Greenwood Cemetery in the Spring

No matter what season it is, Greenwood Cemetery looks beautiful. Here are a couple of springshots taken earlier this month...

One of the many lakes throughout the cemetery.

Just discovered this lake which is behind my parents' resting place and through the trees

Many trees grow in Brooklyn...here's a magnolia

Lots of pink dogwoods and cherry trees in Brooklyn

I took a sprig from one of the azalea bushes my mother had planted many years ago in the backyard and placed it for her for Mother's Day

Father and Mother stones...no names, no dates, but they look very old.

Greenwood Cemetery in the Summer

Before we tackled the basement I felt like I needed some divine help so we headed to Greenwood Cemetery to visit my parents. I had hoped to be able to go on Greenwood's Trolley Tour this visit, but alas, once again, it was not to be. I love taking photos every time I go because with each season it's more beautiful than the last season. Here are some summer shots...

This was the first shot I took. My parents' grave is on the left in front. Notice the mist in the middle of the shot. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day without any fog whatsoever.

This is the view from their resting place.

As we were looking at the pond, the white heron came to say hello.

Greenwood was hit pretty hard from Hurricane Sandy and they're still repairing many gravestones.

Many stones are so old you cannot read them.

Black Moccasin, chief of the Hidasta Indians, is a bronze statue by John Coleman, based on a painting by George Catlin who is buried at Greenwood. Since he arrived in July of 2012 he has been my guide and has made finding my parents much easier.

Freedom Tower -- September 2012

When we left for our Maine excursion we departed from Brooklyn. It had been a while since we've been upstate and forgot the best way to get there, so depended upon Ms. Garmin for directions. Ms. G. has a funny sense of humor because she took us through the worst sections of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, determining the best way for us to get upstate was via streets. It must have added about two hours to our travel time. On the way back from Maine, we weren't making that mistake again, so that time we programmed upper Manhattan as our destination figuring once we hit the West Side Highway we'd head into Brooklyn that way.

Welcome back to NYC traffic...

We didn't get to stop at the Freedom Tower as it was rush hour on a Friday and we couldn't wait to get out of the car, but I was able to snap off some shots of it, as well as some Lower Manhattan sights as we snaked our way to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, which by the way has been renamed the Hugh Carey tunnel. Huh?!

Before we even hit the house we stopped off at Greenwood Cemetery to see my parents. It's hard to believe it's been five years since my father departed, twelve for my mom. Looking up from their graves, through the trees, past the harbor, beyond the Statue of Liberty, the Freedom Tower rises. The sight of it comforts me...

Brooklyn Boids, I Mean Birds

Although I actually have even more pics from the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens I thought I would show you some pictures of some birds I captured in Brooklyn. Now when you think of Brooklyn birds you're probably thinking, "dirty stinking boids" like the rats with wings, pigeons. At our Brooklyn house we have a huge pine tree in the back yard that the neighbors have been bugging me to cut down since my father died. I refuse to cut that one and the other pine that I have in the front of the house. Both trees house some songbirds including one that wakes me every morning singing, "Sweet Marie, Sweet Marie." I imagine that's my dad saying good morning to his granddaughter.

For the most part the birds are the usual ones that you would see here in Roanoke -- cardinals, bluejays, bluebirds, sparrows, wrens, pigeons along with many seagulls. This trip I saw two more types of birds I had never seen before in Brooklyn.

On our way back from the Botanic Gardens we stopped at Greenwood Cemetery to see my folks...



The place is huge and even though they issue maps it's easy to get lost. We know we finally found the gravesite when we stumble upon this gargoyle-filled monument.



My parents are located near one of the two huge ponds. We usually get lost trying to leave as well even though we follow the pond. This time we saw a beautiful bird that we've never seen there before.







Later on I took my daughter to Shore Parkway to go shopping. As usual we walked to the shore to take pictures of my favorite bridge, the Verrazano...



I had to look twice after taking the picture because I thought I saw some birds in the ocean which were too large to be ducks or geese...



We walked closer to the shore and saw that there were two swans diving for fish in the ocean...







My daughter said she didn't know swans swam in the ocean. Neither did I! You never know what you're going to find in Brooklyn.



Wouldn't this shot make a nice postcard? "Greetings from Brooklyn!"