Five Years Ago

The graffiti wall in Plainfield, NJ. This is just off of East Fifth Street. The graffiti artists who did graphics for the front and side of the business where this is located apparently have been given the wall to do whatever they wish art-wise. It's constantly changing. I should walk by and snag a shot of the latest.

Flowers for a Monday Morning

It's another Monday. Let's all go to work!
Wah.

The Empty Train

 

On the Raritan Valley Line of NJ Transit, sometimes the off-peak trains are nearly empty. I'm not complaining, mind you.

The Damselfly

 

My apologies for having gone missing for about a week. I was a bit under the weather both literally and figuratively.

Here's a damselfly and the hope of spring.

Watching for rats?

It looks like the lone man on the subway platform on the right might be watching rat antics down on the tracks. Yes, there are often rats running around down there. I've tried to photograph them, but they're very fast.

The Graffiti Wall

 

A wall in the back of a building in Plainfield seems to have been given to graffiti artists in exchange for them doing actual graphics on the front and side wall of said building.

Oh Noes! I'm in the Street!

 

I took advantage of a lull in traffic to get this shot in East Harlem, NYC.

Vintage

 

A restored (and probably souped-up) car sits in front of Flash Tattoos on East 4th Street in Plainfield.

The Chess King

 

The Master and Student of the game play in Washington Square Park, NYC.

Colors of Spring

As we had yet another record breaking cold day, I thought some spring colors were needed. This is the inside of an iris, up close and personal.

Wild Horse in Black and White

 

A wild mustang in Corolla, NC, grazes on something in the dunes. It's against the law there to come within 50 feet of the wild horses or to feed them. Judging by the weights of the ones I saw, they must fare pretty well for themselves.

Playing Tourist

 

Yes, playing tourist as I look up in Manhattan. I prefer to think of it as playing photographer.

Yeah, that's the ticket.

Bring on the Damselflies!

 

Yes, bring on the damselflies!

Or, at the very least, spring.

Heck, I'd be happy with the 30s.

Spores Gone Wild

 

This is what happens to the dandelion spores when I mess with them with a photo editor.

Feel the power.

Lamps in a Row

 

The lamps on the platforms of the Plainfield Train Station are always begging to be photographed!

Cold Acorns

 

The squirrels are talking about beating up the ground hog.

The Night Station

 

The Plainfield Train Station at night. Obviously in much more pleasant weather, mind you.

Over the Fanwood Train Station

 

Some years back I had to regularly go for blood testing in neighboring Fanwood, NJ. I had had a DVT after knee surgery and was on an anti-coagulant. While kind of cool, their foot bridge over the tracks certainly wasn't disability accessible. But I did it anyway.

Spring Can't Come too Soon!

 

Yes, I need to see goslings.

I need spring.

I'm over the winter.

It needs to go away.

Now.

Drinks

A Manhattan street vendor's lighted cart is reflected on a marble platform.

At Least it's not Sandy Again

 

While hurricane force winds were predicted yesterday, they were nothing like Hurricane ... er, Super Storm Sandy a few years ago. The only really bad thing about yesterday was that the temperatures never got out of the teens.

Let There Be Berries

 

But when the birds won't eat them, you shouldn't.

These berries were obviously growing in nicer weather.

I am a Bench

 

Yes, I am a Bench and my name is Rambo.

Deal with it.

Graffiti seen in Bridgewater,NJ.

The Egg of Albany

 

I went up to Albany, New York, a while back for my high school reunion. This hadn't been finished when I moved out of that area in 1977. The Egg is a stadium on the Empire State Plaza (home of many state offices).

A Taste of Europe

 

Well, okay. It's not really a taste of Europe. It's a European Starling, a bird considered a nuisance or invasive bird in these parts. And, more obviously, the photo wasn't taken today!

In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle

 

... the lion sleeps tonight. This is Patience, one of the two lion statues in front of the main New York Public Library. The other lion is Fortitude. Yes, really.

Outside Penn Station

 

I took this shot while lurking the Penn Station/Madison Square Garden area one night when I missed the last train home. There's about a three and a half hour gap in the wee hours when the trains don't run. Yet, the city never sleeps.

Just Trees

 

Just trees. Trees in Texas, the shot taken while I was on vacation there one year. At least they don't have snow and ice on them.

Skullz

 

They thought they had skillz when they actually had skullz.

What a greeting, huh?

This skull wind chime doohickey was hanging on a door in the West Village (NYC) some years back. 

In the Mirror

Well, SOMEONE entered! I see a red vehicle. It didn't get there by osmosis.

Have You Heard?

 

He's going to buy me a mockingbird. If that mockingbird don't sing, he's going to buy me a diamond ring. I that diamond ring don't shine ...

Okay. 

I'll stop singing.

But I'm leaving a mockingbird.

The Dive Bar

 

Just a dive bar on the Lower East Side. My friends and I closed it out that particular night. Do you know that trains don't run to New Jersey at that hour?

Magicicada

 

A Brood IV Magicicada looks up at me from his perch in a bush. The 17 year cycle of the cicadas was a few years back. We won't see each other for some years to come.

The Plainfield Train Station Groundhog Says ...

... he wants SPRING, the sooner the better! After all, no one gives him bread when he's hibernating.

The Door To ...

 

I find a certain beauty in the derelict, the dilapidated, the abandoned and the forgotten.

Dandy Dandelion

 

I'd prefer to see these covering the lawns rather than snow.

Mother Nature doesn't care what I prefer.

Grr.

Bus Stop, No Parking

Yes, it's a bus stop with no parking, standing or stopping allowed. But, are YOU going to ticket these cars? Times Square, Manhattan.

Red-Spotted Purple Admiral

 

Yep, it's a Red-Spotted Purple Admiral butterfly. Although blue to my eyes, I guess it's deemed purple. You can just make out the reddish spots at the top of its wings. I found this little guy one summer day at the Bridgewater Train Station (NJ). He was a cooperative model for the photo shoot.

Retro NJ Transit

Perhaps not retro for some of the rail lines, but my NJ Transit line (Raritan Valley) has had double-decker trains for a number of years now.

What's With This Winter Stuff?

 

Dear Mother Nature,

Okay, we've seen the snow. We've felt the cold air. Spring can come now. Thank you!

Reflection

A building is reflected on a building in Manhattan.

Sunrise at the Station

Just before sunrise approaching the Plainfield Train Station. Oh, not this morning. I don't think the sunrise was much more than a lightening of the skies today. Although the amount of snow we got was nothing like what was forecast, it snowed well into the afternoon.

Eek! Help Me!

 

EEK! A cicada killer wasp is flying right at me! Eek!

Oh, wait. They don't sting. They hover, dart and fight with other male cicada killer wasps for territory. How do they fight? They beat each other with their wings. It's loud, but funny!

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Hot, hot, hot! Let's pretend it's summer! Now, I'm not a big fan of summer. I enjoy spring and fall. Winter and summer, not so much. With winter, it's not the cold that bothers me the most -- it's the aftermath of snowstorms with ice and snow remaining on the sidewalks and streets.

So, with a blizzard warning up, I'd even rather summer heat. At least with a blizzard, chances are that I don't have to be out in it if the roads are terrible and they cancel the trains. In the summer, they never cancel the trains because of heat!

Um, let's go for spring instead.

Contented Cat

 

Okay, my last shot was a bit depressing.

But a contently napping Vincent cat should make it all good once again!

The World Passes By

I edited this shot so only the greenery of the passing world remains in color. I feel the photo screams futility. On a cold grey winter day with rain-sogged snow, it does seem pretty futile. Unless you're inside baking cookies, that is.

Ralph Kramden Reporting for Duty

 

A statue of television's biggest NYC bus driver, Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) from The Honeymooners stands on duty in front of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan. I'll admit to sitting on its base sometimes awaiting time for my bus home. It's definitely better than sitting on the ground! Plus, much easier to get up from, too.

Not For Eating!

 

Oh, no. You definitely don't want to eat these! Beside the fact that I don't know if they're poisonous, they're most certainly beyond their prime. I edited this shot to make them appear a bit more illustration-like.

Fungifence

Fungi growing on an old tree stump abutting a chain link fence = fungifence! I took this shot years ago. Only the bark from the stump still exists entwined with poison ivy.

A Storm Moves In

No, no ... while we expect some snow, it's not like this! I took this shot as a storm moved from inland as I was on The Outer Banks. We had some really cool thunderstorms there while I was on vacation a few years ago! Nothing like lightning over the ocean!