Off Topic - That Was the Week It Was - December 11, 2011

It's Sunday morning, once again time for my off television topic reflecting on the week gone by in both words and photographs I've taken. It's hard to believe that Christmas is only two weeks away! When I was a child, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed to be an eternity. Nowadays, I blink my eyes and another year has gone by.

I didn't really take a lot of great photos this week as all I did was go back and forth between work and home. My morning walk to the train (except on Saturday) is dark and some of my return trips are dark, too. My best photo fodder was Monday morning when it was extremely foggy. I enjoy playing with the camera in the fog!

Next week should be different for photo fodder. It looks like the weather is going to cooperate with my preferred weeknight evening to head into the city (Manhattan). I want to go on a Tuesday night as I don't have to get up at 5AM on Wednesdays. But it's rained every Tuesday since the holiday season kicked in. 

My second choice night is Friday and I was tempted this week. That is, until I got on the train to go home (or the city) and noticed that they had an extra car open and the train was jam-packed with folks heading into the city. No matter what night of the week I go, the city is going to be crazy busy. But Fridays are busier than Tuesdays!

So, my plan is to just stay on the train going home Tuesday. I should hit the city about 4:30 PM or so. I can wander from Penn Station over to Fifth Avenue, wander leisurely in an uptown direction taking photos, grab a bite to eat somewhere along the way, end up at Rockefeller Center to snag some tree and skating shots, then wander back down to the Port Authority to take the bus home. Or, I might cheat and take the subway back down to Port Authority. I'll see how my knee feels. The bus home is better than the train as it stops right in front of my apartment building. I like Plainfield but I don't want to roam the streets late at night.

My knee continues to improve, although stairs (lots of them) are still a challenge. One of my co-workers told me I walk like a soldier now. I march? No. She said she means a strong stride with better posture. Ah, good! However, the first thing I do when I get home from work (after carrying Vincent around on my shoulder) is put my feet up. It can get a bit swollen and achy by the end of the day.


Oh, well. Onto the photos for the week ...

In a holiday fog

Watchung Avenue in the pre-dawn fog on Monday morning. I edited it to leave the closest wreath in color.

Angel on the rough

Hopefully the angel is helping to keep the loose bricks in place! By the entrance to an auto repair garage on East Fourth Street in Plainfield.

The man in yellow

He's not actually really dressed in all yellow -- it's khaki pants and a light-colored army type jacket. It's just the lights at the train station make it look yellow. Of course, I made the rest of the photo black and white ... or there would be a lot more yellow!

CLICK ON THE "READ MORE" LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS!

Sun hung low

Sounds like a bad take on an Asian name, huh? The sun was just about ready to set over the field of geese toxic superfund site in Bridgewater, NJ.

Conflicting decorations

Danny's Bakery on the corner of Watchung and North in Plainfield should really have taken down ALL of the Halloween decorations before putting up the Christmas ones!

Another workday finished

Ohhh! And I even have a slice of daylight as I get home from work! That doesn't always happen! Plainfield Train Station.

Maybe I should hop on the 114X!

The 114X (NJ Transit) bus would take me right into Manhattan instead of going to work! It's a thought. The X is for Express. It's more direct than the non-X 114 bus. However, this isn't the bus I will take home from the city on Tuesday. I have to walk about five blocks to get this one. The 113X and 113N are the ones which stop at my building ... well, across the street from it. Still better than walking five blocks at night! I took this shot near the corner of Watchung Avenue and East Second Street in Plainfield, once again leaving just a bit in color.

'tis Plainfield

Again taken Monday morning in the fog, but I have all of this one in B&W. Plainfield Train Station.

Approaching the train station in the pre-dawn fog

Gotta love the fog! At least walking, I can appreciate it. Driving in it is another matter.

A waiting man

I don't know for what or whom he's waiting. Godot perhaps? North Avenue in Plainfield.

Fog in the 'hood

East Front Street in Plainfield. You can just barely make out the two twin fourteen-story towers of the Richmond Towers in the fog.

Lone man ahead in the fog

"I walk alone on the boulevard of broken dreams, I walk alone." -- Green Day

Well, not really ... HE is up there! People ask me if I'm scared to walk in the dark before the sun rises. No. It's not the same as walking late at night. I see the same folks each day on my walk to the station. The denizens of the night have given up by that hour just shy of the dawn. This is a time that just about everyone out and about in Plainfield is heading to work. I took this shot by the Monarch Building on East Front Street.

More fog downtown

Also Monday morning, also East Front Street but more downtown. This is by the intersection with Church Street. (Note I walk alone!)

All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.

My apologies to Sunset Boulevard for stealing the line. Vincent knows better than to call me Mr. DeMille!

How was your week? Is your holiday shopping done?