Halloween & Me

Halloween kicked in on my radar finally, especially after the storm cancelled all the weekend events forcing a lull in the manic festivities. Earlier in the month I made a commitment to shoot the "Dobbs Ferry Furry Pet Halloween Parade" for the Rivertowns Patch and I arrived early to find a place to park. Dobbs Ferry quickly became mobbed with memorable dogs, kids and grown-ups in costume. It was easy to make a lot of fun photos. Back at the ranch, James carved some impressive pumpkins to create our own spooky tableau. Dinner by the fire with a creepy movie on tv, James doled out the candy to the trick or treaters who came to our door. Jacob had stayed in town with friends after school and came home cold and tired long before we expected him. My final parental duty was chauffeuring Sarah and her friend Lauren to the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Music Hall to round out their evening. Driving home past the cemetery near midnight, Sarah searched in vain in hopes of seeing a ghostly creature. But for me, my highlight was the chance to observe so many neat subjects at the parade. After the sudden wintry weather, the warmer temperatures and clear skies put the crowd in an excellent mood.

An Unnamed Relative (and Friend) do Halloween

One of my children has enjoyed playing different characters for as long as I can remember. We other relatives get a kick out of the quality of her creations. Sometimes I forget how much fun Halloween can be.

Halloween in the Hollow

When you live in a historic town, its cultural legacy is hard to avoid. This is the area where Washington Irving made his home called Sunnyside and his famous story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" takes place here. Halloween in Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow is more than an evening of interesting costumes and trick or treaters gathering candy traipsing door to door by the light of carved pumpkins. It is a month long extravaganza of terror inducing hayrides, literary re-enanctments of spooky stories and the spectacles of haunted houses. Yes, it's one big commercial opportunity for local tourism which by October 31st has exhausted the interest of most everyone who lives here. So, when something at all unique is created, it is a treat for me. The members of the Hill and Dale Garden Club of Tarrytown decorated our local Historical Society this year and one of the tombstones was especially poignant and timely. A brief ode of sorts to another legend in a setting meant to inspire.

Spirit Week 2011

Last week was spirit week at our high school. As I wrote about last year, my daughter is very good when it comes to expressing herself through her appearance. (to see a few examples from 2010, click here and click here.) Needless to say, I have become less and less desirable as their personal photo journalist so I am always glad when I am allowed a few moments of their extremely valuable time to record an image or two (or 10 or 12- remember, most of my working career I shot fashion and the average model wasn't happy unless you took upwards of 30 frames on any given set-up...) I was in the kitchen with her while she was eating her breakfast- the day's theme was "nerd/geek" and she was willing to oblige. I praise the stars, the heavens, and their good mood when I have a chance to take a picture of my children that I like. (and if I am really lucky, they approve of it as well.)

Two gals have an early morning adventure

Liza has a great sense of adventure and that is a wonderful thing. So when she suggests an outing I am always interested. She got an invite to go to a taping of the Today Show to see Coldplay on the plaza at Rockefeller Center. One of the requirements was arriving by 5:30 in the morning to be part of the audience. But no worries- we got on the road at 4:30 to drive to the city and make our way. Coldplay has some dedicated fans because when we arrived there were swarms of people which meant we were quite a ways from the stage. No problem there- the whole scene was plenty to captivate me. Al Roker even stood in front of us to do one of the weather spots. I know from past experience that it takes dozens (if not hundreds) of people to put this enterprise together and I loved watching all the working parts. Coldplay sounded amazing and the crowd had a great time. Hopefully, everyone has a friend like Liza who loves to do all sorts of things and is happy to include a pal when life allows.