these apples have now become part of a yummy apple crumble.

My local food market is located next to another food market. The other food market is a bit more expensive, and so I rarely shop there. I do, however, admire their window displays that often feature fanciful arrays of seafood. The following photo gives you a glimpse of such a window.

This time next week it will be Halloween. While gazing at this past week's brilliant full moon, I began to think about how much I love Halloween. This might be due to childhood memories of candy gathering, but I also feel it has to do with the tradition of donning a costume. It's lovely to have this annual opportunity to cast aside one's day-to-day face, and to try another persona.

My neighborhood is still traditional in certain ways, and there is already evidence of Halloween preparation. There is a little antiques shop that does seasonal window displays crowded with various vintage decorations appropriate to the upcoming holiday.

The above photo shows a tiny model haunted house, with a very tiny pumpkin out in front. I took some other photos of the same window, but the sunlight's reflection diminished the effect of those pictures.

Many brownstone houses in the neighborhood have begun to put pumpkins out on their front steps, and I will try to get some photos of these doorways for my next post.

Today, I tried to get my errands done early, so that I could have a very easy going afternoon. I continued working on my current sock knitting project, while doing a bit of reading. Yes, it's possible to read and knit at the same time. This is easy multi-tasking. I have just about finished this sock, and will soon begin work on its mate. The Trekking (XXL) yarn from Germany has a variegated colorway that gives a subtle striping to the socks. The yarn is much more of a red than is apparent in my photo.

Tomorrow, it will be back to work for me.

Before I end this post, I would like to mention that a relative dear to me lost her long, long battle with cancer this past week. She was someone whom I always thought of as the epitome of glamour, sophistication, intelligence and talent. She was a gifted poet, lived in many parts of the world, and together with her wonderful husband raised two talented sons. May her soul rest in peace.

Best wishes to you all. May you all have a grand week ... perhaps you will also enjoy celebrating the liberating possibilities of Halloween.