Pumpkins in Pots

I love coming across sites like these giant pumpkins on display at someone's private residence.

Ohio Lawn Creature

The last time I was back in Ohio, I drove by this strange thing. I had to do a double-take. I turned the car around to get a better look. What is this? Why would someone put it in their front yard? It is so whimsical. I wonder if the person who made this was chopping a tree down and noticed this animal-like shape once some of the limbs were gone? It was right before Halloween. Maybe that had something to do with it. Here's my friend Ruthie's comment:

"I can see it's a very long-tailed mammal, although I notice that its teats are not in the normal spots.  It probably has young somewhere close waiting to nurse--or, if this one is the juvenile, I don't want to be around when its mama comes looking for it. It may be suffering from a mutation; it appears that the tail is far too heavy for the body, therefore it is stuck in this person's yard. Veeeerrrrry interesting!"

Three Heartwarming NY Moments

Let me tell you about three NY acts of kindness I've seen this week. As I crossed a busy street, a middle-aged vision-impaired man was working his way with a cane off the curb when he suddenly stopped as if he was unsure about whether or not to cross. He then said to no one in particular, "A little help, please?" Then another man in a business suit graciously took his arm and helped him cross over.

The second act was seeing a young man run up to a lady and hand her some piece of paper that she'd dropped on the sidewalk. It was obvious he had run to catch up with her. "You dropped this a while back." he told her. The woman was grateful.

Yesterday I noticed a little black dog who was tied to a tree by his leash in front of a small grocery store. The dog was barking like mad, trying to get his owner to come out. Then a person went up to the dog and tried to console it. The dog seemed quite happy to have someone pay attention to it; it jumped up on her, wagged its tail and barked even more. I told the dog his owner would come out soon, and he did.

Just Wondering Today

Today I decided to simply wonder around as far south as I could. I ended up in Union Square on 14th Street. There was a farmer's market! School was out, and there were lots of young people enlivening the scene with their outbursts of laughter and general rowdiness. The crowd was a little edgier than I was used to. I headed back north and decided to catch my husband before he headed home from work. Even though I was prepared to offer a healthy salad back at the apartment, my husband took me to a new restaurant where I had a cucumber martini along with several wonderful tapas. I have learned that "tapas" simply means small dish of food. But it's origins may have come from Spain when wine was served with a flat piece of bread over it to keep out the flies.

A Visitor Comes and Shows Me New York. Day 4.

Our first item of business was to visit Bryant Park which is lined with holiday shopping booths. I had caramel popcorn for breakfast. Very healthy. Linda had something not so healthy, something with spinach in it.

Linda read about this Swedish cottage located in Central Park that offered marionette shows. We were 15 minutes late because we took the wrong subway. The staff let us in anyway taking our word that we would pay the $8 admission fee after the show. I absolutely loved this! It was one of my favorite things we did. I'll certainly take my husband to the Christmas show.

To get to the Guggenheim, we simply walked across CP to the east side. The weather was sunny and brisk, and the path was just beautiful! We then toured the Museum. I cannot begin to describe the current exhibit, so I'll give you the link to read about it here.

A Visitor Comes and Shows Me New York. Day 3--Evening WAR HORSE!

War Horse playing at the Lincoln Center is amazing! I know there's a movie coming out with the same name, but nothing on film could compare to the horse "puppets" that took three people to manage on stage. For some interesting reading about these awesome creations, click here.

By the way, if you are going to an event at or near Lincoln Center, plan ahead! This place is like a college campus, and many buildings are not easily identified. Don't expect that one quick look at their website will give you everything you need to know about how to get there or where to find the ticket booth. And do start out early so you can walk part of the way in case the taxis are all taken.

A Visitor Comes and Shows Me New York. Day 3.

Prior to visiting St. Paul's Church, we saw this guy and his cat. I have seen him there before (and his cat). I wonder how much he makes in a day charging $1 per photo like he did with us?

St. Paul's Church, where George Washington worshiped and 9/11 recovery workers received round-the-clock care, was built in 1766 and houses displays that tell amazing stories of 911. We also toured the temporary WTC Museum just down the street. The 911 Memorial was already booked for the day when we tried to get tickets. Next visit!

We walked north to the SOHO area and ate at Mooncakes where three guys on bikes were kept busy delivering take out orders to the locals.

See the next post for our evening entertainment!