More Power to You

Although I would never take  for granted 
the digital camera that captured this 
shot from a speeding train—or want to give up the 
camera or the train—it would be fun to travel back
in time just to see what this beautiful Virginia
countryside looked like without the power lines
(and some of our other not-so-attractive mod cons).

[To see more of The Weekend in Black and White,
visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Last Saturday, it snowed—again.
Sunday morning everything was encased in ice.
Then the sun came out and it all began to melt.  
Unfortunately, by Monday morning this 
puddle was solid ice—again.

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"bright"

How about a bright-pink tulip
to brighten up a dreary winter day?

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—G is for "grapefruit"

Why are they called grapefruit when
they don't look or taste anything like a grape?  
I've tried (because they do look so good),
but this is one of the few foods—
along with mushrooms and anything
completely disgusting (like tripe or haggis)—
that I'd just as soon not eat, thank you.
Are you a fan?
[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

You don't mean me, do you?

Apparently not—at least no
one chased me away . . .

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

cool curtain

When I found these puka shells left over
from some craft project at work, I knew exactly
what I wanted to do with them.  Love the
way the light shines through them in the morning
and—if it ever warms up enough to open
the window—the pretty sound 
they make when a breeze hits them.

[Linking back to Blue Monday, Macro Monday,
Monday Mellow Yellows, Mosaic Monday,
and Mandarin Orange Monday.] 

inSPIREd Sunday

I've shown this church here before, both
the inside and the outside—but
St.-Etienne-du-Mont (my once-upon-a-time
parish church) deserves lots of encores.

[To see more churches from around the world, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

A fave spot to curl up and read
(and a real cat magnet), this
wing chair was a great thrift-store find.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

More of the "Treasures of the Maharajas"
exhibit at the Met (all of the pieces
now belong to Sheikh Hamad Al-Thani, of
Qatar).  These are early- to mid-19th-century
ankle bracelets, which might have been
worn by a woman or a man. They're gold, with
sapphires and pearls and green glass beads—so
pretty, but you probably wouldn't want to wear them
if you were planning to sneak up on someone.

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"machines"

If I were in the market for a car (which
I'm not since I don't drive), I probably wouldn't
plunk down $70,000 (and up) for a
Tesla Model S—even though it is an awesome machine.
 I do hope cars like this that need no fossil fuels
whatsoever become more common and more affordable. 

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—F is for "food trucks"

Lined up outside on a recent night when the
Metropolitan Museum of Art was open late, these
food trucks offered everything from hot dogs
to hot soup.  But while the food may have been hot, 
the temp was not.  My daughter and niece and 
I opted instead to hike about 40 blocks 
(that's two miles) south for some yummy Italian
food—and wine—in a nice warm restaurant.

[To see more ABC Wednesday posts, go here.]

poignées de tiroir

 I found these pretty French drawer pulls in a
shop in the Passage du Grand Cerf, one of the wonderful
late-18th-/early-19th-century all-weather shopping arcades
in Paris.  Once upon a time, there were more
than a hundred; the ones that are left are found mostly
in the 2nd and 9th arrondissements.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

colorful cauliflower

And I didn't even play with the saturation in this photo.
I love cauliflower and I think these are beautiful—
but I'm not sure bright fuchsia food really
looks all that appetizing. What do you think?

[Linking back to Macro Monday and
to Mandarin Orange Monday.]

It won't be too long

. . . I hope.  I'm getting pretty sick of this frigid 
weather—a wind chill of -7°F (-22°C) when I woke 
up on Friday—and am looking forward
to daffodils popping up and flowering trees
like this one coming into bloom.  (I took this shot
on March 17 a few years ago, but that was a 
much milder winter than the one we're having; I'll
be curious to see when it blooms this year.)

[Linking back to Today's Flowers
and Shadow Shot Sunday.]

The Weekend in Black and White

Happy Valentine's Day!
(I found these red satin candy boxes at
Economy Candy down on the Lower East Side. 
This shop has been run by the Cohen family since 1937.)

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Loved riding across Budapest on these
colorful trams.  However . . . you punch your ticket
in a machine when you get on, and the first time I did
it I got my ticket stuck and broke the machine.
Hoppá!  (I think that's Hungarian for oops.)

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"shiny"

I think that when most of us hear the word
sardine, we picture a small tin of colorless fish
—or, in my case, the daily rush-hour subway commute.
These very fresh and wonderfully shiny ones
were waiting to be bought at the Rialto Market,
in Venice—and maybe cooked up into sarde in saor
(click here and scroll down for a recipe).

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—E is for "empty"

That's my friend Jimmy and we were the only
customers in this Trader Joe's in Sarasota
on a Saturday night last month.
Here in NYC, you'll never see one of these stores
looking like this—even if it's first thing in the morning
or two minutes before closing time.
(Are you lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's near you?)

[To see more ABC shots, go here.]

up in Montmartre

This balcony overlooks the straight uphill/downhill
rue du Mont Cenis.  It is slightly off the beaten
tourist path, but that's not saying too much in Montmartre.
I appreciate that the owners have given me something
special to shoot—and still found a beautiful
way to preserve their privacy.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

Dinner in Budapest

Our friends took us to one of their favorite
restaurants (Klassz, on Andrassy Ut—go if you 
visit Budapest).  The food was excellent and 
the company even more so, but now I wish someone
had explained the illustration on this bottle of
sparkling rosé.  It was very good, btw, and cost
about 920 forints (that's approximately $3.50—yet
another reason to love this beautiful city).

[It's Mandarin Orange Monday. To see more, go here.]

"Death Becomes Her"

That's the name of this exhibit of
mourning clothes recently on display
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume
Institute.  They had one of Queen Victoria's
 "little black dresses."  Well, actually, it isn't really
little at all—although Victoria was quite
vertically challenged, her frame and the fashion of
the day required the use of many, many yards of fabric!

[It's Shadow Shot Sunday. To see more, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

Anyone who's been coming to this blog for a while
knows that I suffer from terrace envy.
But when there's snow every few days, temps 
are in the teens and twenties, and 
wind chills drop them to single digits and even 
below 0°F . . . you can have your terrace—
now I have a case of fireplace envy.

[To see more monochromes, visit Dragonstar's meme.
Also linking back to the B&W Photography Project at PODcast.]

Skywatch/Reflections

My first thought when I visited this building recently
had nothing to do with the fact that it's the Dali Museum 
and everything to do with two of my fave memes.

I was even inspired to take a selfie
(something I hardly ever do).

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.
Also linking back to Skywatch Friday.]

Thursday Challenge—"snacks"

I never go to Costco at home (because I live
in a typical NYC apartment, not a storage facility).
But we made a Costco run while I was down
in Florida recently, to pick up the
very very large economy size of something.
Frankly, faced with the sheer volume 
of food there, I can't quite decide whether 
I should be impressed or repulsed.

{And speaking of nutty—Happy Birthday, Katie!}

[To see more of the Thursday Photo Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—D is for "dragon fruit"

Seems an apt name for these funky fruits,
which were on display in Chinatown.
I've never tasted them, but I'm told they
have a very mild flavor (a bit unexpected
considering the fancy "packaging").

[To see more posts that feature the letter D, go here.]

Wasn't it thoughtful . . .

of this shop in Soho to put out a bowl
of water for passing pups?
I loved this gesture and I don't even have a dog.
This one is from the archives—with wind chills
below 0°F here today, that would be a bowl of ice.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]

You had me at BoozeJuice

This was for sale at the Saturday Market
in Sarasota, Florida.  I was tempted by the 
cute name alone—but managed to resist.

[To see more Monday Mellow Yellows, go here.]

inSPIREd Sunday

My daughter Lila (this is her picture)
and I stepped into the church of the Madeleine
to look around for a minute—and found
a concert of beautiful choral music going on.
Sometimes you just get lucky.

[To see more churches from around the world, go here.]