Construction studies - NYC

 When posting photos, I usually write a little about what I'm posting. Is this the best way for me to blog? 

Alternatively, if I'm deep into a new field of study, as I've been with quantum physics the past few years I will write about my amazement and what I am learning instead of my photos.

And anyone who followed me during the Trump years knows I regularly showed my distaste for him personally as well as politically. While it's impossible to not hear some of the news about him, I await the day his death is announced so I won't have to hear anything else about him. Yet this morning I saw that Jimmy Kimmel described Trump's anger at being mocked by him as having a Trumper tantrum. Brilliant! I wish I thought of that.

I find it curious that those who scream about other people being "woke," or "cancel culture" are as eager to wear with pride their own form of wokeness. They are among the worst snowflakes and melt at the least bit of heat. For instance, screaming Marjorie Taylor Greene who couldn't keep her mouth shut during President Biden's State of the Union Speech melts down when someone gives her a little bit of her own.

Among the other things Jimmy Kimmell called loser Donald Trump in response to the report that Trump tried to get him censored was "a blowhard snowflake... he's a blowflake." This can be applied to Representative Greene. Speaking of whom, why does she need so many e's in her name? 

And here are a few photos.

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Fertile MN, May 2011 - a few more photos

 It's been a long time since I visited Fertile, MN and with the passing of my sister-in-law a few months ago, I can't imagine when I'll be back there.

These photos are a reminder of what I saw when I was there in May, 2011.

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Reviewing photos from 2011 - late spring, Fertile, MN

Fertile, MN is a small city in northwestern Minnesota. The 2010 census determined its population was 842. It's gone down since then. It's where my wife was born and raised, so for this native New Yorker, it certainly would've been a long shot that we would've met, connected and made our relationship work. Culturally, there's more in common between a NYer and a Parisian than a NYer and the daughter of a farmer from Fertile.

Since I have in-laws there, as well as my wife's nieces and nephews, I've been there a few times. I mentioned in a previous post that in 2011 I was there with my wife for her great-nephew's high school graduation. We stayed outside the town but we were there every day.

I'm not sure if the places in these photos are still there or not, or if perhaps the businesses have changed. I selected these because I like them. I'll probably post more as I continue to recuperate and review.

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Construction site photos from the fall of 2022

 It's NYC and buildings are still going up.

When I'm in the city I walk past this major construction site taking the entire block from Madison Ave. to Park Ave., from E. 47th St. to E. 48th St. Eventually it will be the global headquarters for JPMorgan Chase.

I find the steel that's going into the building very interesting, but there's more.

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Looking Back: Grand Forks ND, May 2011

 I am surprised I never posted any of the photos I took walking around Grand Forks after exchanging the rented car at Grand Forks International Airport - from whence you can fly anywhere in the world if you are willing to fly through Minneapolis. If I'm wrong and someone finds I did, please remind me in the comments since I cannot find them here.

Looking at the photos I took and thinking about my trip in August 2022 to Jamestown and Fargo, ND, I realize that the downtown areas were built around the same time and that there is a similarity in the architecture of the oldest and the older buildings. I've noticed a similar thing among the towns along US 20/NY 5 in the Finger Lakes region of NY state. This observation is not a criticism, it's a recognition that regional styles were and are also temporal styles.

I didn't spend a lot of time selecting the photos but just browsed through all I took there and all but randomly picked these.

I wonder, has anyone out there ever had Widman's chocolate covered potato chips?

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Looking back: Outside Crookston, MN - May 2011

May 2011 found me in northwest Minnesota where a great nephew was graduating as valedictorian from the same high school my wife graduated from many years before, also as valedictorian. We decided to stay in a bed and breakfast located a couple of miles outside Fertile, MN. The house was once upon a time my wife's aunt's home and now was a very comfortable inn set among the grain fields near the Sand Hill River. I will surely publish some photos of the house and fields in the coming days, but not today.

We travelled by train from NY to Fargo, where we rented a car. As it happened, the car had a leaky tire and I had to drive to the nearest car rental agency - which turned out to be at the airport in Grand Forks, ND. It's small - only two gates, and looking at the departure board I realized you could, if you chose to, fly anywhere in the world from there, as long as you were willing to have a stop in Minneapolis. That may have changed since 2011, but I haven't been back to check.

With my replacement vehicle, I headed back to Fertile, a roughly 60 mile drive. 

One of the places I passed was Crookston, MN. Not exactly a metropolis - population about 7500, but it is the county seat of Polk County.

I didn't get out of my car but I stopped a couple of times and took these photos through the window. 

 

I'll dig through my archive to see if Crookston can be seen in any other photos. But I will definitely look at my Grand Forks photos and post some soon.

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Last day in the the city before surgery

 At the end of 2022 I had something done to me that needed to be done: I had total knee replacement surgery. It's less than 6 weeks since my old, worn out joint was replaced with a brand new titanium and plastic one. 

Recuperation and recovery have been interesting, to say the least. The first few days were difficult but not impossible thanks to advice from the surgeon and nurses at the hospital: take the pain killers, ice the knee, sleep with the leg extended so gravity could help,, move around as much as possible with walker and cane and eat lots of good food.

The first two pieces of advice was most important.

I've been walking unassisted since the end of the first week. I began outside PT 10 days after surgery and though it's torture some of the time, it's paying off so I keep going back. Now I can walk up a flight of stairs step on step, go to the supermarket and walk the aisles, and more. Sitting still causes the knee to start aching but now, it's after a half hour. Sleeping through the night is still the hardest, but I've been told that will continue until the wound is mostly healed.

All of this means I haven't been taking a lot of photos. Those I've taken are mostly of my cats. I'll be starting up soon.

So here are a couple  I took  the last day of 2022 that I went into the city.

These photos are neither terrible nor great, they are what they are. One of them fits with the Street corner Theater series. 

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