Going Out to Long Island for New Year’s Eve

I’m going out to Long Island for New Year’s Eve (it’s a party for my brother Douglas’s birthday). The ride home on the Long Island Railroad and Penn Station will probably be grim and cold, but the party and the people will be great! Here’s a view of the bay from my brother’s porch.

I’m actually looking forward to taking pictures of the grim ride back. I will probably head home before midnight and I wonder what I will encounter back in the City. I always stay in on New Year’s Eve. I mean, drunks and cold weather, why go out there??

Plan B

In my book Waiting For My Cats to Die I have this list of things I wanted to do with the rest of my life, with alternatives if my first choice didn’t work out. My very last choice turned out to be the one I did, except it’s at the ASPCA and I do more than clean cages:

Plan A. Sell Echo.
Plan B. Work in TV.
Plan C. Give Echo away.
Plan D. Hit the road and wander.
Plan E. Work at a gas station in the middle of nowhere like Ellen Burstyn in the movie Resurrection.
Plan F. Takeover as the new caretaker of Prospect Cemetery.
Plan G. Work at the Cat Practice cleaning cat cages.

A view of Prospect Cemetery from the Long Island Railroad as we raced past on Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas!

Decorating the tree at the Speicher’s holiday party! A lovely party, as always. I left before the singing because I have become an insanely early-to-bed-early-to-rise person. But the Speichers have the best friends. This is not the most flattering photograph but I only took two and the other one is even worse. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

An Abbreviated Holiday Walk, NYC, 2017

I dislocated a toe the other day, just as I was leaving for my yearly walk down 5th Avenue, photographing holiday windows. The rest of the afternoon was spent in a sort of ER.

However my foot felt a lot better today, so I took the E train up to 53rd and took a short walk from 59th to 48th, then back to the subway and home. I don’t love how my windows pictures came out, but I’m happy with some other shots I took.

This was my first. The subway doors opened and I saw the first of many people in a Santa hat.

Christmas in NYC, 2017

This is one holiday window shot. I don’t love it, but I loved the window (from Bergdorf Goodman, they always have great windows I think).

Christmas in NYC, 2017

In case you can’t read all of this sign it says, “Free Candy Canes for Atheists! Because Logic And Common Sense Need To Be Rewarded.”

Christmas in NYC, 2017

This one says, “If Trump Gets Dementia How Will We Know”. He’s across the street from Racist President Tower.

Christmas in NYC, 2017

Directly in front of President Who Hates the Poor Tower you are met by guys like these two. They’ve always been very nice and polite when I walk by.

Christmas in NYC, 2017

Back home, and my last shot. Santa’s helpers refilling their MetroCards.

Christmas, New York City, 2017