Summer Splendor at Snug Harbor

Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden is a wonderful retreat on Staten Island that offers 23 historical buildings, including museums, cultural institutions, and nine botanical gardens on 83 acres just a short bus ride from the Staten Island ferry terminal at St. George. I visited on August 10 for the first time, and was rewarded with so many gorgeous flower photos, plus some nice bugs and butterflies. I've now added a Snug Harbor page to this Web site, which you can visit for even more flowers and insects.

My favorite shot from August 10 at Snug Harbor

Below are some of the flowers and bugs I loved seeing. I tried in many shots to get as deep inside the bloom as I could, as well as to show the "landscape" of a flower. And I was so excited to get shots of the sulphur butterfly, as well as monarchs.

The "landscape" of a flower

Deep inside a bloom

The interior offers color, and a bug

Sulphur butterfly

Monarch butterfly

April Showers, April Flowers

New York is blooming these days. I went to Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Friday, and will soon post a video and lots of purty cherry blossoms from that visit. Saturday was a rainy day, so I spent a brief time in Central Park, part of the day watching a visiting wild turkey, and part of the day at Shakespeare Garden looking at the tulips, daffodils and other blooms.

Tulip, Shakespeare Garden, Central Park, April 22, 2017

The short Contemplate This! video does not include all of the gorgeous petals I saw on Saturday, but has quite a few of them, all set to Antonio Vivaldi's Spring (3rd movement), from the Four Seasons, performed by John Harrison and obtained from MusOpen.org, a royalty-free music source.

Despite the rain and dark lighting, I did manage to take some photos I really like.

Pink dogwood, Shakespeare Garden, April 22, 2017

Fritillaria, Shakespeare Garden, April 22, 2017

I didn't make it to the March for Science on April 22 — a cause I really believe in — no excuse, really, except that I was tired from a long day Friday in Brooklyn and a long night at the Metropolitan Opera for Der Rosenkavalier. I stood for the first two acts, and felt both hours of it in my back and legs, but a lovely woman gave me a seat for the last act, and I was so grateful. It was wonderful to hear and see Renée Fleming in the opera again (I saw her in the Strauss opera in Paris years ago). She owns the role.

I have put up a video showing the Tompkins Square red-tailed hawks and Pale Male and Octavia, the Fifth Avenue hawks. I will post here soon, too. A lot of editing to do, and a lot of pictures to take. Who thought retirement would wear me out so much!