From shorts to polar fleece

After my run Saturday morning, Steve and I took a walk  around the neighborhood though things were closed due to the Sabbath

local graffiti

This bizarrely named café was near where we ate Saturday lunch (back to the crepe place to try a different crepe). It is  across from the Good View Bakery, so named for the nearby train or maybe this cafe

Later a long walk along the Straits of the Verrazano. We attempted this a few days before with 10 degrees and 30 mph winds
Winds were still 30 mph but at 60, more tolerable

Then a stop at Spumoni Gardens for rainbow spumoni, a mix of cremolata, pistachio, and chocolate

Last breakfast. Hamantaschen for Purim. Whitefish and lox for the bagels.

Our ride home: all photos from a moving car. Sparkly Gehry building in eastern light

Normally we don't take the FDR drive and then the George Washington Bridge because it is out of the way but our access to the Holland and Lincoln tunnels were blocked by a race. Glad for the detour as all was beautiful

Bridge in Toledo

It was sunny and warm Saturday morning for my run in a short sleeved tee shirt and shorts. Much less traffic as theoretically, no one should be driving. A sharp contrast to today where I was greeted with minus one temps and some wind. Steve and I then went for a walk around the neighborhood and then later to lunch.

A small family sat across from us as we waited for our food, the child, a girl of about  12 was nimbly editing photos for her Facebook page. I was impressed with her adeptness with bent thumbs. Although she was quite pretty, many of her photos showed her with grossly contorted grimaces or kissy faces. Why do young people find this attractive? But the funny thing was when her crepe arrived, her mother silently went over and cut it into little pieces for her. She had no obvious motor difficulties (quite the opposite) but yet....

We walked along the water under the Verrazano Bridge, a 5 mile walkway ( in the olden days, I'd run the length and back) Very breezy but pretty (we did only 3-4 miles of it) The rest of the family was out at Jones Beach further out on Long Island but it would have been a pain to go in 2 cars and we had water and beach right here in Brooklyn. Then on to my favorite Spumoni Gardens, which surprisingly,is more known for its pizza (always in the best lists) but the family does not agree. We had gone to his brother's favorite place, over in Sheepshead Bay, for the real stuff the day before (where I contentedly slurped my pasta fagoli instead). Spumoni is sort of a cross between gelato and ice. Not as rich as gelato but has milk in it. The place makes ices of all sorts too but rainbow spumoni is what I came for.

A few hours later, the family returned for one last dinner at Steve's favorite Italian restaurant, a stop for some baked goods to take home to Michigan (who has the best rainbow cookies? Cuccio's or Elegante?) and then movie night, this time with the NYC classic Goodfellas. I fell asleep during it but woke frequently during the night due to Purim festivities nearby which seemed to include firecrackers and drunken shouting and singing. Oy! Our Purim activities included me eating hamantaschen though my sister in law got a 4 day weekend because of it from the yeshiva she teaches at.

After bagels and all the Brooklyn fixings, the long ride home commenced. Good driving weather though and our detour due to the NYC half marathon blocking our usual path was pretty with the buildings sparkling in the early light.

Still the snow covers all the lawns and still the snow mountains but the street are mostly clear of ice so I have a path now. A visit from Naomi and Maya as soon as we got home (couldn't wait for those rainbow cookies) and then today I delivered a package to Shanna.

It's Josh's birthday today but he wants us to celebrate it later in the week.

And don't forget the cherry cheese knishes.