Robert Moses Beach/ First Visit This Year

At last! We finally managed to get to the beach and were delighted to find it mostly unchanged.

However, on closer inspection, the power of Hurricane Sandy was evident in the angle of the beach - which is now a bit flatter, so the waves are somewhat gentler.

The dunes have been repaired and a lot of beach grasses replanted.

The little inlet at Field #3 as still there. Good for little children (and me) to paddle in.

Looking south

then down at glittery water!

And my greedy chums the seagulls.

The tiddlies came with us and dug holes and collected shells. 

We tried to keep Gretchen in the shade. 

Grandpa restrained Henry from rushing off into ocean..

Both a snack and a beer were in order on the way home.

Uptown

A teapot and Alladin's lamp ...

transport us...

to the 20th floor of a building on 57th Street.

Vertigo inducing to look down on the little people scurrying about in the traditional ant-style.

Fun when the lights came on.

Not a blade of grass to be seen.

Two shots looking East

and a last one just looking down.

And the winner of the Novica $50 gift code is.......Incognito.So please contact me at elizabethwix@hotmail.com and I'll get your code to you later today.

Wet Day then Fireworks (and a Giveaway!)

So what happened to wanting to do black and white...? Um, I discovered it was difficult. Herewith last week's Wednesday monsoon...

taken from a bus going down the East Side.

What charming distortions the raindrops make!

As they teem down the windowpane.

Lots of bright colored umbrellas as well as the black ones.

How oddly painterly it looks

and what nice colors.

This umbrella is on its last legs

and this one is positively busted.

Luckily the 4th dawned fine, so all the sellers of patriotic stuff

could set up shop on 23rd Street.

Dallas BBQ celebrates everything.

So, up to the roof at 9:25 pm to take hopeless photos.

 Such fleeting joy 

much better enjoyed without trying to capture it.

My friends at Novica, who sell all sorts of lovely crafts and clothing from all over the world, have offered me two $50 gift codes(one for me and one for one of my readers). I'm probably going to get a pretty Indian blouse. So do write a comment and I'll draw a name next Sunday 14th.

Note: US and Canadian people do not have to pay any customs duty. UK customers seem to have to which seems a pity. Em of Dartmoor Ramblings ended up paying too much around Christmas time....

Colorful

Lime bloom almost larger than life.

Since getting back to New York, I've been thinking a lot about black and white photography. Cait O'Connor mentioned Vivian Maier whose amazing work I wasn't familiar with. How grumpy and gloomy so many people look. So now I want to photograph New Yorkers in black and white too. Watch out for my experiments...

But it's June still (well, just about) and the tree pits and the roof offer me orange cosmos and oregano, pansies and blue salvia.

Well, hmm....this character has been loose in the neighborhood for years. It must take him ages to get ready every morning for his performance - his life. Maybe next time I'll ask him his name.

How to make your rice salad more interesting than it really is: add turmeric to the water. Add violas and parsley. 

The same goes for potato salad...

Union Square is ablaze with wildflowers

and snapdragons and blackeyed Susans.

The makers of plastic things like bold colors too

but then so does Gretchen.

Wiener Melange/Last Vienna Post

Enough with my holiday snaps...

I'm now home in New York trying to digest all I saw in Vienna. (I sometimes think I enjoy my vacations more in retrospect.) Now I recognize many of the places in Merisi's splendid posts. So herewith, for my long suffering readers, a few little last glimpses...

The rose garden

reflections in a museum

more of the same.

Some elegant hats

and some suitably ancient writing

 Egon Schiele chocolate (hazelnut flavor). Who knew!

Some delights in an antique shop. Needless to say, I have several billion more photos which I won't bore you with. New York has been stunningly unphotogenic since my return. 

The bliss of hot chocolate

and country flowers.