The Ice Is Melting!

                                 

I was using the downstairs bathroom and I heard water dripping outside - I think the drips were hitting something when they fell, maybe one of my extension ladders.  So I looked up and saw these iccicles and then watched a drop fall.  Man oh man, you cannot believe how difficult it was to catch a drop of water coming off the iccicle.  I must have shot about 30 images and only got two drops!  This one was perfect.  So the temperature was maybe 30 today but the sun was shining on these iccicles which is why they were melting.  But it will be another whole week before the temps get to the high 30's.  I can't wait!

 

More Ice

I went out with the drone one last time today.  It was still cold last night so I expected more of the harbor to be frozen and I was not surprised.  I went to Sea Cliff Beach and so I was much further north in the harbor and hopefully I could see where the limit of the ice was in the water.  After doing several different views from maximum altitude, I found it difficult to see where the division of water and ice was.  It appears that the sound has frozen in places separate from the Hempstead Harbor Ice, seen in the far distance.  I really love all the different tones in this - the white ice which is probably thicker and then the thinner ice which is much darker, and then the shadow of the sun, blocked by a cloud in the foreground.  A lot going on in this photograph, which to me makes it more interesting.  I have posted an extra large size image so please click on this.

 

Ice On The Harbor

I decided to get out my drone today and see if I could get a better photograph of how much of the harbor the ice is covering.  Believe it or not, this photograph is taken from my side yard.  I started up the drone and flew it straight up to 300 feet of altitude, which is the maximum altitude for a drone.  Isn't this  a beautiful photograph with the blue of the sky and the water, in contrast with the white ice.  Please click on this because it is a larger size than normal.

Later in the afternoon, about an hour before sunset, I went to Tappan Beach where we have our coffee and tried to get something different.  I love all the footprints in the snow on the beach, compared with the ice in the harbor.  But because I am much further away from the end of the ice in the distance, I didn't show that well.  But maybe this is more interesting because it is not about how much ice there is, but about textures in the snow and ice..

 

Eight or Ten Degrees

In the morning, the temperatures have been down around 8 or 10 degrees for weeks now.  I saw this pattern of ice crystals on the window in Amy's bedroom and I thought it was spectacular.  I had a dear friend in Arizona who was a terrific night sky photographer, and a great photographer of dramatic close-ups. When I would post a close-up photo, Dean would write me and say "Not close enough!"  Dean has passed now but his voice lives on in me and so this is only a small part of the photograph I took!  Look at the incredible tiny, tiny Christmas tree like kinds of crystalline formations.  These little pointy tree things are less than 1/4 inch long!  Nature still continues to astound me!

 

Grounded

When I was down at the beach photographing the iced over harbor, I saw sea gulls both flying around and also just standing in the road or in the snow.  When I saw all these gulls standing in formation, I knew I had a good shot, IF I could get it before any of them flew away!   Fortunately, I discovered that because of the cold, if  I could walk slowly, the gulls were less likely to take flight, and I was surprised that I could move around slowly making the best composition without them flying away.  Lucky me.

 

Lucky Me, Another Rehearsal

I am so lucky, Stan had an extra ticket for another New York Philharmonic rehearsal on Thursday.  That's why I was on that early train and met the conductor that I posted about yesterday.  So it was wonderful to be back in the concert hall again.  People are not allowed to take photographs during the rehearsal, but before it starts is OK.  The different musicians come on the stage gradually and then they practice just a bit together as these five violinists are doing.  It was fun to see the intereaction between them as some of them spoke to each other after pausing their playing.

This was a performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D Major, and the soloist standing in the center of the photo is the Spanish violinist Maria Duenas who was making her first New York Philharmonic appearances this month.  She is only 23 years old and has established herself as one of today's most outstanding artists.  Her performance was just amazing!

Here she is talking with the conductor Manfred Honeck, who is also a longtime mentor to her, after the performance was over.  During the concert, every once in a while he would briefly look over at her and she would smile back at him, and continue playing.  What a wonderful thing that was to see!  A reminder, please, don't forget to click on each of these images to see them larger!

 

He Made My Day!

I have an amazing story to tell.  Back on December 4,  I wrote about going to the NY Philharmonic rehearsal.  To do that I took a 7:36 AM train to the city.  There was a conductor on that train who was so friendly, and had such a sunny disposition and talked to each of the people as he checked their tickets, like he knew them personally, which of course he did.  When he came to me he asked how I was doing and said he hoped I had a nice day.  I was amazed to see how great he was in the way he did his job! Above and beyond!  Well this morning I went to the city again for another NY Philharmonic rehearsal, and guess who the conductor was!  So I listened to him as he greeted everyone with a smile and asked people how their kids were, or inquiring why he hadn't seen a customer in a while,  and I just felt the happiness and the connection he had as he went through his work day. What a wonderful way to go to work!  I was sorry later that I didn't ask to take his picture.  Well, don't you know that after I exited the train in Penn station, as I walked by the end of the car, there he was in the window, and he greeted me again and wished me a good day.  So I kind of explained what a saw and how it made me feel so good, to watch him with his passengers, and I said that he made my day!  And then I asked him if I could take his photograph, and he said "Yes,"  What a wonderful start to my day!