New York City… day 1… part 8… a metal bull , Lady Liberty, and a message for Donald Trump…

Posted on November 5, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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I hope you are enjoying this, because we are now almost up to lunch time on the first of our three-and-a-half day whirlwind visit to New York City. Look, it’s the Wall Street Bull, over there, behind that table covered with souvenirs, including small statues of that very same bull.

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A family is posing by the bull’s head for a photo… wait… what is going on at the other end of that bull?

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That guy is taking a picture of the North end of a southbound bull. That is just weird. That is like something I would do.

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My feet were beginning to hurt.

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Another old fort.

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Black smoke began to pour out of the top of a building. I thought the Pope had died, or maybe the president. But we asked around. It was just the heating system for the building. Still, it makes you wonder.

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We could still see the One World Trade Center Tower.

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The fort was called Castle Clinton. Somebody should Google that.

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And there she was, in the distance, the Statue of Liberty… which brings me to my message for tRump.

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Almost all of us are immigrants, you idiot.

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Only Native Americans are not immigrants.

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And each group that came was hated at first.

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And they built this country.

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That is my message to you.

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And the lady agrees with me.

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New York City… day 1… part 7… Trinity Church; a shout-out to history and the musical ‘Hamilton’…

Posted on November 4, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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I see dead people…

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These are some pretty old headstones. I mean, by American standards, not by any other part of the world, but still.

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These people are buried around a very famous church in New York City.

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This is Trinity Church.

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If you are interested in history, you should Google it.

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Is that a European grackle… or a starling? I don’t know the birds in New York.

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If you are a fan of Hamilton, the name Angelica Schuyler should be familiar to you.

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A little plot of history, surrounded by now.

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Most of these people are forgotten, but not all of them.

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I poked my head inside the church, but there was a service going on, so I made it fast.

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Maybe a little too fast.

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Okay, so it is an old church.

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And some old tombstones. like that one over there, where Hamilton is buried.

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Why should you care? Maybe you don’t.

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But it’s my blog. Ha!

 

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New York City… day 1… part 6… random city scenes…

Posted on November 4, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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We said goodbye to the 9-11 memorial site and the new World Trade Center Tower, making our way past the fire station just around the corner.

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We saw an adorable little park.
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I love the giant rose.

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I also loved the lights.

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Since it wasn’t even Halloween yet, I can only assume that the lights are there all year. I bet it looks awesome at night.

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We walked down a very narrow street… almost an alley… wait, is that a walkway up there???

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A tiny little bridge? No thank you.

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And then we were at a very famous spot.

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Especially if you are a fan of the musical Hamilton.

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A steeple and a man-bun.

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I will go into the history of this place in the next post.

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Because it has some history.

 

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New York City… day 1… part 5… 9-11 ground zero…

Posted on November 3, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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The new World Trade Center Tower is amazing. When you look up at it from below, and are standing close to it, it seems like a highway that disappears into the sky.

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Supposedly, it was designed that way.  There it is, reflected in another building.

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The two reflecting pools, carved inside with the names of the victims, are literally ground zero, built in the footprints of the twin towers.

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A phoenix, rising from the ashes.

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And soaring into the heavens.

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There are other tall buildings to look at.

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I took this picture through the window of the 9-11 memorial museum. That is a piece of the steel skeleton of one of the twin towers.

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It is a little strange visiting this site of tragedy. There is a hush in the air, no matter how many people are there. Business still goes on, life goes on, but there is a collective realization that this spot is important, a dark part of history.

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Time to move on. We have a city to see.

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We had only walked around the corner when we saw this fire station.

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I don’t know for a fact that this station was here on 9-11, but if it was, or, even if it wasn’t, these men embody the spirit of those first-responders who gave their lives.

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You gotta love firemen.

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New York City… day 1… part 4… the wounded but still-strong heart of the city…

Posted on November 2, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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The reflecting pool, carved on the inside with the names of the victims of 9-11, built in the footprint of one of the two towers. There are two pools. It is moving and heartbreaking.

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But I did skip ahead a little. To get from the subway station to the site of the twin towers, we still had to pass through that Oculus shopping center.

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And it was kind of cool.

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And we didn’t have to stop to do any shopping.

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And then we were there. That is the new tower, called the One World Trade Center Tower.

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It stands beside the two reflecting pools, and near the 9-11 museum.

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We didn’t go to the museum. My daughter has been. She says it is very moving and well done.

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But we had to see a whole city in three-and-a-half days.

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And I am not as young as I once was.

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But are any of us?

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I have some more photos of that building. When you get close to it, there is a weird optical illusion.

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So I hope I see you later.

 

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New York City… day 1… part 3… dogs, subways, and… uh… stuff…

Posted on November 1, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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One last set of photos of a cute dog before we moved on from Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn…

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We had stuff to see.

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My first New York subway station!

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It was, ummm, everything you would think it would be.

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I loved every minute of it.

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Oh yeah, here we go. It is like a Disneyland ride… only noisier, and smellier.

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Jessica, get out of the way… I am taking pictures. Kids these days.

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Now we are in New York.

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We got out of the subway in Manhattan, and there was the new World Trade Tower.

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And between us and there, a weird shopping mall called the Oculus.

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Of course Jessica suggested we pass through it. It has shopping.

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But it was an interesting building.

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I worked a 16-hour shift yesterday, but I did finally get a really bad photo of one of those sneaky coyotes…

Posted on November 1, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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I know, it’s bad. I said it was. It was four in the morning, and I had no time to aim my phone because those varmints are fast.

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No, that isn’t a sunset. That is a San Diego sunrise.

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My relief officer didn’t show up, so I had to pull a double shift.

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As bad as these pictures are, they do fit in with the pictures of scorpions, tarantulas and black widow spiders I have shared with you from my job.

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I am still waiting for the rattlesnake photo-op.

 

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New York City… day 1… part 2… wait, there was a battle in Brooklyn???

Posted on October 31, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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Yes, there was. In the Revolutionary War. You should Google that.

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I was still wiping butter off my lips from the croissant I got at the farmer’s market, and we walked up the hill and into the park. That would be Fort Greene Park, in Brooklyn, New York.

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Don’t feel bad, my daughter didn’t know about that part of our history either.

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But she does now.

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We went into the little museum, past the musket…

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And read some placards and saw some Revolutionary War weapons.

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Then we walked towards the monument, which, I believe, is dedicated to all the American soldiers who died of disease on British prison ships in New York Harbor.

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And that is when I spotted the little guy in the monkey suit being followed by a film crew.

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There were signs up around the park saying that Disney was shooting a movie about child development.

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Tai Chi in the park.

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The kid starting interacting with other kids. The camera guys looked a little panicked.

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People were lining up for a dog Halloween costume contest later that day. I wish we could have gone back to see the dogs in their costumes, but I did pet most of those dogs. Ha!

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Okay, good luck, camera guys.

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I did manage to walk around in the background a few times, so I might be in a Disney movie. Now…  or should I say soon… back to the adventures.

 

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New York City… day 1… part 1…

Posted on October 31, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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I guess, technically, it is day two, but we didn’t do much the first night. There is my older daughter Jessica, being all New Yorkey, in the elevator in her building, as we headed out for the first big day of adventures.

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Jessica and her husband Jason have lived in New York for a year now. They have adapted quite well.

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A church that looks like a castle.

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My first daylight view of the Empire State Building. I thought it would be bigger.

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Brownstones.

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Brownstones are a quintessential part of New York.

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It feels like New York.

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They let me pose with a tree.

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Who doesn’t like posing with trees?

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The Fall colors were striking. Wait until you see Central Park.

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The first thing we did was stop at a farmer’s market for some street food. Is that orange glowing, or is it my kid?

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I petted so  many dogs, and made friends with so many babies and little kids.

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If I took a picture of every dog I met, and every kid I met, we would never finish this.

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How to see most of New York City in 3-and-a-half days, even if it almost kills you… part 1…

Posted on October 30, 2019 by pouringmyartout

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Unusually for me, I have decided, at least at first, to share the pictures of my recent adventure in New York City in the order that I took them. I doubt this will last. The crack squirrels in my head will get sidetracked, see an amusing theme, and chase it.

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But for now, I am just finishing up with the photos I took from the rooftop of the building where my older daughter and her husband live in Brooklyn.

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You can see the Brooklyn Bridge in that one. I am not going to point out the famous buildings yet. I guarantee there will be other pictures of all of them.

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More of my famous ‘wiggly light pictures’.

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I do those on purpose. I like them.

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Later, I may do some digital effects to the best ones.

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Some turn out great.

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It is just a thing I like to do.

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This was just the first night in New York, after a really long day.

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A quick view of how small my daughter’s apartment is.

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Except for a hallway going to the door that has the kitchen in it, and a bathroom, that is all there is. But they have a great view.

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That is the building from the outside. And it is daylight, which means that we are ready to start the first day of our adventure… tomorrow… I have to go to work soon, dang it.

 

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