No Dunkin' Donuts, Week 3

WHAAAAAAAAA?  We came down the hill and looked for a place to park, with our hot tea and coffee and our two donuts and saw this!  WHAT?  What's going on?  Why have they put those orange barrels in our parking spot?

We saw some heavy equipment at the end of the long lines of barrels, and yellow tape for a long distance along the road blocking all parking.  I think there some serious road work about to happen in April.  We will see what happens.

Our beautiful view of the water was not to be today.

We sat in the parking lot at Tappan Beach, a lot further from the water than at our other parking spot.  You can see the water way off in the distance.  Oh well..  It was still coffee and donuts in an unsettled time.

Walking the Line

After we visited Amaka, we went by Trader Joe's because there were a couple of things that Kathy wanted.  One look at this line and we were out of there!   Well, not exactly.  I had my duties as a reporter to park the car and do a photograph to show you.  We are lucky that at grocery stores near us, do not have these kinds of lines.  And we are grateful for that.  I posted a really large file, so click on the photo and it will fill your screen.

Keeping Social Distance!

This is a little bit of a long story.  This is Amaka.  We worked with her and her fiance Chris in the marriage preparation program at church, and they are now friends.  They were supposed to be married two days ago, but had to cancel the wedding, to which we were invited, which was really nice.  You know, no large gatherings.  Amaka is from Nigeria and her family was flying over for the wedding.  Kathy wanted to make her a small cloth purse, so Amaka gave Kathy several yards of this spectacularly beautiful Nigerian cloth.  So today we decided to drive down to Westbury and drop off the purse and the extra cloth.  It was an understatement to say that Amaka was thrilled to see us!  We kept the proper social distance and then left after seeing her for just a minute.

A Couronne for Covid Times

Kathy was getting a bit antsy on this rainy day, so she decided to bake something.  "What do you want me to make?" she asked me.  "How about a Couronne?" I asked.  So this is it.  It is stunning and it has an almond filling.  The couronne technique comes to us from the Bordeaux region in France. Traditionally this ring-shaped loaf is composed of six to eight balls of country bread dough, blanketed by another flat disk of dough that holds the loaf together.  But the main thing?  It is absolutely delicious!

Venus and a Crescent Moon

Oh man, my apologies to all!  I forgot to post the blog last night!  I was so thrilled with the photograph, that I occupied myself sending it to a few friends, and then forgot the blog...   :-)  Stan sent me an email this morning asking where the blog was.  Duh!  I was at home working on some photographs when I got a call from a non-astronomer friend who lives a short distance away. He said: "Have you seen the moon and that star?  Man, I am some astronomer… I said that I hadn’t seen it, and that the “star” was Venus.  I went outside, saw the conjunction, fell down on my face in amazement, got up, and then got my camera!  This is the result!  What a wonderful thing this is to see, so beautiful and uplifting to see  Something, for a moment, that reminds us of the eternal, and which takes our mind off of our earthly problems for a few moments.

Is This a Catnap?

Is this what you call a catnap?  These wonderful animals are endlessly fascinating, aren't they?  Bebe is the gray cat to the right, and Grace is the black and white cat on the left.  Why she would lie down on her back rolled over against Bebe is something I won't ever understand, but maybe it is some sense of wanting to be connected.  She looks so silly upside down - she made us laugh out loud, and then I grabbed the camera.  Lucky you!   :-)

A Bag of Chips

I was walking alongside the harbor and from quite a distance away I saw these three people.  I wasn't sure what the standing girl was doing.  So I looked through my camera and zoomed the lens way out and was able to see that she was finishing a bag of some kind of chips.  The people were something like 200 feet away!  The long lens was able to get me this photograph, which I think is cute!

I thought you would be interested in what the whole photograph looked like with the long lens.  This is as far as the lens would "reach" and so then I cropped this image to get the closer photograph, above.

No Dunkin' Donuts, Week 2

Well, it is week 2 of No Dunkin' Donuts at Dunkin' Donuts.  We got our coffee, tea, and two donuts and headed to our parking spot by the water.  It was beautiful with clear skies and sunshine, and a lovely place to sit and have breakfast!  The only thing is, other people have the same idea of parking by the water.  We were able to find a parking spot, fortunately.  I hope we can find a spot next week, as well.  Here is a photograph of all the cars that came to look at the view.

Another Gift From the Neighbor Girls!

Yesterday I was in the dining room, and Kathy was coming down the stairs from upstairs and I heard her exclaim: "There's someone on the front porch!"  I quickly looked, just in time to see three tiny heads running by the windows, headed down the porch steps!  It was the two little girls and the young boy from next door, who hoped to secretly deliver something to our doorstep, as they have done in the past!  I hollered out a "thank you!" as they made it through the gate into their yard, where their dad was watching.  To refresh your memory, here is the link to the first part of the story:  A Gift From New Neighbors  When we opened the door, we found this beautiful pot holder wrapped in tissue paper with a note.  It's just what we needed!  And...  It brought back memories of elementary for us, where we remember making pot holders just like this!

The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner

As I walked down Laurel Avenue towards the water, this woman passed me, and we exchanged pleasantries about how nice the day was and how good it was outdoors.  So I had my camera ready and I followed her down the hill with my 400mm lens.  I love that I managed to catch her with both feet off the ground.  Just luck, sorry to say!  I had heard the title of this blog years ago, and had no idea what it meant, but it is so poetic and thought provoking that the minute I shot this, I knew what I would title the photograph.  So now I had to look up what the title means!  "The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner" is a short story by Alan Sillitoe, published in 1959 as part of a short story collection of the same name. The work focuses on Smith, a poor Nottingham teenager from a dismal home in a working class area, who has bleak prospects in life and few interests beyond petty crime. The boy turns to long-distance running as a method of both emotional and physical escape from his situation.  So now we all know!  Don't you love coming here to learn stuff?   :-)

Could We Have Six Feet, Please?

It was another day of walking for me.  Yesterday was warm enough for me to ride my bike, which I really enjoyed.  Today I did my two mile walk along the harbor, and it felt as if I was walking on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.  There were walkers everywhere.  But...   There didn't seem to be anyone practicing the six-foot rule.  When I approached a group like this, I walked on the green median to the left of the sidewalk, just to be far enough away from some of these large groups. Of course, these people don't feel they need to worry, because they are not elderly.  Sorry, I shouldn't be a cranky old man.

Everybody's Out Walking!

I don't remember the last time I have seen so many people out and about in the neighborhood!  It was a lovely warm day with temperatures in the high 60's which was nice.  There were mothers pushing carriages, fathers and daughters riding bikes together, moms walking together with their children, runners and cyclists and small groups of people standing and talking. It felt like a celebration of Spring and of a temporary escape from sheltering in place.  It was a glorious day!

Abandoned Miracle Mile

"Americana Manhasset is a collection of 60 fabulous upscale shops, in an open-air shopping center located in Manhasset, New York on Long Island’s North Shore. It is located along a stretch of Northern Boulevard commonly referred to as the Miracle Mile of Manhasset."  I drove by Miracle Mile today and was stunned to see the completely empty parking lots.  Usually there is difficulty finding a place to park!  I just thought that you might find these photographs interesting, even though we know the reasons for the stores being closed.

Coffee & Donuts by the Water

So coffee and donuts in hand, where should we go from the Dunkin' Donuts?  First thing we thought of was to drive down by the water, which is what we did.  Unfortunately it was not a sunny day, but the harbor can still be beautiful on a rainy day.  So we sat back, enjoyed the scenery, and the donuts, as part of the way life changes these days.

Our Usual Tuesday Ritual... Wait! What?

We drove to Dunkin' Donuts this morning as we do every Tuesday.  Coffee and donuts together is one of our small rituals.  There are not usually that many people sitting at the small number of tables so we thought it would be OK to sit here for 20 minutes.  Imagine our surprise when we saw this scene after we entered the door!  Whoops!  No dining at Dunkin' today!

We missed this sign on the door on the way in.  This sign explains it all.  So we did buy our coffee and donuts, and then got in our car and drove away.

The Kindness of Strangers

I got an email this morning from Stan:  "I had a conference call with a group I belong to on Saturday and one woman said the people in her building created a chat room where they can exchange info and tell each other when they are going shopping. All are pitching in to pick up things for the landlady who is not on her feet now and definitely needs the help. Amazing kindness."  Wow, what a wonderful story this is, about help from strangers!  It is such a heart-warming antidote for the behavior I showed you yesterday.  I was looking for any kind of appropriate picture to go with this, and the best I could come up with was this picture of the statue of Walt Whitman at the Walt Whitman Mall, in Huntington.  I have no idea why I chose this.  I mentioned it to Stan in a phone conversation and he said: "I thought of something about Walt Whitman and forgot to mention it. Didn't he volunteer to work in the hospitals in Washington D.C. during the Civil War? I seem to think he was already well known but helps out in one of the more intimate tasks one can do. You could add this to the caption in your blog post."  He was absolutely right, and so you can say that Stan wrote most of the blog!

This is So Sad...

We went up to ShopRite in Glen Cove after supper to get a few things.  Some soda, some cat food, some tea, BBQ sauce, and all purpose flour.  Walking in the front door we were stunned to see this.  This first photograph is the aisle that had pasta - completely empty.  The picture below is the aisle that had towel paper and cleaning products.  I don't get it.  There is no hurricane coming.  What is this need for being selfish and hoarding?  What's really crazy is that the system works, week after week, year after year - the stores are always stocked with all the things that we all need.  The products are always there.  And now because of selfishness and craziness and greed, not everyone can get what they need.  It makes me so sad.  Kathy said it best: "The system works if everyone takes their share."

Going to the Movies

We decided to go to the movies tonight at the local theater.  Why not?  Seriously.  There is no real risk, as we see it.  And going to the movies around here will not put you in the middle of a crowd, which is what everyone is telling us not to do.  We did wonder how many people would be in the theater.  When we booked the tickets online, there were NO seats reserved!  Just us two.  So this is what we found when we arrived.  The good news is that by the time the movie started there were about 12 of us scattered around the theater.  No one was within 6 feet of us, which is also recommended.  Oh, the movie:  "The Way Back" with Ben Affleck.  It was great and he was great!

How To Use an Equatorial Telescope

Last Wednesday night's talk at the astronomy club was about different ways of finding your way around the sky.  This is Dave Bush, the Director of the Vanderbilt Planetarium, and he is demonstrating how to use a telescope on an Equatorial Mount.  These mounts seem complicated at first and are a bit difficult to understand.  Dave did a great job of explaining how they work.

Revealing a Photographer's Secret!

 

I started down Laurel Avenue on my walk, and not 100 feet later, I spotted these Crocuses coming out of the ground.  The joy of seeing Spring color!  So I zoomed the lens out to get a close-up photograph.  This is it.  This is also really boring!

So I decided to shoot from a lower angle.  By placing the camera on the ground.  Wait, but if you do that, how do you look through the viewfinder?  Well, you don't.  In this camera the small LCD screen on the back of the camera, where you look to see your finished picture, is articulated where it connects to the body of the camera.  So you unfold the screen, turn it around, and you look down on the screen as the camera sits on the ground.  Cool, huh?  This is my first digital camera that does that.  Much easier than lying in the dirt.  And I think this photograph of the crocuses is much more interesting.  Now you know one of my secrets.

The Daffodil Garden

I was coming back to the house, and as I went downhill toward the turn which takes me home, I happened to see these Daffodils in full bloom.  But this is funny, what actually caught my eye was the background - a cracked and stained concrete wall!  That's why I stopped the car and jumped out.  I think that what makes this interesting is the contrast of textures, and also that it's kind of surprising to see this wall as part of what appears to be a flower garden.

More Work for You to Do!

OK, so here's more work for everyone.  This is a photograph I took of a solitary seagull with a long lens, and I like the photograph because of the patterns in the sand in the background and the foreground.  So I was looking at it, and then thought it might be a stronger image if I cropped in closer.  So this is the result, below:

At first I thought it was the better image because it just focused on the seagull and its reflection.  I thought it was also better because you could see the bird better.  But then I looked at the wider view, and thought that the patterns in the sand made it more interesting.  Boy oh boy, I am just a jumble of indecision these days. So pease help me out and let me know which photo you find more interesting. Thanks!

Two Cats Share a Chair

The kitties behavior is always fascinating.  This is Sam, and man, is he BIG!  Look at the size of him!  Here he is taking a nap in my chair.  He climbed up into the chair after Bebe was already asleep, but his presence didn't seem to bother her, even though part of him was leaning on her!  She is the oldest cat, at 20 years, and she gets respect from both Grace and Sam which is really nice.  Maybe when I get old, I will get the respect that is due me...   :-)

I Can't Decide...

I have a dilemma here.  Two photographs of the same subject, and I can't decide which one I like best.  I saw this Moonrise yesterday on my walk.  And I am a huge fan of Ansel Adams, and his most famous photograph is "Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico."  So whenever I see a moonrise, for a second I wonder if my photograph could even come close.  Not a chance...  Anyhow, I did the top photograph and I liked it, but since Ansel Adam's photograph was in black & white, I thought that I would convert my photo and see if it was better if it was not in color.  Now I can't make up my mind!  Please let me know which photograph is your favorite, if you would.  Thanks.  Please click on each photo to see them in more detail.

Tsunami

I woke to blue skies, bright sunshine and high winds.  It was blowing 15 to 25 MPH, gusting to 35.  I drove by the harbor and the tide was exceptionally high.  Then when I got down to my favorite trees by the water I was surprised to see the waves crashing on the rocks.  I don't remember the last time we had waves like this.  A Tsunami, right here in Sea Cliff!  OK, so it's not, but I thought it was beautiful, so here you are.

The Sycamores Like You Have Never Seen Them Before

The usual.  My 2 mile walk.  Camera.  Look for pictures.  I had the 400mm telephoto lens on the camera as I approached these trees from a distance, and thought I would take a look through the long lens.  I know that telephoto lenses seem to compress objects in the image, and that is certainly happening here.  I have never quite seen the trees in this way, and was surprised when I saw this view.  So I shot it so that you could see something new.

How Does FIOS work?

 

Today we had a service call at our house from a technician from Verizon FIOS to install a new ONT - Optical network terminal, which is on the outside of the house, and to remove the old power supply and back up battery in the basement.  The technician was really nice, very professional and really patient with all my questions!  I had a lot of questions about how the FIOS fiber optic system works.  I was amazed to hear that inside the thick black cable that comes into the house from the telephone pole only contains a single, thin, optical fiber!  When he was done and waiting for a call back, he said he wanted to show me something. 

He had a thin white coil of wire and a pair of wire cutters.  He removed the outer sheath, and then the insulation, and there inside was this incredibly thin piece of glass fiber.  He then got a special light source used for testing.  Apparently the optical signal is not in the visible spectrum - our eyes cannot see the "light."  But his special light transmitted red light and when he connected the light to one end of the fiber cable, we could see red light in the single fiber.  I did this shot, and then asked him if he could point the end of the fiber right at me.  Wow!  The result is the first shot in this post.  Amazing!  What a great lesson, and I am so thankful for him taking the time to explain this all to me. Cool, huh?

Galanthus

Oh, look at me, all fancy with my Latin names of flowers!  But you know better - I support Wikipedia because I go there 87 times a day, and they never fail me.  These are Snowdrops, and I am so surprised to see them so early this year.  It has been a really mild winter, so I guess that it is no surprise, but still.  I guess that they are designed to survive the odd snowstorm or two at the end of the season, at least I hope so.  Most species of Galanthus flower in winter, before the vernal equinox,  March 20 or 21 in the Northern Hemisphere.  So I guess they will be all right, and they make me feel really good - Spring is not that far off.

London Terrace

I was walking crosstown through Chelsea to get to a gallery to meet my friends Stan and Ann, and suddenly I saw this huge building.  I was first attracted by the brick towers all along the top of the building. "What the heck are those towers for, and look how many there are!"  I am guessing now that they are water towers.  Wow, this place is big!

So I walked south one block and then I could see the extent of this building!  It is astonishing!  It takes up a whole city block!  And look how tall it is!  So I started photographing it as I walked along.

Here's a view looking back to the East from where I came.  This is unbelievable, and it's all one building.  I saw an awning and discovered that all of this is called "London Terrace."  It is a famous place to live and a number of famous people live here.  Construction began in late 1929, on what was then to be the largest apartment building in the world.  The building contains approximately 1,700 apartments in 14 contiguous buildings between 17 and 19 stories high, Celebrities who live here include: Annie Liebovitz, the photographer, Malcolm Gladwell, author, Chelsea Clinton, Tim Gunn of Project Runway, Debbie Harry of Blondie, Katherine Keener and Diane Kruger, actresses among  others.  Wow!

A Conversation With the Sun

I noticed this house with the light of the setting sun on the front, and the shadows of the tree limbs on the front as well.  It felt as if the house was having a conversation with the setting Sun.  The house almost looks like a different kind of face.  I just think it is an interesting picture because of the light and what the light is doing to the house.

The Feather

“It's not enough to have the feathers.

You must dare to fly!” 

― Cass van Krah

On my walk today I happened to glance down and saw this feather in the grass.  I actually was surprised that I noticed it.  But it was in the perfect place with the sun backlighting it.  So I took a close-up photograph of the feather.  I found it on the grass that is next to the large parking lot at the beach where all the seagulls gather and stand around on the ground.  So I guess it blew into the grass from the seagull gathering.  Finding this single feather got me to thinking about quotes about feathers, and I found this one, at the head of this text.  I like the quote, for obvious reasons.