Came across these strange woolly creations attached to a wrought iron fence in front of the Drew United Methodist Church in Carmel, NY. I’ve no idea what their significance is.
Woolly Things
Mount Carmel Baptist Church
This lovely old church in Carmel,NY has not one, but two old cemeteries associated with it. Despite this I had great difficulty finding any information related to it on the Internet. Eventually I came across: History of Putnam County, New York : with biographical sketches of its prominent men by Pelletreau, William S. (William Smith), 1840-1918 Published 1886. All of the quotations below are from here. I haven’t been able to find anything more recent than 1886. Maybe a trip to the Carmel Historical Society is in order?
The family of Elisha Cole are supposed to have been the first Baptists settled here and his descendants have ever been identified with the church of that denomination. The society is supposed to have been organized about 1770, but for many years there was no meeting house in this vicinity. In the summer time meetings were held in the open air and Elder Elisha Cole preached to numbers gathered from all the country round, while in winter the meetings were held in private houses. Sometime between 1780 and 1785, a building was bought and moved to a place on the west side of the street in Carmel, where the house of the late Lewis Ballard now stands, next south of the horse sheds belonging to the church. This was used till 1806, when a second church was built. This meeting house stood on the small lot south of the present church and on land leased from Frederick Philipse. In the survey of Lot 6 in 1810 the first church is spoken of as having been ” sold and converted into a barn.”
Monuments behind the church.
June 29th, 1821, Frederick Philipse gave to the trustees of the church ” in consideration of his respect for the religious establishment whose temporal concerns are under their care and supervision,” the piece of land now owned by the church, lying on the west side of the road and including the old burying ground, and also the small lot south of the present church on which the second meeting house was then standing.
More monuments.
The church was incorporated February 16th, 1807, the trustees being Barnabas Carver, Joseph Cole and Henry Nichols, and ” the Society then agreed that their house and society be called by the name of Mount Carmel.” The third church was erected in 1836 on land bought of Eli Kelley, November 25th, 1885, and remained till 1869.
Adams monument.
In 1867 Rev. William S. Clapp again took charge of the church and has remained its pastor till the present time. The present church was built in 1869 and dedicated March 10th, 1870. The old church was sold to Leonard Yeamans for $405. The pulpit and seats were used for the present Baptist church at Boyd’s Reservoir.
Toppled obelisk.
The new church which was built at a cost of $133,000, will seat 600 persons and is an elegant and imposing edifice.
This is the old burial ground – across the road from where the church and its other graveyard stands.
Statue in the Old Town
From a scanned print and taken in the Old Town, Geneva, Switzerland sometime in the early to mid 1990s. It was most likely taken with a Canon AE-1.
Radio City Music Hall
Entrance foyer and upper level bar.
As the final round of celebrations for my wife’s birthday she had expressed an interest in seeing the “NY Spring Spectacular” at Radio City Music Hall – Starring Laura Benanti and Derek Hough. My wife is a fan of “Dancing with the Stars” and apparently Mr. Hough has played a noteworthy role in this show (personally I’d never heard of him). Also featured of course were the famous Rockettes.
After 30 plus years in New York this is the first time I’ve been to Radio City Music Hall. The auditorium is certainly spectacular and the show itself was pleasant enough for what it was: essentially a travel guide to NY City told in song and dance. The stars were certainly talented and the sets were magnificent. My wife thoroughly enjoyed it. I tend to prefer shows, which are rather “meatier”: e.g. anything by Stephen Sondheim. It was definitely good value for money.
Detail of one of the doors to the auditorium.
Another door detail
Inside the auditorium
And finally a shot of the performance: The Rockettes.
The Real Meanings of Common Photographic Words and Expressions
This gave me a few laughs. I particularly liked the following:
Foreground interest: Bits of wood, branches, seaweed, shells and other readily available detritus that a photographer can drag from its actual resting place to a convenient spot just in front of what they’re actually photographing. Most commonly employed by coastal photographers who will cheerfully drag a six foot branch for half a kilometre if it makes their sunset composition look a bit less dull.
via The Real Meanings of Common Photographic Words and Expressions.
I’ve recently bumped into “The Real Meanings of Common Photographic Words and Expressions. Part II.“. I think my favourite from part II is: “Natural Light Photographer: Someone who’s never successfully worked out how to operate a flash. Also someone genetically predisposed to not be overweight”. The first part definitely applies to me. I’m terrible with flash. The second part definitely does not apply. I also liked:Photojournalist: Career path with similar prospects to that of installer of asbestos ceilings.”