what about the plastic animals?

Happy Trails

This little guy was making his way across one of the steps in Morningside Park this morning.  I hope he or she made it before drying up!

Freshwater Front

On the way home in the rain this evening I noticed the runoff from the rain creating a front of sorts in the Morningside Park pond.  I would have guessed that the runoff would have been colder and denser than the pond water, but it looked like it was floating on top here.

Inuksuit in Morningside Park

 

There were 99 percussionists scattered around Morningside Park this afternoon playing Inuksuit by composer John Luther Adams.  The performance was presented by Miller Theater at Columbia University. I don't know that my little montage does the music justice but the concert was delightful.

In that one panning shot from the stairs you can see that the park was full of curious visitors.  A woman from Riverdale told me this was her first visit to Morningside Park.  She never knew such a beautiful park existed in Manhattan.

Photos can be found on Flickr.

Good Riddance

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One day late last fall, December 5th to be exact, I was descending the 116th St. stairs in Morningside Park when I noticed a big ugly box attached to a lamp post.  When I stopped to take a closer look the box spoke to me.  It told me I was an unauthorized visitor.  Seriously!  In a park.  In the middle of the day.  I stood there staring at the camera (I did not make any obscene gestures) for a couple of minutes, hoping it would speak to me again.  It didn't.  As you can see there is no identification on the camera.  Was it owned by the Parks Department?  NYPD?  Columbia?  Friends of Morningside Park?  I meant to ask and/or complain at the time but got busy and forgot about it.

Yesterday I noticed the camera was gone.  I could have been gone for a while as I don't take these stairs nearly as often as I once did.  One reason why is coming up in a future post, but if you are familiar with the 116th St. stairs you might know why.

 

Make Way For Seven Ducklings

 

Do you have a cold, cold heart? You won't after watching these two videos.  A mother and her seven little kids go on a little excursion in Morningside Park.

 

 

 

You Lookin' At Me?

It was such a nice afternoon Monday that I sat down on a bench by the pond in Morningside Park and watched the world pass by for a while.

Dead Fish

Winter was hard for the fish in the Morningside Park pond.

The Icy Steps

There's a reason why I've avoided the 116th St. stairs in Morningside Park these past couple of months.

There are two tiny seeps on either side of the vertical stone in the top photo.  Those seeps, along with the tiny waterfall, are enough to make the landing and steps below 116th Street a treacherous mess.  Sheets of black ice form at the edges of the two streams.  The safest, but wettest, passage is to walk through the fastest moving water.  The Parks Dept. needs to work on the drainage here but I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon.

Anyway, what I really wanted to show is this video of water flowing underneath the ice:

 

Reclining Tree

A tree rests in Morningside Park.

Icy Stairs

It took longer than usual to climb the Morningside Park stairs this morning.