Off Topic: That Was the Week It Was - May 3, 2015

Good (late) Sunday morning to everyone! Welcome to my (late) off television topic reflection of the week gone by in both words and photos I've taken along the way. I ended up sleeping in later than planned this morning. Plus, I took WAY TOO MANY blossoms/spring photos this week. It took forever to load them into my Photobucket account and I had issues trying to get the slideshow function to work. Gah.

In happenings this week, plus a few random thoughts:

• The other day I heard a call on my scanner that the Plainfield Police were trying to catch a goat with a dog snare down the street from me. I thought it was related to the day care center near there -- you know, a kid visiting the kids. But apparently goats are a new thing (you can buy them on Amazon.com now); another call for a neighbor's goat in someone's yard not near the first incident happened as I was preparing this entry. Huh. I guess I'd rather have a goat living next door than a rooster. But, need I mention that this is a city?
• The children who shouldn't play in the hallway met Vincent this week. They love him. He tolerated them well. No, they cannot come over to play with Vincent. He's grounded for being a traitor.
• I'm more tired lately than a human should be. My allergies seem to get worse every year as I get older, too. However, spring is still one of my favorite seasons -- the other favorite being autumn. I could deal with spring and autumn year 'round, skipping summer and winter.
• My next staycation isn't until Memorial Day week. I must endure! I will endure! Then I will collapse and sleep for at least two days straight.

Onto the photos I took this week ... if you click on them, larger images will open in a gallery doohickey.

How I learn Spanish bit by bit

The work going on and closure of the bridge underpass by the Plainfield Train Station on Watchunghas taught me a few new words. Just don't mock my pronunciation! I edited this with the charcoal drawing mode of PhotoCat.com

NJ Transit Police

Upon seeing this vehicle and a half-dozen Transit cops at the Plainfield Train Station early on evening this week, I thought they were sweeping the annoying street vagrants away. Nope. Don't know what they were doing, but they were ignoring the street people who have now taken over the benches, the stairs, the shelters and more. 

I'm hoping this will work for you. As I mentioned above, I took way too many flower shots this week! I put most of them (well, the shots I really liked) in this slideshow. There's a heck of a lot of them. My apologies! Some from early in the week show buds that, by the end of the week, turned into full blooms. We've gone from daffodils to tulips and beyond. The magnolia blossoms are mostly gone in the wind by today while the light spring shades of green are noticeable on the trees. Even the poison ivy, growing at both the Bridgewater Train Station and along the fence by the Friends Meeting House cemetery in Plainfield are looking pretty.




If the slideshow doesn't load for you, you can check out the Photobucket "story" at this link. That too might take some time to load if you don't have a fast connection. I took way way too many flower photos!

**CLICK THE 'READ MORE' LINK TO SEE THE REST OF THE PHOTOS**

A spring bus stop

This bus stop on East Second Street in Plainfield is much more attractive surrounded by blossoms instead of bare branches and blackened snowbanks.

No Loitering bench

 A bench, the sole purpose of which is based on loitering, bears a No Loitering Any Time sign. In the background, you can see the Plainfield City Hall building. There's actually a reason for the sign by the bench. The bench is at a bus stop, but vagrants and ne'er-do-wells tend to take it over while drinking in public and who knows what. I edited this shot in the "sketch" mode of PhotoCat.com.

Detour

Obviously the detour is not for the train. If I could make the train detour, I'd have 'em drop me off at my front door.

Hawk in flight

On a gorgeous spring day. Bridgewater, NJ.

Do these feathers make ...

... my butt look big? As seen at the Bridgewater Train Station.

Getting ready for opening day

The Somerset Patriots had three games away, but on Thursday night preparations were being made for their opening home game of the season. While the stands were empty. workmen were testing lights and putting in the last minute touches. TD Bank Ball Park, Bridgewater

Bridge work

For a bridge that's supposedly supposed to be a miracle of construction -- removing the old and placing in the new in a single day, they're certainly tying up downtown traffic in Plainfield for ages. Okay, it's been a week. But, still ...!

Starling fashion statement

Someone stuck his beak where it didn't belong! It was funny to watch him try to shake the flowers off. If he just opened his mouth, he would have been free of his dilemma. What a bird brain!

An ocean of violets in bloom

Dream if you can a courtyard, an ocean of violets in bloom -- Prince

Striking a pose

As the sun sets

Fa-la-la, live for today

For a cat like Vincent, everything is in the moment. They don't have to worry about future retirement funds or even getting up in the morning to go to work.