Great NYC Restaurant

At 93rd & Amsterdam on the upper West Side of NYC.

Holiday Trees For Sale

Outside of Starbucks on Columbus Avenue.

MTA Work Train

At 34th Street on the 123 line...all locals running on the express track. NYC is always interesting.

Holiday Light Show

At Macy's in the historic John Wanamaker building located in the heart of downtown Philadelphia.

"He Did Not Deserve To Die"

A Canadian commenter writing on the New York Times observes:

Observing all this from North of your Border I can't help but have a sick feeling for the future of those who must face daily life on the streets of your cities. Based on the explanations provided via the Prosecutor I can understand why no charges will be brought against Officer Wilson. But it only makes sense in the context of a US gun culture that has spun out of control. Where firing one's gun is always a first option. Had this scenario happened in England or Scandinavia or Australia or Canada where gun culture is restrictive, I doubt that this young man would have been killed. Make no mistake about it, Mr Brown was acting like a punk. He deserved to be arrested. He did not deserve to die.

Police officers are highly trained and paid a comparatively high salary. They are supposed to use good judgement in protecting the public. They are not supposed to be armed vigilantes acting as judge, jury, and executioner on our streets. Laws that authorize the police use of deadly force against unarmed citizens are bad laws. An encounter between an armed policeman and an unarmed citizen that leads to the death of the unarmed citizen falls outside any acceptable scenario for a civilized society. Our so-called justice system is broken when the perpetrator of police violence walks away unaccountable after causing the death of a citizen. Riots are what happens when powerless and desperate people are pushed against the wall of hopelessness by a broken system that sets free uniformed murderers. Police forces must be DE-militarized. Police must wear body cameras. The laws must be changed to make the use of deadly force a rare event, not a routine one.

Holiday Tree

Always one of my favorite holiday displays...the tall tree at Liberty Place, Philadelphia.

Horseshoe Curve!

A Nice Evening Out

With opur long time friend Louise and her neighbor Brian at Doma Japanese restaurant on Wednesday evening.

A Pretty Rose Color

This bouquet came from our local Shop-Rite store. I love the color.

Another Appealing Gingerbread House

Part of a display in downtown Philadelphia.

Gingerbread Mansions

On display at Liberty Place in downtown Philadelphia. Looking at these makes my mouth water!

My New Book

Hardcover, 84 pages, 219 color photos and illustrations.

Promoting My New Book

This week I finished writing my book on two of my most favorite manufacturers of model trains. The title of the book is: VOLTAMP AND BOUCHER: America's Premier Electric Model Trains. Dan was a great help to me and I really couldn't have done it without his proofing and his excellent suggestions. On Thursday I released it for publication and it became immediately available on Amazon.com. Sales so far have been very encouraging. Today I'm at a local model train show. I have a table with a display of the book.

Saturday At The Opera

We enjoyed The Death Of Klinghoffer at the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday. The controversial work was received well by the audience at our performance.

Autumn In Fairmount Park

It's great to live directly across the street from the park.

Dressed For The Holidays

The beach cottage, now closed until Spring.

Autumn On The Schuylkill

I really love walks in the park at this time of the year.

Schuylkill Banks Sunset

I have been totally occupied the past month with finishing a book project that I started eighteen months ago. I'm writing and photographing my antique model trains and last week I finished the book with Dan's most capable help in proofreading it. Hopefully this week I can approve the proof copy and release it for publication. It's been fun but a lot of work!

Last Morning Glory

Last weekend our family closed the. Beach cottage on Fire Island. We enjoyed the beautiful fall colors and then we left in rather a hurry as a Nor'easter bore down on Long Island. This last Morning Glory was blooming on our deck. No more flowers for us to enjoy now until Spring.