Ready For Halloween

Out for a walk in the neighborhood and this big dog was sitting on his owner's lap while they waited outside a grocery store on Court Street in Brooklyn, NY. His owner cautioned me - after I sought permission to take a picture - that his dog probably wouldn't pose very well. But I have a way with pets to get them to do what I want and I got a very nice look from the "Devil" dog - much to the shock of his owner.

Say Good-Bye To 70 Degree Days

When I opened my front window today I saw this bird looking around and wondering - what happen? This time yesterday it was in the 70's - admittedly about 15 degrees warmer than the average temperature for this time of year in Brooklyn, New York. But still, it was great to feel warm weather this late in the year. But today it was only in the 50's and the weather forecaster on TV says we probably won't see 70 degree temps in these parts again until next spring ... around April. Luckily I have many warm jackets that will get plenty of use in the next few months.

Change In The Weather

It's a foggy night atop New York's Empire State Building due to the unseasonably warm weather we've had. A cool front moved in at night and brought with it the low ceiling of fog and clouds.

But it's headed back into the low 70's for the next two days before a big drop off into the 50's over the weekend.

Help For Halloween

While on my way to a place from another place, I passed a wig store in downtown Brooklyn, New York. The choices of head-gear was somewhat limited. But if one is daring, the wig in front would be my pick. And thanks for the suggestion that it's for

Halloween ... so my Christmas wig will have to come from someplace else.

Wild NY Weather

Little pearls of hail on the ground outside my house in Brooklyn after a tremendous thunder, lightning, rain, hail and wind storm blew in around 8:30pm. It was a noisy storm with the hail pellets raining down on the roof and windows sounding like being inside a popcorn popper. It was in the low 70's earlier today and tonight we get hail.

Many people were caught unprepared for the hail and rain storm. The sidewalks were full of the thousands of little ice pellets.

And walking across the street was an invitation to get your feet wet since streams of running water were hard to avoid. This is at the corner of Dean and Smith a few feet from my front door.

Can't Escape Conan

While watching the TBS television network the last few days, you couldn't help but notice the many, many promos for Conan O'Brien new late nite talk show. But that wasn't enough, TBS hired a blimp to float over New York to help 'remind' people that CONAN is coming. I was switching back and forth between football and baseball (on TBS) when the blimp buzzed my neighborhood. So with its great color and some nice tree branches in front of my window, I thought I'd combine the two to lift the picture from being an ordinary snapshot.

One Night In The Bronx

The playoffs returned to New York and the Yankees beat the Twins to win the first round. 50,840 fans turned out - the biggest crowd ever in the two year history of the new Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will play the winner of the Texas -Tampa Bay series for the ticket to the World Series. The West Point Color Guard (center) presented the colors in front of the giant American Flag and the West Point Glee Club (bottom left) sang the national anthem.

The Color Of October

The color is orange. And when I saw these squashes at a New York farmer's market I thought about how often we see this color in the month of October. The leaves are changing to orange with fall well upon us and with Halloween coming up and pumpkins on every doorstep, orange is the go-to color this month. And the San Francisco Giants - whose team colors are orange and black - are in the baseball playoffs and their fans have been waving bright orange rally towels this week.

A Different Point Of View

Sometimes things look better upside down. That was the case for me with this lighting fixture.



It's upside down. The floor is actually the ceiling and the top of the fixture is really the bottom of it.




But when I was looking at it on the computer - doing some toning and stuff - I hit the button that flips the image around and when it came up this way, it reminded me of a tree of lighted balls of glass.



So the lesson here is to look at things from a different point of view - you just might like it better than the conventional way.

Is This Too Early For ... This?

While on holiday in southern California, I saw my first Christmas window in the front of a music store in Westwood near the UCLA campus. I took this shot on Friday, October 1st. Christmas is a little more than 2 1/2 months away. But with the economy the way it is, you can't blame a business owner for wanting to get the jump on the competition. As the sign says: Have a Cool Yule.