City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from New York.

During the past week I have spent more time indoors than I prefer, in part due to some rainy weather.  Today was a beautiful day, and so I set off across Central Park before midday headed for a particular destination.

My walk took me past the well-groomed folks playing croquet on the well-tended lawn.  Sometimes it is amusing to stand just outside the fence and watch the proceedings which the players take very seriously.  I did not tarry today.

I passed by a lady who was checking her smart phone while her pup rested in its carriage.

I walked past the edge of the Sheep Meadow with those tall buildings at just south of the Park providing architectural accents to nature.

I passed by some morning glory flowers that were observing that it was still morning.

As my walk grew closer to Fifth Avenue I paused to have a long look at the beautiful American Elms.  These trees are an endangered species and are fenced off from any contagion that people might bring to them.

Here is another view of the elms.

And here is a close up view of a sculptural tree trunk.

This canine statue has been pleasing passersby for many, many years.

And then I reached Fifth Avenue, crossing over to the western side of Fifth, so that I would have the Park as the backdrop to the photographs that I wanted to take to show you.

Tomorrow is an October Monday that the States choose to celebrate Columbus Day as a national holiday.  There is a huge Italian Columbus Day Parade. I will be working tomorrow.  I was delighted not to be working today, because it is the day of the Hispanic Columbus Day Parade, honoring the country that funded Columbus's exploration.

Today's parade features contingents from Spain and also from Central and South American countries that use the Spanish language.  The Grand Marshall of the parade, a Colombian beauty who is seen wearing a camel colored coat in the following photograph, is also known as Miss Universe.

I was surprised and impressed that she was actually walking the parade route, rather than sitting in some sort of vehicle.  There were many other dignitaries walking along the route, before the musicians and dancers appeared.

 It was good to be patient.

At last we were treated to hours of entertainment by representatives of many countries dressed in traditional costumes, or in very glamorous versions of traditional costumes.

These groups moved along at a quick pace, following the tempo of music that was furnished either by loud amplified sound trucks or by live musicians.

There were quite a few floats that were sponsored by media companies of community organizations.

The Spanish delegation had bagpipers, who were wearing interesting hats.

As the afternoon continued, I saw many hats.

Flags from many parts of the Americas waved in the breeze.

This rather ordinary vehicle was transformed by being decorated by items identified with a particular country.

And perhaps this fellow is an alpaca?

Could this lady be an angel?

This dancer could seem menacing if he was not dressed so elegantly.

The parade route was a bit over a mile long.  I wonder how these folks managed to keep up their energetic performances.

Some of you might remember seeing some of these groups in my reporting of the Dance Parade last spring.

Beautifully bright colors looked great in the sunlight.

 Most of the participating groups were made of performers of many ages.  I enjoyed seeing the combination of generations.

I wonder how many hours they practice for this event.

At the right edge of this photograph, you will see a young police officer who never left his post during the parade.  Every so often I was also aware of a police officer walking a dog around the edges of the avenue.  Presumably the dog was there to sniff for dangerous items.

In the following photograph you will notice blue clad gentlemen following the bright pink clad ladies. The gents wore showy boots with bells on the spurs.

Although Miss Universe walked, other local beauty queens got to ride.

I like those hats and the ladies' intricately braided hair.

Here we have sparkly costumes with lavender feathered hats.

What a lovely smile on this lady who came over to quickly chat with someone standing next to me.

Tiny hats and tiny skirts.

Back lit green feathers keeping to the beat.

The fan-shaped headdresses on these dangers were fantastic.

Many different physiques were on display.

More of those headdresses.

This couple were amazing dancers.

In the following photograph, you all will notice a bystander on the left wearing a tiny hat.  He was very funny and had a collection of flags representing the various participants.  When Colombia passed by, he waved the flag of Colombia.  When Ecuador danced by, he waved the Ecuador flag, and so forth.  

I saw many, many twirly swirly skirts.

This vehicle represented Cuba.  It is possible that this was Cuba's first parade appearance.

A butterfly landed nearby.

This performer with the parasol was great entertainment.  Twas a man in that dress.

Still more color schemes.

What a profile.

This character was able to crack a whip.

Here's a beauty riding on a car's sun roof.

Powerful sunlight heats up the afternoon.

Ecuador was well represented.

I tilted my camera angle to capture these dancers.

I cannot remember which country these group represented.

This flag was a variation of our Stars and Stripes, with miniature images of the Hispanic countries' seals in place of the Stars.

Full house on this float...folks of all ages having a fine time.

I thought I'd show you another view of the sidelines, where the young police officer was still keeping an eye on everything.

The hats, white shirts and blue kerchiefs look very smart.

Tilting again.

One final parade view, showing another float that wanted to embrace a global theme.  

Although the parade's route was not too long, closing Fifth Avenue to other vehicular traffic really created lots of traffic jams.  My crosstown bus ride home took a very long time, but I was very glad to be sitting down!

I wanted to close this post with some close up views of some pretty plantings I saw outside an elegant apartment building

A few weeks ago, I watched a lady gardener at work here, and really liked her sense of style.

Hoping that you enjoy seeing the results of her work.

Fun to see what a bit of imagination can do.

 One last tree view.  Isn't the sunlight pretty behind the leaves of these trees on the grounds of The Museum of Natural History?

I'm hoping this long post wasn't exhausting.  It was such a great afternoon, I couldn't resist taking lots and lots of photographs, and have actually only shown you all a fraction.

As always, I appreciate your visits and comments.  Happy Columbus Day!

City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from New York on the first day of October.

As is often true around this time of the year, there is an Atlantic Ocean hurricane finding its way into our news headlines, and stimulating milk sales in local grocery store.

Before I get swept into this theme, I wanted to share with you all some city views from the past few weeks.

This is a grand time of the year to take walks around the city, creating yet another competitor from my spare time.  I now have a tower of books either waiting for me to read page one, or for my progressing toward the book's final page.  The book which I've most recently begun is John Banville's The Blue Guitar.  Its main character is a painter, and I immediately recognized the choice of Constable clouds on the novel's cover.  It was almost a year ago that I was fortunate to visit the V&A Constable exhibit, along with Celia Hart and Gina Ferrari.

I wish that I could be traveling over to the UK again this autumn, but practical considerations will be keeping me in New York until the new year.

However, just over a week ago, I had the immense pleasure of meeting a longtime blogging friend, Elizabeth Musgrave, who writes Welsh Hills Again, and her husband.  Once again, it was as if I was meeting someone whom I'd know for a long, long time.  Blogging creates marvelous opportunities.

We joined my NYC friend and fellow blogger, Elizabeth Wix, for a hearty lunch at a typical New York diner, and then set off on a wonderful walk along the length of the High Line park, that has been created on what was formerly a derelict, unused above ground railroad track.

The weather could not have been better, with a clear blue sky and a slight breeze.  I was amazed to see just how much new real estate construction has been encouraged by the success of the High Line.  

In the following show, you can see some actual railroad cars "parked" on rails at street level.

 Elizabeth is now back home in Wales and has written a post about their trip to the States.

In a prior post, I promised to take some pictures of the lady apple farmer's stand and hope that you all will be able to make out some of the names of the apples shown on her signage in my photos.  I was sorry to find the Cox's Orange apples were sold out before my arrival at the market.  Maybe I will have more luck on my next visit.

I did buy at least one sample of many varieties that I'd not before tasted, and of course, by the time I got home, I had no idea which one was which.  They are all delicious!

The charge for most of the varieties was $1.50 per pound.

I try to select the smaller apples, preferring them to the giant versions.

Moving on to the seasonal vegetables that are new to the mix, I liked the colors, textures and shapes of the squash, cabbages and cauliflowers nestled together.  I did not buy any this time, but will have many more opportunities.  I am savoring my final weeks' opportunities to find perfectly ripe and tasty tomatoes.

Some folks have asked me to show some of the progress I've been making on my marathon knitting project.  The following photograph shows last week's status of the back of the jacket.  I am so, so close to completing this jacket.  I just need some dedicated hours.

Let's see, what else do I wish to show you all.  Well, it must be Central Park, where the end of summer has many signals.

I love the blowzy look of these overgrown areas of the Shakespeare Garden.  I wonder if the gardeners have had some weeks off, or perhaps have been guided to just let nature run its course.

I find this maturity lovely, even on a cloudy day.

Would you all guess that this is in the middle of a large city?

There are still some very delicate little flowers to be found.

The tree leaves are still mostly green.

How I wish that I could properly identify the stars of this show.

Another sampling of purple flowers decorating the garden.

Well, at last...I do know roses when I see them.  There are still a few around.

I took this photo to show twigs tied together that earlier in the season supported some flowering plants...peonies, I think.

Don't know what this is either, but I like the look of the wispy, light-colored lines against the little green leafy ground cover.

And then there is this rather frothy appearing off shooting from another mystery plant.  Forgive me my ignorance.

Another span of froth, with some other garden visitors arriving in the far background.  The scale of the tiny folks compared with the seemingly large foreground froth amused me.

The ruby coleus leaves glowed beautifully against the softer green tones.  Or so I thought.

Green and brown leaves like these are something I might yet get around to drawing.  The composition interests me.

I also could not resist this view of another sign of autumn.

The density of the flowering plants against the texture of the nearby trees made an intriguing contrast, that seems to blend into a soft and misty distance.  Remember, this is in the middle of New York.

Another city view that seems very far from Times Square.

If you click to enlarge this final photograph you will see the remains of a large stage at the far end of the Great Lawn, where on most days, softball is played.  On the day before I took this photo, the stage was the site of a concert featuring Beyonce and others.  

I am hoping you all have enjoyed seeing this very random collection of early autumn city views.  Before long the trees in the above photograph will be showing their golden leaves.

Although the Pope was in town for a few days, and all sorts of international politicians have been in town for the United Nations session, there are many parts of the city that seem untouched by such news making events.  These are the parts that I endeavor to show you all.

Thank you so much for your visits and comments.  

City Views, Country Dreams

Good afternoon from New York.

September has been speeding along since my last post, and along the way I have added a birthday to my record.  I am now 70 and cannot quite take it in.

Keeping to my promise, I did return to visit the dahlia farmer's stand and brought back a bunch of pink dahlias, to admire and sketch.

Even with careful diagonal re-trimming of thick stems and daily changing of water in the vase, dahlias do not last too long.  And so I enjoyed taking lots of photographs of the blooms and buds and making many little studies, showing the flowers' life stages.

I filled several sketchbook pages with graphite and colored pencil drawings and wondered why I don't draw more often.  It is great fun to concentrate on discovering how dahlias are constructed.

I do plan on using some of my photographs as reference for yet more dahlia drawing.

Work is also continuing on my major knitting project, the fair isle jacket.  The sleeves are done and the fronts and backs are nearing completion.

I've also been reading wonderful books by Robert Macfarlane and Nan Shepherd inspiring me to spend more time outdoors.  Lots of walks have taken place on some the recent cooler days.  

Even though peaches, plums and tomatoes are still available at the farmers market, I have also begun sampling this years' apple crops.  Each apple farm seems to have a slightly different variety of these delicious fruits.

My plan for future market visits is to always try at least one variety that is new to me, along with gathering together some of my traditional favorites.

Autumn in New York is a time when lots of cultural activities begin their season and the city provides a feast of opportunities.  I am looking forward to sharing some of these with you all.  Meanwhile, I thank you for your visits and kind comments on my prior post.  It's grand to hear from you.  

City Views, Country Dreams

Hello from New York on an overcast, hot and humid afternoon.

A few miles away from here, lots of talented athletes are competing in the US Open Tennis tournament.  The weather conditions this past week have been tough for players and audiences alike.

I've been content to watch some of the matches on television, while actually continuing on with my current knitting projects, doing a little reading, drinking lots of water and ... taking a few afternoon naps.

My energy level has been reduced; however, I did manage to make one visit to the farmers market.  How could I resist buying more tomatoes and peaches?

I thought it might be interesting to show you some pictures of stands featuring items that I did not buy.

Pickles.

Bread.

Healthy bread.

Bread crumbs.

Cakes and muffins.

Cornbread and quick breads featuring fruits and vegetables.

Large and heavy containers of flowering plants.

A parade line up of mums on the verge of full bloom.

Multi-colored beets.

I was greatly tempted by the delicate pink petals of these dahlias.

The creamy ivory dahlias next door also called my name.

Actually, this stand's entire display of flowers was very tempting.

And yet, I resisted.  My several tote bags were already quite full of tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, peaches, green beans, zucchini and red-leafed lettuce.  I could only carry so much on my subway ride back to my neighborhood. 

I will have many more days off next week, and might have to re-visit the dahlia situation.  As I have been typing on this lap top's keyboard, it seems as if the temperature has risen in my apartment.  I am now yearning for a thunderstorm to clear the air.

Thank you all so much for your visits hereabouts and your excellent comments.  I wish you all a happy early September weekend, even if, like those tennis players and myself, you will be working.