Soirée Musicale.

1-31-16 SHORT HILLS: NJPAC presented Orchestre National de France, Daniele Gatti, conducting, Friday night, and we were there. We heard Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, and Symphony No. 5 by Tchaikovsky. For our Teutonic-shaped musical tastes, the program offered a look at and feel for different sounds. Julian Rachlin, the very animated violin soloist, plays a Stradivarius violin, one of some 500 still surviving. The audience applauded only once between movements of the concerto.


Cellos lounging around while on break during the intermission.

The Snow Recedes

1-29-16 SHORT HILLS: January is almost finished. At the risk of seeming disloyal to my birth month, I’m not sad to see the end of it. The sun has begun its climb back to the Equator and will be half way back on Feb 21 and on the Equator on March 21.

Snowstorm Jonas [when did snow storms start getting names?] left us more than a foot, maybe two feet, of white. We did not lose power at any point, there seems to be little or no tree damage, and the snow pack is shrinking away. The dogs have made trails, we helped, in the snow. The birds drain the feeders daily. The afternoons have been in the forties and sunny.

The driveway is a maze of snow piles, but we can get the cars in and out. The local roads are still missing a lane, but the major streets are clear.


Three days after the big storm in NJ. Melting has started.

Five days after, more melt down.

Cold Hot Air Balloon.

1-24-16 VERMONT: The NY metro area got some snow yesterday, we heard, but here we had not one flake. It was cloudy in the morning, but cleared in the afternoon. Today is beautiful, in the mid-teens, but with no wind, it was a fine walk. Judy used her snowshoes, I walked in her tracks with just winter boots.

Lily and Sam were here for dinner last night, and the previous night we went to the tapas place with Sherry and Dave. This afternoon we will see Steve and Diana’s slides from Africa.

We were very surprised to see a hot-air balloon yesterday. It kept sinking below the horizon and then popping up again. I bet it was a cold ride.


Hot air balloon surprised us on a cold morning. Mt. Lafayette behind the balloon.

The balloon dropped low about three times and rose again.

I'm guessing the air was too cold so it was too hard to keep the balloon hot.

Snowshoer on her rounds.

Sunny Day in Vermont.

1-22-16 VERMONT: It’s in the twenties and sunny. Outside is nice until a puff of wind comes along. We walked around the pasture with the dogs. There are only a few inches of snow, except where it has drifted to fill hollows. If you walk off the path, you might find yourself knee deep on the wrong spot. Other years, usually, there are a couple feet of snow at this point in the winter. There was a nice, clear sunset last night.


Last light.

Moosilauke, snow covered, but orange at sunset.

So much to sniff.

Judy is in there somewhere.

Blue sky, blue shadow.

Snow Job.

1-20-16 SHORT HILLS: We’re not snow virgins any more this winter having gotten a half-inch of white a few days ago. By now, even though it’s been cold, most of it has evaporated. We’re supposed to get a real storm in a few more days, but we’ll see. Actually we will be in VT and won’t see because VT is supposed to be bypassed as the storm goes out to sea before or after hitting Boston.

On another matter, I turned on the TV this morning and Donald Trump was speaking in Iowa, I think, and I watched for about five minutes. He went on about how great his polling is, and how great he is, and how he expected to win Iowa, the nomination and the presidency. He never mentioned any issues, but talked only about himself. I suppose that is an issue. He’s just an egotistical blowhard. What’s the attraction?


First snowfall, about a half inch....

arrived in mid-January, but more may be on the way.

Dinner with Gabriel.

1-16-16 SHORT HILLS: We were back in the city last night for a winter birthdays dinner with some of the kids and grands. Gabriel Kreuther, the restaurant, is on W. 42th across from Bryant Park and a few blocks east of Times Sq.

While it is a bit pricey, the food and service were magnificent. It has a Michelin star and rave reviews from everyone else. Without going into too much detail, let me say just that it was the best duck I ever had, ever.

Most of the other dinners had tickets for Hamilton, so we ate early to get them to the show. Poor ticketless Maggie took the subway back to Brooklyn after dinner, and Judy and I drove back to NJ. Two trips through Times Sq. gave us a chance to get a few new pix.


Lights and signs of Times Sq horizontally....

And vertically to the south....

And to the north.

Some hand-made signs make special requests....

And some offer special opportunities...

Skaters on the Bryant Park rink.

Turkey.

1-15-16 SHORT HILLS: We had a wild turkey in the yard for about an hour yesterday. He/She [They?] posed while perched on the fence.


Turkey, non-breeding state. You can see ear, eye, nose, beak and that unicorn-like horn between  the eyes and nose.

In this one, the turkey is blinking. Compare to the next one.

Eyes wide open.

About to say good-bye and hop the fence.