Julio’s Musings Around Columbia County, New York

Times Square Spectacular

Originally uploaded by julio.miyares.

My penchant for taking photos of New York City skyscraper contruction sites landed me as one of the photograhpers on this article in Now Public
No, this is not the photograph I am talking about but figured I would use a photo that has more sex-appeal and attractive power then the one associated with the article which is simply a steel skeleton view of the current Bank of America super tall Skycraper construction in Mid-Town Manhattan.

As to the teaser photo , if you are interested in figuring out what the billboard model has in her mouth, you will need to go to my Flickr Collection to see a zoomed out photo.

[tags]Julio Hernandez-Miyares,New York City[/tags]

Hearth

Originally uploaded by julio.miyares.

I have admittedly become infatuated with my wood stove which I purchased and installed at the onset of winter 2006/2007.
So infatuated that I take pictures of it.

Besides the cost savings which are considerable as the stove efficiently heats up to 1200 square feet of living space, the type of warmth and just the esthetic of the wood burning is sufficient value in and of itself.

Not for the lazy though as you do have to continuously feed it logs and unless you stack the logs up in the living room , you are making a few trips to the garage or sometimes outside in the bitter cold to get additional fuel.

[tags]Julio Hernandez-Miyares, Columbia County[/tags]

Rug Making in Columbia COunty, New York

Originally uploaded by julio.miyares.

i caught and snapped a glimpse of Columbia County, New York artist extraordinaire, Maria Victoria shown here practicing her new craft of rug-making in her country gallery. So far after a few weeks of this labor intensive activity, she has two half-done rugs. Makes you wonder how you are supposed to make a living doing this. I think I will stick to writing code for a living, or at least managing people that write code for a living.

[tags]Julio Hernandez-Miyares, Maria Victoria de Bernard,Rug making,Columbia County[/tags]

Yardwork, Columbia County, NY

Originally uploaded by julio.miyares.

The photo seen here was taken back in early summer 2006 in Columbia County, New York. As winter marches on and February 2007 moves past the mid way point, I start to get more antsy for the return of these types of experiences. On this day, though late in the planting season, I was planting tomatoes, corn, basil and other delectables.

The corn was a washout, but the tomatoes came out nice and juicy if not a tad small.

The dog is Serafin, munching on a twig or something of the sort. He is truly a dog of the wild. He has been known to tear into the forest and not come back for days at a time.

This year I plan on setting up a chicken coop. Why? Well why not.
Advice on setting up Chicken Coop

[tags]Columbia County,Julio Hernandez-Miyares[/tags]

Happy Clown – Columbia County, NY

Originally uploaded by julio.miyares.

Less then two months to go! That is when Happy Clown, a family owned ice cream establishment on Country Road 82 selling the best soft ice-cream on the planet opens up after the long yearly winter hiatus. Actually, it usually closes for the season on Labor Day weekend which is the end of the onslaught of City Slicker Day Trippers and the beginning of the relentless march to winter. It’s opening is the true Spring ritual even though it is not rare for snow in Columbia County in April and to have snow showers as late as May.

Why the name Happy Clown? The place is full of Clown dolls. Not sure what it all has to do with ice-cream but I suspect they are probably keep sakes of the owner’s children, that’s just a guess.

[tags]Columbia County,Julio Hernandez-Miyares,Happy Clown[/tags]

Winter Wonderland in Columbia County, New York

Originally uploaded by julio.miyares.

Pristine snow covers the Miyares Farm in Columbia County, New York in early February 2007. Amazingly, the 2 or so inches that fell overnight were the first real snow of this winter season. Usually at this stage there are various feet which have accumulated since December from a number of large snow storms.
Nevertheless this is quite a juxtaposition from where I was the previous week which was in Bangalore , India with temperatures averaging about 80 degrees.

Nevertheless , thoughts of spring abound. Sometime in the next 2 weeks should receive and have installed the chicken coop from which fresh eggs will now be available from the Miyares farm.

In a little over one and a half months, Happy Clown , the best ice cream place in my opinion, will re-open for the season after the long winter hiatus. They usually close right after Labor Day.

Bank of America Construction

Originally uploaded by julio.miyares.

About half way up to what will be its peak , the new Bank of America tower quickly rises on 6th Avenue and 42nd street in New York City.

I have been enjoying watching the construction of this mammoth tower starting off with the foundational work when it was just a big hole in the ground 2 years ago. At its current height and with no good vantage points, I have had trouble capturing the iron workers walking the beams as they are hoisted and then assembled to add additional floors to the super structure.
Its a marvel to observe 3 large kangaroo cranes operating in tandem in one of the most congested areas in the world.

It will be interesting to observe an even more awesome sight around the World trade Center site later in 2008 as 4 towers each taller then 1000 feet will be rising simultaneously.

[tags]Julio Hernandez-Miyares, New York City[/tags]