Winter is proving elusive this season. This time last week, a snow blanketed the city, and a walk in Central Park lived up to the billing as a winter wonderland.
The snow is gone now. A walk along the High Line this past Thursday turned up all sorts of colors, few of which we normally associate with winter. Waves of wheat-colored grasses offset nicely with the cool blues of the contemporary buildings and the moody grays of the sky. Some bright orange twiggy barks dazzled along the path, and plump rosy-red buds generously covered some branches.
If it weren't for the High Line's official website, some of us couldn't identify half of these showy plants. Consulting the site, those red berries are likely from the winterberry holly, the weird frilly orange blossoms are a cultivar of witch hazel, and the surprisingly pink blossoms may be identified as Dawn viburnum. Whatever the pink thing was, it looks like winter is not only illusive but banished entirely from the city this year. (In fact, the parks department has cancelled the annual Winter Jam in Prospect Park - it was supposed to take place February 4 - because of consistently warm temperatures.)
(The embedded map includes things to see near the High Line.)
View Near The High Line in a larger map
These pictures were made with the ProHDR app for the iPhone 4, and while the process blends the high light notes with the low light notes, the effect is rather jazzed up in terms of color. Nevertheless, in memory, the walk without the aid of photographic exaggeration is remembered in vivid colors.
Images by Walking Off the Big Apple from the late morning of January 26, 2012.
The snow is gone now. A walk along the High Line this past Thursday turned up all sorts of colors, few of which we normally associate with winter. Waves of wheat-colored grasses offset nicely with the cool blues of the contemporary buildings and the moody grays of the sky. Some bright orange twiggy barks dazzled along the path, and plump rosy-red buds generously covered some branches.
If it weren't for the High Line's official website, some of us couldn't identify half of these showy plants. Consulting the site, those red berries are likely from the winterberry holly, the weird frilly orange blossoms are a cultivar of witch hazel, and the surprisingly pink blossoms may be identified as Dawn viburnum. Whatever the pink thing was, it looks like winter is not only illusive but banished entirely from the city this year. (In fact, the parks department has cancelled the annual Winter Jam in Prospect Park - it was supposed to take place February 4 - because of consistently warm temperatures.)
(The embedded map includes things to see near the High Line.)
View Near The High Line in a larger map
These pictures were made with the ProHDR app for the iPhone 4, and while the process blends the high light notes with the low light notes, the effect is rather jazzed up in terms of color. Nevertheless, in memory, the walk without the aid of photographic exaggeration is remembered in vivid colors.
Images by Walking Off the Big Apple from the late morning of January 26, 2012.
Winter has been quite unlike we would have expected it to be, hasn't it? It's great to be able to still enjoy New York now into February without freezing, but it does make me a little nervous for what weather we should expect come summer!
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. Considering the warm temperatures of late, I hope this doesn't mean we're going to bake all summer.
ReplyDelete