Blue sky and headless horsemen...

Yesterday, some pals and I drove into a stunning day of adventuring around Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. The sky was outrageously blue and the air crystal clear as we followed the path of the Hudson. It was a joy to see the trees sporting more color the further north we meandered. Here are a couple wee photo essays (click on 'em to make 'em bigger)...


1. Me at Sunnyside, Washington Irving's "cottage" which we toured (and also witnessed an enormous tree reportedly living since 1776). How 'bout that blue sky?? 2. Paul giving us a site-specific demonstration. 3. Paul, Nikki, Renee, and Roller. 4. Roller making no head-way with a girl. 5. Me and Dubya Irving's marker (the third one to stand there since the first two were gradually chipped away by souvenir-seekers).


Some sights around Sunnyside and the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (which featured strongly in the Legend...). And there's a lovely shot of the lake near Stone Barns at dusk. There were many ducks and geese. Roller thought a deer we saw was a donkey. The evening air was rich and clean and the crescent moon was bright. So beautiful.


And, yes, the day was filled with good food and friendship. It was so amazing that a place that felt a million miles away from NYC was a mere 30-some-odd miles away. We're already planning next year's trip to include some of the many sold-out events around town. Another amazing autumn day!

You may say I'm a dreamer...

This past Saturday was the anniversary of John Lennon's birth. He would have been 70 years old. Can you believe it? Since I heard it was a nifty thing to do, I visited Strawberry Fields in Central Park to raise my voice with hundreds of folks. What an experience!

Here's one of my wee photo essays. (Click on it to see more detail.)

There was a band set up that joined with countless guitars and even one fellow with trumpet and harmonica. Many brought flowers to wave and/or place on the Imagine mosaic. There was Lennon impersonator who I have to say was pretty on his game... knew lyrics that hardly anyone else did. One commentator nearby was hilarious. After many songs, he's exclaim, "GOOD JOB GUYS!" And once in reaction to someones song request said, "THAT'S PAUL SONG. THIS IS JOHN'S DAY!" And on the video below, he's the one at the end who yells, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHNNY!!" Also, a little kid on his dad's shoulders saw the distant flicker of the candles on the mosaic and loudly asked, "DO THEY HAVE CAKE UP THERE???"


I'm sure there are tons of photos and videos of this evening all over the interwebs because in addition to mine, there were about a bajillion cameras. I felt very New Yorky this day. I know Lennon belonged in some way to everyone. (As a kid, I remember seeing some graffiti in Albany, Oregon just after he was shot. It said, "Lennon Lives.") But Lennon seemed so amazingly tied to NYC. And it was so neat to stand in Central Park and sing such wonderful words with so many folks. Wow!