Happy New Year

I hope you have a safe and happy new year.

Enjoy.

Be light.

There are some Christmas pics of the grands posted over at The Other Blog

On The Avenue

On a recent trip to Brooklyn I took 4th Avenue down to Park Slope and then 5th Avenue back to the Verrazano Bridge.

Both avenues take you through Bay Ridge and Sunset Park, down to Park Slope and on to Downtown Brooklyn and the court district.

4th Avenue is a busy 6 lane thoroughfare; 2 lanes in each direction and 1 parking lane on each side.
5th Avenue is one lane is each direction and is a huge shopping area.

and then I had to wait to go home to NJ

Spring in Brooklyn

Some scenes from my last visit back to the MotherLand of Brooklyn

Going Home

You can almost reach out and touch the majestic Verrazano Narrows Bridge connecting me in NJ to my family in Brooklyn.

Yet on Christmas Eve it took 90 minutes to reach the bridge.

Oh well ...

Outdoor Wednesday

Cloud Collection

I took these between April and yesterday and noticed the common cloud theme.

I've looked at clouds from both sides now,

From up and down, and still somehow

It's cloud illusions i recall.

I really don't know clouds at all.

~ Joni Mitchell

At the town park

At the park in Brooklyn where I played as a child

Remarkably the same 50 years later

I took this at a red light and only saw a flash of white puff that I thought was a cloud

I was delighted to find it was two sweeties cuddling


Friday Fences

Weekend Reflections

City Laundry

RUBY TUESDAY

MID WEEK BLUES

In Case of Fire - Escape

Just one of the many apartment buildings in my old home town of Brooklyn, NY.

SHADOW SHOTS

Sit a Spell

I love this porch. Although the houses on this street are all attached and the entire area is crowded, these folks have created a sanctuary on their front porch.

RUBY TUESDAY

Waiting for Winter

A little front garden near my aunt's home in Brooklyn has a skier statue hiding in the spring foliage ...

RUBY TUESDAY

MID WEEK BLUES

Where Will We Put The Bikes?

I have been spending a lot more time back in my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. My aunt still lives there - around the corner from where I grew up and not more that half a mile from any of the places I lived as an adult before buying the NJ house.

To say Brooklyn is more crowded now than when I was a child would be an understatement. I have noticed how much more "squished" everything seems just in the 8 years since I left.

Porches spring up wherever a few feet of space can be found. Many are built over garages or put there when single family homes are converted into two family homes to accommodate grown children returning or tenants - thank you crappy economy.

As I searched and searched for a place to park (an Olympic feat in Brooklyn) on a recent visit I noticed this porch/storage area ...

RUBY TUESDAY

MID WEEK BLUES

Looking at the Sky on Friday: A Church Grows In Brooklyn

One of Brooklyn's many (and most polite) nicknames is "The City of Churches" - Brooklyn acquired this name in the mid 19th century because it was home to over 70 Christian churches. These are 3 of my favorites.

This is St. Ephrem's Church in Bay Ridge - every year this church is home to the "blessing of the beasts" - people from all over the neighborhood line up to have their pets blessed. I used to go and watch - my favorite memories are the police dogs and horses lined up right there in front. Since the horses couldn't go inside the priests would come to them. It was also especially touching to see little children clutching hamster cages and fish bowls. Of course there were always lots of dogs. One of the priests told me that cats were the most difficult to bless - what a surprise!


The Dutch Reform Church holds a special memory for me. Between the main building and the smaller building with the rounded steeple there is a small bench. Nana loved to sit there. When it became hard for her to walk alone I would take her and we would sit there together and talk about absolutely everything. She would save bread crusts to feed the squirrels and birds and she would often speak to them in Yiddish.


This Lutheran Church sits at an incredibly busy intersection famous for accidents. It is virtually impossible to make a left turn at this intersection. The street curves and 2 lanes turn into one going east/west while 4 lanes all try to beat the light going north/south. Whenever there is a wedding or funeral there is total chaos. I imagine there are many wedding videos with car horns blasting and colorful language as the soundtrack.
I posted the steeple from this church a few Fridays ago.



I've been finding it difficult to keep up with all the photo projects lately so I'm going to alternate them. Rather than looking for and planning photos for a specific meme I'm going to go back to taking photos of anything and everything and then posting when a good one fits a specific meme. It is far more enjoyable that way and well - isn't that the point? Plus with more time between posts I can actually visit all the participants. I always try to do that and I was starting to find that to be difficult as well.

Happy Friday Everyone - please do visit Tisha's site for more LOOKING AT THE SKY ON FRIDAY

Looking at the Sky on Friday: Church Steeple

Check out more LOOKING AT THE SKY ON FRIDAY

Have a Happy and Lucky Friday the 13th.

Looking At The Sky On Friday: Brooklyn's Eiffel Tower

These are not the best shots of the Parachute Jump at the now deserted Steeplechase Park on Coney Island. The landmark, known by many as Brooklyn's Eiffel Tower, deserves better shots but it was freezing cold and the boardwalk was icy. I promise to go back.

The sky was loving the tower that day. I found the texture of the clouds fascinating.

You can read more about The Parachute Jump HERE

Just like everything else in Brooklyn it has a rich story full of ups and downs - no pun intended.

I have loved this work of art since I was a child and I'm so glad that she's still there.





Please visit CRAZY WORKING MOM for more Looking At The Sky On Friday.

Ruby Tuesday & Creative Photography: Red Sky Over Dah Bridge

After my friend CHERIE noticed all the antennas on top of the Verrazano I started playing with the photo to make them stand out more.

And this is what happened ...




It made me think of a fantasy or sci-fi movie.

Check out RUBY TUESDAY and CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY

SOOC and Shadow Shots: Outside and Inside

Camera Critters is one post down

The first photo is my contribution to STRAIGHT OUT OF the CAMERA. I didn't even crop it, it just came out exactly as I saw it - I love when that happens.

The second photo is for SHADOW SHOTS. It is the corner of the bar which is on the other side of the gated window in the first photo.




I posted a B&W version of the second shot on THE WORLD IN BLACK AND WHITE

Have a great Sunday everyone! Go Steelers!!

Looking At The Sky On Friday: Dah Bridge

When it opened in 1964, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was the world's longest suspension span. The ends of the bridge are at historic Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn and Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, both of which guarded New York Harbor at the Narrows for over a century. The bridge was named after Giovanni da Verrazano, who, in 1524, was the first European explorer to sail into New York Harbor.

Located at the mouth of upper New York Bay, the bridge not only connects Brooklyn with Staten Island but is also a major link in the interstate highway system, providing the shortest route between the middle Atlantic states and Long Island.

In Brooklyn, the bridge connects to the Belt Parkway and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and to the largely residential community of Bay Ridge. On Staten Island, which saw rapid development after the bridge opened in 1964, it joins the Staten Island Expressway, providing access to the many communities in this most rural of the city's five boroughs.

All of that came from NY State's Transit site and is true. But the real purpose of the bridge is so that we can all get to Sunday gravy faster.

Isn't she beautiful ...





Visit Tisha for more LOOKING AT THE SKY ON FRIDAY