Time Does Pass...

Photo: © Stan B.

Back if only for the moment, and say that because I will have to return shortly to NYC being that my mother was just placed into hospice care. Is what it is- and at 98, not exactly something unexpected... 

Had a coupla hours left for some 'street photography' on my final day there, only problem- it was 97 degrees and people were nowhere to be seen on NY's usually busy, bustling streets. One can just persevere the low nineties (with humidity, which is every bit as much a factor), but when we enter 95+ degree territory- you're talking actual... Pain! In fact, with the heat and humidity, I had no appetite whatsoever first coupla days, great for sweating and losing weight (especially after catching a glimpse of myself in a full view mirror- Yipes!), not so good for gorging on the favorite NY foods you long lust for. Had some great fried Pierogis with the most delicious chocolate egg cream ever at Veselkas, and some delicious potato pizza and gelato at the Chelsea Market. More to say later, but should when this space suddenly goes quiet again- you'll know why...

Even though I have a self imposed no cropping rule- the full frame version of the picture above was driving me bonkers! Loved the subject, and even though he was perfectly centered in the FF image, the open space on the right hand side made it seem completely unbalanced! Really drove me freakin'... bonkers! So, I cropped to a perfect 1:1 (even has a bit of the Diane Arbus Grenade Boy vibe); think it the best solution (short of subject repositioning via AI). I know, I know- standards really going downhill here! 

Anyway, still have a few days of vacation left before I return to the grind (or return to the Big City) and will use said time to edit my No Kings Day photos and the coupla things (literally) I got in NY. Oh, and one more thing... think I've called it a day on my annual pilgrimage to the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. An hour to get there, an hour to get back via subway for the honor of baking in the grueling sun for a few hours. Don't get me wrong, the event itself is always fun- but diminishing returns (photographically), and the fact that crowd control/police security gets more and more impossible every year (you have to walk a mile in either direction to avoid barricades just to cross the street to get to the subway entrance to go home) is starting to wear thin on these old bones...