The other day in Manhattan (in the Washington Heights neighborhood to be precise) I saw this nice guy with a cart filled with colorful bottles that stopped me in my tracks. He said they were flavorings for the “delicious” shaved ice he sells — everything from mint to coconut to mango. We chatted a bit, he offered me a gratis shaved ice which I regretfully had to decline, and he gamely let me take a few pictures of him. A really good and friendly guy. The encounter one of the million reasons why I LOVE New York.
Speaking of love and colorful things, here’s a striking sunflower detected blooming in a community garden just a kitty corner from BAM — that is the Brooklyn Academy of Music for those of you who don’t live in these neck of the woods.
I love how in the photograph the colors of this beautiful flower are in perfect harmony with the colors of the dance poster in the wall behind it. And even the leaves of the flower seem to pantomime the gesture and movement of the dancers in the poster. Could the flower possibly be cognizant of it? Well, to slightly paraphrase Papa Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises: “Wouldn’t it be pretty to think so?”
Here are a few other pretty things growing in that small but beautifully landscaped and cultivated community garden that harbors the sunset-colored sunflower:
Azita & The Magic Beanstalk | Who knew that green-bean stalks have red blooms?
Blackberries! | Figs
One of the very many pretty flowers growing there
And finally, now that we all know what’s in the bag, here’s a date update. Ha ha, get it?
After a few more days – out and about, I didn’t feel like putting the poor dudes back in the paper bag – most merely grew more wrinkly and in dire need of a good moisturizer, but 3 dates ripened and turned brown. I gobbled one up and I’m very happy to report that its skin was translucent and the flesh was soft and sweet and tasted like candy! The two remaining ripe brown ones are on the vine as you can see. At this point, I’ve nixed plans of doing anything to the dates save for gazing at them, waiting for the rest to ripen, and once ripened, popping them in the old pie hole as a little sweet snack.
Young naive date posing resignedly for a still life with some odd berries & things
And on that note, signing off and wishing you a sweet-as-ripe-Bahari-date weekend.
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