Let's Visit the Alamo

 

Welcome to the Alamo

Yes, there's an Alamo in New York City and you're looking at it. This is the Alamo aka the East Village Cube at Astor Place. This is one of my favorite sculptures, eighteen hundred pounds of steel that revolves. It's the work of Tony Rosenthal and was first installed in 1967 as a temporary installation. Because of community enthusiasm, it became permanent, and is still there almost 60 years later.  

This wasn't my plan for the day, but once I moved to do the errands on my list, I decided it was too nice a day -- no rain and very little humidity -- to be inside doing errands. And with a sudden pivot I found myself at Astor Place. I found the coffee kiosk and a seat under one of the umbrellas, and I settled in to enjoy an iced coffee. 

The cafe at Astor Place and source of my iced coffee today

Thank you all for the birthday wishes. I'm definitely not someone who is sad about getting older. I'm delighted to be getting older. It's a privilege that many won't have and even with the aches and pains, it's the best adventure I can have. 

I promised a birthday post and I'm not quite there yet for a long post. My thoughts on turning 76 are just beginning to emerge. There is one idea that has started to emerge. I need to keep trying new things. I'm not sure what those new things are, but I've started to see how easy it is to get into the same schedule every week. I love having activities to do every week and seeing friends at those places. I love traditions that are part of every season and holiday, but I think it's time to find a new activity (or two) and a new tradition (or two). As I learned decades ago in Girl Scouts, "Make new friends and keep the old. One is silver and the other's gold." 

As ever, thanks for visiting and keep cool.

  

Iconic New York: The Bronx Zoo

 

Welcome to the Bronx Zoo

As rainy as today was -- and it poured -- Sunday was a beautiful autumn day and the perfect day for a visit to the Bronx Zoo. The Bronx Zoo, aka Wildlife Conservation Society, is definitely iconic New York. The 265 acres of the Zoo are magnificent. If anyone is thinking of the old model of a zoo, with animals in cages, think again. It's a beautiful park setting, with the Bronx River running through it. 

Finally got my views of autumn leaves

More autumn leaves and this extraordinary vintage gate caught my attention

Visiting the zoo -- only a half hour away from where I live -- has been on my to-visit list for ages, but it just never got to the top of my list. I've been there years before, including when I was growing up. It took a desire to go to the Dinosaur Safari and when a friend expressed interest, I took the zoo to the top of my list. The Dinosaur Safari consisted of at least twenty dinosaur models, most of which moved and roared. It wasn't a theme park -- there was a lot of educational material -- but it was a very fun experience. 

This looks like a forest out in the wild, but if you look at the background carefully,

 you can see apartment buildings.  

I didn't get the name of this dinosaur, but it was a new one to me. There were the familiar species, T.Rex and the Triceratops, but also the Troodon and the Kosmoceratops. I learned it's never too late to meet new dinosaurs. 

This was a first visit to the zoo in a long time, but it won't be the last. I have a ticket for the Holiday Lights program, which features literally millions of lights. It's also something I've wanted to do, but just didn't. Next month I'm going to be there and you know there will be pictures to share. 

Do you have things you've wanted to do for a long time, but just haven't done? I'm not so much thinking of things that are much too expensive or exceed your physical ability, but rather the things we just keep putting off because it takes just a little more planning or energy than the usual activities.

I've been taking photographs of Halloween decorations around town and will be back tomorrow to share them. I'd hoped to capture some of the nearby streets today, but the rain put me off. Fortunately, I snapped a few yesterday and they're fun. 

As ever, thanks for visiting. Wishing you lots of treats and no tricks!