In the two months since I last posted at Out Walking the Dog, I’ve spent time in Texas, northern Michigan and eastern Long Island as well as here at home in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights. I’m back now and ready to blog. Soon I’ll write about what I saw in Dallas,
White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas
Traverse City,
Traverse City, Michigan
and the south fork of Long Island.
Mecox Bay, Long Island, NY
But first I want to catch up with a look at early spring here on my Morningside Heights home turf, back in early April before the trees leafed out. Riverside Park’s great retaining wall is an object of great beauty in all seasons as well as a terrific place to watch animals, including humans.
Here is the wall in late afternoon on one of the first days of April, when the trees were still mostly bare of leaves.
An Eastern gray squirrel, lit by the sun, ventures near the entrance to the raccoon den. The raccoons, which keep the animal equivalent of jazzman hours, probably won’t be stirring for another hour or two.
At the top of the wall, against a tangle of soon-to-leaf branches, another squirrel discusses life with a young woman.
A man gazes out across the Hudson,
while a young mother and her baby enjoy the daffodils below.
A robin with his breast afire forages at the bottom of the wall.
And high above, the moon glides through the still blue sky.
Out walking the dog 