Scribbles and Photos

Yesterday on my birding expedition to Central Park, I saw ruby-throated hummingbird, a yellow-crowned kinglet, a common yellowthroat, a northern mockingbird, and a flock of ruby-crowned kinglets. I am  wondering if it is finally time to start a bird list? You can definitely tell from the photos below that the common yellow throat and the northern mockingbird were quite cooperative subjects. The hummingbird and the kinglets, not so much.   Ruby throated hummingbird Yellow-crowned Kinglet Common Yellowthroat Northern Mockingbird Ruby-crowned Kinglet

I was tooling around Central Park last weekend on the 2nd day of my quest to see the pianos in the 2013 Sing for Hope exhibition ( I am Opus the Octopus and i love Music ,  For My Grandma ,  The Loneliest Pianos ).  It was hot and the Play Me Piano was the third stop of the day.  After almost expiring of the heat the day before (figuratively, not literally), I was taking more time to relax and so was sitting on a bench in the shade watching the crowds go by and considering whether to relax with a mani/pedi or soldier on to the next piano on my list.  Cherry Hill is a bit of a crossroads in the park -- it's a loading point for pedicabs, a stopping point for horse-drawn carriages, and a photo opportunity for tourists on the path from the Imagine circle to the Bow Bridge and Bethesda Fountain.  New Yorkers gather under the ginkgoes that sit atop the hill overlooking the Cherry Hill Fountain and on the benches that surround it.    It is not...

Peony in Bloom I I have a vase from my grandmother that she would use for peonies every spring.  It's bronze with gold accents and it reminds me of her.  I can see it sitting on a dark mahogany table in the entry way of their house in Brooklyn.  A house filled with lace doilies and red velvet clad furniture, and come spring, the scent of peonies.  I don't know if my grandmother ever visited the Conservatory Garden in Central Park -- I do know she would have loved the way it comes alive in spring time.  She would have loved the peonies. Peony Stages Peony in Bloom in II The Peony Show Peony Emerging

I've been snapping some quick photos of the Carriage Horses in Central Park lately.  Beautiful creatures.  Hard lives.

New Yorkers of all stripes like snow and we typically take advantage of Central Park -- our shared back yard -- after a storm like 2013's Nemo.  Many of us don't have cars to shovel out nor do we have driveways and sidewalks to deal with.  We could hunker down in our apartments and wait for the snow to melt but what is the fun in that?   So, this morning, like many early risers, I took a stroll in Central Park.  As always on a day in which the snow promises to be fluffy and white, I was armed with my camera. I was early enough to enjoy the way in which the snow transforms Central Park into a quiet white oasis with snow laden trees and bushes.  That's not to say that there weren't folks and creatures frolicking in the soft white snow as these photos demonstrate. Squirrel on the Roof I was wandering around Shakespeare's Garden and the Swedish Cottage when I heard a grunting sound from above.  It was the miniature version of the sound a guy wil...

So, that I love ginkgo trees should be readily apparent from previous posts to this little blog of mine.  They are coming to life these days here in the midst of New York City where they line city streets and are scattered throughout Central, Riverside, and other city parks.  It's a magical thing to see tiny little ginkgo leaves unpack from the tight confines of their winter homes.  I don't have time to do that much writing this week.  Or is it that I lack the brainpower to form full thoughts?    Hmm, at this time of night (after 11:00) and year (March heading into April), I am thinking it is the latter rather than the former. So, herewith a few assorted photos that tell the story of ginkgoes over the past several weeks.  More to follow as the mood and the energy level match up. Looking a bit like dinosaurs as the buds start to break open..... Those leaves are just hankering to bust out...... And burst out they do....... ...