I Love A Good Storm!

I have been offline for a week (not including trips to the Apple Store and my local library to use the computers) and after having the logic board and video card replaced this morning, couldn't wait to upload this storm video that I took last week, on August 18. I was hoping to upload it to NY 1 so they could show it as the lightning was RIGHT THERE and seemingly hitting the next rooftop.

I've lost electronics in the past to lighting hitting my building, so I was pretty happy not to have lost anything this time. I notice that other people also filmed this storm, so you can see it from a few different vantage points.

Fogalicious!

I was out running errands and noticed that the fog from Christmas Eve was still with us. The weather this weekend is warmer than usual after our snow of a week or so ago, and there's still some ugly black slush around, a little ice and a smattering of whiteness in the park here and there. It wasn't until twilight when I was able to get to the park again and the colors and mistiness were unbelievable. YES, there is s little PhotoShop magic happening, but it's very close to what it really looked like. There's more here and you can click on the slideshow to see them at their best.

Brrrr.

Good to know that you can still get in to Central Park at 12:30 AM!


Funny how some folks wanted to walk right next to the wall - looks like their dog wanted to, as well.


I love the idea of a Children's Gate. It leads to a playground that I was taken to as a child, growing up on East 76th Street. The playground is unrecognizable now - full of modern playground amusements. I'm reminded that I must read Adam Gopnick's book about growing up on the East Side.

It was 18 degrees today. I was taking pictures of the Christmas windows at Bloomingdales (they're fun - will post soon) and had my fingerless gloves on for 5 minutes - which was enough to make the exposed bits hurt like hell for an hour afterward. It seemed possible to achieve frostbite status, and I was so happy that I thought to bring the gloves I wear with them when I was done. Naturally,there were the hardy souls (men) in sweatshirts with no hat or gloves here and there, but for the most part, people were sensible, and wore hats and scarves and layers.

I considered walking across snowy Central Park to look at the snow and grab a few pix, but when I reached Fifth Avenue, it was rip-your-face-off wind chill time, and the paths into the park hadn't been de-iced, so the sensible part of me whispered "better not", and for once, I listened.

It's supposed to be 30 degrees tomorrow, and 48 on Wednesday, so bye-bye snow, hello slush and big puddles.

Inclement Autumn Sky

I wrote "inclement" as it seemed for a moment as if there might be another storm - we've had some decent storms here in NYC of late...but it was just a sudden roll-in of dark clouds. I am in awe of the dark field of clouds relieved by a glimmer of the sunny skies beyond. The day was brilliantly sunny and crisp and then, these dark clouds rolled in. This the sole view from my apartment, looking east; when the Yankees are at home and are playing, there is a distant glow on the horizon from the Stadium lights. It's not the greatest of views, but the eastern light in the mornings and afternoon is awesome, and there are no tall buildings around. It's actually possible to see the sky, which I could never do from anywhere else I've lived in the city.

When I did a season in Louisville, Kentucky in the '90s, I lived in a lovely residential hotel in Old Louisville, along with a bunch of other theatrical folk. There was a field next door, and during the first week of my stay, there was a thunderstorm with brilliant lightning. I turned off the lights, opened a bottle of wine, and sat in my living room watching the show. It was fantastic, as I'd never had a view like this anywhere. I still love to watch weather, and on Flickr I posted some shots of lightning from this window, taken in June, that showed some very interesting lightning shapes. The strikes are a lot faster than my reflexes, so it was a frustrating experience. If I can find them, I'll post them.