Snowy Hoboken

So last Saturday, before I went to Hoboken Terminal to catch my train I decided to walk out to Pier A to take a few photos and enjoy the snow.  It was rather a bad idea as even with gloves my fingers were freezing, out of my pockets and using a camera.  It was whipping wind and surprisingly cold right off of the water, but I did get some photos for the blog (I'm always so generous and self-sacrificing for my readers, it's true...)  and then was thankful to board a warm train!  It snowed the way home as well - the first snow of the year and a very welcome one!  (Winter lover here.)  Those photos to come in the next post!

Tribeca skyline

Snowy Hoboken

Manhattan from Pier A

A truck plows the snow off of Pier A

This picture doesn't let you feel the cold wind!

                                    

A comfortable green in summer, only a brave few were out to romp with their dogs and toss around a football!  (Okay, the footballers were British...)

Snow!!!

(I've been attempting to post this for the past few days now... to my chagrin all of the photos I wanted to put up wouldn't upload properly due to my connection.  So, I hope you'll be satisfied with these few, and more will be coming very soon - hopefully, tonight!  -Bunhead)

When I got out of classes tonight, it was pouring rain.  I love rainy days, and I love when it's raining in the city!  Of course it can be a bit windy and one gets wet - and one might even sacrifice "staying dry" to save the umbrella from dangerous wind gusts...  All in all, however (for me), it's a pleasant experience- though I will admit making it in somewhere dry and warm is a welcome relief, after tramping through driving rain and puddles in soaking wet clogs. 

So!  I've been back to school these past couple of weeks.  So far it has gone pretty well.  I did mean to write up a post before now...unfortunately 2 separate large loads of laundry took up potential blogging time, among other things.  But I did think of my readers, known and unknown, and so here is finally something.  After I got over my initial soreness (ugg) of the first week, everything got much better.  So far I'm really happy with my progress.  And I started going to a great (affordable) massage place right around the corner from the school (Chinese Qi Gong Tui-Na technique!) which is really amazing and already has changed how my muscles feel.  We've been quite busy already, learning quite a few variations (more to come on that later).  Oh, and NYC got the first years' snow on Saturday - yay!!  Here are some photos.  I didn't know what was actually going to happen with the forecasted snow - and was surprised to hear a strange but rather familiar sound out on the street (albeit the badly plowed ones...)  It seems NYC puts snow shovels on their garbage trucks to help everything get plowed faster.  The first snow of the year was indeed here with badly plowed roads and snowy intersections, ghost town streets, treacherous sidewalks - unsalted and unshoveled.  Even young children frolicked outside of their buildings.  It was really great and I loved the change of scenery!!  It isn't all cynicism as to how the roads are plowed and the consideration of pedestrians' well being, however- I love winter and nothing made me happier than FINALLY seeing the winter wonderland by home during the weekend! 

New York City snow:

Snowing... on my street

8:15 AM

NYC snow!!

Snow covered streets

More photos coming soon...

New Year’s Resolutions

From Dance Spirit Magazine's Alison Feller:

"I love New Year’s Resolutions. I love reflecting on the past year and then making goals to make the year ahead my best one yet.
One thing I’ve learned is to not make huge, lofty, unattainable goals. Why set yourself up for failure? Instead, I look at my annual New Year’s Resolutions as yearly To-Do lists instead of massive life changes. Try it! It’s fun!
This year, a few of my resolutions include cooking one awesome meal a month (it’s a low goal, but I have to start somewhere!), taking a hip hop class (it’s been a while!) and I swear, this will be the year I finally take proper care of my skin (no more zits! no more zits!).
But do you know what’s just as important as making a list of things you should do every year? Make a list of things you resolve not to do! A few examples I fully endorse:

• Stop spending time with toxic friends. Does your “best friend” make you feel badly about yourself? Is your “cool classmate” really condescending? Ditch these people! You don’t need them in your life. Hang out with upbeat, positive people instead and your confidence will soar.
• Don’t take the easy way out. OK, so you know that if you don’t nail that kinda-scary quadruple pirouette in your group lyrical routine your teacher will move you to the back row, right? Instead of just “faking it” and letting her move you out of sight, go for the turn! Push for it every single time, and I bet you’ll nail it one of these days. Repeat after me: No more fear!
• Don’t beat yourself up. So you made a mistake while you were front and center at your last competition? Guess what? You’ll get another chance to go for that gold — or platinum. Recognize your mistake, figure out what went wrong, learn how to prevent it happening again and move on. Don’t dwell on the past. You can’t change it. Just learn from it and use it to motivate your future moves.
• Don’t forget to take a break. Dancing is exhausting. School is definitely exhausting. Don’t let your social life suffer because you’re logging extra hours at the studio. It’s OK to take a little time off every now and then. Your body and mind will appreciate the change of pace.
• Don’t worry so much. That’s all. Worrying = stress, and stress = getting sick. A worry-free day keeps the doctor away. That’s the saying, right? Or maybe it’s something about an apple…so don’t worry, and eat an apple, and you should be good to go in 2012!"

Ill-starred weekend

Sick Bunhead here.  Late Saturday night (after an exposure to stomach virus earlier in the week) into Sunday morning brought the worst stomach flu I have ever experienced.  It was a little maddening because I took such good care of myself and lots of great medicine in an effort to avoid it.  Uggg.  This of course spoiled my plans of going into the city Sunday afternoon.  Luckily I was able to sleep a lot on Sunday, and thankfully today I feel much better, just have been battling a headache and leftover aches, etc.  And sadly I am missing the first two days of the 2nd semester.  I had a perfect record 1st semester, even with getting genuinely sick, but to my chagrin, it isn't meant to be this time.  I'll just have to work all the harder to make up for it!! 

So... trying not to feel guilty here about Wednesday now being my first day at school.  I could be going back today but am afraid what might happen if I push things too hard.  I still am not 100%, so tomorrow (Tuesday), I'll go back in and have sufficient time to get settled and prepared for the rest of the week.  Who knew of the unexpected potential drama that can ensue?  Well, that's my little update for the first week "back".  Still recuperating (from what one can only wonder was e. coli or a strain similarly as bad!) in the comforts of home - and hope to be dancing before I know it! 

All creatures great and small

Interesting morning here.  I awoke at 7:30 to a gray chilly morning - 26 degrees and clouded over.  I made French toast for breakfast with the rest of the Challah I made 2 days ago, which all turned out very well.  Later in the morning as I was just drinking my tea, to my great surprise, (alright, complete astonishment!) I spotted a fairly large creature with light markings on its fur, a bit bigger than a dog - well, it looked something like this!

                                             Coyote                  Photo Credit:  Nature's Pics

The young coyote was standing in the middle of the yard amid our chickens, quite close to the house and deck.  I really couldn't believe what I was seeing, and it felt as if I was in slow-motion getting to the door.  Once outside and on the deck I used my voice and hands to scare it off.  It took some work for it to move away - it was young and maybe getting used to the ever-encroaching development of the "country" out here.  It went near the edge of the woods at the end of our property where it joined another coyote which looked exactly like it.  In a moment, they were gone, much to our relief.  It was nearly deja vu for me, as we have experienced this a couple of years before.  Sometimes we hear them howling (summer nights this can be a common occurrence), and nothing makes my blood run colder, I'm ashamed to admit.  (No, I'm not a city wimp!)

 In dealing with chicken predators over the years, the worst offenders are hawks, skunks, and foxes.  The coyotes are apparently harmless, according to the animal control we spoke with several years ago after a run-in with quite a few of the above predators.  They are really after the foxes which coyotes find to be "candy".  I guess we will now have to keep our eyes open as to what might happen over the next few days.  Hopefully St. Francis will protect our lovely chickens and all will be well.  This comes only recently after a hawk fly by (New Year's Day) that rattled the flock, no damage done, however. I'm wondering if the 6 degree cold snap of Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning sparked wildlife appetite. 

So, perhaps a bit-off topic for the general atmosphere here, but nothing like a bit of (unwelcome) wildlife to set off the adrenaline for the morning!  But now, on to more routine adventures: haircut and grocery shopping.

Christmas photos

A Merry Christmas! 

Christmas Day was a nice relaxed day filled with music, opening of gifts, consumption of far too many cookies, bright candles and cheery Christmas lights, calls from family, visits from an uncle from MD, an Aunt from VA, and a friend from NY...

And of course, the Christmas Gangsters!!

I rather like how this photo blurred...

Christmas Day (candlelit) dinner table

O Christmas Tree!

Stars...

Winter moon...

Nothing like the nice cozy warmth of the woodstove!

Happy New Year!

Wishing all of my readers and friends a very Happy 2012! I hope you're all still enjoying the Christmas season (on this 9th day of Christmas).
Winter is definitely here. We got our first dusting of snow a couple of days ago (woo!) and last night the low was 6 degrees! Pile up the fire, bake, drink tea, and cozy up with a good book. (I'm curious- what have you been up to now that the cold weather has hit?  What do you do to stay non-bored and avoid the cabin fever?)

Yesterday found me baking a bit more - Challah for this morning's French toast, and delightful lemon zest buttermilk scones with marmalade for tea. I think I'm going to make a few more gingersnap men and women - they were really good and I couldn't resist making another batch of dough. And then it's on to packing, for almost before I know it I'll be back in the city this weekend, ready to dance next week!

More to come, including photos!