Winter driving
I left the house this morning with the intention of driving to Washington, DC. The Tilghman shoot starts on Thursday. The original plan was to leave early Wednesday, but with the storm coming in I moved the trip up a day. It seemed it would be OK once I made it south of New York City, but I never got that far. The roads were not so bad initially, but the 91 was a mess. The wipers picked up ice and basically stopped working, and when the traffic slowed to 10 miles per hour, it seemed prudent to turn around. Tomorrow is supposed to be worse than today, so I’ll just have to wait it out. It is nice to be home for the storm though. I’ll crank up the snow blower and try to keep ahead of it all.
Snow in NYC
New York City has gotten slammed with snow this year. On Thursday in the late afternoon when I was shooting outside of the Broadway Theatre, I saw a guy in a very late model 911 trying to park in about a foot of snow and slush. How sad. My first thought is that if you can afford a Porsche, you should also be able to own something that is suitable to drive in the snow. / This car was one of many on 96th Street somewhere between Columbus and Broadway. / On Tuesday, I am off to Tilghman Island to continue shooting the waterman story with Peter Carroll. Can’t wait.
Beach
Yesterday was cold. Freezing rain and very windy. We still went to the beach, but our walk was brief. Today was just grey and cold, so walking was no problem. We saw zero people but lots of bird action. Pelicans, gulls, ducks, sandpipers, and piping plovers. These starfish must not taste very good to the gulls, as there were lots of them laying around un-eaten. Cris noticed the guy above.
There is something about the subtlety of the colors of the shells that attracts my attention. How beautiful is this one?
Chicken
My brother and I drove to South Carolina yesterday. It was a great drive and beautiful weather the whole time. / I knew we had crossed the IHOP/Waffle House line when I saw this sign in Virginia. Too bad it wasn’t Tuesday; I could have had an extra crispy gizzard for lunch.
Peter and Cris
A pretty good indication of my state of mind is how often I post on this site. Fewer posts = “karma congestion” (phrase © Alex Ross). So, there hasn’t been much action here lately. But the Autumn has gotten really intense. After a long dry Summer and an uninspiring start, the colors have become wild. / Cris and I drove to Union last weekend for a visit with the boy. A lovely drive, and a happy visit. We are so proud of him.
Pearl
The weather has been perfect for sitting on the deck and having a nice cup of tea in the afternoon. Pearl has become much less likely to slink off and get into trouble in the neighborhood, so all in all it is very relaxing. I love Autumn.
Newsstand
The New York State Museum is looking at some older style newsstands that are slowly being replaced by a more modern version. I was in the city yesterday on a mad dash down Broadway starting at 178th Street and ending around Times Square. It was very windy, rainy, rushed and a total blast. We were helped out by Harley Spiller, who is THE expert on the stands and in particular the paperweights used to hold down the piles of papers. An amazing and very cool guy. This stand is on the corner of 46th and Broadway.
Snow
We finally got some nice snow today. This fellow sits next to my neighbor’s pond.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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