This wasn't a great week for me. Oh, nowhere near the worst times in my life, but definitely irking. On Tuesday I tripped on a branch under about six inches of leaves as I walked to the train station. Yes, this was on a sidewalk. Had I been shuffling my feet through the leaves, I wouldn't have fallen. In trying to keep from falling on my knees, I twisted my left ankle. Yeah, then I landed on my right knee and elbow. Gah. The knee is fine, bruised but good. The ankle is still swollen and painful. I took Tuesday off from work, but have worked every day since. I'll live.
As a result of limping about, I don't have a ton of photos for you this week. While I do like some (like the first one here), no real works of art. Well, Vincent thinks he's ALWAYS art, but ...!
Hmm. I don't have all that much to say. Maybe some random musings and observations:
- My upstairs neighbor sings loudly in the shower. I hear the shower. I hear him. Still the quietest one up there in all the years I've lived here.
- Whenever I talk on the phone at home, Vincent thinks I'm talking to him and comes running to droop over my shoulder. Living alone and not being a huge phone talk person, most of the time I'm talking in here, I AM talking to him.
- Either that or I'm insane and just talking to myself.
- The big green stickers on automatic doors mean you go through that door. The red stickers mean you don't go through that door. Is it that hard to understand?
- When you get off a train or enter/leave a store, keep moving. Don't just stop and act confused, text or whatever. Keep it moving and get off the traffic path!
- For the pickers of Peapod grocery delivery -- four six-packs of Coke Zero at $2.50 each are NOT to be confused with one six-pack with two bottles removed at the same ten bucks.
- Yes, that happened. Yes, they credited me for the four six-packs and I ended up with four free bottles. Yes, they gave me a rain check for the sale price. But, sheesh. Common sense, Peapod pickers!
- I've seen some houses with the outdoor Christmas lights on already. Oh my.
- I'm not scared of clowns.
- Well, except for Pennywise the Dancing Clown. He's creepy!
- Crumbled leaf debris has infiltrated the first floor of my building. Until they're all down, it will be a battle. Thankfully, it's limited to the first floor and the entrances to the building.
- Why are all the younger women at WCBS 2 (NYC) going through pregnancies one by one?
- If you're riding a train, get up and ready to go BEFORE the train stops. When those doors open, it's train etiquette to let others get out before you board. If you straggle when getting off, you mess with the cosmos.
- That's just bad mojo, y'know.
- I can't believe it's been 50 years since JFK was assassinated. I shouldn't be able to vividly remember that far back.
- But I do.
- I can't be that old. I refuse to be that old.
- Those projects on the west side of town are just about completely boarded up now, including the entrances. That must put a crimp in the drug dealers and gang-bangers daily doings.
- Maybe they'll go get jobs.
- BWAHAHA! I crack myself up. They'll just relocate and terrorize other parts of town. Hopefully not my neighborhood.
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| Dramatic skies |
Soon the sun will be even lower in the sky as I leave my workplace. Sure, it's not as bad as Alaskan winter nights. But, still ...! Despite the "dramatic" skies of this shot, there was no storm. Taken at the Bridgewater Train Station.
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| Mmm ... acorns! |
Pickings are good for the squirrels right now. Then again, they tend to stay hardy all winter long due to these good pickings days now. Plainfield Train Station.
**CLICK THE 'READ MORE' LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS**
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| Heading to sunset |
Another work day finished, the skies over the Bridgewater Train Station were a bit more whimsical.
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| Wallenda starling |
Through the summer, the mockingbirds pretty much pushed the European starlings away from the Bridgewater Train Station as they protected their babies. Now this year's mockingbirds have grown to adulthood and the starlings are back on the wire.
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| Amazing Taste on East Second Street |
Food trucks used to only offer basic fare -- coffee, pre-packaged sandwiches, perhaps small bags of chips. This one, which I see all about town, specializes in soul food and Hispanic dishes. Over at the Rutgers campus nearby Plainfield, the grease trucks are a dietary staple for many students.
Years and years ago, back in my college days, I drove one of the "roach coaches" for a summer. No, it didn't have roaches! I had to report to work at 4am, load the truck with breakfast offerings, make tons of coffee, stock it with napkins and such, then hit the road visiting various factories and other workplaces. I finished up before the lunchtime fare. However, I had to clean up the truck, both inside the food storage area and the chromed outside. My day ran from 4am until 1pm. Then I'd go home and collapse.
It was a very cut-throat business and, inadvertently, I ended up stealing another truck's stops when I got flagged down by workers. Oops. I can't help it they wanted a young woman instead of a grizzled surly guy! He kept trying to run me off the road and I wasn't into the controversy, so I ended up quitting the job.
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| Sunrise |
These days the sun is starting to rise as I walk to the train station. The actual sunrise is happening as I'm on board heading to work. I took this shot on Roosevelt Avenue in Plainfield.
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| Wallenda squirrel |
As long as they don't fall or mess with transformers, I enjoy watching the squirrels overhead on their nimble little feet. It's probably much more safe for them statistically than trying to cross the streets in traffic. East Front Street, Plainfield.
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| Still colorful on Church Street |
While the majority of the trees have shed their leaves, these trees with the magnificent apple blossoms in the springtime are still vibrant. It had rained overnight into Saturday (my one later workday) and the wet pavement created a haze which worked well to highlight the leaves in this shot.
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| The dandelions refuse to give up |
While the roses on East Front Street looked pitiful this past week, the dandelions were acting like it was mid-summer.
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| The gingko is barren now |
The glorious yellow leaves on the huge gingko tree at the Plainfield Train Station (which I featured last week in my Sunday post) are all but gone this week.
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| Vincent hears someone in the hall |
I realized last night that I hadn't taken any Vincent photos this week. Oh noes! So I told him to be cute and I grabbed the camera. Unfortunately, Joe across the hall was having some kind of party and folks were coming and going. This is Vincent's "I hear someone" look with the one ear towards the sound. This is very different from his "I hear a mouse in the wall" look. With that he just sits staring at the wall with both ears in a forward position. He's like a statue until ... POUNCE or the mice in the wall move on to more favorable (to their existence) diggings.
6 comments:
Lovely photos, Jackie! Hope you are healing from your tripping.
You have some great pictures in here this week. "Sunrise" is my favorite. High art, no,,, but a great shot. I'm always envious of your photography skills. I try, but with unsteady hands and using a cellphone, mine usually don't turn out that good.
Also, I know all too well what you're saying about remembered events, in your memory like yesterday, but having happened more years ago than it seems that you've been alive.
Last, but not least, I hope all pain and swelling go by quickly, so that you will be feeling better...
Beautiful pictures, as usual... despite your injury!
At the time of JFK's assassination, I was in my early 20's. No matter what a person's political views may be, it was traumatizing event, and the memories of that time are never forgotten.
Jackie, I enjoyed your various comments. I was shaking my head yes when I read many of them.
Loved all the pictures, especially Sir Vincent.
I think all of us of a certain age remember the JFK assassination and where we were. I really remember when they requested that all companies close on the day of the funeral so the public could watch it on TV. The idiots I worked for at the time made us come to work. They drew the curtains and hung a closed sign on the door, but it was go in or get fired.
Thanks for the pictures. Loved the sunrise and the Wallenda Squirrel.
I hope you heal quickly. Sometimes we hurt ourselves worse when we try to stop a fall, don't we? Remember, shuffle your feet when you can't see what's underneath them!
I thought CBS Morning Show did a good job of reporting on the 50th anniversary without being maudlin about it. Interesting information about JFK and his family. I was just 16 when he died and remember it all vividly. The TV coverage was overwhelming yet we could not stop watching.
The "black and white" days were so different from today, weren't they? We didn't have so much information at our fingertips and we were so naive compared to today.
Thanks for the kind words about the photos!
I was in the third grade when Kennedy was assassinated. My teacher went hysterical which set us kids off, too. I remember the television updates and Ruby killing Oswald a few days later ... on live television. I felt I aged practically overnight and innocence and trust were thrown aside.
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