arborboy

winter sunlight...

2012-02-10T22:41:00.001-05:00

It's wild to think about the sights and sounds and experiences I have become so accustomed to living in New York City, even wilder to think about leaving them. One day I left the Horticultural Society of New York when they were still in that cavernous space on 58th Street. It was probably an interview, which would take the scene back almost ten years. From there I had nothing else on the agenda so I decided to stroll Central Park. Like most new to the city I would get terribly turned around, but I wasn't concerned. I knew I could figure out where I had to get to by that point in order to get back to safety, at that time a tiny room share in Park Slope. I was already used to walking a lot, and this afternoon I walked for a long time. Eventually I would end up in an alien land. I stumbled upon a fenced-in formal garden I didn't even know existed. I climbed stairs and found myself under a breathtaking wrought iron pergola covered in wisteria. It was summer or early fall so the park was rich in green, new growth. Giving my legs a break I would sit for a few and watch a gardener carefully pruning back the aged wisteria with a pole pruner. He seemed at peace. Carefully snipping the unwanted new shoots I would remember thinking to myself, "gosh, if I had a job like that I could last in this city a long time". This was on the heels of being at a party at my brothers apartment in Brooklyn and a friend of his recommending that I "just give the city ten years and see how you feel", a suggestion that seemed like pure lunacy to this young surf kid from a small ocean town. Sure enough nearly ten years would pass. I would learn the man I saw that afternoon was a gentleman named Paul Serra, Assistant Curator at the Conservatory Garden there in the north end of Central Park. (My walk had apparently taken me from the base of the park at 59th Street all the way up to 105th Street on the east side). Paul and I would not only get to know each other but would become good friends and colleagues tending to the Conservatory Garden under the direction of Curator Diane Schaub and Director Lynden Miller. I would get my chance to have an "office" most people would die for. And as my dear friend Diane would compliment, I would share some of my best years with that garden. I learned to love and respect the garden and the park and those that tend to it in such a caring and selfless way. Doug Blonsky, the President of the Central Park Conservancy, the organization that maintains the park for the city of New York through a model public-private partnership, himself wastes no time calling his horticulture staff the ambassadors to the park. After years I would learn how right he is, and how proud I am to say I am one of those ambassadors.

This week was a major week. Only a couple months ago we began the search for a home, a real house, and yard. Thanks to all the right people being in our corner we found a house that seemed perfect. We said "why not" and put in a bid, and to our amazement the back and forth happened quickly, and in our favor. All of a sudden the question of whether this might be the year we get out of the city became the question of how soon might we get out of the city, no "if" about it. We put out feelers on the work front and crossed our fingers. Hard work, it would turn out, had once again paid off as calls quickly led to conversations which led to setting up meetings. Our house bid was accepted, confirming we are buying our first home. Interviews were set, letting us know that we have the skills to take the show on the road. I would pause and look up to get caught by the morning sun as it narrowed through the buildings along Fifth Avenue and shot in to spotlight the wisteria covered pergola in the middle of the Conservatory Garden. It's these moments that make you stop for a sec, to behold the beauty of the here and now. Maybe it's a sight you have seen a thousand times before, but you never saw it like this before. Or maybe it's like you are seeing it for the first time, all over again. It's the exploration and adventure that will ensue that you don't even know yet. You will remember this place and time. The next challenge begins. With great admiration and respect you get a deeper glimpse into who you are and where you are going based on where you came from, and all of those steps along the way. The pergola and the wisteria, the tiers of spirea and yew, you have been so good to me.

Red was back

2012-02-07T22:25:00.000-05:00

This morning I saw Red again. He was in Brian's area, down in the Ravine.

other assorted wildlife

2012-02-05T23:01:00.005-05:00

This is Puck, the regal fat man. When it comes to the cats, we call them "the beasts", and as you can see, terribly ferocious.

Indian Wells, enough said.

2012-02-04T16:12:00.000-05:00

great day for hawks in the park

2012-02-03T22:28:00.006-05:00

In the north end of Central Park today we were lucky to have a bunch of great hawk sitings. This first guy was so hidden in the landscape my friend had to point him out to me. I don't know my hawks well enough to figure out what kind he is, but I was very thankful he let me get a couple good shots of him, even if only on my camera phone.

He really could have cared less about us, for there were a lot of squirrels out that were just as oblivious as I. Did I mention it was lunch time?? ;-)

This other one I couldn't get such a good shot of. He was picking over a pigeon that was clearly his midday feast. I admit I'm not even that much of a birder but the hawks of Central Park are so wonderful to watch. Isn't their camouflage just amazing!?!

Neil Young, genius.

2012-02-01T08:48:00.003-05:00

Sunday my friend Bubba posted a link to a little Rolling Stone write up on Neil Young. They were letting people know to go to Neil's website to listen to a 37 minute jam that they guessed was recorded rather recently. Sure enough the jam is awesome, Neil Young and Crazy Horse doing what they do best, making amazing music. From there I had to dig through the archives and find this album, Live Rust, from 1979. If you like Neil Young this is a must have album in my opinion. Takes me back to when I lived in California, actually on a ranch next door to Neil's property. Such good music.

And definitely go to neilyoung.com and check out the jam too! There's a little Cortez the Killer about 19 minutes in. It'll take ya right back.

Crimean Linden, BBG

2012-01-31T09:50:00.000-05:00

I always have a blast this time of year returning to Brooklyn Botanic Garden for another year of Plant-O-Rama, the Metro Hort tradeshow now in it's 16th year. It's a chance to reunite with old friends, connect with new ones, sit in on fabulous lectures and panel discussions, and enjoy celebrating the horticultural lives we lead. This year I was thrilled to finally get to see and listen to Michael Dirr, the national treasure as far as woody trees and shrubs. And even more we get to enjoy all of this over the course of a very fun, relaxed day on the grounds of a magnificent botanic garden. It's so good to visit with my colleagues who are now really the best of the best in my opinion, like Dennis Schrader from Landcraft Environments, Jim from Glover Perennials, and Erika Hanson from Anthropek Gardens, just to name a few. But it is a busy day of passing cards and networking so one of the best parts for me is taking a break from it all and being able to walk the grounds and revisit the trees I love, tended to by my BBG's sensational Arborists, Chris and Travis. Walking in with the morning sun this Crimean linden was really speaking to me so it became the shot of the day.

love her

2012-01-30T05:51:00.000-05:00

the oldest, most famous... in the universe!

2012-01-28T21:32:00.003-05:00

Really there is nothing else to say. The Bohemian Hall Beer Garden is truly one of a kind, and forever a favorite of ours. Not to mention this evening we got to reconnect with fantastic old friends and catch up over delicious pitchers of IPA and plates of food sure to fill up even the hungriest man. A win-win.

found art

2012-01-27T20:54:00.000-05:00

I found this the other day and was instantly intrigued. Since I don't want to get myself in trouble I am not going to say where I was within the five boroughs but stumbling through woods and sand and stone all of a sudden this huge slab of (I presume) marble was under foot. So I did a little research, and by that I totally over exaggerate, it was just a Google search, but I learned about an American conceptual artist named Jenny Holzer. In 1977 Holzer began a project entitled Truisms. She would take her complications of statements and aphorisms (vocab word of the day, aphorism: an original thought, spoken or written in a concise and memorable form) and display them in a number of different visual installations throughout the city over the following number of years. Where this stone was originally and how it came to where it is now I have no idea, another part of my vagueness, but I had to share it. As we head into this year of making changes and doing our best to live on our terms, a much longer post I have been intending to write, I couldn't help but find it interesting that I would come across these found truisms that date back to my birth year of '77. You have to love the subjective nature of art, mixed with that little taste of exploration and discovery, for that is the stuff that makes me smile.

a thing of beauty

2012-01-24T18:08:00.003-05:00

Saw this '65 Chevy Impala on the way home on 30th Avenue. Love the environment, but I will always have a thing for muscle cars. Someday I will have one of my own.
Someday.

"golfing"

2012-01-24T16:18:00.000-05:00

for "golf", it ain't!
;-)

winter weekend out east

2012-01-22T21:53:00.006-05:00

it was wonderful to wake up to fresh snow and the quiet of the country
the beautiful old spruce in the backyard looked even more massive with it's winter coat on
We spent the day with my folks talking about the possibility of moving out of the city, and figured out that it is possible. "Just gotta jump" my mom kept repeating with confident enthusiasm. When night fell we took a drive and walked upon a snowy, windy Indian Wells to get our appetite up for Dad's best meat sauce ever according to mom. We climbed back in the car and listened to the new Amy Winehouse album and while we regained the feeling in our fingers realized how psyched we are about the idea and challenge of moving east.

Sunday morning we returned to Indian Wells for a daylight walk.
This is home.
And still, so psyched, ready, committed to this idea.
This year is about living on our terms.
My love, the creator of 365 days.
The challenge begins.

favorite poster

2012-01-20T20:47:00.001-05:00

"Youth and Beauty"
subway ad
Astoria, Queens, NYC

I usually get out of the house a little after 5:30 in the morning. By quarter of six I am on the local train platform, watching the M train pass and waiting until the R train comes through. It will show up at 5:53am like clockwork. Across the tracks I stare at this subway ad. It's for a show at the Brooklyn Museum up through next weekend. The poster has obviously been up for a while and adorned accordingly. As a silly game to play with myself I try and keep tabs on the new posters when they go up and see how long it takes before they get defaced, but inevitably I forget or realize it's really a totally ridiculous exercise and continue about my business. But I never tire of the metamorphosis these posters go through over the weeks and months exposed to the masses. I love this poster to begin with, the painting by American painter Luigi Lucioni from 1928, but with the blue tag and scratch I somehow love it that much more. The Art of the American 20's meets the art of the 20-teens. I love capturing these snapshots so that I can revisit them years down the road and be taken right back to the early New York City mornings like this one.

capturing the day, one year at a time

2012-01-18T21:32:00.005-05:00

the 6:18am regulars

My wife wanted a new project, a new challenge, and as a result has begun a pretty fabulous undertaking. Her goal: to post a picture for every day of the year, a complete year of her life captured in exactly 365 pictures. We have been talking about the year ahead and for us it is going to be a year of big change, or so we hope. More and more we talk about getting out of the city and taking this flora and fauna show on the road. This might very well be the year. So what better way to capture it than a whole year documented in simple but complete encapsulations of the day. You all should check out 365 Pictures and keep checking it out. Krissy posted the first picture on her birthday, January 15.

I realized I never posted any Sharon Van Etten! A most sensational singer/songwriter from over the bridge in Brooklyn there, I somehow learned about her 2010 album "Epic" and was instantly so thankful I did. It still gets a ton of play, something about her sound is such music to my ears. If you don't have this album, go buy it, now, you can thank me later. This morning it was on the headphones sounding so nice as we battled the cold wind up 96th Street.

I would have the hardest time keeping it to just one photo...

I Seymour puppy!

2012-01-08T17:29:00.000-05:00

Congrats to our friends Jackie and Tony on the latest addition to their family. We had a blast playing with little Seymour today. French bulldog puppies, their a cute thing...

woods sunrise, beautiful Friday

2012-01-06T07:57:00.001-05:00

"liquid bread"

2012-01-05T19:59:00.000-05:00

One thing about working outside every day of the year, in winter you learn to really appreciate hot showers and serious stout.

Captain Rude's Blackwater Stout is a product of the Swashbuckler Brewing Company in Manheim, PA. For Christmas my father-in-law hooked us up with a case of their different beers, and all of them have been delicious. Definitely worth keeping your eye out for it wherever your favorite microbrews are sold.

the beasts

2012-01-02T21:53:00.000-05:00

Above: Puck in a box

Below: Melvin wants to remind everyone to keep it chill in 2012

orange board, Melvin, New Year's Day sun

2012-01-01T09:05:00.002-05:00

My love has to work today so it's just me and the beasts...

the dead florist

2011-12-31T14:22:00.000-05:00

Today we were running errands in the nearby neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens. Walking along the busy street we came to a number of stores closed and abandoned. Most were empty or had minimal garbage strewn about their dirty floors. Then I looked in and saw this. Clearly a florist had closed and not bothered to take the perishables, but it looked so much creepier than the reality of what it was. It looked like something from the Twilight Zone, complete with the lit cooler and total absence of life. Needless to say I had to capture the moment.

our first Christmas tree, Astoria, New York

2011-12-26T20:18:00.000-05:00

Christmas in PA

2011-12-25T12:09:00.000-05:00

Above: Keira was napping when Kate, Jerome and Janaya first arrived. Talk about a perfect gift for the holidays, not quite six months old.
Below: Janaya got her first skateboard - Santa RULES!!!

Driving in PA

2011-12-24T13:53:00.001-05:00

Loving being out of the city, in PA for Christmas #1 with the Dunkle clan.
Note: no blizzard in the forecast
Ahhhhhh!

return of the winter sky

2011-12-23T16:07:00.000-05:00

Walking down Fifth Avenue after work, kicking off the long holiday weekend, it's a nice walk.

perfecting the Dirty Banana

2011-12-20T19:49:00.001-05:00

Since being back from the Caribbean I have been missing the killer bevy of blended cocktails that we enjoyed so I figured there was only one logical thing to do. My loyal Osterizer blender was promptly taken out of retirement and given front and center status on the kitchen counter. One of my first challenges was the Dirty Banana. Thanks to some cross referencing of internet recipes and a few ripe bananas on the shelf I came pretty damn close. This one was good enough to photograph. To answer my friend Greg's question, and for anyone else that might be interested, this is all you need:
1 oz. dark rum
1 oz. Kahlua
2 oz. milk
1 ripe banana
4-5 regular sized ice cubes

Blend for one minute.

Heavenly.

Clemente's Crab House!

2011-12-18T13:43:00.000-05:00

For Christmas we decided to get a gift certificate for my brother and his family to Clemente's Crab House in Sheepshead Bay, one of their favorite Brooklyn destinations for all kinds of yummy seafood. The only catch was that Clemente's only takes cash so we were forced to drive down there and have the place to ourselves for an impromptu winter feast this Sunday afternoon. I tell ya, this Christmas shopping stuff is exhausting! ;-)
Cheers everyone, and remember, it's about love and family and celebrating life, or should be at least!!!

Christmas in Queens

2011-12-17T20:24:00.000-05:00

It really is the stone lion wearing the Santa hat that really gives this one that extra special Queens flair!

Our neighborhood is like any other during the holidays. Everyone loves to go all-out, no matter how big or small their front stoop. Freshly back from a long and relaxing time far away we realize we are not used to the Christmas hustle and bustle already well underway. A mild evening we took a walk after dinner with our cameras. It certainly helped to get us into the spirit.
Happy Merry everyone!

Hector dog

2011-12-16T18:15:00.000-05:00

For the second half of the month my folks offered to dog sit for a friend in the city. My mom was psyched, my father less so. But as with all things Feleppa, it was a pretty funny scene! This is Hector.

Tropical Tree/Shrub ID: Bauhinia

2011-12-09T12:14:00.000-05:00

My first time coming across Bauhinia, a tropical tree growing outside of where we were staying in St. Lucia. The fragrance of this guy, commonly called an orchid tree, was so rich and pungent in the evening air it would stop you dead in your tracks. Thanks to Charles Y. for helping me ID this one.

the pirate ship

2011-12-08T12:07:00.000-05:00

another tough day in paradise

2011-12-07T14:01:00.000-05:00

tropical trunk

2011-12-07T12:22:00.000-05:00

tree trunk outside Simon's restaurant, near Soufriere, St. Lucia

Krissy and the barn kitty

2011-12-05T11:46:00.000-05:00

Trim's National Riding Academy, St. Lucia, West Indies

We got to know Trim's via our honeymoon at the Sandal's Grande St. Lucian. I just saw that other tourists complained about their experience with this local stable, but I have to say that we had a wonderful time and very fun and comfortable experience. Is it like some of the wealthier stables we are used to here in the States? No, of course not. But we felt like the men and women of Trim's kept a clean and safe establishment and the guides especially, Jackson and Lee, we thought were tremendous. We made friends quickly and easily with everyone, and needless to say it took no time before Krissy found the barn kitties. ...or rather, they found her.

horseback ride and swim

2011-12-05T11:24:00.000-05:00

Today we went to Trim's National Riding Academy in St. Lucia where we rode horses down to the sea's edge and after removing their saddles waded in for a swim riding bareback. It was a truly extraordinary experience.

Rodney Bay, St. Lucia

2011-12-03T17:18:00.000-05:00

local graffiti, Pigeon Island, St. Lucia

2011-12-01T10:34:00.000-05:00

St. Lucia sunset series

2011-11-30T18:24:00.000-05:00

A couple days into our two week honeymoon in St. Lucia, a perfect Caribbean sunset...

As they say down there, "No pressure, no problem."

leaving a sleeping winter behind in search of sun and sand

2011-11-28T07:10:00.003-05:00

funny flub on my part (aka orange board update)

2011-11-27T09:27:00.005-05:00

A few weeks back I received an email from Chris about the orange board, the sweet new surfboard I got this past summer. I assumed it was Chris, the guy who had sold me the board. Reading the email in haste I didn't realize that it was in fact a different Chris entirely, a stranger wondering about the board thinking he might want to get one of his own. I would, of course, make the realization but only after a reply laden with the funny, foolish assumptions that it was surf shop Chris I was writing to. Ha ha ha, ooops! In any event, here is my silly slip-up and an update on the new orange board.

Question:
Aloha Alex

Was wondering what are your thoughts on the Fineline board you got? Also what size are you? Thinking about picking up a Fineline mp local to me thanks

Chris

Answer:
Hey Chris,

Great to hear from you. The Fineline has been a total dream of a board. Like you said it's been great to make the most of the smaller days locally, definitely smooth planing and an easy wave catcher for sure. It went with us out to Montauk in September and I got to play with it in some bigger surf. Since I was raised on and mostly surfed thrusters my whole life the single fin and sidebites took me a little getting used to but I was instantly impressed at how it performed and how quickly I got used to it. This fall has been so busy work-wise I haven't gotten in the water much but I am psyched to take out the side bites and play with it as a just a single fin. In that respect it's really the versatility of the board that's been killer - I feel like I'm not going to get tired of it any time soon and that's awesome. Your recommendation was spot-on and Brian certainly makes a solid product. Even with the learning curve I don't think the deck has one pressure ding in it, so obviously a strong glass job to boot.

As far as size, I'm 5'7" or so and usually somewhere between 165-170. The full dimensions of the board are 6'3", 16 1/4" x 20 3/8" x 15 1/8", 2 3/4". Needless to say I'd recommend it to anyone out there.

Hope all is well with you and the shop. Have a great rest of the fall.
cheers,
Alex

and yeah, sorry Aloha Chris for the email that must have been perfectly confusing. hope you saw through my flub and decided to go for a Fineline regardless. And for you fellows here in the north Happy Fall Surf y'all, let's don the hoods and booties and kick it!
all the best, -aef

bark gallery

2011-11-11T15:43:00.003-05:00

Betula lenta (sweet birch)

Quercus rubra (northern red oak)

a more mature Quercus rubra (above and below)

Ulmus americana (American elm)

Fagus grandifolia (American beech)

Quercus velutina (black oak)

Carya ovata (shagbark hickory)

Tree ID: Quercus palustris (pin oak)

2011-11-09T18:35:00.005-05:00

If you want to start learning your oak trees this is a great one to start with. This is a young pin oak, Quercus palustris. On this foggy morning on the way to work I was elated to find this little guy because you can see one of the most interesting aspects of this particular species. Pin oaks have an attractive pyramidal habit in their youth and it's due to their unique branching. The lower limbs are pendulous, or weep slightly, the central limbs are horizontal, and the upper limbs point upwards toward the sky. Now you might think all trees limbs grow that way, as I did at one point in time, but as you reexamine your local trees you will see that this habit is really quite unique to pin oaks, and therefore makes them relatively easy to identify in the landscape. Most pin oaks planted in parks and yards can get limbed-up (the lower limbs pruned off to allow for easier passage underneath) so you eventually lose this quick indicator, perhaps another reason I was excited to find this specimen posing so perfectly this morning.

Tree ID: Acer rubrum (red maple)

2011-11-09T18:27:00.004-05:00

Red maples, botanically known as Acer rubrum, are a great northeastern shade tree for many reasons. In spring before they leaf out (March into April) red maples produce great looking clusters of red flowers (click here for image of flowers). That in combination with the smooth gray bark was how I was able to identify the tree above when we moved across the street last winter. Our new neighbors talked about the amazing red fall color and just recently we got to see for ourselves.
These shots are of some red maple cultivars up at the new York Botanical Garden. You can see here the difference in the leaf. When people think of maples they tend to think of that quintessential 5-pointed or 5-lobed leaf silhouette. Here you can see that red maples, though they still have five lobes, tend to look more like a leaf with only three points. This can help you identify them in the summer when most maples are rich green in color and not so easy to tell apart. But then in fall of course we are further clued in as to why they are called red maples. As far as your standard list of maples often used in the northeast Norway maples (invasive bastards!) have a bright yellow fall color. Sugar maples can be every fall color imaginable but end up showing mostly oranges. But the red maples will always get this real intense red to scarlet coloration when they change in early November.

Younger trees have a smooth gray bark that helps you to identify them in the woodlands. They are also sometimes called swamp maples and as the name might suggest they do really well in a more wet situation. Often in a forest setting you will find them naturally living down closer to the stream edge or in lower, soggier areas. As the trees mature the bark transforms from being smooth to having these long vertical ridges and furrows, still a nice light gray. This mature specimen is located in the old growth forest up at NYBG.
There are of course a gazillion cultivars of red maples out there so you want to check your local nurseries and do your research before buying. I remember back when I was in the nursery trade we sold a lot of 'October Glory' and 'Red Sunset' but gosh, that was a good ten years ago.

seeing the forest for the trees

2011-11-08T09:19:00.005-05:00

As an alum of the School of Professional Horticulture I was invited up to the New York Botanical Garden on Saturday to enjoy a forest symposium by leading scientists and policy makers. From a global scale to a local scale four speakers addressed the challenges we face as stewards of the land going forward in this time of climate change and then we all went out and enjoyed the 50-acre old growth forest that NYBG is known for. Reuniting with friends and mentors it was such a treat to give our bodies a day off while exercising our minds and getting re-inspired to continue plugging away at the good work we do. I have specific tree shots and info to share but for now here are some of the more general shots I took that gorgeous afternoon. (as always click to enlarge images)
probably a tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
What most people don't realize is that the stunning colors we see in fall are actually there in the leaves most of the growing season, they are just hidden by the chlorophyll plants produce in order to photosynthesize.
As trees and shrubs begin to go dormant in the fall they produce less chlorophyll, the green pigment in their leaves, because they have to begin shutting down and storing up water and sugars so that they can leaf-out next spring. With less chlorophyll present we get a glimpse of the other pigments in the leaves that are created throughout the growing season. Xanthophylls and Carotenoids are responsible for the stunning yellows and oranges and actually exist in the leaves most of the warmer months. The red and purple pigments come from Anthocyanins which the leaves manufacture mid- to late-summer to deal with the bright summer sun, almost like a plant's secret SPF. In fall we get lucky that the trees and shrubs take a little time to shut down and prepare for winter dormancy giving us this great show.

New exceptionally designed pathways now weave throughout the Thain Family Forest allowing arborists and novices alike the chance to experience this wonderful woodland with all it's age and lessons on the interconnectedness of life. Such a treat to breath easy, dwarfed by the landscape, and take it all in.

staying grounded

2011-11-08T08:58:00.002-05:00

In the woods in fall you can find these great shots of yellow coming from various hickories, the genus Carya. Hickories can be easily identified with that unique compound leaf that stands out. Some have better fall color than others but all add this wonderful punch to the changing landscape. This was taken up at the New York Botanical Garden last weekend and don't worry, I have plenty more where this came from....

Following a surprise October snow storm that would send our horticultural world upside down here in New York City atop the typical work and pressures of fall life has been a real doozy recently. Luckily today thanks to Election Day I have been gifted a wonderfully quiet day off to catch up on photo editing, tree work, and hopefully a little blogging and art making. Breathing deep sighs of relief I am reminded how important it is to stay grounded. I for one am the kind of person who needs to every once and a while de-clutter, physically and mentally, and recenter and refocus in order to not feel like I'm just spinning my wheels like a frantic person.
...ok, back to editing. Enjoy the day everyone, and remember to vote! You are the 99% and you do have a voice.

genius tunes from a genius band

2011-11-08T08:33:00.003-05:00

Sometime recently I was wasting time watching the tube and came across the band Phoenix playing an unplugged show. A French indie rock band originally from Versailles, my brother first introduced me to them back in 2000 when they came out with "United", a killer album that had that all the right hints of a throwback sound laced with fun new layers of sound. They would become huge in the world of hipsters and mainstream radio alike and as far as I'm concerned power to them. I definitely hope these guys are around making music together for a long time. But I admit some of their more recent albums I am not nearly as familiar with so coming across this show was a great find. Here are two extremely catchy tunes that I have been loving since: "1901" off Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix and "Long Distance Call" off It's Never Been Like That.
...and of course huge thanks to KCRW and StepOutAgain for sharing! Enjoy,

Phoenix perform "1901", from their new album "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix", live on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. 06.29.09

Phoenix perform "Long Distance Call", from their album "It's Never Been Like That", live on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. 06.29.09

NYC Marathon, 2011

2011-11-06T15:38:00.000-05:00

probably the best sign I saw while working the New York City Marathon today in Manhattan

Congrats to all you finishers - amazing, you are truly amazing, and way to go!

pics from a morning stroll

2011-11-02T17:47:00.000-04:00

I decided to take my camera along for my little walk and errand running this morning. Even though just a Hosta in this small cement urn I couldn't help but like the way the sun was hitting it from behind.
Everywhere in my neighborhood you see these small herbaceous plantings, such as these mums, peaking through the chain link fence in search of the sun. Get it, kids!
I could create a whole blog that was just old dilapidated laundromat signs from around the city. There is something about each sign and storefront that makes it unique, like the funny crooked ampersand.
People do some fabulous container gardening here in Astoria, land of the Greeks. Here they started with tall, narrow pots planted with red Mandevilla, a great flowering vine of an annual, and trained it up to create this whole elaborate trellis you walk under when coming or going. ...pretty fabulous.
Then I had to get stuck looking at all the new street trees. The Parks Department is about halfway through the planting efforts associated with their Million Trees NYC initiative which means over 500,000 trees have been planted in the last four years or less. As an arborist it's great because I never have to go far to find myself noticing new trees, eagerly trying to identify each one.
I am guessing that this new addition is a young black oak, Quercus velutina. Many oaks within the red oak family can look alike so often you have to carefully examine other parts of the tree in order to make your best educated guess. You need to look at things like the buds the trees set in fall that persist through winter.
In some cases you need to take into consideration the bark.
In both cases the buds and the bark seem closest to a black oak, though most of the black oaks I know are much older so there is some difference in their appearance. The reddish buds with their gray pubescence and gray bark with hints of a more yellow inner bark tend to make me think it is Quercus velutina over the other usual suspects like northern red oaks, pin oaks, and scarlet oaks. But again, just a guess for now.

Indian Wells

2011-10-30T16:53:00.000-04:00

No trip home is complete without a drive down to Indian Wells to see the ocean. Following the major wind and storm that battered the northeast the water was calm and an off-shore breeze was blowing off the top of the rolling surf making it look so gorgeous. Any day that includes a glimpse of the ocean I consider a good day.

one path, four leaves

2011-10-29T16:15:00.001-04:00

I've been feeling bad that I haven't been writing and posting more so this morning I figured I would use my phone to snap a few quick pics while on my morning walk setting up my work day. Here's a tiny installment of some of the fall foliage out there these days...
Sassafras albidum (common sassafras)
Called "the mitten tree" by my mother-in-law the leaves of this tree are variable, meaning they can take a few different shapes. Often you will see them like the one above with leaves that have one or two sinuses (the "dimples" or depressions in the leaf) and otherwise those large, rounded lobes. Sassafras love a wet location so you will find groves of them near waterbodies where they can still get some sun. They can be a great understory tree and advantageous colonizer when revitalizing woodland areas.

Quercus alba (white oak)
When beginning to learn species within the massive genus of oak trees, botanically known as Quercus, one of the first steps is learning the difference between the pointed, bristle-tipped oaks and the softer lobed oaks. The one above, with those pronounced lobes that are softer and smoother looking indicate that it is in the white oak group. In this case, I imagine this is a white oak, as they often have this fabulous deep red to maroon fall color. The other oaks, the ones with the more pointed bristle-tips are red oaks and their various relatives, and they too can have remarkable fall color. Most oaks take on a much more earthy bronze fall color but some like this white oak and the scarlet oak, a bristle-tipped oak named Quercus coccinea, show off these rich pigments of deeper reds and purples.

Liriodendron tulipifera (tulip tree)
Liriodendron, like all the others in this post, is a North American native and wonderful tree to find in the woods. Commonly called a tulip tree, Liriodendron produce a flower in spring that looks like a green, orange and yellow tulip blooming on the large angular branches that grow overhead. The tree itself can often be easily identified in the landscape because they can grow straight as an arrow and reach up to 100' comfortably. In the fall the color of the foliage is a rich, vibrant yellow. I tend to think that the leaf too seems to resemble a tulip's silhouette but I am not sure if that has any link to the common name.

Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum)
If you didn't know you might think this tree was some kind of maple with that five-pointed leaf and insane red fall color. But alas, it is it's own species, commonly known as a sweetgum. As far as stunning native trees I have always liked sweetgums, and when fall comes around you realize why they always make the various "top ten" fall foliage lists. The tree itself is not necessarily as tough as some of the oaks and maples out there but situated in the right spot they thrive and add great character to our woodland settings.

tree ID: Acer saccharum (sugar maple)

2011-10-28T16:02:00.001-04:00

Sugar maples (Acer saccharum) are always such a beauty in the fall landscape. This tree is definitely one of the reasons we live and love the northeast this time of year.
I first learned to love this tree in high school up in Vermont at the Mountain School where we would manage a sugar maple forest and make our own maple syrup right there in the woods. Now years later and in a city of millions I am still so elated by this species when I see it. Sugar maples get to 60-75 feet tall and at maturity have a great variable bark that is filled with plates and ridges of dark bark. And as you can see it is almost unparalleled in terms of it's fall color. One tree will be a spectacular wash of green to yellow to orange to red, all vibrant and on the same tree!
hardy in USDA Zones 4-8
buds are imbricate, cone-shaped and sharply pointed, gray-brown, glabrous

return of the Korean chrysanthemums

2011-10-24T15:18:00.000-04:00

Yes, it's that time of year again. The 2000 or so Korean chrysanthemums up at the Conservatory Garden in the north end of Central Park are busting out in their annual late October show destined to make you smile and stare in awe at the range of colors and forms before you.
The seed of these classic mums was originally gifted to the garden by Mrs. Lasker in honor of her mother back in 1947 if I remember correctly. Every year the 2000 plants are grown locally and planted in the garden in May, then grown all season, pruned in order to be made bushier and more full, and explode with this amazing mix every fall.
Korean chrysanthemums are actually sun loving perennials but in order to make room for the 20,000 tulip bulbs planted each November these plants have to be treated like annuals and pulled every year. ...but don't worry, the plants are not just thrown away, they are transplanted and reused in other areas where they can continue to grow and flourish or they are recycled and become compost to feed next years crop.
(...and alas these would be the only shots I would get this year before the unbelievable storm that hit the last weekend in October causing such devastation to the park, including the premature razing of these displays along with the thousands of trees and shrubs horribly affected. but for pics of the mums from years past just click on the tags below. -aef 11.2.11)

Plant ID: Lavatera?

2011-10-21T13:28:00.001-04:00

The other day a coworker and I were walking by a tree pit near where we work and saw a plant that caught our eye. Knowing that he had not planted it, my friend was curious to know what it was and how it got there. The plant stood a few feet tall and maybe two feet wide with a great palmate leaf and smallish pink flowers.
The above picture is a bit blurry (I apologize) but you can see that the flower looks a little bit like a Hibiscus. When you study plant morphology and systematics you learn detailed characteristics specific to different plant families. Seeing this flower I could tell right away it was a member of the Mallow family, Malvaceae. The next time you take a careful look at the ornate center of a Hibiscus flower you will see that the stamen, the male reproductive part of a flower with their anthers and filaments of pollen, wraps completely around the pistil, the female reproductive part of a flower with it's protruding stigma designed to receive pollen. Therefore when I saw this cup-shaped flower an it's unique center ("prominent staminal columns" if you wanna get geeky) I knew it had to be some kind of mallow. But from there we were stuck. I took a few pics with my camera phone and hoped I might be able to figure it out.
So thanks to my reference library and a little down time I was able to learn that there is a great genus of plants in the Malvaceae family called Lavatera. Known mostly as tree mallows the genus includes over 20-25 different species of flowering plants found on every continent except Antarctica. Some are more woody and can get to be large shrubs while others stay smaller and more herbaceous, maintaining softer green branches and stems. One of the latter of the two kinds is Lavatera trimestris, which is what I think this guy might be. Well, that or a close relative or bred cultivar in any event. An easy to grow annual native to the Mediterranean most books describe it as growing three to four feet tall and up to three feet wide, a definite match to this mysterious garden volunteer. Commonly called annual mallow there are a number of different cultivars of L. trimestris these days, all of which have slight variations of these delicate pink flowers. Certainly I could be wrong, but this seems like a pretty logical match and so far is my best guess. Certainly if anyone out there has an opinion one way or another I would love you to comment and share your thoughts.

So then the question is, how did it come to be in this space if my friend didn't plant them there this spring? An interesting thing about a bunch of the European and Asian plants within the Malvaceae is that even though they are hardy to warmer zones and climates I have found that their seed can still sometimes over-winter and survive in the right situation. I first noticed it with a great plant called Abelmoschus manihot, commonly called aibika. Grown in annual displays in a garden where I used to work the curator and I would be amazed over numerous years to see that some of the Abelmoschus seeds that formed in fall and fell across the path into the perennial beds germinated and became their own glorious 5-6 foot plants the following spring and summer. Abelmoschus is only considered hardy in USDA zones 10-12 so here in New York (a Zone 6b or 7a) the plant itself clearly cannot make it through our frozen winters but the seed we assessed must have a tough enough seed coat that in a protected spot they can still germinate when the warmer seasons return. Of course it is perfectly possible that someone else had some of these seeds and broadcast them in this tree pit without us knowing, but now I wonder if perhaps the plant was grown there last year or the year before and this years crop was thanks to some magnificently durable little seeds that were able to tough it out amongst the leaf litter. Or maybe it was grown in a nearby spot and like the Abelmoschus seeds they happen to make their way to this sunny protected spot where the conditions where right for germination this spring. In any event it will be great to continue to monitor this spot and see if the Lavatera comes back again next year, or even migrates to another part of the landscape.

Plants and their determination to grow and thrive even in challenging climates, fascinating and inspiring on so many levels.

no photoshop required

2011-10-20T18:02:00.000-04:00

Out the living room window I looked west towards Manhattan to see this fabulous red spot amidst the gray clouds. Grabbed a quick snap before it faded. No photoshop required.

another killer couch-side cloud show

2011-10-20T17:33:00.000-04:00

Ha, "couch-side cloud show", try saying that five times fast!

Smiths kind of evening

2011-10-19T17:46:00.000-04:00

A gray, rainy day in the city today. Soaked to the bone all day at work out in the elements I couldn't be happier to be home and dry and sitting. ...a Smiths kind of evening for sure...

Notes from Around Town: Central Park's North Woods

2011-10-18T14:37:00.001-04:00

This is one of the waterfalls in the ravine, a section of the North Woods of Central Park. Up in the central, north end of the Park is a section of woodlands that I find many people don't know about. And they definitely don't know that it is this beautiful, but they should, as should you. This spectacular bit of woods is right in Manhattan, smack dab in the middle of lower Harlem, and it's sensational. When Olmstead and Vaux designed the Greensward Plan which would ultimately become the blueprint for Central Park they wanted the North Woods to resemble a place both men loved, the Adirondacks. The result would be this 90-acre woodland of rolling topography and waterways, flowing choreography and stunning visuals of landmarks fused within nature. From bunkers dating to the War of 1812 to stands of towering tulip trees, from perfectly constructed stone archways to a wildflower meadow the North Woods is such a pleasant surprise for plant, wildlife, and landscape lovers in the city. One of these days I will take my good camera and take more shots for later, more lengthy posts. But yeah, you can get lost in the woods and love it, right in the heart of Manhattan Island.

"even in California!"

2011-10-15T13:18:00.000-04:00

Today at lunch a friend out on the west coast posted this pic she took to my facebook page. "Even in California!" she exclaimed and made me laugh. Thanks Jody, you're awesome!

my kind of bloody mary

2011-10-09T12:48:00.000-04:00

For the weekend we trekked north of the city a couple hours to celebrate the recent wedding of two dear friends of ours. Erika and Keith, now the Mighty Moores(!), treated us all to an intimate backyard ceremony and unparalleled pig roast thanks to Arkansas Tom's Razorback BBQ. It was wonderful to cheer the newly-weds who have been together since junior high school and catch up with friends and family alike. Thanks to our cousins nearby in Fishkill we were able to take a couple days outside of the city and really enjoy the fresh air and easier pace of the Hudson Valley. Sunday for lunch we decided to go down to the riverfront in Newburgh, NY. There we discovered the River Grill, and thanks to our fun server (gracias Jesus!) we enjoyed one of the most lavish bloody mary's I've ever seen. Check out this Belvedere vodka bloody mary complete with Old Bay rimmed glass, celery stalk and olives, not to mention a little shrimp cocktail to boot! Admittedly a few bucks more than your typical brunchtime beverage but hey, it was a weekend to celebrate, and I have to say, it was deee-lish!

first wedding anniversary, Montauk relived

2011-09-26T17:12:00.001-04:00

For a little while my wife and I couldn't figure out what to do for our one-year wedding anniversary. Then lucky for us we had a moment of clarity and realized the answer was in fact a no-brainer. With that we decided to return to Montauk for a long weekend to celebrate. This time the plan was to be total tourists and live it up the way our dearest friends and family did last year leading up to our big day. Needless to say we were a little preoccupied at the time so this year it was all about having no agenda and a wonderfully chill Montauk adventure.

Saturday afternoon we would get ourselves all the way out to "the end" by way of Sag Harbor where we had lunch with Mom at Dockside. Upon arrival I would find it very fitting that one of the first sights I'd see would be the same first sight I had last year when we checked in to the Oceanside, a lone fishing boat out there slowly barreling through the open ocean. Of course not uncommon to see a commercial fishing boat off the coast of Montauk on a given afternoon, but for me it was a reminder that I was here and nowhere else. And nothing else mattered.
We made it back to Montauk, and it felt so good so instantly.
The forecast for the weekend called for clouds and rain but we didn't care. We were back at the beach and were going to live it up, whether indoors or out.
We decided to splurge and treat ourselves, another no-brainer for the 1-year anniversary, to a couple nights at Gurney's Inn, where we were married and had the best reception, dinner and dancing. As soon as we got there they made us feel like royalty and it felt amazing. We got to see our wedding planner Ginny Davis and give her a hug and we were all so genuinely happy to see each other. Just perfect really. Then we were shown to our room by the nicest guy (whose name we wish we could remember), who we would end up seeing and chatting with all weekend long.
This is the view from our room. Not too shabby! Pretty amazing to ask yourself, "I wonder what the surf looks like today", and be able to get the answer by simply turning your head and glancing out your window. So killer.
The sky was cool and wet, the ocean warm. A few snaps after we got back from our first of many walks on the beach.
Gurney's is a spectacular old resort dating back to the late 1920's built into the dunes out on Old Montauk Highway. There are a lot of stairs and we seemed to climb them all many times over. But with destinations like their spa and pool facilities and top-notch restaurants like the Sea Grille all the steps were easily well worth it.

One of the main priorities for the weekend was surf, and that we did. Sunday morning it was high tide and there was a lot of messy whitewater to contend with, but we paddled out and had a blast regardless. It had been a while since we had been surfing but we both got some strong rides during the early morning session. I was so happy I felt compelled to take a quick self portrait in the window of good ol' room #555 to capture the moment.

After breakfast the morning mist burned off so we wasted no time and got ourselves together to go out and explore. The first stop was the Montauk Lighthouse. I had only taken my wife out there once before, and at that time it was the dead of winter and nothing was open, so she was very excited to return.

(no comment ;-)
I think the fun thing to do is to go down to the water from the parking lot and walk around the point to get to the lighthouse. This means that you go down to the beach on the north side of the point and walk the rocks around to the south side, looking out at a ton of fishing boats and breathtaking ocean.
As my mom's Uncle George who captained a private charter boat named Gem off these waters used to joke, "next stop, London"!
The lighthouse stands on a rise historically called Turtle Hill. As you can imagine these days they are constantly battling the elements and the sea to try and slow the devastating erosion happening at the end of the point.

What can I say, Krissy Rocks!
Once you climb the big boulders all the way around you get to the south side and look west to see the bluffs that Montauk beaches are known for. Not to mention then you can get the most picturesque shot before you climb back up to the lawn and approach to the lighthouse itself.

Built in 1796 the Montauk lighthouse was commissioned by George Washington himself, the first lighthouse erected in New York State. It's octagonal shape and big red band of course make it most distinguishable.

This is the Lost at Sea Memorial. It honors all those who paid the ultimate price while navigating these waters, men like my friends father Michael Stedman, who was lost at sea when we were still just boys.
You can see that records date back to the early 1700's. So much history out here, the man and the sea, the timeless relationship.

You have to climb a very narrow 137 steps to get to the top but the views are truly one of a kind.

Back down at the base, looking to the northwest.

...a magnificent part of our local history.

After a bit more hiking around we decided to retreat back to town and stroll around there. We were going to check out the Point and see what football games were on but a biker rally at the Memory Motel had that end of town a bit more crowded than our chill selves wanted to deal with. It had been many years since I had been back to O'Murphy's Irish Pub so we decided to head there for a few pints and some lunch.

Montauk village, not your typical American main street.
You got to have a sense of humor in this town, that's for damn sure. Otherwise you will get eaten alive, either by the sea or it's sailors!

Back at Gurney's and down to where we were staying on the Foredeck.
This time we remembered to take our cameras out for the following afternoon walk on the beach to get our appetite back up.

Talk about fun little tubes.
I do heart a macro lens!

arborboy? hardy har har.

My favorite cuff links which I wore on our wedding day, a gift from my dear friend Nisse Hope, were made by a local artist named Thom and crafted from a piece of Walnut driftwood found not far from this location. From the same piece of wood he would also make a necklace that my wife wore all weekend.
The natural beauty of the space is the most stunning. There is nothing else like it and when you are here you realize there is nothing else you need.

This branch had been lodged in the sand for days and we thought the natural installation was great looking with it's peeling bark and seaweed.

Of course you could sit and stare and marvel at the surf for ever.

We would have another delicious feast at the Sea Grille Sunday night and retire, relaxed and recuperated. Monday we would wake to another misty morning that would turn bright and beautiful. I would have another morning surf session while Krissy took it easy. Then we would have breakfast and return for our last walk in the sand.
People say that the first year of marriage is often the hardest, and we had to admit we don't get it. This year has been a fabulous one, and if this was one of the harder years then I think we are in damn good shape! We realized that our honeymoon is now only a couple months away and that made us even happier. Leaving this magical place is never easy but knowing that two weeks in St. Lucia is just a little ways down the road made it much more bearable.
Not to mention, as far as Montauk goes, you know we'll be back.
Happy Anniversary to my sweet love, and here's to many more....

And thank you Gurney's for a perfect stay. You all really are the best.

predawn trees on the way to the office

2011-09-23T06:22:00.001-04:00

Open House NY Sunset Boat Tour

2011-09-19T19:54:00.002-04:00

Open House New York is a great organization that helps New Yorkers learn about and enjoy all the exceptional design, architecture and history here in the Big Apple. OHNY is mostly known for their annual weekend in October when hundreds of New York establishments open their doors for visitors curious to see more of the city. However thanks to having worked with them years ago at the Hort Society I am on their mailing list and get great notices about events. One such event that we decided to check out was the sunset boat tour. For two hours we toured New York Harbor and it's various sights on the Zephyr and had a ball.
Obviously some kind of work being done on the Brooklyn Bridge. We took off from South Street Seaport about 5:30 and would get back just after sunset. The Zephyr was bigger than I expected and very comfortable, complete with multiple decks, a nice cabin, and two bars!
We were a few minutes late taking off because the President of the United States was flying in for the United Nations conference.
We thought it was kind of cool to have an armed Coast Guard escort for the few minutes until we were past Governor's Island (background left).
I think too often we forget that this is all a bunch of little islands and the vitality the waters around New York bring to it's people.
Of course the mighty Empire State Building.

One part of the tour was going around to the west side to check out the Queen Elizabeth and the Aida Luna, the two massivmo cruise ships visiting the city. Eventually we would watch the Aida Luna make her way out to sea and wish her well on her way to the next port. Massivmo!
A sunset boat tour, never a bad way to end the day.
Even Jersey looked beautiful and inviting, go figure!
Lady Liberty looked lovely as always.

And as we got back around to Pier 16 the lights of the city were coming on. Ah yes, the city that never sleeps in all her grand glory.

Be sure to check out OHNY.org and their blog too!
Cheers,
arborboy

post Pro Long Beach

2011-09-19T12:17:00.000-04:00

Sick as a dog and overwhelmed on all fronts I needed to see the sea so that's what we did. The post-Pro Long Beach lineup was back to the usual suspects, making the most of the sweet 3-5' swells rolling through. Here are a couple quick snaps I got off before we headed back to the world. as always click to see the enlarged versions

San Gennaro, 2011 edition

2011-09-18T20:54:00.005-04:00

This year my wife and I made sure to get to one of our favorite September events in the city, the Feast of San Gennaro. Down in Little Italy for roughly two weeks every September the feast is a celebration of all things Italian. The streets are alive with food and drink, sweets galore, tons of other vendors offering everything from cigars to leather goods, games and performances, truly the quintessential Italian New York street festival. So you gotta come down and get roped into the madness and stroll Mulberry street, take in the sounds and smells and faces.
The Zeppole is the Italian version of that universally favorite dessert of fried dough tossed in powdered sugar. They're these nuggets of yum that are worth every calorie, and clearly a street fair must.
"Water Gun Fun" consists of a bunch of loud, chain-smoking carnies in your face as you try and shoot a gun with no water pressure in order to win one of these ridiculous Rasta Banana stuffed... things. It's a hysterical scene. Needless to say we opted to pass. ...but you gotta love it!
My waistline should be very thankful that we don't live closer to Little Italy. Gelato is like ice cream but with lower butterfat content and typically higher sugar content (thanks Wikipedia!). But just the same gelato is often made in smaller batches and is so creamy and delicious you are so psyched.
Torrone is something you see signs for all over during the feast and then you see most people are startled because they have no idea what they are looking it. Torrone is a basically a big block of white nougat with toasted almonds (or other nuts) mixed into it. It starts as a brick and pieces are broken off and sold by the pound. You can get a good torrone at Vinny's Nut House, and apparently a funny look from this guy. Hey, I'm Vinny, Vinny Baggadonuts! How you doin?!? The people watching is without question one of the best parts of the strolling around.
My wife had only been talking about getting her sausage and pepper fix all month so she was all over the smart menu the Mulberry Project was offering that day. We enjoyed their version of classic sausage and peppers, Tuscan truffle fries, and killer berry-based red sangria.
Not to mention their quaint little backyard space where we were invited to eat was such a welcome bit of down time from all the madness out on the street to which we would soon return.

"This is how I like my fruit, soaked in alcohol" joked the cute one.

But after the myriad of cannoli stands, when it really comes down to it, and you want to know who has the best pastries and sweet confections around, that would be Ferrara's, hands down.
Every year we have to treat ourselves to cannolis from Ferrara's, and this year in the box happened to fall another dream of a treat, a lobster tail! Fine layered pastry stuffed with rich custard created in this beautiful fan shape it was our first, and not likely to be our last. Because of a terrible stomach virus I had at the time I knew I couldn't handle zeppoles but a little cup of Ferrara's homemade chocolate gelato? Miraculously it went down just fine.
Every year we do a comparison of a different San Gennaro staple in order to figure out the better, if not the best. So this year we decided to pick sausage and peppers. After our slightly more "hipster" sausage and peppers at the Mulberry Project we had to get back to the where the real die hards flocked, places like Lucy's.

Here is a young zeppole master in training. Oh, the temptation, so dangerous.
The guys at Cha Cha's were jammin'!
"Get your sausage here!"
Of course in the end the more traditional street-style sausage and peppers would win the taste test. One little stand (not pictured) had a sweet sausage and pepper on a homemade baguette that took top prize. I tell ya, these guys and gals are magicians!
And speaking of guys and gals, take a look at these two. Geez, what can I say?
VIVA ITALIA!

one of these lemons is not like the others...

2011-09-15T18:53:00.000-04:00

...and yup, would have to say, does not quite belong! ooh wee.

Always proud of the red, white and blue

2011-09-11T20:05:00.002-04:00

Ten years later and will never forget. May we celebrate love and honor, not hatred and evil. May we be thankful to this nation and each other, for the chance to live in a bountiful land with liberty and justice for all. God Bless America!

And this reminds me I never wrote about the 2011 summer containers. Oops! I guess I better do that!
Enjoy the day folks, take it easy, remember we are all in this madness together, and that can be a good thing. United we stand.

I Walk the Line

2011-09-10T10:55:00.003-04:00

As always the weekend sleep-in, extra coffee, and iTunes shuffle is treating me well. Below is a clip of Johnny Cash performing "I Walk the Line" on the Tex Ritter show back in the 50's. With him I assume are Marshall Grant on bass and Luther Perkins on guitar, better known as the Tennessee Two, Cash's original band. In a much later concert Johnny Cash would mention how he wanted the rasp of a snare drum but didn't have one so he figured out putting a piece of paper between the strings and fret board of his guitar. I'm not sure if that is a rolled up piece of paper at the top of his fret board, but either way, genius man, killer tune....
Happy Saturday,

Labor Day Weekend in PA with the nieces

2011-09-05T16:08:00.001-04:00

This is our newest cutie of a niece, miss Keira. According to mama Kate she is about 8 weeks in these shots.

Aunt Krissy was loving seeing her little ladies, Keira and big sis Janaya, about to be 6 in December.
We took a brief jaunt over to the Wilbur Chocolate factory in Lititz, PA, in order to restock on the yummiest chocolate this side of Europe. The main draw for us are the Wilbur Buds, semisweet or milk chocolate morsels that are yes, this good...
They say that Wilbur Buds were the influence and true original that influenced Hershey to create the world renowned Hershey's Kiss. I like the local lore, and gotta say, Hershey got nothing on Wilbur!
Back to the Dunkle ranch where Dick and Carole created quite the holiday feast, so much so that some of us had to take it easy for a little while after. Little Keira, so precious. Here's your cuteness closeup:

Sunday Gramma and Grampa Good took us out for a wonderful brunch at John Wright's in Wrightsville and we all had a ball. At 92 and 95 respectively it's hard to find a couple as adorable as those two.

Ah, yes, Lancaster County, naturally hipstamatic.

getting outta town!

2011-09-02T21:01:00.001-04:00

leaving the city lights to dive into the darkness
headed west to Pennsylvania
loving the Verrazano at night

city extra gritty this a.m.

2011-09-02T06:24:00.000-04:00

subway, 59th and Lex, 5:56am

Iggy and the Stooges with Gimme Danger off Raw Power, 1973.

this year's water lilies in the secret garden

2011-09-01T10:19:00.000-04:00

love the sky reflection in this shot

I am catching up on picture editing and various posts-to-be. To tide you over here are a couple good pics of this year's tropical water lilies blooming in the secret garden in Central Park.
Tropical water lilies are in the aquatic plant genus Nymphaea, photographed here in all her macro glory. To learn more and see previous years pics click on the Aquatic Plants tag at the bottom of this post.
This years hybrids have flower spikes that sit well above the water, moreso than the ones grown in the pool over the last few years I've been around. I'm not sure the exact name of these cultivars but so fun to think about all the options out there thanks to those clever plant breeders. The lilies will last into the fall until the water and temps begin to really dip so get up there and check them out if you can.

term of the day: basal growth

2011-08-31T16:32:00.003-04:00

When a plant grows with all it's stems/leaves/flowers from one central point it's said to have a basal growth habit. The design is simple and evolved and very smart, the plant getting all the sun it needs while the roots are running deep below following the vital and limited water source. It stays low to the ground and compact, able to withstand wind and weather and the occasional predator. If they sustain some damage, so be it, they regenerate and grow tougher. You find that many weeds that have adapted to survive in such rough conditions over the eons are often basal growers and form basal rosette's, the perfect example probably being your common dandelion. Even your local unnamed weeds can teach you something very interesting about survival if you open up your thinking a little bit. I love that about adaptation and natural selection, real lessons in tenacity.

morning commute before the sun comes up

2011-08-31T05:41:00.000-04:00

on the headphones Yo La Tengo with "Last Days of Disco"

Saw you at a party
You asked me to dance
Said the music was great for dancing
I don't really dance much
But this time I did
I was glad I did this time
And the song said let's be happy
I was happy
It never made me happy before
And the song says don't be lonely
It makes me lonely
I hear it and I'm lonely
More and more
Where I belong
Where I belong..."

The song is from the album And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out, Matador Records, February 2000, a must if you fancy this brilliant Hoboken trio who in my mind easily get classified as one of my favorite bands ever. Holy pretty stuff, Batman!
Bravo,

I covet thee

2011-08-30T09:55:00.000-04:00

This guy appeared on a neighboring block a few months ago and is clearly here to stay. What a great looking truck, a Ford F-100 from the early 70's I'm guessing.

blurry beautiful body language

2011-08-29T22:49:00.001-04:00

post a festive evening with Miss Shannon, loopy laughing by the warm street lights on our way home

the fly and the honeysuckle

2011-08-29T09:20:00.001-04:00

Growing up we had honeysuckle growing all over my little town, in overgrown yards and wild along the roadside. The sweet fragrance so distinguishable and inviting to the summer senses, a part of growing up in the country was when an older relative or friend would teach you how to dissect the yellow and white flowers to extract a single drop of "honey" to sweeten your tongue for the rest of the walk down to the ocean. Today I know honeysuckle to be an introduced woody vine from Asia that is often considered quite a weed, and especially troublesome down south where it has nearly invasive status. But I have to admit regardless of my horticultural training coming across this plant during my early morning walks still makes me smile and slow down and breath deep to get all that delicious fragrance. This morning the fly and I were obviously on the same page, totally unmoved as I snapped a few quick pics.
Lonicera japonica
- commonly called Japanese honeysuckle
- member of the woodbine family, Caprifoliaceae
- hardy in USDA Zones 4-11
- originally from Japan, Korea, and China
- a twining vine with opposite dark green foliage and tubular flowers from early summer into fall
- adaptable to most soil conditions but known to be aggressive and weedy in habit
- produces berries in fall loved by birds
- member of the genus Lonicera which includes over 180 different species of vines, groundcovers, and shrubs

After Irene, mostly comical shots

2011-08-28T19:50:00.001-04:00

Hurricane Irene rumbled her way into the tri-state area through the night and surprisingly we slept right through. We really thought we would have been woken by wind and crashing sounds outside but we would wake the next morning to see that little had changed on our block. Before bed I took a couple of shots of the block from our front stoop, ready to take the after shots the next morning showing all the downed limbs and chaos that ensued. But we were very lucky and sustained little to no damage. Even the dead wood that I was figuring would definitely fall was still there atop the trees the next morning, stubborn and rigid. All Cosmo had to do was go over to his garden patch across the street and restomp the roots of his six foot sunflowers back in the ground and they were back up and at 'em like nothing had happened. We decided to heed the over sensationalized media coverage and stay in until the afternoon when the winds finally calmed. We heard via facebook of friends and family losing power out east on Long Island and up in Connecticut. Vermont was probably just getting the wrath they were dealt as we were sipping our coffee and checking in with the world. My parents out in East Hampton would be without power and water for a week, some Connecticuters that long and then some. My high school dormhead and mentor Grim would post pictures of where he now lives in Vermont, complete with destruction like I have never seen up there before. The youtube footage of flooding down in Long Beach and other favorite coastal spots had us rapt.

Eventually we would take a walk through the hood to take care of a cat sitting gig that felis femina had and I brought my camera along. Quickly we realized that Astoria did not escape totally unscathed, though the scenes were mostly comical.
You got to love how well New Yorkers pay attention and observe safety precautions. The greatest city in the world, they never said anything about common sense.
Of course we had to have a celebratory post-Irene pint with the gang down at Dillinger's, our wonderfully reliable local haunt. The menu was limited because they had not gotten a few deliveries, but the taps were flowing just fine.
We stopped at the grocery store to grab a couple things we needed. Or rather, we stopped at the grocery store to find that the hysteria had them totally picked clean.
No hamburger buns for you!
Finally Sunday afternoon we got the first glimpses of blue sky in days and it was glorious. Is that a black cloud over the city or is it just me?
Before the Empire State Building put it's evening lights on....
Thanks Irene for another fabulous sunset here in Queens.

Irene: the Sunday video

2011-08-28T19:02:00.001-04:00

Sunday evening after Irene,
still windy, skyline,
Acer rubrum (red maple)

Video of the Month: Tow Highlights from Tahiti

2011-08-28T11:21:00.003-04:00

Hurricane Irene rumbled through the night and we woke to not nearly as much chaos as there could have been. Cousins in CT are without power, friends at home on LI have talked about trees down and losing power too. Here in Queens it's still blowing but seems tame. Some have already begun cleaning up their yards. We're playing it safe and staying in until later when we too will undoubtedly take a walk and explore the neighborhood. But for now we have gotten sucked into cyberville and I've been catching up on the Billabong Pro surf competition happening in Tahiti, from the 20th to the 31st of August. The Billabong Pro Tahiti is held at a break called Teahupoo, without question one of the strongest and most mind blowing waves on the planet. It's not the biggest wave in the world, not by any means, but the way the island is contoured and how the huge swells can come in and jack up to form these insane "20 foot slabs" that throw down so much water on such a shallow reef is simply diabolical! You can go to surfline and look up their feature on the mechanics of Teahupoo, very interesting. These are some highlights of the crazy, genius men and women who brave tow-in surfing this spot. I just say "oh my God" over and over again, and curse a lot in pure amazement, and I think you might too. In-sane. Enjoy.

Video of the Month (runner up)

2011-08-28T11:08:00.000-04:00

Jon Stewart, funny as ever. I have to admit, I don't get these mathonomics either. Thanks to Grim for sharing, keeping all of us LC alums thinking economically.

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

...and it begins...

2011-08-27T22:17:00.004-04:00

We decided to crack the bottle of bubbly from the one and only Sara Hardin when the rain really began. For us it was just before 8:pm, the outer bands of Irene beginning to brush us here in Queens. Took pics of the block and the 'hood. Anxious to see what it looks like after the fact.

'til then, Happy Hurricane Everyone!
cheers,
arborboy and felis femina

Come on Irene

2011-08-27T11:49:00.004-04:00

With Irene making her way up the east coast the media once again has the masses freaking out. A category 1 storm we are in for some nasty rain and wind and flooding, no doubt, but enough that people have to wipe out the grocery store of damn near everything and plywood the holy hell out of their homes and businesses? Perhaps a bit of overkill. But just the same better safe than sorry, and I do agree with that. The small containers from out front are lining the stairs up to our apartment. The green Colocasia looks nice in the amber light and the herbs make the front foyer smell fabulous.

The big pots out front are tied and knotted together with heavy duty climbing rope to appease our adorable and nervous little ol' landlady. Doubt I'll be climbing any trees this weekend. The saws are cleaned and staged in the closet in case of emergency. We are keeping the vibe mellow in the face of such hysteria. Cleaning and filling water bottles for the fridge the reggae set is on shuffle and Errol Walker wails through the rain. "If you buy a house he wonders how. If you buy a car he must know why..." This is John Public!

Stay Safe,
xo arborboy

5 o'clock world

2011-08-22T20:19:00.000-04:00

It was a pretty perfect weather day, especially for late August in New York City. The evening sky not a bad way to end it.

self portrait on a train

2011-08-22T16:04:00.000-04:00

Anyone know grasshoppers?

2011-08-20T18:14:00.003-04:00

The other day I was working by a patch of Stachys byzantina, the low-growing semi-evergreen perennial we call lambs' ears. (Native to Iran, lambs' ears like full sun and can handle some exposure, fine in USDA Hardiness Zones 4-8) Then I noticed that there was a little critter atop the amazingly soft silver foliage so I had to go in for a closer look.
Though I have had some great entomological education over the years I have to admit I don't know my grasshoppers at all! But either way, what a great looking creature.
Do you know different species of grasshoppers? And if so, want to take a guess as to what this one is? I'd love to know more about this guy.

To steal a terrible tagline from my youth, Inquiring Minds want to know!!

the fennel and the "fat cats"

2011-08-20T12:04:00.011-04:00

In 2006 I worked up at Garden in the Woods, the native plant botanical garden and headquarters of the New England Wild Flower Society. While up there I met Erin Backus, entomologist and horticultural therapist from upstate New York, and we became quick friends. We had a fabulous time interning with the Horticulture Department adding our abilities and able hands to the garden. While I worked on various woody plant renovation and restoration projects Erin was busy fostering the populations of native moths and butterflies. With great signage and information accompanying her netted displays of different caterpillars feeding and metamorphosizing throughout the garden you quickly fell in love with these "fat cats" as she liked to call them. It was such fabulous work because it is very important for people who want to have beautiful butterfly gardens to know that you have to have both the flowers that the mature butterflies love, but also the plants that the larvae caterpillars need to feed on in order to grow and develop. Sometimes they are woody trees or shrubs, or sometimes much more tender perennials. Most larvae, especially moths and butterflies in the order Lepidoptera, are very specific as to what "host plant" or plants they feed on.
Enter the fennel and the fat cats I found today in the Conservatory Garden in Central Park.

Fennel we love for it's use as a vegetable and herb, with both culinary and medicinal uses. Botanically fennel is known as Foeniculum vulgare, a member of the family Apiaceae. Originally from the Mediterranean region of Europe fennel has now naturalized throughout North America. Hardy in Zones 5-10 Foeniculum has strong hollow stems and fine, wispy foliage upon which form these fun umbels (an inflorescence of flowers that makes a flat-top) of yellow flowers in summer. (I shot these in midday sun so you can't see the fine, soft foliage so well, sorry.)

Florence fennel is grown for it's big bulbous base, but there are also other, narrower varieties of fennel known as 'bronze' fennel, and this is the latter. It doesn't produce that fat base, at least not so far as I have seen, but it does produce the same aromatic stems and foliage that smell of anise. The plant provides a wonderfully soft backdrop and shot of yellow to the other more bold, showy annual plants that Curator Diane Schaub loves to play with in her yearly displays.
And in this case we learn that fennel is a great host plant if you want to have the eastern black swallowtail butterfly in your garden.
This is the late instar caterpillar, the larvae of a stunning native butterfly called the eastern black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes. The day I captured these guys in the garden I saw some tiger swallowtails but no black swallowtails so I am still searching for a photo for you for reference. For now here is the wikipedia link.

Carver, the Manhattan Land Trust, and Farming Concrete

2011-08-14T17:07:00.007-04:00

The other evening I got to visit one of my favorite spots in Harlem, a community garden named Carver. Carver is a wonderfully quiet and unassuming little oasis tucked just a block away from the main metropolitan vein of 125th Street. From the blocks of retail monsters, street vendors, and masses running from one gritty location to another you can turn and find a simple chicken wire fence and look in to see raised planter beds and in the back a covered gazebo.

Carver is one of the 14 community gardens in Manhattan maintained by the Manhattan Land Trust. The Manhattan Land Trust is a nonprofit organization established by gardeners to support and sustain community gardening throughout Manhattan. Our collective mission is to preserve, improve, and promote community managed open spaces for the benefit of all. As a member on their Board of Directors we have been working hard over the last number of years to transfer the ownership of these gardens to the gardeners themselves, and in such a way that these locals can ensure for themselves and their future generations the preservation of these vital green spaces in New York City. Victorious, as the gardens deeds were formally transferred from the city to the MLT in June of this year, it's been a great year for the MLT and our gardeners.

This evening there was an operations meeting. I arrived before the other board members and garden representatives from around the borough to find the gate unlocked and a man busy working in the gazebo. I walked up and reintroduced myself to a staple of the garden, a quick-witted and kind man named Jimmy. Jimmy was doing a little canning of his favorite veggie concoction which included a little bit of everything harvested from his plot here in the garden. Luckily he hadn't yet added the vinegar so he let me have a taste. Laced with a hot pepper or two he warned me it had some heat to it, and ooh wee, was he right! But so good, just the right mix to get you through the cold winter months to come.

Before the meeting got started I poked around a bit and checked out what people were growing. Here are a few shots from Carver.

The cantaloupe was still small and green but the different squash were taking shape and ripening up beautifully.
Look at that perfect butternut squash hiding under that big, wonderfully textured leaf, and the zucchini below, nearly the size of Erica's arm!

This evening was sensational for a couple reasons. Of course it was very inspiring, as my trips to the MLT gardens always are. Determined to maintain community and health and well-being in the face of this urban jungle and all it's seemingly backwards development I love, admire, and value these gardeners and their gardens more and more with each passing season.

The second reason for my elation this particular evening was due to the fact that Erica Packard, dear friend and Executive Director of MLT, was introducing us all to another genius nonprofit called Farming Concrete. Ray Figueroa joined our little circle and explained his organization, which works with community gardens all over the city to properly document the amount of food produced in these different open spaces. As he so eloquently put it, "...because we're not just planting food, we're planting social responsibility". With an extremely smart and systematic approach Farming Concrete helps New York City gardeners by giving them the scales and forms to easily document all that is grown in their gardens, from greens in spring to veggies in summer, to fruit and nuts in the fall. Banning together and producing this Crop Census city-wide we can show to the folks in City Hall and up in Albany exactly how much good we are growing in these unassuming little lots. As Ray reminded us this evening a healthy diet is the best preventative medicine in the world. Thanks to Farming Concrete and their plan we can show with precision the numbers, the solid proof of the work being done and the successes within different communities, some of which are quite needy of course. Not to mention by showing the pounds per square foot produced, or pounds per square acre, we can then show the potential of other gardens and open spaces and why it is essential that we continue to find ways to return to the earth instead of cover it over with blacktop. Last year calculating the quantity grown in New York City and it's estimated value Farming Concrete showed that a million dollars of food was grown by local communities for local communities throughout the five boroughs. Isn't that amazing?!? I might even imagine it was even more than that, but to have a million dollars of food clearly documented that is quite a feat.

Wouldn't it be so fabulous to have that number continue to increase year after year as urban gardeners continue to ban together and organize for a greater good? Oh, you know it!

props to Surfrider, and especially their graphics department!

2011-08-14T12:41:00.004-04:00

This is the cover of the June/July issue of Making Waves, the newsletter of one of my most favorite orgs, the Surfrider Foundation. I hope that they don't mind that I posted this, but I had to because I keep revisiting it and thinking to myself, "Wow, what a powerful and striking image, everyone should see this". Endless props to Surfrider and their Rise Above Plastics campaign, not to mention the genius folks on their graphics team that came up with this concept and image. Amazing! Frigging Amazing!

...and remember. Every piece of plastic you have ever used, it still exists today, in some form or another. Every time you go to the store and accept that bag or opt to buy the extra packaging because it's "just easier that way", that plastic will never break down. It will always be a burden to the natural world and ecosystems that we all take so terribly for granted. Do what the good men and women at Surfrider ask you to do and rise above plastics. Go to surfrider.org to become a member and help fight the good fight.

You know who's sounding killer today?

2011-08-14T11:02:00.000-04:00

Jimi Hendrix!

I mean, when does he not, but today especially. The rain and clouds were around and here to stay. By noon people were posting the rainfall inches around town, 5.61 inches, 6.49 inches, and so on. The excuse to not leave the house and have the extra cup of coffee before projectizing was all I needed. And then "Little Wing" came on the stereo. Oh yeah, this is going to be a good day to create, and otherwise do a whole bunch of nothing.

"Little Wing" is off the Jimi Hendrix album Axis: Bold as Love, the second studio album for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, released in December of 1967.

Bottle Digging and Bourbolade!

2011-08-07T10:37:00.000-04:00

Growing up on Indian Wells in Amagansett my parents had a great big piece of property. Well, maybe it was only an acre and a half, but to a little tyke the rolling yard seemed like such a vast expanse. Slowly over the years they would transform the yard of overgrown brambles into sweeping lawn with magnificent specimen trees. But one area would never be cleaned. It was down in the back of the property, between our back yard and Joel and Bette Jane's place next door. This was well before people felt the need to fence and delineate their private spaces in what was then still a small fishing and farming community. Under the grove of junk cherries as my dad would call them was all sorts of buried garbage beneath the weeds and vines and wildflowers. This was from back in the days when people would just bury their trash in a portion of the back yard, and honestly by the time I was poking around in the early '80's most it had broken down and decomposed back into the earth. But there were some things that obviously hadn't broken down, like the bottles. So, this began a funny little family tradition that we called "bottle digging". On a day with little else to do we might go into the back with some old garden trowels and see if we could find some old relics. Of course mostly we would just find chards or pieces of things, but occasionally we would be lucky enough to uncover an entire bottle. Throughout the seasons and over the years we would find a number of them, all shapes and sizes, ranging from dull green to opaque white to rich cobalt blue. They would be cleaned in the big sink in the kitchen and put on display around the old 1808 house we called home. Writing this all these years later I have to laugh at myself. Clearly my life as an anthropologist, artist, and horticulturist originated there. Looking back I am so thankful that my parents allowed us boys to be free and curious and creative, even if it meant wielding rusty trowels in a bramble thicket of who knows what. Today I can't help but be so glad that we grew up before this overly cautious, modern day hysteria of a million signs and fences telling you what you can't or shouldn't do, and this nonsense idea that kids today have to grow up in a world coated by antibacterial everything. But hey, for my generation that was what it was like to be a kid growing up in the country.

My wife Krissy was also fortunate enough to grow up in a beautiful piece of country, and this idea of returning to the country has been pulling at our heart strings heavily the last number of months. So when we were invited by our friends Erika and Keith to their place up in the Hudson Valley we hopped right on the opportunity to see the land through their eyes and hear their pitch as to why we should consider moving north.

After we sat and caught up for a while the four of us decided to go take a short hike in the woods before the rain would drive us back inside the picturesque little cabin. We grabbed some beers and disappeared into the forest of oaks and ash and mountain laurels. As we neared a magnificent rock outcropping covered in rich green mosses Erika got excited and told us about a recent discovery she wanted to share with us. She took the lead and we forged past the unmarked property line into the realm of the unknown. Some months earlier she and our friend George had been taking a similar walk and after getting slightly lost stumbled upon the craziest collection of old abandoned things. We found it, and instantly all of our inherently rural eyes lit up, wondering what it was we had found. Before us was the greatest bottle digging spot I'd ever seen!

Erika admitted that the first time she found them they were all carefully buried upside down in the soft woodland soil, in such a way that water and debris hadn't filled them and made them so grungy. This find was clearly more intentional than the old bottle digging site on Indian Wells but instantly we were all transformed to curious, inquisitive kids again. We had to dig in and pull apart as Erika had before some of these beautiful old pieces of the past. In no time we got wondering about how these bottles got here and who came before. The shack nearby was dilapidated and surrounded by rusty old pieces of machinery and we gave ourselves a good fright thinking about the freaky old man that might emerge at any second and chase us away. Hopefully he wouldn't have a shotgun, or a basement with four sets of iron shackles affixed to the walls!

Our visit would be short, our beers now gone, so at our hosts devilish urging we grabbed a few trophies and together ran back to the safety of the other side of the woods.

Back at the cabin the rain began to pitter-patter on the skylight above the dining table and we settled in for an evening of silly conversation and laughter. Spunky the dog ran his little heart out and was now cozy at our feet, and Louie and Fitzy the two cats couldn't believe their luck with four people to get their pets from so they were front and center, all purrs. The beers were long gone but Erika had an idea. She wanted to introduce us to yet another fine Hudson Valley discovery.

A few weekends before we were east visiting my family and after a morning at the beach my virtual sister-in-law Frosty introduced Krissy to her favorite latest creation, the Beermosa! Well, this weekend up north in Pawling we would meet and quickly learn to love the first cousin of the Beermosa, Erika's prized creation known as Bourbolade!

That's right people, watch out! Mix your favorite bourbon with you favorite lemonade and simple as that you have it! Bourbolade!

You can see here that in this instance master mixologist Erika opted for Red Stag, Jim Beam's black cherry infused bourbon, and let me tell you, it was a mighty tasty move. Overall the weekend was such a treat. We were reminded that happiness and comfort for us means enjoying the simple things. Life is an adventure and constant discovery, and the best things in life don't necessarily have to come in a sterile container or plastic wrap. It's about friendship and love and focus, working hard and staying on task but also taking the time off to laugh and be silly and act like a kid again, because maybe from there we remind ourselves of what it is to live life to the fullest.

Thanks to Erika Hanson and Keith Moore for such a wonderful weekend. We will definitely be back to visit you guys again soon! xoxoA&K

bonfire babble, taking the soul stance

2011-08-03T13:52:00.003-04:00

We escaped the urban jungle that's been trying to eat us up recently and ran east to the ocean. We swam a number of times, in the bay and the ocean, took a lot of walks, found phosphorescence by the moonlight on the edge of the sea, laid under the stars, and enjoyed great bonfires.

The night before Rory made us this fire out at Bighouse we were at Jay and Jen's house. Where they are up in Springs people have these long rectangular lots and tend to clear the backyards completely of the tall oak and eastern red cedars that naturally populate the area. They install sod lawns and introduced ornamental trees and shrubs from the local garden centers. But Jay and Jen didn't do that. Instead they cleared just enough, or maybe nothing at all, and make a perfect little fire pit, a simple half-circle depression of packed dirt rimmed with large smooth stones right in the center of this small cathedral of towering Quercus and Juniperus virginiana. We sat and stared at the fire in their collection of comfy seats and talked as people do and have done for thousands of years. The conservation ebbed and flowed and at one point we got on the topic of photography, in this, the digital age. Sounding like old people we talked about the fact that the tactile nature of photographs is dying. Let's face it, no one prints their photographs and puts them into albums anymore. If God forbid something happened to our computers all the images of our kids growing up would be lost. And he was painfully right. Even if we talk about it, the reality is that we have less and less of these prints to hold and pass around and lose to find later or store in a safe place for future generations to behold. Only a few months ago did Krissy and I finally print a number of shots from our wedding to hang on the walls and set aside for framing, almost a year later. We of course would go on to talk about the great tangible photo albums we grew up with. That was the era of dropping your film off at Reed's Photo Shop and having to wait days to get them back. Picking them up you'd be hard pressed to get far from the front door before tearing into the package to see what you got and share them with the friends or family that joined you for the trip into town. What came out? Would they all be blurry or did you get some good shots in there? Gosh, I don't even remember what I shot, I can't wait!

It was a gamble, but you went for it.

So since then I guess I've been thinking about that, the tactile nature of things and what it means. Photographs were a finite thing. You couldn't just go and shoot a million shots knowing you could throw away at least half of them without consequence. You were lucky enough if you even got to borrow your dad's camera, let alone have your own. You took the time to compose the shot and make sure it was an image worth capturing on film. You took the shot because it was something. It captured a place or a person that special way. It gave the onlooker special insight even though they may be years or miles away. Certainly this all still holds true for photographs today, but somehow I guess in my romantic mind I like to think they had more value back then. They did. It wasn't about "instant" and "endless", these ideas that so remove us from this finite world today. Back then a photograph wouldn't exist unless the photographer was so justly moved by the image before them that they realized they had to capture it, and did. It had worth beyond money.

Then I got the latest Swell catalog, a surf clothing and accessories company based out in California, a good source to know if you're into that sort of thing. Anyway, the cover image I had never seen before and instantly I was stopped in my tracks. Tom Blake was a pioneer surfer and surf photographer and the image is one of his called "Soul Stance" from 1931.

It depicts a young surfer riding a beautiful wooden board on a mellow wave in Waikiki, his skin tanned as dark as his trunks, arms outstretched in focused balance, a pure white sailors cap tilted on top of his head. Though I have seen plenty of surf photography there was something about this image that was unlike anything I had ever seen before. And even though I know there is nothing in the catalog that I need I can't bring myself to put it in the recycle bin. Certainly Swell and the Surfing Heritage Foundation are both very smart because now I am going to buy the print of this classic image, but it goes beyond that.

I believe in the value of process and experiential learning, as I've talked about before. Yes, the focus is the final product, but sometimes the steps that got you there mean even more, and it's worth remembering that and valuing that. At work I have been getting frustrated because a new challenge and goal is building more slowly than I thought it would and quite frankly I am becoming very impatient. I'm feeling like my time is being wasted, or at least could be used in such a more valued way, and it's proving difficult. Everyone else says to relax and take it easy and it only makes me more on edge and antsy for change. I've thought about all the possible actions I could take and reactions that would accompany, most of which I realize are born out of impatience and haste and wouldn't get me anywhere better than where I am right now. So I'm stuck here, going through the motions and looking at this stranger for the answers. Where have you been that you are so tan? What got you here, to this break? Where are you going? How are you getting there? What's at the end?

I think it's about trusting yourself and proceeding, but being sure to proceed with purpose. Have that purpose be genuine and for a greater good, for you and the world around you. Stay focused. In that moment on that wave breathe, breathe again, and take a fresh look. Let the wave guide you. Because you never know, maybe the final destination was where you were going to go the whole time, you just didn't see it.

"Early Sunday Morning", a la Astoria

2011-08-02T22:03:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned before my love of Edward Hopper's paintings. His brilliant insight into classic scenes of Americana transport you instantly to another place and time. I suppose it's too why I love walking this city and coming across these old signs. Strolling to the grocery store the other evening I passed the "Sparkle Plenty" Laundromat amidst the hubbub of the evening rush. Delivery drivers were dropping the last of their loads in a fury while motors idled, the machismo men of my neighborhood in their fancy import cars nearly running down little old ladies with their pushcarts full of veggies from the local market, everyone rushing like hell but ultimately for no real reason. We're all still going to get where we need to go. The work day will end and we'll all be free, just like any other day. I made sure to stop and appreciate this wonderfully campy sign and it's nod to a simpler place and time, before the advent of the internet and the cell phone, before we all got stuck on this idea that everything has to be so damn instant. A woman rushing by looked at me taking this photograph and scowled with perplexity, clearly not understanding what I was doing or why I was taking the time. She could have taken the time too, though, the three layers of plastic surrounding her meats and cheeses preventing them from spoiling, even in this heat. Some years from now these signs are going to be gone, these links to that older, more sane sense of community and neighborhood. I stood and enjoyed the pause, clicked a couple snaps, and continued on my stroll, seeing if I could walk a little slower than before to make sure I didn't miss anything else.

stoked.

2011-08-01T18:38:00.000-04:00

This afternoon on my way home from work I saw this, the first of the subway ads for the Quiksilver Pro New York happening in Long Beach for the start of September. I've known about this for a while, and like any surfer would be a bit protective of our little surf spot in the face of such masses, but overall I have to admit I'm really excited for such a show to come only a short jaunt away. Seeing it in big print I was stoked. I saw this poster up at my 6-Train stop at 103rd Street in the south end of Spanish Harlem and smiled to myself wondering who around here would end up trekking out to the ocean to see some of the top names in pro surfing. But then I got humble and realized, hey, in this town, you never know!

See you in the sand.

Official: I love this album, you should too!

2011-07-29T07:50:00.003-04:00

Work has been a battle this week. Serious back pain, arms full of poison ivy, the 3:30 wake-up, and unfortunately I just wasn't strong enough. But I trudged through as we do, those of us that know that failure is not an option. Like you I worked through the pain, raced to those deadlines and made them by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin. My new boss granted me a much needed vacation day, himself all to strained as well, and I couldn't be more thankful. For whatever reason, or all the ones posted above, it has been tough this week. I am truly fatigued, inside and out. But one glimpse of light through this dreary pre-dawn haze, one little source of salvation came to me not in the form of a pill but rather a taste for the ears.

As previously discussed, Laura Stevenson and the Cans are a major new fave. Her voice is from the heavens, their music has groove and beat and so many wonderful levels. "A Record" is actually the precursor to "Sit Resist" which I talked about a few months ago, ("A Record" was released in April of 2010 and "Sit Resist" came out in April of the next year). Heading home after getting approval to rest the body and get out of this city for an extra day the song "Nervous Rex" came on the shuffle and damn near saved my life. I am going to listen to this album a lot this weekend. It's slow and steady and wins the race and sets the pace I need to go for a few days. Give it a whirl and treat yourself to some sensational new tunes.

Hopefully this video was posted legitimately and I'm not pissing off Laura, her band, or their label. ...so damn beautiful, thanks to all who contributed!

on the topic of collages and selling artwork

2011-07-28T18:20:00.006-04:00

"Adventure"
collage on paper
6.5" x 10"
aef08 (2008)
image courtesy of the owners, H. Harrison and C. Mcpherson

Ultimately the question is this:
Would you ever consider buying one of my collages?
...and if so, what would you pay?

The longer question goes like this:
I have always been pushed and pushed myself to make art. Growing up dad always had these sketch books that lived around the house and periodically us kids would create some new doodles and drawings. ...of course now so much fun to revisit as adults contemplating kids of our own. In high school I studied under great artists and began learning the basics of sculpture, photography, and painting. At the Colorado College I expanded my skills to installation art, printmaking and what we liked to call "exploratory media". To this day I kick myself that I didn't record more, for there I did some of my best installations. Following school I was back in New York at the end of Long Island growing as a painter, collage artist, and budding horticulturist. So flash forward to city living in the 21st Century. As I have shared in blog posts my main focus these days are collages of various shapes and sizes, some with apparent themes, others simply juxtapositions of images and memories that strike a chord. Each piece is completely hand made, the tangible process of laying layer atop layer and the tactile finished product as important to me as the image presented. Each collage is one of a kind and would never be recreated.

Though I have often traded art among friends and mentors I have never formally sold my collages or paintings. For years I have been urged to, but ultimately I never figured out what I would charge. Over those same years I have seen others successfully vend their artwork via their own blogs so now I am investigating following suit. Therefore, o' visitors of arborboy, let me ask you. To have one of these collages, completely original and one of a kind, sent to you in an attractive mat that all you would have to do is put in a frame, what would you realistically spend, or want to spend?

Seriously I would love any and all feedback on this matter. Whether you are an old friend or a stranger reading this blog for the first time, I would like to know what you would value these pieces at and what you would be willing to spend to have one of your own. Like art itself the answers are completely subjective so clearly there is no right or wrong answer. As far as size, let's say for the moment that said collages would range in size from 6.5" x 10" up t0 10" x 15". (To view other collages I have made, click on the collage tag below.) Feel free to comment or if you would prefer to email, send your input to arborboy@gmail.com The goal is for me to share with you these pieces at a reasonable rate so that I am driven to create new and better pieces on a more regular basis. If you wouldn't spend more than $20 I'd like to know. If you think I'm a fool not to charge $100 I'd like to know. If a number or range of numbers come to mind I'd really like to know. Whether you are a buyer or artist or both, please respond. I'd appreciate it.

Thanks in advance for your help.
cheers,
aef

"Sitting outside a boring museum in China, 1997"

2011-07-25T18:11:00.000-04:00

collage on paper
6.5" x 10"
aef11

Springs sunset

2011-07-16T21:09:00.001-04:00

waiting for the fireworks

great idea, Mom!

the 'Stone

2011-07-16T14:51:00.003-04:00

We went east for a weekend at the folks house. Hearing of the intense rage and hysteria that was accompanying this summer season in the Hamptons we made sure to steer clear, keep the mood chill and the vibe positive. This included a walk and dip up at Maidstone, and it was as perfect. Of course you don't get me near a rocky beach without a few cairns popping up.

Mrs. Krissy caught me in the act.

Slow and steady wins the race, not that we were racing.

Gardiners Bay in all her glory.

A cairn is the term for a man-made pile of stones, derived from the Irish and Scottish Gaelic "carn" or plural "cairn". Traditionally they are used as a marker or landmark, often with some social, cultural, or religious significance. For those of you that know Andy Goldsworthy and other installation artists you know they have become admired as a form of art as well. And if you don't know Andy Goldsworthy then you should check out his coffee table books or the documentary "Rivers and Tides". A bit Artsy, but genius really. this reminds me I never posted pictures from Storm King last year. hmmm. but enough about that...
Note: no honking horns, no screaming obscenities or expletives, no false sense of entitlement, no pretense, just the peaceful enjoying of our naturally beautiful surroundings. Ahhh....

this post goes out to Miss Erin Backus and the NEWFS crew of '06, Scott, Tom, and the gang. miss all you crazy people. dare I say, Rock On!

good sky #4771

2011-07-14T20:54:00.001-04:00

enjoying the low clouds this evening

Welcome to the world...

2011-07-11T21:43:00.003-04:00

Keira Chanel Marshall
born July 11th at 1:20am
Mom (Kate Dunkle), Dad (Jerome Marshall), and Big Sis (Janaya) are all doing well.
And we of course couldn't be more thrilled and excited to see our precious new niece.
Much Love to the whole family,
A&K