My New York City Collection
I used to love walking around New York City. It was so easy to do. I would often just walk and walk and walk. There was always something or someone to look at. Plus it was a great form of exercise.
Often on my long walks, I would take pictures of things on the ground. Sometimes I would stop to take a picture and other times I would just take a random shot while walking.
I was walking through a heavy industry area along the East River one day. Nothing but dull buildings and a long line of chain link fence. Nothing too pretty. That is when I noticed this little gem and it brightened the mood.
I've learned that New York City has 578 miles of coastline and 14 miles of beaches. The apartments I lived in were never close to a beach. It was a journey for me to get to one. At some point, though, I stumbled upon this cute little beach. Maybe 12 yards of those 14 miles. There were no sunbathers on this day because the temperatures were in the 40's.
The walk I was currently taking was quite a long one. I saw some grass and I knew I had to sit down in it. I was at Brooklyn Bridge Park. The views of the city skyline are amazing from this spot. They would make for a great postcard. The grass is lush too. Just take a look.
Walking really puts me into a meditative trance at times. I sort of zone out and lose place of where I am. I get locked into some thoughts and my vision begins to tunnel. I was in one of these zones when I came to this. If I didn't look up I might have walked into this water.
Luckily this spot had a rail and I felt much safer. The rail was old and rusty, but it held. I gave it a good push to check.
Sometimes the ground will give you facts. Real facts. Not debatable. Like in this case.
There are so many characters in this city. The problem is I can't really show you any pictures of them here. I don't see them when I am looking down on the ground. I am usually looking straight ahead or slightly up. And even though this really doesn't fit the narrative of ground photos, I did have to look down at this monster.
This freak of nature was a regular in my life for quite some time. I would look out the window of my apartment and there it would be climbing around the tree doing squirrel things. When I came out the door from the back staircase I would see it prancing around.
Of all of the places in the city, Central Park is one of the most beautiful. I love nature and it is very easy to get lost in the park because of how huge it is. I am also amazed at how the sounds of the city start to disappear as you get deeper in. Here is what one of the paths look like in the park decorated with some fallen leaves.
This photo of Central Park was taken on a warm summer day. I was taking a shortcut and was off the path when I wandered into this. I immediately wondered what the story was behind this can. Could it have come from Canada?
After picking up this can and walking it over to the trash can that was located 20 feet away, I realized I had once again become consumed on one of my walks and had lost track of time. I had to get moving.
While speeding along, I really wanted to know if the cone in this picture was flat or had the cone part been sticking into the ground. I did not investigate further because I made a snap decision and found the pavement to be unsafe. It looked soft. Plus, I was in a hurry.
You can always tell when there was a windy rain event even if you didn't get to witness it for yourself. Often, umbrella corpses will be scattered throughout the city. Here is just one example. Don't worry if this ends up happening to you. People leave free umbrellas for you on the subway all the time.
One time on a walk it seemed that someone was trying to tell me something so I followed a series of arrows. There weren't many, maybe 32, enough to get my excitement up to see what it could be. Most of the arrows looked like this.
I made it to the end but my excitement quickly faded. This is what I saw. A puddle. I was looking forward to something different. I shouldn't have let my emotions get carried away. It really is a fine looking puddle though.
There is always going to be plenty of these. They don't get out of your way.
There is this kind too. A rare species.
At the end of the year, it gets cold and sometimes the ground will get covered in this. It is beautiful to see the city and the trees covered in it. I was lucky to snap this picture before it turned into a brown mush. I'm very impressed with the edge on this too.
It stays cold for a while and eventually the snow does end up looking like this.
It is still cold and you don't want it to be. It wears on your spirit when you walk out of your apartment and it hits you in the bones. You wish the sun brought relief but it doesn't. Years seem to pass until one day these things start popping up and everything feels good again.
Well, there you have it. It was a pleasure to share with you what the ground looks like in New York City. These photos don't represent all the ground of New York City like I wish it would. This collection only includes Manhattan and Brooklyn. My apologies to the other three boroughs.
If you have any thoughts please let me know. I will be happy to entertain them.
Peace and love.