A Walk

A patch of clear day between rainstorms.

A walk between 11th and 8th Avenues.

A Moto Guzzi looks wonderful.

The very name is wonderful.

A fire hydrant newly painted silver.

Not sure by whom.

Shiny new metal delights.

I'm not interested in motorbikes, fire hydrants or construction,

except sometimes they look good.

Richard Woods has had an art show for some months.

This is probably the third set of pictures I've taken of the window.

Then, when I get home, I hear a pitiful cheeping sound.

A very young American robin on a ledge outside the nail parlor.

He looks quite self possessed. I hope he's all right.

Inside and Outside

Black-Eyed Susies: the spirit of the season.

On the street: young people reporting on a film which was part of revolutionlatina.org

Tomorrow we're heading to Brooklyn for an art opening.

Robert has three small pieces in the show.

Look in the background of the flyer.... the strange magic clouds

of some weeks ago. Photomontage by John Holt.

Inspiration

I've cheated and read Weaver and Willowmanor and Titus's posts about inspiration.

I'll admit, nothing inspires me nearly so much as looking at what other people have done.

So, first of all, family. The date on this photograph is September 1939.

My father's brother Maurice, who hated school

 and was good at tennis in an erratic sort of way.

Look how his hair has been flattened down for the photo.

He died, of course.

One of Claudia's first photographs when she was taking photography in high school.

A pumpkin grown from one we had kicked off our porch.

I've learned everything I know about taking pictures from her.

Something magic and fairy tale about pumpkins always.

West Square in London, near the Imperial War Museum Film archives.

Why do the mossy steps lead nowhere?

What possibilities in the quiet window.

Colors in Morocco. A life saturated with visual delights

but all sorts of other things too.

I hope no one finds this last image offensive.

David Shrigley captures so exactly how I sit at my desk

and get distracted all the time.

Running Out of Puff : or a Slow Day in Blogland

Terrifically hot and muggy. Yesterday afternoon I said, 

"Let's take the dog for a walk."

Immediate torrential downpour, enlivened by the approach of a woman clad

 entirely in scarlet. By the time I got my camera out, she had passed by.

The rain made plants in planters sparkle.

Tomorrow, one of the best writers in blogland, Weaver of Grass, 

is encouraging fellow bloggers to write about what inspires them.

I love the idea of inspiration, of having a lovely muse breathe

 exciting things into my ear. Please join in if you feel like it.

Raw Material

Robert's work table: T-square, tracing paper, photos of people on

 the street, painting, drawing. An assemblage of stuff to be turned into

 something else entirely.

Buster and Vladimir Putin on 22nd Street.

 A poet, someone once said, is someone who looks at

 one thing and thinks of another.

Too much philosphy for a Monday morning.

Shadows and Details

Morning light makes stripes from the very old Windsor chair.

Construction above the High Line.

Do I live there? Almost.

Two leaves fall prematurely on a table at the Half King.

Iced water. Sunhat. Summer.

For  lots more shadowshots visit heyharriet here.

Style

I was completely blown away 

 when Constance suggested watching a you tube about 

the OMO people.

Hans Silvester's photographs stun.

In New York people love style but nothing quite 

as amazing as this.

Herewith New York very recently

How wonderful to have the entire world on your head.

High Line July 24th

Heading to day camp.

Bus stop at 23rd Street.

Day camp T-shirts.

High Line.

The woman on the left is in NY default: black and white.

Her companion has made an effort.

Bravo.

9th Avenue

And the winner is..............

this elegant dresser.

23rd Street and 8th Avenue.

Dazzle

In the depths of winter the green market at Union Square

 is subdued with left-over apples, 

a few potatoes, and

absurdly expensive little bits of mesclun salad.

Now zinnias blaze.

In midsummer there are wild traffic-light, traffic-stopping stalks.

Of what. Rhubarb? Salady stuff?

Someone will tell me.

(They did. Swiss Chard. Sue was the first!)

There is a nice friendly bee on the sunflower.

Are bees coming back? I do hope they are.

There are peaches that taste like peaches instead of those odd,

hard, fuzzy lumps they sell in the supermarket.

Fancy sunflowers.....

... plums for plum crumble.

Geranium leaves fall on the black-eyes susies.

There are snapdragons which long to be carried

 by a flower girl at a summer wedding...

...and good snacks to be had.

Who knew that tea-cosies could be WILD?

Go here for the most fun in Blogworld.

You won't be disappointed.

Empire State Building, Billows and Balloons

Some good cloud watching lately.

Evening light turns the Empire State Building silver.

But what is this alien building rising alongside it? Hm....

Clouds billow next to the  evil crane.

And balloons pretend to be clouds.

Empire State Building and

Empire Diner a Dove and a Poem

Sunday in the Park with Bloggers

A sunny Sunday in Bryant Park

The Bank of America Building all sheeny and modernismo.

Luckily, wherever you are, leaves and plants soothe.

Judy brings hummus and tomatoes. Margaret brings

  cucumber sandwiches. Cherries and walnut cookies

complete the feast. Judy says after lunch that  something

 is going to be happening in Times Square.

We walk there and discover all manner of people: those who insist that

 God speaks directly to them and that He requires them to shout it at us.

Those who find clothing semi-optional......

We discover the Naked Cowboy's cowgirl

 and all sorts of tourists.

Then, to our delight, there is dancing in the street. 

Planned impromptu, but fun anyway. The sun is very bright.

The cops check the paperwork of the event's planners.

Everything in order.

Thinking About Blogging and Real Life

I began blogging about two years ago when we lived in Morocco

and I wanted to keep my family posted on what we were up to.

 My first blog didn't even have pictures. Then I got a digital camera

 and met Maryam whose My Marrakech

remains a joy and delight.

It was Maryam who introduced me to wonderful bloggers like

 Constance of Rochambeau and 

Stephanie of Rodrigvitzstyle

In New York last summer we had a lovely real world lunch party for

 Constance's birthday--which is today!

I became friends in real life with a group of very talented people. 

The photograph above was taken by Susanna Gordon

 one of the most gifted photographers I've ever met.

It is part of a photo shoot Susanna did with her niece A. 

and will almost certainly be the cover of Jane and the Essex Serpent

a book for children that I'm currently editing.

Child, water, woods. Magic.

Blogging has enriched my life in so many ways.

I recommend it highly.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONSTANCE

Near 10th Avenue/ShadowShot

For lots of cool shadowshots go to Heyharriet here.

As I was walking down 23rd Street between 10th and

 11th Avenues, I came upon these nice quiet stones.

Noon. Saturday.

Busy

Friday: 9th Avenue and 23rd St.

A field trip

14th St and 9th Avenue.

The vendor was originally from Egypt.

9th Avenue and 23rd Street

same

It was very hot and sticky.