Mr. Law, we need a church – Some early luminaries

by Posted in Buildings/Structures, Houses of Worship, People Leave a comment
bccpresentation-earlyluminaries-1-of-1

Some of the key players in the early development of the Congregational movement, and the creation of the Briarcliff Congregational Church. Clockwise from left to right: Mr. Robert Raikes (instrumental in establishing the Sunday School movement in the UK); a map of Whitson’s Corners which later became Briarcliff Manor; Friedrich Brockelmann’s wedding to Walter Law’s daughter, Edith; Friedrich Brockelmann; Mr. George A. Todd, Jr. who uttered the immortal words: “Mr. Law we need a church” and who provided the stone for its construction; The Rev. John Wesley.

Taken with a Sony A7IV and Rokinon/Samyang AF 75mm f1.8 FE

A Soccer Match

by Posted in People Leave a comment
highschoolgame-1-of-1

As I was returning home from one of my walks I noticed this soccer match taking place at a local high school.

Of course, I’m British and I have to call it soccer rather than what the rest of the world calls it: football. This is because in the US they have a very popular sport (the Superbowl was just yesterday), which is called football. Now I know very little about American football. I’m not knocking the sport; I just don’t understand it. I know a number of Americans who don’t seem to understand soccer either (don’t get me started on cricket. I’ve tried to explain cricket to Americans, but very soon their eyes start to glaze over – can’t say I blame them). I watched about five minutes of yesterday’s Superbowl and then left because I couldn’t figure out what was going on. One thing I do know though is that they almost never use their feet to kick the ball.

As I was walking past someone kicked the ball over the fence. I heard a voice, and it was one of the players asking me to throw it back. I dutifully picked up the ball, carried it across the street and threw it back over the fence. The boy picked it up and ran off – not a word of thanks. Ah, the youth of today. I think I’ve become a grumpy old man. Actually I know I have. There’s a line in the musical, “Ragtime”, which reads:

Grandfather had been a professor of Greek and Latin. Now retired and living with his daughter and her family, he was thoroughly irritated by everything.

Sounds a lot like me.

Taken with a Panasonic Lumix GX85 and Panasonic Lumix 20mm f1.7

Where did he go?

by Posted in Black & White, People, Street Leave a comment
inmanhattanagainwheredidhego-1-of-1

This was taken on Third Avenue around 51st Street. I saw two elderly people approaching: a man using a walker and a woman. The woman stopped for some reason, (maybe to look in a store window?) and without her noticing the man continued on down Third Avenue. After a while she looked up again from whatever she was doing and noticed that he was nowhere in sight. Here she’s looking directly into the sun down Third Avenue to see if she could see him. For a guy with a walker he certainly moved very quickly. While I don’t know how this story ended, I imagine she found him eventually. I didn’t stick around to find out.

Taken with a Sony A6000 and Sony FE 24mm f2.8 G.