OK, I think it is time to rev this blog up again. I actually miss the writing part and though life kind of goes on as it did before (in other words, I haven't been on a safari in Africa or to a beach in Bali where the photos might be a little more dramatic), there are still some pretty cool things that I see everyday that call out for some recognition - somewhere - if only in this reader-less blog. What happened the other day was that it was deadly hot in New York and my studio had no air so it was impossible to paint and I was a little bored of the usual places in Manhattan that I go when I feel like wandering. So I took the #2 to Brooklyn Heights, headed down and through Dumbo and Vinegar Hill (yes, that is the name of that empty and totally lovely area you find after you pass under the Manhattan Bridge) and found the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which I have always wanted to see. And what was it like? Well, for one thing it is huge - I walked for miles to get around it. For another, it is slowly being transformed into a riverside industrial park so the center of it is entirely filled with shiny new buildings which are just that, shiny and new. Kind of a pity. But all around the edges, in the parts that have not yet been renovated you can see through the old fencing into a world where the grand old brick buildings have been left to the ravages - and the beauty - of nature. The yard must have been a stunning place in its heyday. But now, jungles of vines, trees and wildflowers have taken over creating a sad and magical world, which I found ravishing. The water tower in the picture above is not in the yard, but it sits like a sentinel across Flushing Avenue, itself a relic of another age.
