Iced In

It's been warm and sunny the last few days, which means that all of the snow and ice from our recent winter storm has finally melted. We ended up getting mostly sleet here, which turned into a slippery coat of ice about six inches deep. It wasn't good for making snowmen, but it essentially kept us homebound for about a week. We live on a hill, and along a street that seems like it's always one of the last streets in the city to be cleared. Several cars got stuck trying to navigate the road - including a poor Door Dash driver who got was just trying to deliver a meal to someone down the road.

This is what the streets in our neighborhood looked like for a few days:



I did utilize all the time stuck indoors to go back and look through some older pictures, converting a bunch to Black and White just to see how they'd look. So here's a selection of some older photos, for your viewing enjoyment:



Way back in 2021, we took a little road trip to St. Louis. This was the view from our hotel room:



And one time a few years ago, I ended up in the Ozarks on a cold and rainy day. It had stormed, and the creeks and rivers were nearly flooded. This is Big Piney Creek at Longpool:





And after doing a short hike, I ended up at Lower Longpool Falls.





After that I headed up deeper into the Ozarks, driving along roads that dipped through some heavy fog.



And then I headed down Falling Water Road, which follows along Falling Water Creek. As you'd guess from the names, there are a lot of cool waterfalls along Falling Water Creek. The first one you see is the aptly named Falling Water Falls. The creek was nearly at flood-stage when I took these, and the falls were roaring.



One good thing about having these in Black and White is that it hides the color of the water. Since it was flooded, the water was muddy and brown (looking more like the chocolate river in Willy Wonka than the clear and turquoise waters they usually are).



And further down the creek is Six Finger Falls:







And then last year I made another little trip up to the Ozarks, and the waterfalls were flowing well again:





And it was another foggy and rainy day as I drove around the Buffalo National River:









And also last year, we made some trips to the Big City. Here's a few shots from Chicago (specifically from the Hancock Tower):





And then a few from New York:















And one last picture, which I really like because of how it looks like the public art/sculpture that looks like Pac-Man is peeking out from behind the carousel.

New York City - Roosevelt Island

On our last day in New York City we pushed through the chaos of Times Square one last time and made our way to Broadway to see this little-known play called Hamilton. Afterwards we went back to the hotel so I could retrieve my camera gear, and then we headed over to Roosevelt Island. The island sits in the East River between Manhattan and Queens, and can be reached via a tram car. It is a cheap and fun way to cross the river (it's really a shame that we can't commute with trams more in this country).

Roosevelt Island is a rare stretch of land in New York City that hasn't been extensively developed. For most of its history it was home to prisons, asylums and hospitals. Nowadays, a good portion of the island is set aside as parks and greenspace. The views from the island are great, especially of the Queensboro Bridge.





And across the river you can see the United Nations Building, the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.





Walking along the river was a good way to wind down our trip to the Big City. It wasn't busy at all, with just a few other people out strolling along the sidewalk. There were even a few people out there fishing. It was a far cry from the image of New York being a dirty, crime-ridden hellhole made by certain people (and a certain president). I spent a lot of time walking through the city carrying a bag with lots of camera equipment inside, and never once felt unsafe. For the record, I was never attacked by an antifa trying to infect me with the woke mind virus. And since I'm still here writing this, no mobsters put out a hit on me. I wasn't even murdered by one of those crazed serial killers that pops up on all those TV crime procedural dramas that are set here.

New York is a great city, but I might be biased since I'm easily impressed by big cities. I mean I went to college in a small town that practically shut down at night (the only thing open after 8 PM was one gas station, a truck stop and the Waffle House). My family is from an even smaller town in western Arkansas that just recently got its first and only stoplight. So I was absolutely delighted to see things like multiple skyscrapers, decent mass transit and countless places selling pizza by the slice.



Ok sorry for the digression, back to Roosevelt Island. At one point you walk by an old Smallpox Hospital, which was built in 1856. It closed in the 1950s and was abandoned, eventually turning into this really cool ruin that has been left as a reminder of the island's history.



And then one last shot from Roosevelt Island, and from New York City, taken as I walked under the Queensboro Bridge.



And then it was time to head back to the hotel and start packing up our suitcases. We had an early morning flight the next day, so we woke up before dawn and drove through the city in darkness towards the airport. They say that New York is the city that never sleeps, but perhaps at 4:30 that morning it was taking a little catnap. As we drove by Times Square and then Grand Central Terminal, there was hardly any other cars or people about (which was nice, since there was no traffic on the way to LaGuardia). A few hours later we were back in Little Rock, eager to see our two boys (and two dogs) at home.

New York City - Central Park

When we planned this trip to New York City we didn't even think about there still being fall colors up there. So we were pleasantly surprised to arrive and see some great fall color still hanging onto the trees. And the best place to see the colors in the whole city just has to be Central Park.









We walked over to the Gapstow Bridge, which was much busier than when I was here earlier on our visit. Still no sign of the Pigeon Lady though.





There were a lot of people around the bridge, and I'd guess that most of them were tourists (it was a Saturday, after all). Now I know that you hear travel writers and influencers talk about avoiding touristy places like this. But you know what, sometimes it's just nice to be a tourist in a touristy spot. To be around fellow visitors, all excited about seeing something at the same time, to get pictures taken in front of it and to offer to take pictures for a stranger. It's charming in a goofy sort of way that reminds us that we are all people just out here experiencing life together. Things are so crazy and difficult in our world (and especially in this country) right now, and it is honestly refreshing that in these jaded and cynical times people can still get out and find joy in looking at reflections of skyscrapers and fall colors in a pond together.





This is the view from the bridge, looking towards the Plaza Hotel.



And the view, reflected in a small puddle of water on the bridge:



Construction on Central Park started in 1857, and was completed in 1876. It's crazy to think that while other parts of the country were being destroyed during the Civil War, people here were working on features in the park that are still in use today. Nowadays it is one of the most visited urban parks int he country with over 42 million visitors every year. 



This is The Dairy, which was built in 1871 as a restaurant. It's now used as a visitors center.



Central Park is one of the most filmed locations in the world, appearing in over 500 movies (like Elf, Home Alone 2, Die Hard With A Vengeance and When Harry Met Sally).





We stopped at the Turtle Pond, which had some great fall colors:





And then we walked over to Belvedere Castle, which was built in 1869. I'm assuming it was named after the old Mr. Belvedere TV show from the 1980s.



You can go inside (it's now used as a small visitor center and gift shop). This is the view looking out the windows:



And the views from the top:





After that we rambled through The Ramble, a series of winding paths through a forested area. As busy as the park was that day, it was quiet and peaceful there.









After that we headed back to our hotel to get changed, since we had tickets to see play later that evening (Oh, Mary!). But before we left I stuck the camera out the window of our room and got a shot of this view of the Empire State Building off in the distance.