Photographs of the Month

The Dog days are upon us, summer has reared up its hot and humid head, the end is in sight. Not that I want it to end, My son and I have been enjoying sleeping in, me until 6:30 rather than 5:45 in order to get him going for school. He gets to sleep in until all hours of the morning, sometimes even the afternoon. We figure it's probably the one and only time of his life when he'll be able to do that so what the heck. July was an eventful month for us. Baseball was hot and heavy early in the month, then it crash landed by mid-month with both his regular teams losing early in the playoffs. He wasn't there for either of those losses as his dad brought him along to New York on a business trip, his first visit. For me it was my first visit in ten years. The exciting thing for this post is that for the fist time since I've been doing these monthly surveys of photography, I get to list a place other than Chicago in the captions. Shall we begin?

After a special Pony League baseball game at Curtis Granderson Park, the college stadium for the UIC Flames, the boy and I ventured into the old Italian neighborhood and Taylor Street where we found this crowd waiting to by Italian Lemonade on a hot summer afternoon.

July 10, Taylor Street, Chicago

The following day my mom invited the boy and me to lunch at the venerable Walnut Room of the former Marshall Field Store on State Street.

July 11, Walnut Room, Chicago

I commented when I posted this picture on my Instagram account, "And to think I once considered this to be a gratuitous intrusion on the urban landscape." Needless to say, I no longer do.

July 12, Crown Fountain, Millennium Park, Chicago

Our grand entrance into the city, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. My son's first visit.

July 15, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, New York

The House that Ruth built. Well not exactly, the original one across the street was torn down a few years ago, but this one looks more like it did during the age of the Bambino than the old one did after it's seventies makeover.

July 15, Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

The unmistakable spiral ramps of Frank Lloyd Wright's Gugenheim Museum, trying to rekindle my son's interest in architecture and FLW. Not sure if he succeeded. 

July 16, Guggenheim Museum, New York

New York City not only has two big league baseball teams, it also has two minor league clubs. We took my friend's brilliant suggestion to visit this ballpark steps away from the ferry terminal to see the Staten Island Yankees play. Quite honestly it was way more enjoyable than watching the big league Yanks play. Way cheaper too, not to mention the view.

July 16, Richmond County Stadium, Staten Island, New York

My friend told me that since he moved to New York over thirty years ago, ridership on NYC subways has doubled. I concur. Here's a little family moment on one of the less crowded trains.

July 18, Lexington IRT Subway, New York

Fun with the iPhone panorama feature in busy Times Square.

July 18, Times Square, New York

One of the grandest interiors anywhere, I cursed the tourists who blocked the stairways to get this shot, until I became one of them.

July 18, Grand Central Terminal, New York

Next to the Brooklyn Bridge, this is my favorite New York Bridge, the Queensboro. We found Sutton Place, not pictured here, where Woody Allen and Diane Keaton sat on a bench overlooking the bridge in his film Manhattan.  New York at its most romantic. Our parting shot.

July 19, Queensboro Bridge, New York

Back home in Chicago and my favorite view of Millennium Park, the little river and walkway that bisects Lurie Garden looking toward the Modern Wing of the Art Institute.

July 30, Lurie Garden, Millennium Park, Chicago

And now its time for August which will bring lots of work and hopefully another trip, this time with the entire family, Stay tuned and stay cool.