heat and haze

 

i was out earlier than usual to walk milly as it was supposed to go up to the high 90's . . which it did - stopping at 98 degrees. but even though it was cooler at 10:30 in the morning (only 93), the air was terrible. the dewpoint and humidity were high and all the dust and debris from the local construction was just hanging in the air (double townhouse renovations and parking garages being converted into luxury apartments). my throat was sore from breathing it in. as the day progressed, the wildfire smoke moved in. 

daisies by the morton williams supermarket on la guardia place. i stopped in to see if they had a bottle brush that i could use for cleaning our flower vases. fortunately, they did.

peaceful wind chimes . . 

the light this evening was yellowish brown and heavy. i put the air on and chanda and the cats were much happier.

that plant by the laundry room

 

this is the flower that bloomed by the laundry room. it's a very delicate blue blossom. it wasn't easy to get a photo as the flower was really too small for the camera to focus upon! (here is when i first took a photo of the plant's leaves in march).

a walking milly day

 

yesterday was too rainy, so we had our walk today.

flowers from milly's mom for mother's day . . 

voting day and spring flower photos

pluto this morning . . 

and here are the three of them before chanda and i went out to vote.

it was a special election as our local council member was elected to the state assembly and we had to vote for his replacement.

look who we met up with . . it was a voting party.

the neighborhood is looking beautifully festive with all the spring blooms . .

and greg and i ate at tartine. we figured out that the last time we ate here together was when the restaurant had a different name, which neither of us could remember. we asked the current manager who also couldn't remember, though he knew that it was in 1991!! i have eaten here several times since then with janet and with morgan and chanda. one time we met a colleague of greg's from his work, which was interesting as i cannot remember how we figured out that she knew greg since he wasn't with us. maybe chanda remembers the story.

another grey day

 

today felt even colder than yesterday. kendall and aurélien came over for a visit bringing cookies from a local bakery. aurélien has had a large splinter in the palm of his hand for a week now. kendall was hoping he would let greg try to get it out, but he wasn't agreeable. greg thinks it might become sore due to working itself out and then aurélien might be more amenable to having kendall take a poke at it.

the azealeas are just breathtaking and help to cheer things up around here.

these roses do a good job at that too.

sunshine, flowers, and a brass band

greg and i walked over to strand this morning as i wanted to pick up a book they had for kathy for her birthday (kate bolick's march sisters, on life, death and little women, marisa and i had attended wnyc's interview with the author in 2019). we had a bite to eat at veselka and stopped at the green market on the way home for a few vegetables from muddy farm and nectarines from mary's farm. there were no prune plums . . sadly. i have felt like making another plum cake.

there was a great brass band playing outside of gourmet garage today, off the bar brass.

dinner this evening was a vegetable and ground beef stew from the gaza kitchen by laila el-haddad (greg watched a florida state university game . . they haven't been doing very well this year, so far, but managed to win tonight's game).

tomorrow morning is the autumn equinox.

a visit downtown

greg and i rode the citibikes down to liberty street and then walked down broadway to the national museum of the american indian. the large group of people in the photo are surrounding the charging bull statue that sits in a small park in the middle of broadway. it's very popular with tourists, which greg finds endlessly amusing. he says there is always a crowd around it. 

lots of souvenirs are sold here along the sidewalk . . 

the museum is housed in what was once the u. s. customs house . .

they have copies of interesting documents displayed along the circular counter as the building also houses the national archives. today i saw a paper signed by dean martin declaring bankruptcy and also albert einstein's declaration of intention for citizenship.

the main exhibit is through two doors off the main rotunda, one on the east side and one on the west. i haven't been here in over a year and they now have a wonderful exhibit with photos and videos of the current nations living on long island and in upstate new york. there is also now an acknowledgement of the many nations of native peoples that have been here for thousands of years along with a beautiful collection of clothing, beadwork, tools, baskets and current artwork. there is also a stronger connection to the american indian museum in d. c., primarily through an enlarged gift shop and cafe! i'm surprised about the cafe and would like to come back and visit . . it closed at 5 today and so i missed it.

i love this photo of two mohawk steel workers on top of an arch of the verrazzano bridge in 1963 . . looking down!

beadwork purses by members of the tuscarora nation near niagara falls.

ooger uk inua (walrus spirit) by larry beck (chnagmiut yup'ik, 1938-1994) - hubcaps, tires, chair legs, pvc plastic (1982).

kevin red star (absaroke, crow, born 1943), bird's head shield, 1981, acrylic and mixed media on canvas.

mebêngôkre krokrokti (feather headdress or cape) from brazil, ca. 1990 - macaw feathers, heron feathers, cotton cordage.

it's a much smaller museum than the one in d. c. but wonderful to visit.

items from the gift shop:

beautiful weaving and beadwork . . 

these plates . . ! they also had several cookbooks which i remember seeing when in washington . . (you can see that visit here).

a handmade wool wall hanging by a canadian inuk artist which i thought was really lovely.

it was a nice visit and i hope i get back soon . .

back outside, i just had to take a few photos of the people waiting in line for pics of themselves with the bull . . 

yes, they are all waiting for a photo of themselves beneath his tush. we are all too funny sometimes.

this was me in london: always looking at postcards and popping into the tourists shops for tea towels or cheap cotton tote bags with a bus or big ben on it.

taking a short cut through the oculus to walk home along the river.

sidetracked by auntie anne's buttery pretzels . .