City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from New York on Easter night.

What a busy day I have had today, filled with fun. I was up early this morning, wondering if our weather was actually going to provide the forecast thunderstorms and other showers. If so, the annual Easter Parade on Fifth Avenue was going to suffer.

The sky still looked very iffy when I decided to take my camera over to the parade. At first, I did not spy very many bonnets with my little eye, but did see some very fashion conscious folks, like this gent in the plaid suit.

In front of this church I saw some of the expected balloon entrepreneurs, and began to find a few hats, too. However, it seemed as if most were wearing very casual attire. Too many jeans.



The fellow in the following photo showed some originality in his bonnet.

Now these ladies decided to find some pretty vintage styles for their sashay down the Avenue.

Eggs on a bed of feathers are featured in this confection.

I am not too sure what this designer had in mind.

I asked this young lady permission to take her picture, and the answered yes with a big smile.

The crowd did continue to build as I got closer to St. Patrick's Cathedral and Rockefeller Center.

There were quite a few family groups who all decided to go in costume.

These ladies had interesting hats that were also lady like.

These ladies obviously like daffodil season.

Can you tell that one of the gentlemen has covered his top hat in jelly beans?

The next photo shows more vintage styled parade goers, caught quickly, not posed.

These two little girls were wearing very big bonnets!

The lady in the next photo designed her own very stylish hat. She looked more glamorous than most in the Parade.

I think that the following gentleman designed his hat, too. It is clever, if not too glamorous.

I am not sure it the next photo shows a family group or a group of milliners.

And here is a bit of elegance and grace.

Just one glorious flower, artfully placed, can carry a lot of impact.

I made my way down to the esplanade at Rockefeller Center and saw more bonnets, lots of lilies and quite a few azaleas.

Can you just spot that little bit of blue sky emerging from the clouds? It began to seem as if the thunderstorms might pass us by.

The gentleman's conical hat is covered with marshmallow "Peeps" candies. Very sweet.

This lovely family had actually attended a church service before their walk down the Avenue.

This shows the top of St. Patrick's Cathedral, and a bit of the scaffolding that is now covering much of the building.

This happy couple had wonderful bunny ears and great smiles.

Here's another custom made hat. The gyroscope type shape is not part of the hat...it's part of the Atlas sculpture at Rockefeller Center.

This lavender-based group looked great as an ensemble in their ensembles.

The gentleman in the blue jacket is famed New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham. He is also the subject of a current documentary film. He has been taking photos of street fashion for decades. I think that we might have taken some similar photos today.

These two little girls met each other just before I clicked this picture. I think that they are adorable.

I had such fun at the Parade, but my Easter Day treat was not yet over.

I returned home for a quick lunch and then decided to try my luck at getting a ticket for the theatre.

What luck! I bought a ticket for a very good center row seat and got to see the remarkable actor Mark Rylance in Jerusalem. The entire cast was perfect, the play caught up the audience from its first moments. We gave the performers a standing ovation at the final curtain. This is fairly rare for New York audiences.

Another Easter note. My supply of Cadbury creme eggs have begun to disappear. How can this have happened?

Hoping that you all have had a fabulous weekend!