City Views, Country Dreams

Hello from New York on Thanksgiving afternoon.

It is a beautiful day, warm for this time of the year, and a perfect day to see some of the annual Thanksgiving Day parade.  The parade is sponsored by Macy's, the giant department store.  As I have shown you all in previous years, the parade draws huge crowds as it makes its way from my West Side neighborhood downtown to Macy's at 34th Street.

After an early oatmeal breakfast, I walked over to West 72nd Street and found lots and lots of normal-sized balloons being given away.  The balloons advertised the special Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall.

Each of these balloons had a long ribbon attached to it, and some folks found intriguing ways to tie several balloons together, and some children found ways to release their balloons upwards into the bright blue sky.  The lady in the fur coat was overdressed for the occasion.

As I got closer to Central Park West and the crowd grew thicker, I saw that this year several large orange Sanitation Department trucks had been parked across 72nd Street to create a barrier.  I am guessing that this was some sort of safety procedure, but it also created some photograph-taking challenges for someone short like myself.

I began to wonder if I would actually be able to take any pictures of the famous giant balloons that are a major parade feature.  I began to consider my strategy, while wandering around a bit, looking at various vendors' offerings.

The following view looks westward, away from Central Park West, and gives you an idea of the tall NYC apartment buildings lining 72nd Street.  Remember this mom with the hat and stroller.  She will re-appear later on.

The first balloon appears.  I think it is Hello Kitty, but am not sure.  I am sure that the famous Dakota building is on the left.

Here is another view of the Dakota.  Can you see the strands of linked little balloons bobbing in the wind?

Here is Kermit the Frog, and I am now aware that taking pictures is going to be difficult.  I am still behind the truck barricade.

Charlie Brown...you seem so very far away.  My view is very obstructed.

I take another look at the vendors' fares and enjoy the opportunity for a close up photograph.

There is a slight entry/exit space between the two trucks.  The Keep Back warning does not apply to parade watchers.

I am not sure if I will be able to slip between those trucks. It is very crowded on the other side of the trucks.

Alas, the trucks are not the only obstacles to a view.  Everyone has a camera.

I decided to keep trying, and not to give up on capturing some of the parade for this post.  Here's Spiderman!

I do not care for cotton candy, but hope that someone will buy this vendor's ample supply.

If you look in the left hand of the next vendor, you will see lots of dollar bills.  He has been doing well with his souvenir stand.

I looked up at the sound of yet another helicopter hovering just above us.  These helicopters might be for our safety, or might be part of parade television coverage.

There was no need to wait for a turkey dinner.

Well, I finally found my way to the parade side of those big orange trucks and once again saw the lady with the hat.  She was also now wearing her husband's hat while he gave their beautiful little girl a good view.  I was also about to get a better view.

Sponge Bob!  The children in the crowd announce every new arrival with ease.

Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of the following fellow.

Here is another mystery man.

Mickey, I definitely recognize you!

Who is this?  I have no idea.

Ronald McD, of the famous fast food empire.

Ronald was followed by another foodie, the Pillsbury Dough Boy.  Lighter than air.

Here's a friendly duck, perhaps wishing he could be over in the Central Park Lake.

Does a flying candy cane count as a part of any food group?

The Christmas theme continues with this cheery elf.  Note the string of smaller balloons is still afloat as well.

Who is this?  I am hoping that some readers might be able to supply additional identification for many of these characters.

I hope that you will be able to see that this trio with their festive conical hats are actually the Three Little Pigs...over sized.

Finally, as everyone began to feel a bit chilled, and children were beginning to feel a little cranky, we got to see the real star of the parade ... Santa Claus!

Everyone applauded and cheered.  And then we all knew the parade was over for another year and that we were very glad to have seen it ... sort of up close.  We counted our blessings!

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for bearing up with this post's picture quality.







City Views, Country Dreams

Hello from New York.

I am delighted to report that my laptop has at last been restored to service after suffering a crash last week.

It will take a while for me to get caught up with you all, but I do look forward to visiting.

Meanwhile, a very Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

City Views, Country Dreams

Good morning from New York.

I am teasing you all a bit with the following picture, but thought it would be appropriate for this first post following our big November 6 election day.

I am very pleased with the election returns and with the large voter turnout.  Those of you who see this post within the next six days will also be able to hear my "post-election commentary" on BBC London Radio's November 7 Joanne Good programme, using the Listen Again feature.  I show up about two hours and 48 minutes into Joanne's programme.

Now, it's time for the adults in Washington, DC to start some problem solving by working together.  I remain optomistic!

City Views, Country Dreams

Good afternoon from New York.

As the sun sets on Election Day eve, I want to again thank you all for your kind comments regarding Hurricane Sandy's effect on our City.  I so appreciated hearing from you, and a week after Sandy's arrival, I am even more aware of how personally fortunate I have been.

For much of the past week, I remained in my immediate neighborhood, since public transportation was still in recovery mode, and my place of employment was closed due to lack of electricity.  

On Tuesday, the day after the storm, I ventured out to see what the streets and sidewalks looked like.  The following two photos show tables with plastic sheeting protecting the inventories of used books and magazines that are normally sold by independent vendors along these blocks of Broadway.  Most vendors' wares did seem to have escaped being converted to papier mache. 

Some of the trees lining the sidewalk lost some very large branches, but I did not notice much other damage.

My hope during this walk was that I might see that some businesses might be reopening.  This would be a good sign.  Indeed, I was happy that one of my favorite two food sources, the Fairway, was open although obviously the stock was very depleted.  I was able to find a loaf of bread and to chat with some of my favorite Fairway employees.  I was amazed at how many of those folks had been able to get to work.

In the ensuing days, television and Internet served to let me know how the City and surrounding areas were coping.  Some areas like the New York borough of Staten Island and the shore areas of Queens, Long Island and New Jersey are still in very bad shape.  Many homes were destroyed.  Many folks lost their lives.

This is an important political season, and Hurricane Sandy has definitely played a part in the follies.  It's been a time for good leadership, and we have seen such leadership from various politicians and elected officials.

Our Mayor had to bow to very strong public criticism and rescind his original decision to let the NYC Marathon go forward on Sunday.  

On Friday night, power was restored to the SoHo area where I work, and so it was possible for us to return to work on Saturday.  Public transport was still a bit weak, and so I allowed plenty of extra time for my trip to work.  I was able to take a subway train to 34th Street, and then walked the rest of the way (about a mile and a half.)  I am in reasonably good health and wore comfy shoes, and actually am glad to have had the opportunity to experience the early hours of the City returning to normal.

I was even more glad that some long-scheduled vacation time began for me when I left work on Saturday evening!

On Sunday afternoon, I took some buses and walked some, in order to have a bit of exercise and see Sandy's effect on other parts of the City.

The following photos shows Sunday's clear blue sky and also a distant view of the crane that was damaged by Sandy.

This additional view gives some idea of the wide area that was still closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic.  I definitely had no wish to get any closer!

Returning to my Westside neighborhood I'd decided to see if the regular Sunday farmers market would be operating along its usual sidewalk site just behind the Museum of Natural History.  Well, the market was there and I found some wonderful little apples.  I also was very sad to see what was left of a very large tree that had been uprooted on the nearby grounds of the Museum.  Most the tree had already been chopped up and removed.  

The temporary wooden slat fence made a flimsy replacement for the iron fence that had been knocked over by the falling tree.  Perhaps you can just see some of the mangled metal fence in the lower right hand corner of the next photo?

Here's just one more photo of the remains a beautiful tree that had graced the neighborhood for many, many years.

This morning, I had arranged to meet my delightful friend Elizabeth, who writes several wonderful blogs, including About New York.  Our plan was to meet near the large Union Square farmers market, to have a bite to eat, chat about our usual vast variety of topics, and explore what fruit, veg or plants might be available at the farmers' stands.

Well, the area usually devoted to the Market was filled with various vehicles and machinery from our local Con Edison electric utility company and from other utility companies from as far away as Arkansas and Illinois.  Our City is being helped by many dedicated, hard working folks.

I liked the look of the chalked sidewalk directions to the relocated Market site.

It is possible that by next week all the hard work will allow the Farmers to return to their usual location.

Elizabeth and I elected to stop for our late morning refreshments in a cafe located within the magical environment that is the large ABC Carpet & Home shop.  To reach the charming cafe with its scrubbed wooden tables, comfy chairs and delicious food, we needed to thread  our way amongst many tempting merchandise displays including these quaint and recently probably quite useful oil lamps.

Even though we have just gotten past Halloween (without our usual giant, wacky, free form Halloween Parade...Sandy's trick) ABC was already getting into a Yule time mood.

This sort of frivolous display was a good antidote to the challenging times that have recently faced so many.  Even better was to sit down and have a wonderful catch up with a dear friend.  Elizabeth may indeed post a photo of the cafe.

And yes, we did eventually make our way to the relocated Market.  I found beautifully fresh broccoli and Elizabeth found splendid apples and a massive butternut squash.  The sun was lovely and the air was brisk.  There was a good spirit in the air.

I hope that there will be a huge voter turnout tomorrow.  I rather expect that I might be staying up late tomorrow night and posting another blog pretty soon. 

Best wishes to you all. 

City Views, Country Dreams

Good morning from New York.

Many thanks to all you kind folks who sent caring messages as that strange and powerful Hurricane Sandy made her way to and through the New York City area.

We were all given adequate advance warnings about Sandy's unique size and path, and were able to get to our homes or other safe destinations before the City's public transport systems all shut down at 7 p.m. Sunday evening.

From that point on, I joined millions of other folks in a pre-storm vigil.  We had lots of rain and strong winds beginning late Sunday night and continuing all yesterday, before Sandy made her actual appearance hereabouts.  My limited window views indicated not much increase in the rain, but a very great increase in the wind.  

Monday night also featured a full moon, and the tides were record breakers in all shoreline areas here in NYC and also in neighboring Long Island, Connecticut and New Jersey.

River and ocean water did not stay in the rivers or the Atlantic.  This became a huge problem affecting our electrical sources.

Around 10 pm last night vast parts of Manhattan, below 34th Street (think of Macy's or the Empire State Building) lost electricity.

I am going to share some sketchy photographs I took of my television screen last night to show you all a bit of what was being communicated by our local media.

The following photos show attempt to use sandbags to protect the electrical rail tracks before water entered the rail tunnels.  This morning, we have no idea when mass public transportation will be able to resume service.

I admit that it's taken me a while to figure out just what the next photo actually shows.  It's Times Square.  See the yellow marquee of The Lion King on the left of the photo?  The shows obviously did not go on last night and most likely won't go on tonight either. 

The following picture is of the skating rink at Rockefeller Center.  Water, water everywhere.

And here's an on scene reporter showing just how deep water was in a particular part of town.

Earlier in the afternoon, a giant crane being used in constructing what will be NYC's tallest residential building (on West 57 Street near Sixth Avenue) collapsed in the strong wind.  The entire surrounding area was closed to all traffic and buildings were evacuated.  Scary stuff indeed!

Another scary effect of the storm was the need to evacuate all patients from the 18-story tall New York University Hospital after electricity went out and not all the hospital's back-up generators could perform.  Patients are still being evacuated this morning...remember, no elevators were working.

And so, you all can have a bit of a view of what we have experienced and the vast challenge facing now facing us to get back to normal.  The damage is unprecedented.  No one can accurately predict just how long it will take to get electrical service and public transportation restored.

I will keep you all updated.  Meanwhile, I do count my blessings.

City Views, Country Dreams

Good evening from New York.

In a couple of hours I will be watching tonight's televised final Presidential debate.  These debates provide the ultimate in Live television and no one (not even the participants) can actually predict how the 90 minutes will play.

Meanwhile, let me show you all some pictures I took on Sunday afternoon.  Halloween is not far off now, and autumn has begun changing the color scheme in Central Park.

In past Octobers, I've posted photos of a brownstone filled block near my own street that has  a special way of celebrating Halloween.  On my Sunday afternoon walk I saw only this inflatable decoration already in place.  Jolly yes, but perhaps only a tiny preview of what will be in place in another week.

And so, I continued walking towards Central Park, and in the next block came across a brownstone house that had gone decoration mad.  My photos truly do not do justice to the over the top efforts.

I was not the only afternoon passerby with a camera.  Several family groups were taking photos of various bits of the ghoulish displays.  Not one child seemed at all scared in the sunny mid afternoon.

Jeepers!

If you looked above, a giant spider bobbed in the breeze.

Back down at street level, if you looked behind you, a strange scarecrow stood tall.

The braver folks might have taken a closer look at the actual entrance way to the house.  I saw no one who walked up those stairs to ring the door bell.

And above the doorway...yet more spiders!

On the other side of the stairway leading up to the front door, I saw more scary spirits giving us their own seasonal greetings.

It was a bit of a relief to keep on walking towards Central Park, and to find some other houses had somewhat more subdued decorations in place.

These little ghosties are kind of cute.

On to the Park, so that I could see how the leaf colors might have changed since my last walk.  The brilliant sunshine dazzled my eyes and emphasized nature's beauty.

Those buildings on the other side of the Lake are on Fifth Avenue.

Somehow, the golden tones of these leaves with the blue of the Lake behind them remind me of some of the Japanese screens and kimonos on display at the Met.

How wonderful to look up and not see giant spiders!  

As my walk continued, I could not resist taking this photo of two youngsters' bikes leaning against the rustic fence.  You can also see some of the beauty of the autumn leaves in the background

I hope that you all will enjoy these glimpses of the scenic variety I viewed on a relatively short walk on a Sunday afternoon.  I was quite tired on Sunday after a very busy Saturday workday, but felt completely refreshed after my stroll.

Isn't it interesting how a change of scene, some exercise and interesting sights can help banish achy muscles or weary minds?