This is what the sky looked like this evening near our home. Towards the east was a majestic cloud lit up by the setting sun, while in the west, the clouds were backlit by that same sun. It was beautiful.
I still think clouds are the most amazing things in the universe. The sky can be truly awesome at times.
Texas can have some crazy weather! Growing up in Southern California, we never had huge fluctuations in temperature or lots of rain, especially living near the coast. But here in Texas, it can sometimes get a little crazy, with intense thunderstorms, hail, and flash flooding. Today, we got a couple of short downpours at our house, but nothing extreme. Whew! It did look pretty cool though, as you can see from the photo I took on the way home.
This evening I started on a new sketch. It’s going to be something inspired by Lady Snowblood, and is kind of similar to a painting I did when I was in art school. But I’ll be doing this not in acrylics or oils but with pencil and then digitally. I’m not good at figure drawing so it will take some time, and by looking at reference photos. But I was inspired not only by the movie but also by some illustration books I was browsing through at the Kinokuniya the other day. Such neat art!
Today was a relatively light activity day, but we still had some great highlights to share. But first, we visited Harlem Shake again, this time for breakfast. I couldn’t resist getting a cheeseburger (breakfast of champions) but Bay ordered a yummy breakfast combo. After that, it was a subway ride downtown to catch a boat cruise.
We were originally planning on taking the 1-hour “Lady Liberty” boat tour, but opted to go for the 2+ hour “Sights of New York City” tour from Circle Line Cruises which goes around Manhattan island. The weather was iffy, with storm clouds and rain in the forecast, but we got lucky and there was only one downpour, which we spotted 2 minutes ahead of us so we dipped to the inner part of the observation deck. 🚢
The tour was filled with a ton of interesting information, including the airline water-landing on the Hudson, explanations of the different docks and buildings all along the shores of Manhattan, New Jersey, Long Island, etc. The views were amazing from the water… it looked like the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan shot straight out of the water. Very cool. It was also pretty awesome to see the Statue of Liberty. 🗽 I felt a bit of patriotism stirring deep inside me… especially thinking of my own family’s immigration history and the current political climate, which is uncertain and upsetting.
After the tour (from which I received a little sunburn), we walked to Times Square and had a look around and did a little window shopping and people-watching.
We ate dinner at Cielo at the Mayfair which was literally right next to our other “event” of the day: The Book of Mormon musical at the Eugene O’Neill Theater. This was the first time for both Bay and I too see a musical, and to see it on Broadway was amazing. The Book of Mormon was hilarious and fun 🤣… and the ticket prices weren’t too expensive since it is an older show. Highly recommended! 👍
After the show, we made our way to the subway station and back to our Airbnb in Harlem. Tomorrow will be another long day (driving up to Ithaca!) so it’s time for some rest. 😴
It’s been a crazy week schedule-wise for me, with Mariko being away on vacation and the kids being out of school. Lot’s of appointments and working from home, but the week is almost over!
Today, I dropped off Bay at the airport to travel to California. He’s starting a summer-school program and will be gone for four weeks! I was a tiny bit nervous about him flying along (actually the whole security thing), but he made it to Long Beach as planned and is spending the night with my brother’s family. Of course the travel was pretty easy since he just has carry-ons and took his pre-printed boarding pass straight to security, but still, as a parent, I worry! 😄
I took today’s photo while on the way to pick up dinner. The clouds lately have been really awesome! I guess there are some storms coming, so the weather is a little unpredictable. But it makes for some interesting skies.