Friday, August 30, 2013

Morning Walk #85 - The Greenmarket

 
 
 











 
 

70 degrees & 81% humidity

It seems darker every morning...definitely a change of season coming

More people out this morning...must be a holiday weekend

A man sits in a cloud of smoke from his cigarette with a "Please Help" sign in front of his collection jar

Vendors setting up at the GreenMarket

Pigeons sitting on the heads of statues

Dogs sniffing dogs while dog parents bond

People reading newspapers and eating breakfast on benches

A sign announcing a new coffee bar...just what Manhattan needs

Steps: 8950

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Morning Walk #84 - Stuyvesant Square Park



71 degrees, 89% humidity, and another gray day

Two guys not yet home from a night of celebrating

Walking through the streets and absorbing more history

Stuyvesant Square Park is mostly deserted at first

A man doing exercises including pushups on the bricked pathways

A father, a toddler & a St. Bernard.  The little girl with a pacifier in her mouth walks around on tip toes carrying a sweater in one hand and a stick her height in the other.

Squirrels gathering acorns

More people waling through the park to work and to school

Taking photos of the ironwork fences. 

A park employee hurries over to try to straighten the park sign for my photo shoot.  I didn't have the heart to tell her I wasn't interested in the sign.

Interesting plaque on the house at 122 E 17th Street says it was the home of the writer, Washington Irving. I had earlier read that Washington Irving never lived in the area that was named after him.  His nephew lived at 120 E 17th Street and named his son, Washington Irving, but that still doesn't quite explain the expensive inaccurate plaque.

A misty return walk

Steps: 7674

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Morning Walk #83 - Union Square Park

The white village in the Anthropologie window


74 degrees & 81% humidity. Feeling particularly sticky today.

From the moment I walked out of my apartment I could tell I would have no walking stamina today.  Not sure why but putting one foot in front of the other was a chore.

A woman trying to break into the veterinary office

Dr. Seuss underwear on top of a bag of trash

Employees outside a store...waiting for the guy with the keys

Little boys in school uniforms

A serious brown grass situation in Union Square Park

A 30-something woman sitting on a bench, laughing and making animal noises

A man and a garment bag on a bench...sleeping while bent all the way forward, his head hanging between his knees

Two Park Enforcement Officers walking through the park and rousting some sleepers

A woman making business calls on her cellphone then booking a flight

A man licking his finger and rubbing it on his white t-shirted belly. Probably trying to get a stain out but I prefer to think he was rubbing his belly and making a wish.

The salad restaurant, Chop't, has a sign with its Hours of Choperation

Steps: 5580

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Morning Walk #82 - Washingtom Square Park



73 degrees, 78% humidity & very gray

Early morning surveyors on the streets of the Village

Walking the 1860-ish movie set type residential streets again

Very dark over the park

A woman jumping rope

A 20-something man and a 50-something woman walking around and around the park and having intense discussions

An older Indian woman in her sari also walking around and around the park

I walk to and from instead of around and around

A gathering of people at the fountain by the Arch

Most are wearing white t-shirts that say NYU Class of 2017...the adventures they will have...

Feeling like the end of summer

The gray clouds drift away and tiny bits of blue sky peek through

Steps: 7547

Monday, August 26, 2013

Morning Walk #81 - Madison Square Park

Low tech advertising for high tech shopping


69 degrees, 58% humidity & cloudy

A strong smell of cooked garlic permeates the air on the block next to mine. Too early for me

A woman wearing a long sleeve and very short dress...warm arms, cold legs

Food carts appearing again around schools

A manhole cover on the sidewalk with 47 cigarette butts stuck in its' texture...apparently a popular smoking spot

A earsplitting fire engine siren breaks the relatively quiet morning

The restaurant Spoon next to tbsp.

Very appetizing looking fresh breads in the window of Boulangerie Patisserie

A plaque in front of a tree at the edge of Madison Square Park reads "Planted by 159 members of the Young Australia League as an Australian tribute to America's glorious dead, March 14, 1929."  What does that mean?  Which glorious dead?

A man walking through the park under his umbrella...no rain, no sun

A woman with porcelain skin and red hair in a dress with a very interesting print

A stop at a grocery store to pick up 7 items, then a stop at another store to pick up one item.  Back on the street I encounter the woman with porcelain skin again...twenty minutes later, 7 blocks from the first sighting and we are both walking in different directions from that first encounter.

An interesting mix of people in tank tops and shorts or jean jackets and slacks...is it summer or fall?

Steps: 8945

Sunday, August 25, 2013

New York Botanical Garden









 
A relaxing oasis in New York City.  The trees and landscape are pretty spectacular (and the crowds are smaller in late August).  Wild Medicine was the main exhibit in the Conservatory (built in 1902).  Many of the plants have been used as remedies for years and some are incorporated into modern pharmaceuticals. 
 
It was a bit of a train ride for me but well worth the time.
 
 
 

 

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Friday, August 23, 2013

Morning Walk #80 - Along the Riverwalk




71 degrees, 80% humidity and the sun trying to poke through the haze

In search of a Spanish galleon rumored to be anchored around the 42nd street piers

A woman and her dog waiting at the coffee shop walk-up window...the dog sitting on the counter

Employees rinsing the sidewalks before setting up sidewalk café tables

The manhole cover in front of the seminary is actually labeled "General Seminary"

Walking past the Tow Pound where the city makes tons of money ransoming towed vehicles

The bowling alley tells me to "Stay out of the gutter"

Walking through the tourist area where buses wait to load sightsee-ers

Two officers and their horses cross the street.  Who knew the Mounted Police Headquarters was on the Hudson River piers?

Waves hitting the concrete piers spraying water high in the air (even though the river is not that choppy)

Catching a glimpse of my windblown, humidity infused hair in a window...yikes!

People reading newspapers on benches at the riverfront

Learning to "google" first.  The Spanish galleon hoisted anchor on August 18.

Steps: 13,439

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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Morning Walk #79 - Madison Square Park

The 21st century question


76 degrees, 79% humidity and cloudy

Two ambulances parked on the avenue. Drivers inside, lights flashing but no patient.

Pigeons eating crumbled chocolate chip cookies

A little person walking a big dog who is giving him a workout

Followed by a tall person walking 2 toy dogs

Sign at the storefront Doggie Daycare:  "Please do not tap on the glass!  It can scare the doggies."  Aren't these NYC dogs tough?

Scaffolding all the way up one side of the MetLife clock tower...and the clock has stopped at 6:30

A man in a suit with an untied bowtie around his neck...walking through the park using ski poles

I sit on a bench to make a grocery list. An acorn hits my shoulder...then the sprinkler next to the bench starts squirting water at me!

Marketing condos at Madison Square Park - "Home is where the Park is"

I'm back

Steps:  6283

Thursday, August 1, 2013