Despite this busy-ness, it’s the first absolutely gorgeous spring day here, and I just had to get out in it for a little breath of air. I took my camera to my dearly beloved Riverside Park, and enjoyed all the blooming flowers in the beds, the gorgeous yellow-green of the leaves, seeing everyone in much less clothing and many more smiles. I think Europe has had this weather for a while, from what I gather, but this is the first one for us, as far as I remember.

So here, a bit of Manhattan:

my standard shot, and why this is my favorite park. It's just so lovely.

this is where parents take their kids in NYC -- these are our playgrounds. Very different from the kinds of playgrounds my kids played in, but filled with parents playing with their children.

the persistence of spring, forcing its way through the cracks

Happy spring, it’s so nice to say that and feel it!

blue skies and autumn leaves in Riverside Park

my dearly loved Riverside Park

people decorate their homes for Halloween here, too - it just tends to involve decorating the stoop, since we don't have yards!

skeletons on West End Avenue! Scary!

What a beautiful, beautiful day it is here in Manhattan! I hope it’s the same where you are. I’ve piddled all day, talked on the phone with Marnie, dashed off a note to Katie in anticipation of seeing her in 5 days, taken a walk (hence the pics, obviously), and now I’m going to make some pizza dough, followed by a settling-in for some delicious wonderful knitting. I love days like this (even though it also features a nasty little headache, courtesy of fall pollens, I think. whatev. you can’t have everything all at once….).

Waving and smiling at you -
L

I passed one of the many playground areas and I was struck by the kids. There were 4 little girls, all unrelated to each other, black brown and white, and they were all wearing pink. Two little boys, neither of whom were wearing pink.

Anyway. Take a walk with me.

Now I’m making three loaves of ciabatta, working on my website, and getting ready to knit. Saturdays are awesome.

.

riverside park

That photo was taken today – Saturday, a summer Saturday, at 1:30. It’s 87 degrees, calm winds. Really nice! SO WHERE IS EVERYONE?

This is New York City! Crowded, teeming New York City. BUT: This is New York City in the summer. It really empties out, at least in the parts of town where people live. I’m sure Times Square is its usual bloated bleeting mass of tennis-shoed, fanny-packing, camera-wielding humanity, but luckily, I don’t have to go there.

Parking is easy – spots everywhere. Sidewalks aren’t crowded. Parks are pretty empty. New Yorkers go to the beach – the Jersey shore, out to the Hamptons, anywhere there’s a spot to lie down with water nearby. And luckily, since I live on an island and am surrounded by other islands and a coastline on the Atlantic, there are lots of options. I usually sneak onto the private beach in one of the Hamptons during the summer.

Me, though, as a pale-skinned very white woman, I’m delighted to sit indoors, watch the sun streaming through my white curtains, bake something yummy, watch something engrossing, and knit my brains out. I’m so easy.

Here’s some summer music for you:

Saturday brought the annual pillow fight, in Union Square –

pillow fight with an ironic arched eyebrow and cameras everywhere

And Sunday brought the annual Easter Parade up Fifth Avenue –

so very dandy!

I got out and about, in Riverside Park and then back up Broadway – so beautiful, gauzy springy blossomy yumminess:

Riverside Park, coming back to life

tulip tree in bloom, Broadway & ~107th

And I saw this Saturday – maybe you’ve already seen it, but it was new to me. I always thought Mary Poppins was just a little bit creepy:

And I’ll leave you with a musical recommendation: Honey Honey, by Feist. Eerie and beautiful, and the video is kind of awesome. I can’t get unstuck from Telephone – Gaga strikes me again – but this song is such a different mood it does have its moments in my earworm list.

Homing in on the toe of my Kai-Mei sock, will post a pic when it’s done. I have to say, that Cookie A is one clever sock designer. Her patterns are such fun, and make you feel like a clever knitter.

So, WOTN! Item #1, the wedding shawl. Nupps are “fun.” I won’t show the shawl in its entirety, to preserve the surprise, but little bits here and there seem ok. Case in point: nupps.

nupps (unblocked, of course)

Next up on the needles: socks for my youngest daughter (nonrav link), whose dorm floors are very cold. I want to finish them by the time she comes home for spring break in a couple of weeks, so I’m alternating these with the shawl. (Doesn’t that gusset look mighty huge to you? It does to me.)

A's socks

While not technically on the needles, these are destined to be on the needles very soon – sock yarns chosen by my oldest daughter. Katie, which one do you want me to use first?

Lorna's Lace Shepherd Sock: Beverly

Knit One Crochet Too: Meadow

And finally, in this brief period between snows, I walked over to Riverside Park – my back yard, kind of – and I took a picture I take over and over, in all seasons. Here it is today:

winter view

And here it is a few months ago, and a few before that:

November

May

Seeing the park blanketed with snow, and ice in the Hudson River, made me think about Lent. I didn’t grow up in a church that focused on Lent (ours focused on the fun combination of both fire and brimstone), and I’m not religious in that way, but the idea of it struck me. There’s a longing for life to come – the life that’s pent up in the trees and plant life buried under the snow. The wheel turns, it’s bleak now, but rejuvenation is coming. It’s coming. The world will begin again, as it always does.