New York Miscellany for Faraway Friends: February 2011

I haven't posted anything for a *long* time! Luckily, my blogmates have taken up the slack. I was looking through iphoto and realized I have all these pictures from the fall and winter that I never got around to posting. So I'll start sharing again, but only if you'll forgive the long absence! Here's November that was.

First things first: I took Julia to see The Pee-Wee Herman Show as a late (very late) birthday gift. I think "overjoyed" wouldn't even cover Julia's feelings, but here's the picture so you can judge for yourself.

Julia, Matthew, Stella, and I biked over to Newtown Creek to enjoy the recently opened "nature walk." Apparently Newtown Creek is home to more than toxic sludge and the sewage treatment plant! What a perfect location for a nature walk. For real, though the walk itself is actually nicely designed and maybe a superfund site *is* the perfect place to try to appreciate something we did a good job effing up.
The nature walk starts out concrete. Go figure.

Besides that, one or two things other things puzzle me. For instance,access to the water. For what purpose, exactly? To better enjoy the view of the garbage scows in the distance, or to appreciate the scent of the fuggy breeze wafting off the canal?

Food plants in the "fragrance garden." Really, who would even consider that?

I don't think you have to worry about anyone swimming here (except for a certain Brooklyn assemblyman), but just in case:

Still, we did get the "nature," as promised.

And a nice view walking back. If by "nice," you mean "industrial," which I do.

My last bike outing of 2010 was a Bayside bike ride. We took Time Out New York's word for it, and made a big loop from the last stop on the F train to Fort Totten and back. I'm not sure if we did the entire loop suggested by the article, but it was a beautiful, picturesque ride with some delicious Thai food at the end, so no complaints.