Day 212 of 365

Gritty McDuff's Vacationland Summer Ale

Taste of summer.

Day 211 of 365

Neighborhood Sunoco

Reminds me of an image I saw recently at an exhibition -- only I don't remember if it was last summer at the Carnegie (maybe during the International) or the Met or what.

Day 210 of 365

Flexing that paw

Just what I needed on a hot, humid day: Lenny to come sauntering across the couch and settle on my lap. So I made him my subject.

Day 209 of 365

Flowers on the table

Messing with the macro. At first, I didn't like that there's no one part that's in sharp focus -- and then that grew on me and I prefer it.

Day 208 of 365

Skylight

Like the Texas Stadium of roof gardens.

Day 207 of 365

Spencer's Discount

Apparently, it's the building itself that's the discount.

Day 206 of 365

Waking up in the tent

The light first woke me up shortly after 5 a.m. and I was disheartened by the steady rain pelting the tent. Luckily, by the time I got up for breakfast an hour later, it had stopped, leaving only drops on the exterior. I hung the flashlight for some light at night.

Day 205 of 365

Guys make fire

The rain let up enough and the tree cover blocked out more, allowing us to build a fire for our first night in the woods.

Day 204 of 365

Exclaim it!!!

I love how they used the exclamation points as line breaks. Also, that camera? It's at about chest height, pointing down toward the chair where the attendant might sit. Of course, I'm sure it's a wide view, but I still found the whole thing amusing.

Day 203 of 365

Makes me want one right now

I actually took this while I was taking some shots of the new baseball-themed cookie designs, just to preserve them (the pictures of the designs, so that I could eat the cookies). Wasn't planning on an eye-level close-up of my snack, but I like the outcome.

Day 202 of 365

After the fire

Friday, as we're on the way to Cleveland, I get a text alert from NJ Transit saying the Clifton station is closed indefinitely because of a significant fire. The SMS cut off before I received the part about how train service would be unaffected, but until I found that info, we panicked a little. We also pictured the station as a pile of rubble, but it's not. It's this -- a hole in the roof covered by a blue tarp.

Day 201 of 365

Left alone

Parked outside Chelsea Market at 4 a.m.

Day 200 of 365

Undead entertainment

It looks like they have a tough time getting live acts in Lewisburg in the summertime.

Day 199 of 365

Do you want to meet up at the Pickwick Bowl

Do you want to meet up at the Pickwick Bowl?
We could knock nine down and leave one in the hole

Taking a slight liberty with the lyrics because I couldn't stop singing the song as we walked back to the hotel.

Day 198 of 365

The most amazing cloud I've ever seen

After we drove through the storm in western Pennsylvania, the skies cleared over Ohio and as we rounded a bend on I-80, this massive cumulus hovered above us.

"Pemaquid vantage point," Maine, May 2008

Vantage point

One of my favorite spots in one of my favorite states is Pemaquid Point in Maine. Very few are the trips to Vacationland when I haven't driven through New Harbor to the lighthouse on the rocks. As a kid, I ran and climbed along the rocks; as I got older, I explored more slowly, looking for new images and new angles to shoot to take the memories home with me.

It's one of Maine's most photographed lighthouses, and this shot is my imitation of the familiar images of the beacon.

Day 197 of 365

In the process of painting

This is what the house looked just before I started for the day. My dad came by and we finished nearly all of that left side, so it's pretty much halfway finished. We have the back and the other long side to go.

But then there will be the posts of the front porch and the back porch and deck -- and those last two are made of wood and painted gray like the house, meaning everything has to be done. But I'm mostly concerned with finishing off the house itself; the porches and deck are less detailed and won't involve ladders.

Day 196 of 365

Arriving in Hoboken

After four hours' sleep and about six hours spent painting the house, I barely had enough time to clean up and get to the train -- on which I slept for half an hour. Still waking up as we disembarked at Hoboken, I took a picture as I walked up the aisle. Then I put my camera away for the day and headed into work in a trance.

Day 195 of 365

Bastille Day

When I realized it was Bastille Day, I knew this restaurant would have the flags out. After all, it is the Paris Commune -- and they honored America 10 days earlier.

Day 194 of 365

Not as lonely as it appears

I felt sorry for the big guy, until I passed him and noticed that his leash is tied to his owner's chair at the restaurant. He's just looking for sympathy.

Day 193 of 365

NOT Buddakan!

I love "NOT" signs.

Day 192 of 365

Straight down 10th Avenue

Though I've been up on the High Line many times already, every trip until today had been south to north from Gansevoort St. But this afternoon, we entered at 14th and walked south, after a brief jaunt north to 17th. It was on the way back we spotted this view of the Statue of Liberty.

Day 191 of 365

Sitting on the patio on a summer evening

Despite my heavy drinking at our evening barbecue, I managed to take this one from the steps of the back porch as everyone enjoys their drinks and conversation. No flash; the light is a pair of CFL spotlights on the corner of the house. Amazingly, I was able to hold the camera steady enough on this second (and last) frame.

Day 190 of 365

Pepsi Porch panorama

A panoramic shot from the Pepsi Porch seating section in right field at the Mets' ballpark. Four images stitched in Photoshop.

Day 189 of 365

The clean windows show all

Seen at a stoplight as I headed home from Home Depot.

Day 188 of 365

Gansevoort St.

Cones are out on Gansevoort St. to prevent parking so "Law & Order: SVU" can film in the area tomorrow. This also, I believe, was the block on which Frank Carbone was found frozen and hanging in the refrigerated trailer in "Goodfellas."

Day 187 of 365

Home of the penguins

Spotted this house while trying a new route on my run, so I just had to go back with the camera. That entire bay window is filled with stuffed penguins and penguin figurines.

Day 186 of 365

She's real fine

I'm sure I could find out how many different addresses the series of interconnected buildings of Chelsea Market have, but I'm a bit lazy at the moment.

Day 185 of 365

Stars and stripes at the Paris Commune

My Fourth of July was celebrated on the third with lunch with some friends, a movie with my wife and a barbecue and s'mores at my parents'. We watched a bit of the fireworks in Red Bank over the trees from the front lawn and watched TV the rest of the evening. Today, Casey and I drove home, did some work around the house, and I rode a train packed with fireworks-watchers to Hoboken. On my walk from the PATH to the office at Chelsea Market, the only sign of the holiday -- other than packs of people walking west toward the Hudson with blankets and fold-up lawn chairs -- were these flags hanging across the front of the Paris Commune restaurant on the corner of Bank and Greenwich. I was hoping to take at least one image today of some red, white and blue sign of the holiday, and one is all I got.

Day 184 of 365

'Mallows on the fire

Preparing for s'mores after grilling dinner.

Day 183 of 365

The play's the thing

Couldn't resist a shot of the stage in Central Park, with Belvidere Castle lighted to the left, under the moon.

Day 182 of 365

Late afternoon

The late-afternoon sun casts a shadow on our back yard gate.