Late August continues to flourish in color.
The flora and fauna are still in summer's glow.
Winged creatures gather their goods.
Skies go hot, then cold, then hot again.
Afternoon shadows stretch out like
the long daylight hours of summertime.
Outdoor friends sometimes hop indoors.
Old items find themselves in new places.
New items inhabit old places just as easily.
The commonplace continues to seem otherworldly.
My turntable continues to spin rapidly.
I keep walking and watching
and sometimes I'm being watched.
Sometimes the watched will take off.
At other times, they let me take a long look.
Some of them are hiding in plain sight.
Sometimes hearts hang in the trees
for any passer by to take along with them.
Signs of a seasonal shift are ever
so gently showing with the smallest
of the leaves getting their fall color first.
An afternoon and evening in my hometown
of Staten Island is always a fun visit. This particular
Saturday at Historic Richmond Town was no exception.
I never get tired of seeing history preserved
so beautifully, whether in wood, oil or living spaces.
Richmond Town summer night events bring out
a great deal of attendees. The general vibe here
seems relaxed and casual yet celebratory and upbeat.
I took a guided lamplight tour.
We walked paths and visited
historic buildings, using our cellphones
to light the way when lamplight wasn't with us.
Our guide was knowledgeable and performed
for us in costume, beguiling us with tales and folklore
of New York City and Staten Island's colonial history.
Touring the houses by night was a much different
experience than it is by day, which I had done a year ago.
I even picked up some orb activity in the photo above.
All things were bright under
a full moon... Even the small cemetery.
Earlier in the day I had visited my first home
on Willowbrook Road. The four windows of my
first bedroom are above and to the left of the red car.
The images below are from the basketball courts
and playground of Edwin Markham Junior High
School (I.S. 51) which sits just across the street.
Look closely around the invasive flowers
and you will see the remnants of decades of
graffiti masked by decades of chipped cover-up paint.
The dumpsters stand where they always stood, as do
all of the drinking fountains... some of which still work.
Up until about 25 years ago, two homes with large backyards
stood on the property that the white townhouses currently occupy.
As a kid in the 70s and early 80s, the playground
had a sandbox and fountains like these. The recessed
sandboxes and their wrought iron railings are long gone
and a new fountain explodes like a geyser in its place.
It's always nice to see this (or any park) in
great shape. Though the park I "play" in now is
a great deal larger and more nature oriented than
this one, I can appreciate the memories I have of
this place from 35 - 40 years ago. Perhaps four decades
from today, a small child who currently plays here will
visit to check on this space every so often, just as I do now.
I've always been intrigued by the west-facing
sculptural form attached to the south face of the
school building. Though I.S. 51 isn't a parochial
school, I always felt like this figure was an angelic
being watching over the people of the neighborhood.
I wonder if those that designed the complex
network of roads, service roads and highways
of Staten Island ever thought it would become
as congested and urbanized as it has in the years
since The Verazzano Narrows Bridge opened in 1964.
Old Time Islanders in my family (and elsewhere)
use an oft-repeated phrase when talking about this.
To note the density of local crowds and traffic, they just
shake their heads slowly and say "Ever since the bridge..."
