the other coast :: part 1

see, i told you... buildings and sky! in the hopes of not completely overwhelming you with such images, i've decided to upload my vacation pics in smaller groups.... part one now available in here

i'm still having some trouble finding words, but this trip was a bit different than my usual east coast / NY trip. for starters i spent the LEAST amount of time in manhattan proper ever... i did get to go - more on this later, but ultimately this was more of a suburban trip.... i spent time in bergenfied, NJ; long island city, williamsburg and cony island, peekskill, NY; and holden, MA [although we did spend 1.5 days in boston....] it is interesting to see how people push themselves out of populated areas and how once boondock towns now flourish as the masses leave to claim a stake of land as their own [oh and whole foods follows... yup!]

the other thing that was really strange was that we spent a lot of time in a CAR.... in NY - which just seems CRAZY to me, but it was how it all ended up happening. not only just riding in a car as a passenger, but also driving !! yes !! it was a bit nervewracking, but also exhilerating![is this why people jump out of planes?] the thing about being in a car is that the landscape looks so different - don't you think? maybe that's why i kept pointing the camera at the passing scenery. it's different than walking because it's stationary, but moving simultaneously. the trees and anything in fron of you wizzes by, but you have moments to stare at things in the distance. i think i'm like a dog when i'm in a car. if i thought it was safe i would probably hang my head way out the window, squint my eyes and take it all in - the smells, the sounds, the rush of moving [or not if you are stuck in traffic. that happened too]

so granted i am lucky to live in an area that has older architecture [they just don't build em like they used to], but there is something so amazing about how much older some things are on the east coast [esp. in boston - where you definitely feel the "founding fathers"]. the infrastructure is different, the fire hydrants are cooler....

the air, the breeze, the sky the clouds... although similar also are different. we ran into a dumping thunder storm one night. the streets looked like rivers - in the span of 1 hour it had come and gone. it sounded louder than rain near my house [and believe me we experienced rain this spring]. so all of this got me to thinking.... what is it about being out of your element that makes you look more? what determines a sense of place? is it the people? the architecture? both? if you were blindfolded and dropped somewhere, how would you know where you were? and light. how can it be that it feels so different in different places? it can get warmer in tone as well as temperature. it can illuminate or blind you. it can be flitered through clouds, it moves, it tracks time for us... none of this is new information of course, but it's definitely what i was thinking about as i walked and drove around.... any thoughts????

a few more of my favorite pics of round 1:


best corn muffins i have EVER tasted. worth a trip back.


we played croquet!


from the westside highway.

tomorrow i go to see lisa c's show with her... excited much? YES! so that report, plus more vacation pics [it's OK you can groan - at least i'm not forcing you to watch a slide show of my trip] and a catch up on mail goodies [i'm dreadfully behind here] hopefully all this week. [did i just type that?]