magic in the city

So, to shake me back into a working mood, I sometimes take a walk.

The Great Lawn

Today I decided to try to get away from the noise of New York, and get into that gem, that Central Park is.
Never a disappointment, I felt peace as soon as I entered and saw the beautiful snow that covered everything.
Of course I couldn't resist pulling out the camera to share with you.

I came across New York's "Cleopatra's Needle", if you know me, you'll know I love to sit by the river in London and the "Cleopatra's Needle" there has special significance for me, so it was amazing to see this one in NYC. Little lobster hands extend from the bottom which I thought is a bit odd coming from Egypt.. but they all have embossed on them a 'gift from Egypt' and it's been there since 1822. Lovely place to just sit and chill, even in the snow- to be honest because of the humidity 4c (41f) isn't as cold as a London 4c.
The MET Museum are going to do an exhibition on Cleopatras Needle starting Dec 3rd 2013, they will also include a time lapse of the Obelisk during a course of a day, and apparently the needle is seen from many vantage points from the Met.
Here is some more info about the Obelisk, and the upcoming exhibition; The obelisk in Central Park is one of a pair—each of which has come to be called “Cleopatra’s Needle”—originally installed by Thutmose III (r. ca. 1479–1425 B.C.) in front of the sun temple in Heliopolis, the ancient Egyptian city dedicated to the sun god Re. Over time, both obelisks toppled. Discoloration indicates that they may have also been burned in antiquity, and that exposure to the elements eroded some of the hieroglyphs. Augustus Caesar (63 B.C.–14 A.D.) took the two obelisks to Alexandria and installed them at the Caesareum, the temple built by Cleopatra VII to honor the deified Julius Caesar. (This episode may explain how the name of Cleopatra became attached to these two obelisks.) The Romans recognized the solar imagery of obelisks and connected them to their own sun god, Sol.  For Augustus, the link may have been personal as well, since Apollo, another Roman sun god, was his patron deity. Included in the exhibition will be a late 16th-century map and a late 17th-century Dutch watercolor, both showing the obelisk standing in Alexandria.


So on my walk I saw these beautiful blue birds, unfortunately this picture doesn't do justice to their striking blue coats, but it was almost romantic as they call to their mates till they come screeching over.
Cute squirrels, NY ones seem much less afraid of people than London ones do, one squirrel pretty much put his head in my hand, to see if I had food.

But amazingly, and I was so impressed to see it was a Hawk! not one but two, and then I read about Central Park's Pale Male Hawk.
A 'famous' hawk of Central Park, loved by locals and bird watchers, who had a mate Lola, who apparently went missing.

The New Yorker reported today that Pale Male, has found a new mate, a much younger looking bird to whom they call hussey! Poor bird.

I am thrilled that I saw them today 'courting' it seems.
Central Park is amazing, never seen a Hawk so upclose! He let me come right up to him and looked at me, then majestically flew across the park. I cant even explain the magnificence of this animal, and it's grace given it's size. I was so excited to see this New Yorker.. In Native American Indian medicine, the Hawk is a 'messenger', and that 'a clue about the magic of life is being bought to you'.*
Though I could still hear the drilling and police sirens, It felt like a bit of magic in the city.  
*from the book Medicine Cards, Jamie Sams and David Carson

Snow Clearing in New York

I was in Miami when the December 2010 blizzard hit New York, being a 'snow bird' as it's called.
People were very angry that the snow fall hadn't been cleared in good time in Queens and Brooklyn and Rubbish collections fell behind as the trucks moved snow instead.

Mounds of snow pushed from the pavement and road is all that's left of the snow fall.

There was a big enquiry and Mayor Bloomberg was blamed for being away and not seeing to the crisis, to which I believe he told angry New Yorkers, that that was no business but his, which I thought was an interesting way to talk to the people you were meant to serve..

But not long after we got back it snowed 8inches.
I have to say Mr Bloomberg deffinately got it right this time..
Now I don't think London, as long as I've been born and lived in it, ever got 8inches.

But even with 2inches, if you've ever been in London in the Snow, you'll know, schools close, pavements get slippery, and there's a constant blame game as to why there's not enough grit in the council sandbanks.

So you can imagine my surprise when 8 inches of snow were predicted by the weather men/women or the posher American term of Meteorologists.The people of Manhattan, had their bin/garbage trucks, drive all night as soon as the snow fell, down the streets of the upper west side and beyond, scooping the snow off the streets and shoving it to the side- not only this, but everyone collectively it seems in New York, is responsible for clearing the snow that falls in front of their building.

Cars blocked in by packed snow

 So like a cohesive community, when the snow falls, the landlords of buildings clear the pavement and sweep it again toward the parked cars as you can see in this picture.
This hems the cars in quite badly, but it's amusing to see people trying to get out of their parking places, kicking the snow away as much as they can, or just driving back and forth to try to make a way out.

Still, even if 8 or even 13 inches of snow fall, by the time you get up in the morning, the pavements are clear, the roads are clear and everyone just gets on with thier day and you'd never know 8 inches fell, or need snow boots. Except in Central Park, or when crossing the mounds of piled up snow into the street. Coming from slippery streets and gridlocked cars and trains, I think its amazing... And so much less frightening to not slip on icy pavements/sidewalks!

Where heat seeking New Yorkers spend Christmas and New Year

The swamps of Miami

Apologies for the lack of posting! I hope you missed me! Here's a longer than usual post with nice pictures to take you away from the cold :)
I have been Internet incapable, and actually it's been a novelty...
But the reason is simple, I was discovering that heat seeking New Yorkers often find themselves at Christmas and New Year, or holidays as it's known in these parts, in the much warmer getaways not too far away in Florida!
So, in the interests of trying things all New York-ish (if that's a word) we went down to Miami...
Okay, so those of you that really now, me, I go to Miami probably every winter, even from London.. but still...:)
Now, Miami is usually like the tropics, but even in Miami, the weather got chilly this year.
Kinda like a spring day in London. So not too bad. But natives were dressed in big woolly coats, hats gloves and scarves..they must have thought us insane, when all we had was a bit of a jumper on..if only to live in the tropics!
We got up to a few novelty things for us, like buying our first real Christmas tree, from the Fire fighters of Miami- who donate some of the proceeds to charities everywhere in Miami-Dade.

Charity tree choppers

One of these is our tree, perfect shape all of 'em thou grown in North Carolina

 During our trip we relaxed, chilled, watched movies, took in some sunshine when it was up, but my favorite highlight was the Fairchild Botanical Gardens where we saw the beautiful nature of it all..

Fairchild botanical gardens have almost every palm tree in the world, and especially the type that are endangered. They grow their own cocoa beans, fruit and even have a mini tropical rain forest and a butterfly garden...to find out more check it out Fairchild Gardens, Miami

 We found a Tiger Butterfly- native to the everglades, and we found some of these guys hanging around the beach areas too..





Beautiful waterlilies

This bird's squawk for its mate was so loud we couldn't help noticing it, and the red and orange butterfly was gorgeous, but I have no idea what they are called, feel free to let me know..

Then oddly... the beautiful gardens were interrupted by the filming of Four Weddings- the show where four brides attend each others wedding and rate each others on TV to compete for a plush honeymoon.. it was surreal, and they were all such divas, very loud and loving the attention.. getting ready for my fab mates wedding last October, we overdosed on watching it, so it was ironic to see them in action...

It's snowing right now in NYC and I thought we could all use pictures of some sunshine and nature :)