A Photowalk Thru 2010

Walk with me, the path of life,

to explore every bend of the road.

Enjoy with me the beauty of life,

Along it’s wonderful way.*

Welcome to this year’s Photo Challenge!  This is the second year I’m participating in an International Photo Challenge.  Last year’s 365 Photos in 2009, *Shadows & Light*, is HERE.

The Challenge this year is quite different.  While last year’s called for a photo a day, this one is much more open.  There won’t be a photo a day thank goodness, that was way too much pressure in an already pressure filled life!

Come along, take a walk with me!

*Excerpt from a poem by Munda Schram

Light a Candle to Remember and NEVER Forget

*World Trade Center Tribute*

*Boats on the Water*

Not a typical playground, but a playground for these boats on the water!

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*Driveway*

I love black & white images but not all photos look best in black & white.  I think this one does.

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~ Fin ~

Thanks for visiting “Walk with Me” throughout 2010.  My photo project for 2011, “Immagini Ancora,” can be found HERE, for 2012, “Images,” can be found HEREand for 2013 Pixelicious, is HERE. Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy, Safe and Prosperous New Year.

*Ready, Aim……..*

FIRE!  The person that was explaining about this cannon warned everyone to cover their ears because this was much louder than the previous cannon.  Well, I had to take a photo, didn’t I?  So I didn’t listen to the nice man. My ears rang until the next day!  Matter of fact, I didn’t actually press the shutter, the BOOM caused my finger to slip and press it!  By the way, that’s the George Washington Bridge in the background.

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*Soldier Boy*

An oldie but goodie by The Shirelles.

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*Beacon II*

This is the Portland Head Lighthouse in Maine shown from a different vantage point.  The original posting is HERE.

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*Spectacles*

I don’t know for sure, but the last time I heard them referred to as spectacles was probably from my grandmother.  And how long ago was this sign made?  The phone number doesn’t even have an area code!  There’s more antique vision stuff HERE.

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*Big Moe*

Meet “Big Moe”.  This was the first time I’d seen Big Moe up close and personal.  I’ve passed him hundreds of times and he looked so lonely and abandoned, just sitting out in the elements. Who knows how many lives he helped save?  I know a local business owns it so perhaps it has sentimental value.  He certainly is big though!

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*October in the Railroad Earth*

It’s a poem by Jack Kerouac, who was a writer during the “Beat Generation.”  Would that have made him a beatnik?  I think beatniks came before hippies.  lol  You know hippies, right?  Anyway, I took this photo while on vacation in October, through the window of a moving vehicle no less, and thought the the title sort of fit.  

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*Textures*

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*Swan Song*

Not really.  I checked and this is what I found: “This idea comes from the legend that, while they are mute during the rest of their lives, swans sing beautifully and mournfully just before they die.  This isn’t actually the case – swans, even the inaccurately named Mute Swans, have a variety of vocal sounds and they don’t sing before they die.”  Good to know! (You may have to squint to see the swan 🙂 )

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*Gossip*

” Have you seen that new fellow’s uniform? Its so garish!””

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*The Big Apple*

aka – The Greatest City in the World….The City That Never Sleeps….The City So Nice They Named It Twice….Empire City….Gotham….believe it or not, you can find 92 more HERE.

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*Feathery Flora*

The generic, growing on the side of the road kind.

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*Skyscraper*

I loved this view when I saw it but I can’t ID the building.  It was taken from Brooklyn looking over to Manhattan.

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*Rays*

I took this somewhere off the coast of New England last month. It looked the same no matter where we were!

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*#%`^#~*

I TOLD YOU NOT TO LIGHT THAT MATCH!

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*The Kool-Aid Dude*

“Kool-Aid, Kool-Aid, tastes great, wish we had some, can’t wait!”  Does that sound familiar to anyone?  Here’s one of the other new balloons you’ll see in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Kool-Aid Dude. If you do see him in the parade you’ll hear him saying “Oh Yeah!” while skateboarding down 34th Street.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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*Klompen?*

You know those wooden clogs worn by the Dutch?  Well, they’re called klompen. There are some small villages where klompen are still worn, but they are used only outdoors.  I don’t know, they look really uncomfortable to me!

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*Old Soldiers Never Die*

They just fade away.  I’m not quite sure, but I think this gentleman might have been one of the original soldiers in the Revolutionary War.

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*Big Rock Candy Mountain*

The jar was labeled “Flavored Rock Sugar on a Stick.”  75 cents.  There’s no cents sign on the keyboard!  Didn’t there used to be one?

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*Behind the Red Door*

Interestingly enough the movie, ‘Behind the Red Door,’ is about a photographer.

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*School Days*

I don’t know about you, but my elementary school did not look anything like Lunenburg Academy in Lunenburg, Canada.  It used to be a private school and is now public.  It’s certainly unique!

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*Abandoned Dreams*

….scattered among the dead and dying leaves, in the midst of nowhere, waiting for the comfort of the winter snow to blanket them.

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*A Horse with No Name*

Another oldie but goodie, this one by the band ‘America.’   By the way, I’m sure this horse does have a name. I just don’t know what it is.  😉

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*Polar Bears*

No, not the beautiful white, furry ones found in the Alaska, Canada, Russia, Denmark, and Norway.  These bears are members of  The Coney Island Polar Bear Club, the oldest winter bathing organization in the United States. Thy swim in the Atlantic Ocean at Coney Island every Sunday from November through April although they’re most famous for their annual New Year’s Day swim…..rain, snow, sleet or shine!”  I can assure you of one thing…I am NOT a member!  🙂

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There’s been a lot about Coney Island in the news here lately. It seems many of the businesses that have been on the boardwalk, some for more than 70 years, are being forced to close. From what I can gather, NYC was renting to these businesses and in February leased to another company that took effect November 15th. I found another blog, “Amusing the Zillion – A former carny kid casts an insider’s eye on the amusement business, Coney Island, and fun places in between,” that’s been covering this and has lots more info. It’s also a great blog to tell you anything you’ve ever wanted to know about Coney Island, including Ruby Jacobs Walk.  Guess I got there just in time!

*The Brooklyn Bridge*

There was another Brooklyn Bridge believe it or not! It was Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge and they are a huge blast from the past. They were a singing group best known for their hit  “The Worst That Could Happen.” Like I said, a blast from the past!

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*Wooden Boats*

Wooden ships on the water…..very free and easy. CSN

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*Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?*

“The Knoll – center of social life in Sussex” by artist Peter Bresnen.  That’s the title of this mural, one of the many Murals of Sussex, a town in New Brunswick, Canada.  It’s a lovely town filled with guess what?  Murals painted on the sides of buildings!  You can read all about how this project began and view some of the murals HERE.  Oh, and the Grey Poupon thing, for some reason that’s what came to mind when I was posting this photo. 🙂

Grey Poupon’s classic ‘Pardon Me’ TV commercial returning to TV – after nearly 20 years off the air.  <<<<<Click

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*Quittin’ Time*

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*Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign*

“Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind.”  The Five Man Electrical Band  Ummmmm…..anyone?  An oldie but goodie??  Any aging hippies out there? HERE’S the video of it on You Tube.

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*Picturesque*

A quaint little fishing village in Nova Scotia.

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*Perspective*

Here’s a different view of Po.

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Before a balloon can fly on Turkey Day, the new recruits must undergo their official outdoor test flight.  Macy’s Balloonfest is the official unveiling an test flight of the Parade’s new giants.  At the event that took place on Saturday, November 6th, each balloon’s pilot and captain, and the flight management team of twelve, guide hundreds of handlers as they fly the balloon in an extreme real-world setting.  At its conclusion, the balloon will be deemed flight-ready and will retire to prepare for its Thanksgiving Day debut.

*Sneak Peek*

Here’s a sneak peek at one of the brand new balloons that will be in Macy’s 84th Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. They do a trial run of the newest additions every year.  Meet Kung Fu Panda (aka Po) – coming and going.

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*Escort*

This little pilot boat escorted us out of one of the ports we went to.  Unfortunately I can’t remember which one!

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*Big Red Barn*

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By the big red barn

In the great green field

There was a pink pig

Who was learning to squeal.

 

A favorite children’s book by Margaret Wise Brown.  You can read the rest of this cute story HERE.

 

 

*Dinghies*

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*Beacon*

Portland Head Light, Cape Elizabeth, Maine~Commissioned by George Washington~completed in 1791

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*One Hundred and Two*

years old and located in Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada.  They sure don’t make them like they used to!  🙂

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What stories could these bridges tell

If they could only talk?

They’d tell us of the ones who rode

And those who had to walk,

The rich, the poor….those in-between

Who used their planks to cross,

The soldiers, farmers, businessmen

In buggies, sleighs, by ‘hoss’,

Like sentinels these bridges stand

In spite of flood and fire,

Their rugged, stalwart strength remains

Our future to inspire.

 

Author unknown

 

 

 

*Scavenger Hunt*

The camera club I belong to had a photo scavenger hunt Halloween morning.  We were broken up into pairs and given a list of 25 things to photograph with one of us in each photograph.  One of the fun things we had to look for….a front yard decorated with spider webs.    That’s Kathy hamming it up for the camera.

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*RIP*

Taken in a REALLY old graveyard in Boston. Some of the headstones date from the 1600’s.  I thought it was the perfect posting for Halloween!

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*Anchors Aweigh…….*

Taken on a wharf in Nova Scotia….

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*Interloper*

There’s just something about this big guy that doesn’t belong there!

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*Woo Hoo*

My blog from last year, SHADOWS & LIGHT, has over 100,000 visitors!  Pretty cool if I must say so myself!  🙂

*One If by Land, Two If by Sea*

These are the famous words used by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem “Paul Revere’s Ride,” to describe the signal used to guide the “midnight ride of Paul Revere” at the start of the Revolutionary War.  Revere had ordered two lanterns to be placed in the Old North Church Tower in Boston, to warn his confederates that the British were on the move.  Longfellow embellished the story just a little.  Anyway, this is Paul Revere’s gravestone in Boston.…….or is it? Our guide told us that when people saw the REAL stone, they were so disappointed time and time again, that it was decided to put this larger one up.  The original one is underneath.

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*Theater*

The Shore Theater, built in 1925, was originally known as “Loew’s Coney Island” and served as both a live performance vaudeville venue and a movie house.  You can go HERE to see what the interior looked like and find out more about it.

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*Secretariat*

Not really..lol….but you can see a video of the real Secretariat winning the Kentucky Derby in 1973 HERE if you’d like, it really is exciting!

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