More Shambles reflections

Just because there isn't any real connection between the Shambles and Diagon Alley is no reason not to sell all the Harry Potter merchandise you can. There are at least two Harry Potter stores in Oxford and tourists can't even visit most of the locations where scenes were filmed.

Saturday reflections

A shop window in the Shambles, a medieval street in York that was reportedly the inspiration for Diagon Alley in Harry Potter, although J.K. Rowling said she'd never been there.

Anyway, it looks like it could have been.

Saturday reflections

The Corpus Clock in Cambridge.

It's situated outside the Taylor library at Corpus Christi college, and you can see a little of the towers of King's College across the street in the reflections.

It was conceived and funded by John Taylor, an alumnus of Corpus Christi, and is as much an art installation as it is a clock. It does have the basic machinery of a clock, but turned inside out. There are no numbers or hands, and the time is indicated by slits emitting blue LED light. But it's only accurate once in every five minutes, symbolizing the irregularity of life.

The clock was first displayed to the public in 2008, unveiled by Stephen Hawking.

Saturday reflections

It's surprising to me that it's only been two weeks since I took this picture—it feels like forever ago.

This is from the hot Sunday when I got lost in Oxford and at one point found myself in a tunnel underneath the Rewley swing bridge. It was kind of creepy actually, but the reflections were nice.

Flashback: Inverness

A spectacular day on the river Ness in 2015.

Saturday reflections

The Cherwell by Magdalen College in Oxford last summer. The floating leaves on top of the reflection make a nice effect.

One last look at Wonder Lake

I'm done with Denali—the mountain anyway; I may find a few more pictures from the bus ride through the park. So here's Wonder Lake again; it was, without exaggeration, one of the most perfectly beautiful places I've ever been.

Saturday reflections birthday do-over

Okay, this is much better.

This is Wonder Lake in Denali National Park in Alaska in 2014, with the namesake mountain there on the right. Alaska is the next stop on the flashback and it's been a lot of fun to go through those pictures. I've been able to visit so many beautiful places in my life, and I am grateful for every one of them.

Saturday reflections

Today is my birthday and I wanted to post a really cool reflection shot to celebrate, but this is the best I can find: buildings in lower Manhattan.

Saturday reflections

Layers of reflections through the windows of the Fifth Avenue bus, a few months ago when it was still dark in the early evening.

The in-betweenish spring weather is lingering longer than usual this year: a day in the 80's is followed by one in the 50's. I met some students in Central Park today, and when I walked outside it was much colder than I had expected. As there was no way in hell I was walking back up the four flights of stairs to get a jacket, I made a quick stop on the way to buy a hoodie at the gift shop at the zoo. And I congratulated myself on this very clever solution, right up until the moment the cashier rang it up: $60!

Flashback: Mirror Lake

And that's it for New Zealand—one last scenic stop on the South Island.

Saturday reflections

The reflections are secondary maybe, but I liked this truck in camouflage colors I saw parked in the East Village last night.

More urban poetry

I really like this one—early evening, and the sunset reflected in snowmelt on Park Avenue.

Geometries

A plaza between West 41st and West 42nd Streets, near Bryant Park.

Saturday reflections

A ceiling at La Guardia airport earlier this week.

When I was planning this trip, I expected that airfares would be higher than last year, but I was surprised by how much. So I dithered and delayed, and—surprise, surprise!—the flights didn't get any cheaper. And I've used up most of my miles and points, so I ended up booking Delta flights out of La Guardia because it was the cheapest option. Both of the flights had connections, which makes for some long travel days, but I'm still leery of Newark, though I haven't heard of any major delays there recently, and JFK is just so far away, so I was happy to have the option of La Guardia.

Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Then the TSA delays started, and the lines at La Guardia were of course the worst of the three New York airports—3-4 hours the day before I left, even with TSA Pre. Standing in line is unpleasant under the best circumstances, and is really, really unpleasant with a bad knee, so I was, um, stressed.

But I dutifully arrived at the airport four hours before my flight, and got through bag check and security in less than 30 minutes. I indulged in breakfast at a nice restaurant with comfortable seating, where the scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, juice and coffee cost me $45 dollars and was worth every penny.

Saturday reflections

I am not sure what building this was, but I think it was probably the old Governor's House or one of the other buildings in the Dowlat-Abad Gardens, in Yazd, Iran.

Travel Flashback: Tehran reflections

Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

The Tenth Avenue bus yesterday. That snow bank was not as daunting as it appears in this photo; there was a path behind it for getting on and off the bus.

Saturday reflections

(Posted late because last night I felt like lying flat on my bed and watching television was too exhausting.)

The Church of the Holy Trinity on East 88th Street—not to be confused with Holy Trinity Church a few blocks south—as a winter afternoon slides into twilight.

What this photo lacks is the soundtrack of drip drip drip from snow melting off the eaves, which was an unpleasant reminder of what was going on at that moment in my apartment a few miles away (now apparently resolved, though I still have some painting/repair in my future.) Another blizzard is on the way, with up to two feet of snow expected. Can I just say—Yuck!

Saturday reflections

Windows on the Upper East Side, down the street from those snowy lions.