Moon
It’s not me. The darned camera does it. It made the shot. I pointed in the direction of the moon. And we were in a moving car. Exposure – .3 second f2.8. Yeah, I was there to press the shutter. I suppose you could argue if it was worth a picture, it was worth it to stop and take the picture. I didn’t (stop) and it’s debatable.
Parking Lot
there on the ground… I don’t know why. Was it the end of its life cycle? I could’ve run it over with the car. Instead I got a shot.
Half a Bowl
MOMA has a shop that specializes in gadgets and things. It’s Modern! Duh!? Yup, it’s half a bowl. Odd but somehow… why didn’t I think of that? Neat! So I did them one back. Half a person – at the info booth. Neat too?!
Imperfect
I see butterflies around. It’s neat to get a focused shot. They don’t stay in one place long. I’ve noticed that most of them have wing damage. It doesn’t affect function. I am now realizing that it is harder to get a blemish free shot. No matter, it’s the opportunity and the shot that count. I’ll get some perfect shots… eventually.
Melting Pot
With the current events one pauses to look at what’s out there on the street. NYC has been a melting pot and about anything goes. Pigs don’t fly. This one has been there for years. I’ve never been in the bar. It doesn’t appeal. But, it’s still in business. And then there are the Halal guys. Anywhere else? They just blend into the New York street scene. Imagine? Where are the Nazis? You don’t see any. I can’t find any. I’m not looking. But there is no hate on the street. It’s just not there. Do they come out at night? Freedom of speech, statues, plaques, it’s complicated. So many questions, so few answers. It seems there is a “yes” for every “no.”
Outdoor Activity
The cats were never really outdoor cats. So this summer was the great experiment. I let them out on the deck to roam (supervised). Willow is still shy. (He was left outside in the heat one day. Sorry!) Everyone else likes a little outdoor time. Patch eats grass. In a previous incarnation he was a cow. The grass is growing as a weed in one of the containers. He’s fine with that. Everyone else likes the fresh air too.
Trust
Elle was a rescue cat. She was chased by bears. I’ve never been chased by bears. So, that’s a real rescue! It also means we have a lot of trust issues. She does not let me hold her. She lets me pet her on “her terms.” And, occasionally, I catch her in an unguarded moment. It’s a long way from when she ran if she saw my camera pointed in her direction. Pardon the soft (blurred) focus. I took the shot without setting up. You can’t get everything some days.
Perennial
We got these flowers at Winterthur. The gardens have a great variety of plants. Name? This year I vainly saved the little plastic identifying tags and can’t find this one. It starts as a puff box and blooms into an attractive flower. Yeah! I like the details and surprise you get with some of them. Hopefully they will survive the winter and show up again next year. Details! I’m getting more detail and less distraction.
Saga
Dave is going to ride his bike from Brooklyn to Atlanta. Why? Don’t ask. His first problem was the bike What Walmart delivered was a “beach cruiser.” Even by Dave’s standard, he can’t make 800 miles on that kind of gear. He doesn’t have a pump. Nor a spare inner tube, rear mirror, lights…etc. He rode successfully to Nova Scotia and across the Yucatan. Yeah! Mexico! Iguana tacos – yuck! Plan B – Target, Dover DE. It was a bit expensive to buy – with disc brakes! He got a “bike rack” off the shelf. It didn’t fit. The down tubes were too big a diameter to fit. On the way to the bike store, we found a $130 old Trek outside. Perfect?! But so old! Dave says it will fall apart during his ride. You need “dependable.” But it has toe clips, a bottle rack, and a rear rack. Cannibalize? The remaining bike has mileage “around town.” We went to get screws for the Target bike rack and came back with a Trek. It’s ain’t over yet.
The stuff of legends
The Original Ray’s. Do you know the story? It’s an urban legend. Copyright! Trademark! The Original Ray had a pizzeria but he did not ever think to protect the name – his name? Everywhere there is an original Ray’s it’s like copycat repetition. Is there an original Ray’s pizza? I believe and would agree that there was a place on 6th avenue and 11 St that would deserve the name. The slices were about $2.75 (expensive then/now). They required a knife and fork (plastic). It was served hot out of the oven. The slices never sat around long enough to cool. And the cheese! Cheese!!! There had to be a pound on every slice. I kid you not. That would be a slice you would remember and never ever mistake for something else. Maybe? Maybe not? But for me it would be the original Ray’s and deserved the name. All the rest are pretenders. They sell. I smile. It’s an urban legend. Is it there any longer? The internet casts doubt. Like all good things, it doesn’t seem to be there any longer. Just the name lives on around town. Too bad for you. Hey! Pizza is pizza, except if you have eaten Ray’s.
Did it!
This is another old chair my visitor sat through. (See previous post – if your memory needs resetting.) “Toss” (throw) the chair out?
Caning. Cane, cane chairs… it’s an art. There is skill. I am once again humbled by the skill of craftsmen. I can do anything. Ego! I got the cane online. It came with an instruction booklet. I ordered without really knowing the size. It’s pretty standard? I was lucky again! It was the right stuff. I prepped the cane – removed the old spline and broken cane. I tried to dye the new to match the old weathered stuff. No dice. Cane doesn’t stain. It just gets dirty. It’s gets brown with age. Removing the spline and old glue? It was like doing a spinal stenosis operation. Ha! Did you know that George Eastman (Eastman Kodak) killed himself with a self inflicted gunshot (rifle) wound. He had been diagnosed with spinal stenosis. At that time there was no (surgical) treatment and he killed himself. I’ve done thousands of the very operation that would have restored his (Eastman’s) health and function. Meanwhile, I re-caned the chair. It was a $45 pick up in a flea market. It cost hours of work and about $45 in material and tools. Ha! Worth it? Priceless!
Petals
Okay!? When do you know me to ever take one photo? Every day I take pictures. There’s a rule. Keep a camera close by and take pictures – every day. I do. But never one picture. I go to the store and buy – two. Two milk, two bread, two toilet paper… don’t ask. Ha!
I was taking apart the second chair to repair. Inside, sewn into the seam, was a flower. The petals were now dried and spooky as they fell to the deck. I realized that this was a message from the worker who’d sewn and manufactured this chair in China. It was a message to me. There was no expectation that I would ever receive the message. I might just as easily thrown this chair into the dump. But it was a bond. That worker had sewn in a message – Love? Hope? Pride? And I got it. Spooky as the dried petals were, they conveyed their message. At first I thought they were bugs that had nested in the lining. Then I got the message. Too late, the petals were already over the rail into the garden below. It was the only photo I took that day. Yeah, it’s not an image of merit or quality. But I remember it well.
Victoria
…restaurant… in the Boardwalk Plaza Hotel. It’s…Victorian. Ha! You can eat out on the deck. It takes away from the ambiance. Eat inside. There are two parrots who rule the front desk. Our waitress was from Romania. I tried out the Romanian curses I knew. She understood. My date nearly fell through the floor. Yeah, I can curse in a lot of foreign languages… just not Chinese. Hmmmm….
Campbell’s Soup
I grew up on Cream of Mushroom soup. Campbell’s. I make my own now. I’m much much better. Better ingredients. No chems, preservatives… I got real stuff – real whole mushroom slices. Grew up! Grown up! A few years back the (Campbell) family donated and created a gallery of their soup tureen collection. It’s worth millions of $. Sure, it makes perfect sense that they collected soup tureens. I bet they don’t put their 99 cent soup in them. I’m ok with that. I got my Revere ware pot and the extra can of water to go with your mushroom soup.
Waitn’
Cats hate water? That’s what I thought. Willow sits by to let the water drip on his head and he drinks it. He usually throws up later. Chlorinated water doesn’t agree. He gets bottled water. I drink tap. Ha!
Cumberland
City Lights. The day was perfect. The middle of the summer. Cool in the shade, warm in the sun. No humidity. We lingered. Really! I don’t linger. But, this was one of those rare perfect days. We just sat and sat. We were gonna be home late! Who cares! A day like this comes once in a blue moon. I smile to think back. I’m glad we took the time to smell the roses.
Oh, the town, it’s been renovated. Dover it ain’t! It’s everything Dover would like to be. Stop in and visit. It’s no mall. And there’s a big fat “welcome.”
Old Stuff
Kodak? Yup, old in my time. No Kodak film anymore… I loved that movie…”Barefoot in the Park” – Redford, Fonda – when they were young. You can tell a Singer by its serial number – around 1921 – that’s nearly 100 years old. Nice
9/11
It’s sixteen years on. A whole generation has grown up. It’s a legend of their childhood. It is a vivid memory like yesterday for me. I saw the buildings fall. I saw the second plane strike the tower. I could not believe buildings so massive could disintegrate and collapse. It was “blue sky” day. It was the rarest of days in which nary a cloud could be seen. The visibility from my vantage to the WTC was crystal clear. Think of the most cloudless crisp fall day you have ever seen. That was my day into evening. The smoke rising thousands of feet into the air drifting lazily away made it seem so surreal. The towers would be there when the smoke cleared. My mind did not want to believe what was truly unbelievable. Times change. We paid homage and remembered Pearl Harbor Day when I was in grade school. Kids nowadays remember 9/11 as I remember December 7. It happened. But they weren’t there. That’s surreal too. It all happened. There was a war, World War II. History moves on. Moved on. History repeats. Do we learn? Will we learn?
Fog and Rain
Cool stuff. It’s hard to photograph. Harder, yet, if you are in a moving car. We had a “white knuckle” ride. At the last service check the tech told us the tires were due to be changed. The passenger in the “shotgun” seat had it in her head that we were riding on “slicks.” I was told to get off at each and every exit and get tires, “Right now!” The rain stopped. We got tires two days later. All is at peace with the world again. It was the wind blowing and causing us to “fishtail” down the road. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ with it!
Yeah, I coolly shot out the windshield between the drops whilst driving down the road. Don’t say nothin’!!
Parking
Here’s a method I have not come across. Push the money into the slot. Done. It begs answers to a lot of questions. How often do they empty the slot? Or check? Umm? We spent the day inside without a problem. The art? Still making me think…
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