New York City/Roosevelt Island Historical Society/Olive
I had a quick 24 hours in New York City on Thursday/Friday.
After a great lunch with Zoë Crossland (click on the pdf download media button) in Harlem I went downtown to the 9/11 Memorial. It is really quite moving.
The reason for going to New York was to hear Robert Kirkbride‘s presentation on asylums to the Roosevelt Island Historical Society. I’ll be back there talking about the suitcases on the 10th of May. Please come if you are in the area.
It is always nice to take the Tramway over to the Island.
Cheap as chips and great views as you cross the East River. Plus Roosevelt Island is a really cool part of the City.
Judy Berdy is the director of the RIHS and is amazing. We crossed the street for drinks after Robert’s talk and she just happened to have a set of plans for the Goldwater Memorial Hospital building designed by Isadore Rosnfield.
I stayed with friends Pieper and Merrill on the Lower East Side. This is a view of Grand Street from the window of my room.
I often get requests for more photos of the Olive, so here is a recent one.
Hope to see some of you in New York on the 10th.
Olive
Today was a nice and grey day and after editing some suitcase photos and watching Fulham beat Wolves, Olive and I headed up into the woods. I have never seen a winter with so much water, and it was really wet with small rivulets running all over the place. Olive was in her element. She carried that birch log that is in front of her for most of the walk.
It is always a bit surprising to see something so colorful in the middle of winter. With all this water, it might just be a good year for mushrooming.
I wanted to do this post for Patty, who follows this site and recently asked for more pictures of the Olive. It’s probably a good time to mention that if you want to see more of her, I post on instagram as jonkcrispin. It is a nice outlet for me to put up photographs that I take with my phone. So check it out, and thanks for following.
Olive
My day got a bit mixed up and I am editing and uploading suitcases tonight. It is a good time to take a break and post this lovely photograph of Olive. She is about to turn 3. What a great dog.
Olive in the Woods
We had a very dry Summer and Autumn this past year and there has been hardly any water in the woods above the house. Olive has really missed splashing around. After the heavy snow of two weeks ago, the warm temperatures, and the recent rains, she is now back in luck.
She is amazing when it comes to chasing sticks.
It’s colder today so she is spending time next to the wood stove.
Wishing you all a great week.
Olive at the Beach / Dolphins?!?
Today is Olive’s last day at the beach this year. The weather is incredible and she has been so happy being in the water almost every day.
We bought her this green flying saucer type thing which really soars on a windy day. She swims out to get it and then comes right back.
Except yesterday when Cris was playing with her. Olive paddled out to the saucer and then started to swim out a bit farther into the ocean. Cris couldn’t figure out what was going on, and then spotted dolphin fins. Olive must have sensed them as well. It is hard to know what kind of interaction there would have been if she hadn’t come right back when called. You would like to think that it would have ended in a nice “Flipper-like” scenario with lots of cavorting and intra-mammal bonding, but you never know.
Thanks to Bob and Kath for having us in the house again this year, and it is so great that they have been here for the latter part of our stay. Heading back North tomorrow.
Olive
I haven’t posted much of the Olive lately. She has developed into a really good ball dog, and has a particularly interesting way of keeping it on the side of her mouth. She is really a good girl and a wonderful companion.
Warmth
The past few days have provided what might be the last warmth before the autumn ends. Olive and I had a nice walk in the woods yesterday.
There wasn’t any water for her to mess about in, but she seems to enjoy rooting around in the leaves looking for mushrooms.
I never remember what this plant is called, but there are tons of them livening up the forrest floor.
The Amherst Farmer’s Market was quite busy today. This is turmeric, and I don’t ever recall seeing it fresh like this. I didn’t buy any, but did get some amazing fresh ginger that will go in the freezer.
Olive loves to go shopping with us and is so well behaved in town. She has been a great comfort to us in the past couple of weeks. The world has felt a bit topsy-turvy of late.
Water Plant
We had a lovely walk in the woods this morning. The trees are just starting to show new growth, and I was pleased to see that some of these water plants (identification anyone?) are starting to appear in the small streams. This one is right near a spot where Olive likes to lie in the water and rub her back on the moss covered rocks.
This is from a few days ago. It might be time for a bath.
Green / Big Stick
Now that the snow is all gone Olive and I have started spending more time in the woods. It rained most of the day yesterday, so it was pretty wet. Nice.
She is a total stick (or should I say log) girl. This could have been record size for her. She carried it for about half a mile.
I have been seeing a lot of green lately, and these fungi are just beautiful. Can anyone out there tell me what they are?
Olive Takes a Dip
I think I post a version of this photograph more than I probably should. We have had a ton of rain in the past few days, and Olive and I had a lovely wet walk in the woods this afternoon. But for some reason, the water, the leaves, and the dog make me feel quite happy and I wanted to share it.
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