Getting a Starbucks Fix

I love a good cup of coffee, and I have been known to buy a cup or two of Starbucks coffee over the years.  And every now and again I even spring for a double tall no-foam latte.  Starbucks closed their stores to people coming inside to order about a month or so ago, but they kept their drive up window in operation.  Man oh man...   Cars are sometimes lined up on the street 8 in a line before turning right into the drive up lane which I am showing here.  I think the wait can be 20 minutes or so from where I am standing.  I will go home and brew my own coffee, thank you very much.  I have no patience for waiting in line.  Old people are like that!   :-)

After and Before

This is the house down the street from us that has been under serious reconstruction for a couple of years now.  I guess I mentioned in an earlier blog that I stopped to talk to the owner a couple of times and I had questions about the work and the materials.  One day he invited me in to see it after sheetrock was up and they were working on the kitchen and bathroom.  It looks amazing!  I told him about the first picture I took of it when it looked completely abandoned, and I brought a print down to show him.  He loved the photograph, so I said I would make him a print, which I did.  He said that his wife would love the picture.  What an incredible difference he has made.  This house looked so bad, that I almost thought it couldn't be salvaged!  Please click on each photograph to see it in more detail.

No Dunkin' Donuts, Week 7

So it's week 7 of the No Dunkin' Donuts at Dunkin' Donuts.  So here's wheat we did - we got our coffee and donuts and went to Sea Cliff Beach, where the orange drums were, for a change of pace.  Wait!  What?  The drums are still there with yellow tape across them, so you still can't park!  I guess it is permanent for a while.  So back to our second choice at Tappan Beach.  It was a beautiful sunny day with no wind, and we were glad to see someone sitting on the beach.  Oh good, a different kind of picture.  I wanted a little "something else" in my picture as well, and then I noticed myself reflected in the rear view mirror.  A little something different.

A Family Walk With Umbrellas

I saw this family coming toward me on the sidewalk along the shore, and they were all carrying umbrellas.  The cool thing is that I had my 400mm telephoto lens on the camera, so that I was a long way away from them, and they didn't know I was taking their picture. That was nice since they are not looking at me.  I think they make an interesting group, all carrying umbrellas.

Everyone on Laurel Ave is Wearing Masks!

This is one of those fiberglass horses that we have seen everywhere for years now, that have been painted all kinds of colors.  I remember one at the George Eastman House, which was white on one side and black on the other!  So I don't know their purpose and this one is really moth eaten.  I forget how long it has been in the front yard of this house which is 3 houses down the hill from us.  But it did make me smile when I saw it.  I guess it's a good reminder that we all need to wear masks for the time being.

Oh Man! My Laptop is Shot!

I can't believe this!  My laptop is shot!  It just stopped working and I have no idea why...  :-)  OK the truth is that I have been thinking of doing this "shot" (photograph) for several years now.  It is an old Dell 3700 that gave up the ghost years ago.  I bought it in 1999 I think, and it came with Windows 98 and it served me well for a number of years before it died.  I have kept it just so I could do this photograph, and today I did!  It's funny, right?  I mean, there is a huge hole through the screen - a real hole - you can see green grass through the hole if you enlarge the picture.  Don't even ask how I did this shot.  But I am pleased that it came out perfectly!

One Man, One Umbrella

The usual day for me, with a 2.6 mile walk in light rain in the late afternoon.  When I saw this guy coming at me from a long way away, carrying an umbrella, I had my camera at the ready, as I usually do on these walks, and managed to grab this shot while he was still small in the distance.  This shot was taken with a 400mm lens, so he was a long way away.  I am thrilled that he was not carrying a black umbrella!