City Views, Country Dreams

Good morning from New York on a rainy day.

I am delighted to report that a rainy day means that the drillers have the day off.  There is peace in this apartment for the first time in weeks.

Earlier this week, on a very sunny and clear day, the noise from the drilling on my apartment building's facade was so intense that I escaped to the great outdoors.

My first destination was the fabulous Bergdorf Goodman shop's Beauty Level.  I was in need of a couple of skin care products and discovered that my purchase also entitled me to a gift bag full of samples of other skin care products and some eye shadow and lipstick, too.  It's always fun to see what's going on inside this fashion HQ and to bring home a treat.  

Although I took a bus to BG, I decided to walk home through Central Park.  Midtown traffic was more intense than usual, because the United Nations is in session.  I find it maddening that these diplomats have gathered (including our own President Obama) as additional bombing commenced in Syria, and additional reports of terrorism arose.

With such thoughts in my head, I appreciated the opportunity to see the beauty of sunlit leaves in the Park.  Most of the leaves are still green, but a few have begun to take on those beautiful autumn hues.

I'm a big fan of shadows on green lawns.

As usual, you all will be seeing some tall buildings peeking up over the tree tops.  You can also see the brilliantly blue sky.

Our 2014 summer was cooler than usual, and mostly dry.  Keeping the Central Park lawns green requires some sprinkler action.

The northwest diagonal route of my walk took me along pathways a little different than those I usually show you.

I was surprised to encounter a large area of ground that had been enclosed by extensive chain link fencing that had been entertwined with lots of plastic ivy leaves.

It was intriguing to find out what was going on behind that fence, and I discovered that a large project was underway.  Lots of men and machinery were preparing for a Horse Show.

I peeked through some gaps in the ivy, and saw that much still needed to be done before any show occurs.  I caught the scent of horses, but saw no horses.

In the coming weeks, I will try to keep an eye out in the media and on walks in the Park to find out more about this Horse Show.  I do not remember anything quite like this happening before in the Park.

Continuing on my walk, I got closer to the western edge of the Park, and came upon the West Drive, one of the roadways that is shared by runners, skaters, bike riders and horse drawn carriages.  I do not think that any of those horses will be part of a Horse Show.

Pedestrians wishing to cross Park roadways like this one need to be alert because fast-moving traffic of many types can arrive from several directions at the same time.  Yes, there are some traffic lights that help this maneuver a bit, but not all the fast-movers can quickly stop as directed.

Recently, a middle-aged woman was struck down by a bicycle rider, who'd swerved to avoid hitting another group of pedestrians.  The woman went into a coma, and after being in hospital for some time, died.

I assure you all that I am very careful in looking in all directions before attempting to cross these roads.  Years ago, I was also knocked to the ground by a young fellow riding his bike in the wrong direction.  I never saw him coming.  I wasn't badly hurt and the fellow was very, very apologetic.  Hoping that we both learned from that experience.

On this recent walk, I found a helpful pause in the traffic and got home refreshed by my exercise.

The drillers were still at it.  I made myself a sandwich, had lunch, and then picked up one of my knitting projects.  It is yet another of my fair isle tubular cowls.  

I thought the optical illusion in the following photo was amusing.  The model on the beautiful Morgane Le Fay postcard seems to be knitting something really Big.

Maybe some of you all also tend to keep postcards with striking images?  I tend to use them as bookmarks.  They are also useful to use as markers when following a particular knitting pattern's grid.

I'm using quite a few harmonizing colors in this cowl.  A dusty denim blue, a heathery black, various shades of teal, and lots of roses and wine.  And a pale celadon green and some white, too.

Eventually I am going to be adding this and some other recently completed items to my Foakley Arts shop.

It's just past noon now, and so it's time for me to think about lunch.  A cheese omelet seems a good idea for this rainy day.  And then it will be time to knit.

May I thank you all again for your visits and comments.  I really appreciate hearing from you.  See you again in October.