The Moon on Fifth Avenue

When I need to get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or something in the neighborhood, I love to walk.  I take a subway from Penn Station up to 5th Avenue and 59th street, and then I walk the twenty or so blocks up 5th avenue.  Not only is it great exercise, but it gives me so many opportunities for photographs, both looking into Central Park, and looking at the architecture on Fifth Avenue.  That's what I was doing when I noticed a gibbous moon following me up Fifth avenue.  I would stop and photograph when there was interesting architecture in line with the moon.  This is the best photograph, and it is an interesting building.  It is called The Harry F. Sinclair House, a mansion at 79th Street at Fifth Avenue,  that houses the Ukrainian Institute of America, which promotes art and literature by hosting exhibitions open to the public. It is a striking building and perfect for my moon photograph.

In Search of Mark Rothko

I have written here about my search for more understanding of the paintings of the artist Mark Rothko.  For me it is an interesting journey which includes tracking down his paintings in museums, reading books and watching documentaries about him and his works.  Tonight I went to Manhattan to hear his son, Christopher Rothko talk about the book of essays he wrote about his father and his father's art.  It was a wonderful presentation, and there were many illuminating things that he spoke of.  He is a very personable and I can't wait to read the book, which is called, by the way "Mark Rothko, From Inside Out."

Structures Marked with Time

On my walk, I went into a small park down near where the power plant was, and when I looked over the railing I saw these pieces of a concrete foundation that have fallen over into the water.  When we first moved to Sea Cliff, there was a small restaurant located where this park is now and we dined there a couple of times.  Then the foundation collapsed, and the town demolished the restaurant and drove metal bulkheads around where the park is now.  When I saw the colors on the concrete, it left me with a feeling that these were structures from ancient times.  I really love the colors that the harbor has left on the concrete.

Silver Clouds

When I was walking by the harbor yesterday I noticed that there were very complex cloud layers in the sky.  It was quite beautiful, looking at the silvery tones and the different patterns.  What attracted my attention were the streaks running from the center of the photo up and to the left.  The streaks at first looked like contrails from jet exhaust, but they were at too low an altitude.  So I have no idea what was going on, unless these clouds were the result of some frontal activity moving through.  In any case, I love how beautiful this scene was.

The Grasses of Winter

I ran out of photographs, so the solution is to always go for a walk.  Down to where the power plant used to be.  It is a three and one-half mile walk and can take as little as an hour and twenty minutes, or much longer, depending on how many times I stop to photograph.  The trick is to see if I can find something new to photograph along this well-traveled route.  Today I saw these grasses in the front yard of a neighbor who lives two doors down.  I am decent as a photographer, but not good with words at all.  So it is hard to describe what it is that I love about this.  I think it has to do with the delicacy of the grasses and the gentle curves they make.  I used black & white for this image because I thought that color was distracting.  I do love the rich tones in this image.

Arches and Ivy

After I photographed the railroad tracks the other day, I headed back to my car.  As I walked along, I happened to notice these arches in a wall and the ivy growing on them.  This is one of a number of buildings at a masonry yard where I go to buy portland cement, aggregate and sand for some of my projects.  What I love about this scene is the way the ivy is growing - it all comes down to that.  I also like the feeling of cold, with snowflakes captured as they fall.

At the Salon...

This is Lucia's salon, where I have been coming to get my hair cut for ages, it seems.  I was sitting in the chair talking with Lucia, and we were trying to figure out how long I have been coming here.  Probably close to twenty years.  Kathy visited Lucia at the suggestion of a friend and I followed her there as well.  I usually go on Saturdays when it is crowded with women speaking Italian, and Spanish and English, and I enjoy just watching all the activity.  This week I went on a Wednesday and it was much quieter, and so I thought I would ask if I could take a picture of  Paola, Lucia and Janet, and they agreed.  It seems so important sometimes, to photograph life as it is, because life changes, and it is really nice to have a record of a moment in time.