Inspiration Fridays: Enchanted Forest

Forests.  Places of enchantment, perhaps, but gorgeous?  Definitely.  It's entirely possible that I've been playing too much Skyrim, but for the past few weeks, I've just wanted to walk around an old deserted forest and sing to myself.  In this fantasy I'm generally wearing a long cape and carrying a sword in one hand, and a magical spell in the other.  Ok, I have been playing too much Skyrim, but that's not the point.  Or, maybe it is.

I've always liked the outdoors.  If the option to sit outside at a restaurant exists, and the weather is tolerable, I will generally take that option.  I love walking outside, and sitting in parks.  If this park sitting involves a book and a hot beverage, well... nirvana.  That's basically my nirvana.  Plants, trees, and grass make me happy.  So do furry woodland creatures, and chirping birds.  That sounds trite, but I mean it.  As pesky as squirrels can be, I like them.  They're annoying and sometimes a bit frightening when they climb on your foot, lap, shoulder etc. and attempt to steal your food when you're eating Shake Shack in the park, but, damnit, they are cute. Those little faces, and furry tails... you get the idea.  You probably know what a squirrel looks like.

As the weather gets colder, I tend to spend less time outside, because, well, I'm not a big fan of the cold.  I like it in theory.  I enjoy snow.  It's fun to play with and makes the whole world look gorgeous and serene.  But beyond the theoretical liking, I don't really like the cold.  It's stayed shockingly warm here this fall, and for that, I'm very grateful.  Last night, I was able to walk around in a light sweatshirt/ pleather jacket combo that was distinctly unseasonal.  Then again, I was full of a delicious, warm, filling Mexican dinner from a little place we discovered near our apartment, but even my pre-hibernation style of enchilada consumption couldn't account completely for the warmth I felt outdoors.
  

If I could magically transport my life, or raise a few thousand dollars, I'd be in the wintry woods of Scotland or Sweden.  One of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen was the passing frosty woodland of the Swedish countryside from out the window of the bus from Stockholm's tiny Ryanair airport to the actual city.  I was mesmerized.  So gorgeous.  Obviously, I'm not about to receive a massive multi-thousand dollar windfall, despite my wishing, because, that's just not something that happens, so I've made slightly more realistic plans.  This winter, I want to walk around outside more often than I generally do.  I plan to explore the wooded areas of Prospect Park when they are covered in snow.  With a sword in one hand, and a magical spell in the other.  Not really, but I'll  be dreaming. The woods, despite whatever science says, always feel to me like they contain a sense of something magical; something I can't quite define. 

Magic is just science that hasn't been explained yet.

Terra Kate

 Steven Smith

STW

Tyler Knott

Muse Magazine

Sinking Bodies

Dadou

Horhe

slight clutter

 Drunk on Shadows and Lost in a Lie

m_paessler

ouldm01

  C-nad

 Outside Up

Oh, crap... that's...... ... that's a Skyrim screenshot isn't it... 

Darn these epic video games inspiring me to have an epic life I don't have!!!

Actually, bless these video games and these woods for inspiring me to have  a more epic life.  Why not?

Sittin in a Tree

So, here are Danny, Rob, and me.  Hanging out in a tree in Prospect park on a cool November morning.  

It's times like these that I seriously think about whether I might have become a hipster.

I spend way too much of my time bashing on hipsters, how annoying they are, how ironic their ironicness has become, how they wear tooo much American Apparel, too many silly hats.... and then I go and do a shoot like this, and I start to question it.

What if... I am one?  The classic sign that you are a hispter is that you deny that you are one.  I deny that I am a hipster... if I start to claim that I am one, will it, by negation, cause me to not be one?  Is that how I can avoid this terrible fate?  Or, maybe I should just stop doing ironic photoshoots with my friends in Prospect Park.  But, I really don't think this is ironic.  I think it looks cool.  Maybe we look kind of cool too.  I'd like to think that.  Honestly, I think I look a bit chubby in these photos, but, ah well.   I had to wear a hat because my hair looked awful that day.  Boo hiss.

In any case, we had fun.  Which is what it's all about.

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Into the Woods

Into the woods

And down the dell,

The path is straight,

I know it well.

Into the woods,

And who can tell

What's waiting on the journey?

Into the woods
To bring some bread
To Granny who
Is sick in bed.

 Never can tell
  What lies ahead.
  For all that I know,
  She's already dead.

But into the woods,
into the woods,
Into the woods
to Grandmother's house

And home before dark!

Chadd's Ford, Pennsylvania, USA

Seattle, Washington, USA

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Lyrics from the musical Into the Woods.

The Birds Above

Just a fun shadow shot I took in Astoria a few weeks ago when it was a bit overcast.  Please, enjoy!

Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Smart

Smart Cars are fabulous.  At least, I think so.  I don't really like cars- and in an urban situation, I cannot figure out for the life of me why on earth you  would ever want to drive one.  Public transportation in New York is generally pretty great, and a million times cheaper and faster than driving a car.  It is so incredibly easy, environmentally friendly and cheap, that I feel like if it was implemented everywhere, our world would be an even lovelier place than it already is.  Not that I have anything against driving a Hummer, or an SUV or anything.  My boyfriend used to drive a truck, my dad has a truck, and my mom uses a small SUV.  A lot of places, you need a car.  And I can understand loving the feeling of driving a big car on the road.  But, in a city, I think that, if you must drive, a Smart Car makes total sense.  

What doesn't make sense is that this Smart Car was... in the middle of Madison Square Park. Umm...

Like this?  Take a look at The Little Ship for a slightly more miniature means of transportation.

The Leaves in the Trees

I love lying on the ground in a park, staring up through the trees.  When I was a little girl, I could do this in my own backyard.  Now that I seem to be a city mouse rather than a country one, I must go to parks to enjoy this privilege.  It's especially nice when the sky is a bit cloudy, so that the trees form shadows, like they do here.  

Cheers to life's little pleasures!

Hampstead, London, England, UK

Like this? Take a look at Across the Field.

The Corner

At one entrance to Hampstead Heath, there is a beautiful old mansion, made of brick.  Apparently, at many of the entrances to the park there are old mansions, but this is the entrance from which I chose to enter, and I found this building to be particularly beautiful.  It threatened rain the entire day that I was at the Heath.  I kept fearing that I would have to bolt out of the park and find the nearest bus, that could take me remotely near where I lived in London.  However, by some beautiful twist of fate, it rained for about twenty minutes before I arrived, stopped, and held off until I got home.  I was so happy.  I had walked around a fairy tale park for hours under a cloudy sky.  What could be more magical?

Hampstead, London, England, UK

Love this?  Take a gander at Window to the Soul.

On the Vine

This is yet another photograph of a store window, taken while the store was closed.  I was walking down Park Avenue one night, pretty late, when this caught my eye.  It was a window display with faux grapes, mossy trees, and yellow forsythia.  Out came my camera!  And this picture was the best result.

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

If you liked this, have a little extra fun with your wine with A Little Something Special.

Pastels

This delightful floral tree is outside of some kind of office building in Bay Ridge.  The mix of white and purple flowers on one tree floored me. I was walking with Danny to the house of a friend of ours, and I actually made him stop in the middle of the sidewalk so that I could take this photograph.  Now, I do this all of the time, so he is pretty used to it.  He's basically a saint.  Not only does he put up with it, he thinks it's cute!  However, this time, we were running late.  Like we were already fifteen minutes late and had another ten minutes to walk.  It worked out though.  Our friend went to buy ingredients to make us omelettes, so we actually beat him to his house.  

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Tattered Beauty

Yellow Flowering Tree in the Botanical Garden

Oxford, England, United Kingdom

Like this?  Then you'll probably enjoy Spring.

Fancy a Game?

Life Size Chess Boards in the Park

Geneva, Switzerland

Like this?  Then you'll probably enjoy We See The Truth.