Musings

We surfaced in NYC in the Oculus. Here’s the view the length of it, where the eye shape looks far more like two rows of tall, elaborate fencing.

Oculus exterior: these features are to mimic eye-lashes?

Turn around a walk a short ways and you’re amidst the World Trade Center memorial and park area. Here’s the north tower pool with names engraved on panels just exterior to the cascade.

We found the south tower pool dry for maintenance, and almost 100% without spectators, unlike the “wet” pool.

A bit farther along and up a few steps, we revisited this sphere (official name: Große Kugelkaryatide N.Y.), originally between the two towers and damaged on 9/11. We saw it in its temporary location in Battery Park, and wanted to revisit it here.

We walked south along the Hudson. From a distance, this sculpture, called Upper Room, looked like it was surfaced in huge bird seeds. I wonder if anyone plays checkers/chess here.

The fabulous viewing locations for the Statue of Liberty are under construction, so we continued around to the East River, and saw lots of arrivals at the Heliport, including military choppers (perhaps as many as four). They match the black SUVs we saw parked at the Heliport, with plates reading something about Military Affairs and Navy.

If you’re curious about what is under Manhattan streets, here’s a peek…overlapping infrastructure, no?

JCB made special arrangements to see and use this Quantel Paintbox, the magic graphics machine that preceded Photoshop software. Memory lane!

We also ascended to Trinity Church, exploring the graveyard next door.

I enjoyed the decorative details still visible on some of the stones.

Most of the stones are of other materials and far more eroded.

Sunset sky from our room.

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We found a high hill overlooking the Susquehanna River. The far bridge is the interstate, but we took the old road, the one showing only two partial spans just a bit closer.

On the hill, we also found the Mason-Dixon trail, and walked it for a few feet.

Back on the road, after a short time, our eventual destination popped up on the navigation app.

From our New Jersey hotel parking lot, we can see across the Hudson and into (Upper) Manhattan. We’re staying here because it’s easier to deal with the car (free parking), yet still access the city.

We took a bus across to Port Authority, and walked out of the terminal and, tadah, lookee there! Also, our noses were assailed by a strong whiff of weed-smoke, which turned out to be the common street-perfume of today’s Manhattan.

We walked down to see the Flatiron Building, and discovered it is covered in a layer of scaffolding, and looks bulky and strange.

We also passed by two sides of the Empire State Building. The upper floors look less scruffy than the basal floors.

For a change of pace, here’s a statue of Minerva and two bell-ringers. A Smithsonian webpage says:

A granite niche flanked by pilasters supporting an entablature and attic with clock faces on the north and south sides. Standing in the niche is a figure of Minerva bearing a spear and shield. She has serpents entwined around her arms and breastplate, and she holds her proper right arm out. An owl, whose green eyes used to blink, is perched on top of a bell in front of her. Two bellringing blacksmiths, known as Stuff and Gruff, rotate at the waist and appear to hit the bell with their heavy hammers. Their hammers stop three inches from the bell while a mallet hidden inside a box behind the bell actually strikes the hour.

I thought the owl’s eyes looked odd; now I know why. I’m now slightly sad we didn’t hear the bell toll, but that’s what can happen when you do your research after the fact.

Ah, that’s enough high-points from a brief exploration of Midtown Manhattan….

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We ventured north today, crossed the state line, and kept going. We navigated mountains, had clouds dampen us, and kept going.

With the change in latitude, we traveled back in spring. Always love dogwoods…

And this rhodo sure surprised me. However, it was in a very protected spot semi surronded by reflective walls, so I figure that’s what (it seems to me) accelerated its blooming.

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These shadows from the street light are proof that the leaves are well-out…but not all-out.

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Watch out, new leaf! Your neighbors show how the elements can tear into you!

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So, I was in a mood, and the tomato seemed to need a moment in center stage.

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I wanted colorful.

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I’m calling this moment a slight lull in the flush of spring. The redbuds have bloomed, yet somehow have not dropped last year’s seed pods. Now, the leaves are more than half-grown, so that the visual effect is of a mix of brown-beige verticals and green-green rounded shapes.

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It’s all about the droplets.

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Today, we toured the Etowah mounds, all six of them. That’s the largest and second largest in the distance.

Archaeology is ever-so-cool (duh)…I also enjoyed the vetch among the planted meadow flora. Bitter vetch is one of the earliest domesticated plants in the Levant. This, however, is probably common vetch…one of my favorites for the color and the delicate foliage with probing and twining tendrils.

The sacred zone aorund the mounds buts up against the Etowah River. That riffle on this side of the river is half of a weir that certainly has been built and modified in historical times, but may date back into prehistory and the era of the mounds.

Posted at 10:43 PM | 2 Comments »