Happy Halloween!

 

My former neighbor has once again brought out his very, very large family of skeletons for this year's Halloween celebrations. This fashionable group was sitting on the porch. 

The larger family members were gathered out in front of the house and nicely posed for photos.

The lady in the red negligee was getting kind of flirty with passersby. 

I hope you all have as much fun today as this group is having.

I have a new post Sharon's Sojourns today.  You will find more Halloween fun there.

Pirates and Other Ghouls

 

Yesterday, I drove over to my old neighborhood to check out the Halloween decorations.  You might remember that the guy who used to live across the street from me always had an elaborate arrangement.  Well, it looks like he has some competition now.  Three streets over, I found this house with an even more elaborate set of decorations.

There was a distinct pirate theme going on at this house.

However, there were a few ghouls thrown in for good measure.  You have to love the headless rider and the horse skeleton.

I'll show you my former neighbor's selection  tomorrow.

Wildlife Views From Afar

 

About once a week, I take a little desktop trip around the world and view a series of live webcams provided by EarthCam.  I can see what the weather is like in Dublin or peek at a California ocean view.  Two days ago, I happened to look at the San Diego Harbor cam and look what I saw seated right in front of the camera. 

I actually was startled to see this big heron blocking my view of the San Diego skyline.  I grabbed my iPhone and snapped a few photos while he went through his grooming ritual.  

He was certainly a handsome fellow.  He stayed there watching his surroundings while I watched him from my perfect viewing location some 550 miles away.

I watched until he finally flew off into the distance.  My little desktop trip around the world turned into an adventure in wildlife observation.  

NYC Taxis, Animals, Art & a Full Moon

 

I know I said yesterday's post was the last of the New York photos but, I decided to post one more of a few odd shots I took while exploring the city.  Above is a window display in a shop at Rockefeller Center.  I loved all those toy taxis lined up so neatly.

Above is a couple of dog walkers taking their charges out for their daily walk in the park.

To the right is a Central Park squirrel who wasn't the least bit intimidated by the crazy women who got close enough to snap this photo with her iPhone.  He probably knew he could out run me.

On our first night in New York, we left the hotel to head to dinner when we spotted a full moon glowing between the buildings.

This last shot was taken through a shop window.  It appeared as though a vacant store front had been converted into an art space for a community of artists.  This piece was facing the window.  I have no idea who the artist is but it is a striking image.

There, that is the last of the New York photos for now.  I'm sure some others will show up on my Sharon's Sojourns site sometime in the future.  

The Last of New York Photos

 

We spent the last morning in New York visiting the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center location.

As you can see from the photo to the left, there is still a lot of construction going at the site.

The actual memorial is beautiful and very peaceful and calming with the sound of the rushing water of the fountain.  We happened to arrive right at the end of a ceremony for new police officers who just graduated.  You can see them all lined up under the trees behind the fountain.

After enjoying the memorial, we went into the museum which turned out to be HUGE.  It was much bigger than I expected and it had a very strong emotional impact.  In fact, a little over half way through, I had to stop reading the panels and move quickly through.  It was a feeling a lot like I had when I visited the holocaust museum.  The impact of the loss felt overwhelming.  

Across the street from the memorial is the new transport hub called "The Oculus".  It's a building worth seeing.  The soaring building creates an airy opening filled with shops and access to the subway.  There is probably a lot more down there but time restraints hindered further investigation.  We will have to explore next time.

Back Home Again

 

I'm back home in Arizona again.  Since I didn't get in until late, I had this post ready to go.  This is a photo of the architectural details of the Grady Gammage Memorial Auditorium in Tempe.  This of course, is the Frank Lloyd Wright designed building located on the campus of Arizona State University.   (Yesterday I posted a photo from the Guggenheim Museum in New York which is also a Frank Lloyd Wright design.)

It's a beautiful building that we are very lucky to have so close by.  And, I'm lucky that I get to go here quite often to see the variety of musicals and plays that pass through the valley.  

I'll be editing photos from the trip for the rest of the week.  I might insert a few in the coming days.

Last Full Day in New York

 

Yesterday was our last full day in New York.  We have a few hours on Monday and then an evening flight home to Phoenix.

As you can see from the left, we spent some time at the Guggenheim Museum on Sunday.  They had a fabulous Kandinsky exhibit on display.

Then we did a very touristy thing and took a carriage ride through Central Park.  I've never done that before but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The trees in Central Park we only beginning to turn but we saw a few great colors anyway.

Then we ended the day with another Broadway show.  This time it was SIX, a new musical all about the six wives of Henry VIII.  Only these six wives were a lot more liberated and modern.  It was fun!

As I write this, I'm not sure what we will be up to Monday morning before we leave for the airport.  I'll report on that later.

Another Museum and More Walking

 

I have street scenes to show you today.  Yesterday we started the day at the Frick Museum which turned out to be interesting.  I knew before we arrived that the Frick was in a temporary location while the beautiful Frick home is undergoing some serious renovations.  It was somewhat startling seeing all these gorgeous works of art in such a stark museum setting.  I'm used to seeing them inside the walls of a stately home and looking very much like they belonged there.  However, the good side of that is that I think I tended to look more strongly at the art without being distracted by the surroundings.  So there was good and bad to the current arrangement.  I don't have any photos from the Frick because photography wasn't allowed but I took some on the walk back to the hotel.  (Yes, it was another long walk.)

Along the way I admired the variety of architecture that New York has to offer.  That included the fancy Apple store I saw.  I didn't go in but as you can tell from the above photo, it is located under a big plaza and inside that glass box.

And, looking up at the different building styles is very interesting.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  It's a day at the beach.

Museum Day #2

 

I went back to the Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday and ended up spending the whole day there.  My legs are tired but I'm a happy person.  I got to see the Temple of Dendur once again along with a lot of other ancient Egypt artifacts.

I made my way to the roof top of the museum where the view is always spectacular.  I love seeing all the buildings over the green of Central Park.

And I got to see this whimsical sculpture by Alex Da Corte called "As Long as the Sun Lasts".

It was a wonderful day!!

Museum Day

 

We started the day at the Neue Museum so that I could see the Klimt paintings, especially this one.  Ever since I saw the movie "Woman in Gold" which told of the fate of this painting, I've wanted to see it in person.  By the way, my photo above isn't the real painting.  No photography was allowed in the gallery but they set this one up for photo opportunities.  I'm extremely happy that I got to see it.

After viewing the painting, we had lunch in the Cafe Sabarsky located inside the museum then we strolled down 5th Avenue and made our way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  

Like so many grand museums, we only touched the surface of the things to see.  We've decided to go back again before we leave New York.  

So after all our museum crawling, we topped the evening off with a dinner at a new restaurant called Peak on the 101st floor of a new building called Hudson Yards.  Here is a view from the top.  Excellent view and excellent food and service.  All in all, a great day.

Broadway is Back!!

 

It was another exciting day in New York.  We went to see the musical "The Tina Turner Story" for a 2:00PM matinee performance.  The show was outstanding as I had hoped it would be.  The star, Adrienne Warren was amazing.  

After the play, we made our way to one of our favorite New York restaurants called JoJo.  Over our table were some lamps that immediately made me think of Tina Turner.  Look at all that fringe!

Then from the restaurant, we walked back to the hotel enjoying the window shopping on Madison Avenue and a view of St. Patrick's Cathedral at night.  (That walk was from 64th Street and Lexington to 46th Street and & 7th Avenue.  A few of you will know exactly how far that is.)

I turned around a got a photo of Rockefeller Center with a giant pumpkin in front.  It was a great walk and what was even better was the weather.  It was in 70's!  Amazingly warm for late October.

More New York Views

 

Here are two more views from the hotel window only this time in the daylight.  

I didn't realize until the morning that if we looked to the side we could see the river.  

We had a slow morning before taking a walk and then visiting a The Gagosian Gallery to see an interesting exhibit by artist Tatiana Trouve'.  Her works were about time spent in lock down because to the pandemic.  It was interesting.

We had a fantastic early dinner at Kappo Masa, a Japanese restaurant that was on the lower level of the gallery.  It was as delicious as it was beautiful. 

After dinner we headed to the theatre to see "The Lehman Trilogy" a play about the Lehman Brothers of investment banking fame.  That might sound like a boring subject, but it was excellent.  It was extremely well acted and staged and filled in a lot of historical information.  I enjoyed it very much.

That's it for Tuesday!

New York, New York

 

My friends and I made it to New York safe and sound on a smooth and uneventful flight.  I snapped this photo out the window as we were making our way to the gate.  Not the greatest shot but I loved the light on the NY skyline and those great clouds behind it.

This is a view out the hotel window.  We won't need a night light on in the room, that's for sure.

And, here is the view out the window at the place we had dinner.  It was a great little place on the 31st floor of a building called the Skylark.  We had great food while enjoying the view.  And, what a view!

More fun in store tomorrow.

Flying Across the Country

 

I'm heading off to New York this morning and will be on a plane very much like the one seen here.  I've been looking forward to this trip for months now and it has finally arrived.  My friends and I have a lot planned.  We have tickets for three plays and a number of dinner reservations and plans to visit five museums.  It should be fun!

I'm taking my laptop with me and I plan to post from the road.  However just in case I run out of time, I've scheduled some posts.  If all goes well, I'll have some New York shots to share with you.

Mr. & Mrs.

 

I rarely am able to get a good photo of cardinals but I was lucky on this day when I spotted this one sitting in a tree.  They tend to be skittish around people so photographing them is a challenge.  I was happy this one stayed put long enough to snap a photo.

A little later on, I saw the female cardinal sitting on the ground.  Two in one day!  That really was worth celebrating.  

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I have New York on my mind.