morning stroll before work

moss morning

 The house where I am staying is surrounded by woods, mostly oak and American beech.  The moss carpets are so rich and colorful looking in the crisp spring light.  Nature, gotta love it.

favorite poster

"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.

pics from a morning stroll

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

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.

predawn trees on the way to the office

I Walk the Line

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,

city extra gritty this a.m.

subway, 59th and Lex, 5:56am

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

morning commute before the sun comes up

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,

Indian Wells, early sunday morning, with coffee

I was home for the weekend helping my folks. Sunday morning I woke up early and headed right down to Indian Wells. It was about 6:30 and I had my board, wetsuit and booties in the car. Arriving at the beach I probably consider home more than any man-made structure the sea was flat. The dog walkers were relishing their pre-crowd freedom, the pups playing wildly. The surflessness of the morning meant I could enjoy staying dry, park for a bit, and have my coffee like the others reading their papers and glimpsing at the ocean from the neighboring spots. I checked in with the world and found out that an amazing matriarch and civic-minded local named Ann Buckhout had passed away after a long bout with cancer. Brian, her son, was letting people know. Thinking of him and his brother Chris, close in age to my older brother Gian Carlo and I, my heart sank. How do you fathom such a thing? The oceans vastness stretched out in front of me, the calm seas and gray skies so apt for such a somber and sobering moment. Beyond Brian's words there was nothing to say:
"Heaven received a very special addition today. Mom- you will always be loved in my heart, and Dad- show her the way..."

On behalf of the entire Feleppa family our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to Brian and Chris and the whole Buckhout family. Our thoughts are with you...

pic of the day

Welcome to New York City, have a nice day!

building with dawn sun from the east

One of my more favorite buildings along my morning commute.
Harlem, New York, at dawn.

subway daydreaming

"Someone else's day,
Someone else's door,
There's a girl with cherry chapstick on and nothing more..."
-Yo La Tengo

The song is Cherry Chapstick off the album "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out", and if you don't own it you probably ought to. Also check out the song Let's Save Tony Orlando's House. ...genius.

The image: Montauk, NY, where I'd rather be this morning.

video inspiration

I'm not sure where my friend found this video. But knowing my love of surf and surf photography Diane was quick to have me check this out at work a few days back. Since I've found myself revisiting it every day. ...beautiful imagery, fabulous mantra, and all in all a wonderful way to start the day.

I apologize I do not know the film maker for I would like to give him proper kudos, but the credit acknowledges Astray Films. Bravo, Astray Films, bravo!

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

sunrise headphones

"Without giving anything away,
I can say it's by the sea.
It's a house that used to be the home of a friend of mine.
Without giving anything away,
you'll find ships inside of bottles,
and the garden's overgrown,
the house is white but the paint is coming off.

I didn't know if you wanted to,
when I came to pick you up.
But you didn't even hesitate,
and now you and me are on our way.
I think I've brought everything we need,
so don't look back,
don't think of the other places you should have been
it's a good thing that you came along with me.

Gold in the air of summer,
you'll shine like gold in the air of summer."

Clearly we are still far from summer but this sounded amazing on the way to work this early morning. This is the Kings of Convenience song "Gold In The Air Of Summer" off their genius, chill album Riot On An Empty Street (2004).

Malus floribunda and snow

This Japanese flowering crabapple tree is one of the largest, if not the largest of it's species in Central Park. Planted during the original installation of the Conservatory Garden which opened in 1937, this beautiful specimen is at least 75 years old, if not a few years older. ...and clearly fabulous in every season.

another sunwashed morning

I just can't get enough of these bright mornings with that low sun. In this case I really love the glowing lamp post. ...that little taste of city in an otherwise natural shot.

Pic of the Day: Pimp My Ride

You gotta love the pimped out Buick Estate Wagon, complete with faux wood siding. I pass this car every day and it continually makes me chuckle. "Grocery getter gone bad!" Ah, another testimonial that you can't take life too seriously. Or in other words, Harlem rules. Happy Friday all.

(horticultural posts coming soon)

One of the best parts of my day...

In my 'hood we have a number of magnificent bakeries. One of the best parts of my day is right at the start of my morning commute, walking by places like Frank's as they are just opening up and beginning their baking for the day. The street is cold and rarely is the sun up yet and then I walk by one of these still-quiet little oases and that smell, oh that delicious, inviting smell. The smell of caring, warm comfort. Inhale deep, exhale, continue on, for we're just getting started.

I'll miss those sweet solitary city moments when we finally move out of this place.

blues and oranges

On the platform
6:48am
Astoria, Queens