Bowery Be Bop

The Bowery, which is actually a street and the name of an area, used to be the dregs of New York.  Seedy, unsafe, you know.  All that kind of stuff that gentrified people don't like.  Murders, dives, etc.  Now, it's nice.  There are classy clubs.  Theatres.  Things like that.

Oh, and there are flowers.  Lots, and lots of flowers.  I mean, it's spring- everything is in bloom.

And, it's beautiful.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

By the way... I know I've been doing a lot of neighborhood specific posts lately.  How are you enjoying it?  To me, it's an easy way to chronicle the photographs and keep a post focused on one topic.  But, I also know it's a bit different from what I was doing before.  I am happy with it, but I would love your feedback.  As always, feel free to leave me comments here or on Facebook, or send me an email.  

Thank you so much!

Pinecones and Fuzzies

The colors of fall.  So pretty, so serene.  I'm

These are some photos I've had lying around on my hard drive for forever, so I thought I'd finally share them with all of you!

I'm back in Beach Haven now, working on a Christmas musical!  It feels so great to be singing and acting again.  The holiday spirit has become ingrained in my soul.  

It's marvelous :)

Speaking of which... Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow 'Muricans!

Beach Haven, New Jersey, USA

At Island's End

At the end of Long Beach Island, New Jersey, there is a bird sanctuary.   It's a state park where the birds are free to roam without any human interruption.

During the summer, it is closed off just a few feet down from where the houses end, so that the birds have their privacy.

But, during the fall, many parts of it are open to the public.

The coast line seems to stretch on forever in the distance, broken only by the trees and beach grasses that make up the dunes.

People and their pets were all over the area, enjoying the sunny October afternoon.

A vast number of the people out were fishing.  I almost ran into wire a few times!

Tide pools littered the beach, full of interesting shells and deceased wildlife.

The ocean wrapped around hills on the beach in curves, creating peninsulas where you could walk fifty feet or so out into the middle of the water without getting even your feet wet in the sand.  Couples were all over the place, holding hands, staring warmly at each other.  It was lovely.

The best part though, was when my feet did get wet.  It was almost 65 degrees Farenheit outside- warm for a late fall day, but the water was even warmer!  The cold came when the wind hit my wet ankles.

Seagulls, terns, and sandpipers were everywhere!  But they were much more skittish than on most other beaches, since they weren't accustomed to humans.  It was really hard to get a photograph of them at any kind of close range where they weren't attempting to fly away!

Some of the little tidepools were surrounded by large rocks, which had probably, at one time, been part of jetties.  These rocks had obviously been on the beach for some time.  Barnacles, moss and other sea life coated them, making them green and slimy.

There were shells everywhere too!  Hundreds of them, untouched all summer long.  Shell collecting is really popular on Long Beach Island, and finding shells like moonsnails is really unusual.  I picked up more than thirty just that afternoon!  It was magical.

Even some of the types of shells more commonly seen in the bay were on this beach.

This puppy ran up to me out of seemingly nowhere and jumped into my arms!  It was so cute and sweet, yipping playfully and licking at my face.  I love dogs, and I have never had one, so I cherish moments like that.  Unfortunately, it did have a family who were about one hundred feet away on the other side of the hill.  For a moment there, I thought I had been sent a new friend.

 

All in all, it was a perfect adventure.

Holgate, New Jersey, USA

Beach Haven Sunrise

 

For the past two monthes, I have been living in Beach Haven, New Jersey.  It's a pretty little town- mostly a summer resort.  My grandparents have a house there, and a lot of my favourite childhood memories are associated with this place.  This time, I was there working at Surflight Theatre, an amazing regional theatre that I have worked at before as an intern. 

One thing that's wonderful about working at Surflight... it's two blocks away from the beach.  If the working hours were shorter, I would have been on the beach all of the time.  As it was, I worked crazy long hours, but I made sure to get on the beach at least once every few days.  Often, this was at night.  Sometimes, though, I went early in the morning.  

These photos were taken from the end of my grandparents' block, around 8AM on a glorious and warm September morning.

Beach Haven, New Jersey, USA

Nature's Gifts

Flowers from Central Park in the middle of summer.  

The first photograph is of the waterlillies in the Bethesda Fountain- one of my favourite locations in New York City.  The feeling of power there affects your very soul, it's so beautiful.  

The second is of one of the many plaques in the Shakespeare Garden, another favourite of mine.  It's a quote from Shakespeare's King John, my favourite of his histories.  I actually use the monologue it's taken from as an audition piece.  

The others are of lovely flowers from elsewhere around the park.  Central Park is so delightful- I now live very close to Prospect Park, its Brooklyn equivalent of sorts, and hope to be posting many photographs of it sometime in the near future.  But, something about Central Park's cache is indescribable.  To sit in one of the meadows, or under one of the ancient trees, next to the Bethesda Fountain... One feels imbued with a sense of class that can only be described as inborn.  And I'm not overly classy in my normal life.  A baguette, a yogurt parfait, and a Shakespeare Garden help me create the illusion rather nicely.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA