Day 855




Day 855




but I believe the birds have been fed.

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Retreat!

May 3rd, 2014


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Tulip riot

May 3rd, 2014


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Taking it

May 3rd, 2014


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Nothing new here: "When neighbors are talking in Midland Beach, they say, 'Which lake do you live on?' "

Day 855

Miller Field

May 3rd, 2014



This former Army airfield, established just after World War I, is now part of Gateway National Recreation Area. Most of the property is currently covered with athletic fields, but the building above, erected in 1920 as a double seaplane hangar, serves as a reminder of the site's aviatic past. At right is the old Elm Tree Lighthouse, a namesake of the original nautical beacon that stood in this area: a large elm tree at the foot of New Dorp Lane that ships used as a navigational landmark. The similar-looking brick pillar is a former parachute drying tower.

I've briefly mentioned Miller Field once before on this blog, by the way, as the site where an airliner hurtled into the ground following a mid-air collision in 1960 — a disaster commonly known as the Park Slope plane crash, named for the residential neighborhood in Brooklyn where the other airliner went down.

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There is a group of 13 or so houses standing in Miller Field; they apparently date back to when the site was an Army airfield. Given that they're now located in the middle of a park (Miller Field is part of Gateway National Recreation Area), I was surprised to find that they're still used as residences! One woman standing in front of her house told me that only National Park Service workers and certain other federal employees (and their families) are eligible to live in them. You can see the houses and the neighboring soccer fields in this aerial view.

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The Verrazano looms

May 3rd, 2014


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1955 Ford Ranch Wagon

May 3rd, 2014


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Burro Island

May 3rd, 2014



Standing in a sea of front-yard concrete. This is not the first such scene we've seen, although in this case the little donkey appears to be part of a memorial to a deceased pet dog.

Day 855

From house to RV

May 3rd, 2014



Courtesy, presumably, of Hurricane Sandy

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Patterson and Graham

May 3rd, 2014


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Freeborn Street skyway

May 3rd, 2014


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Ramped up

May 3rd, 2014



Trying to stay above the floodwaters in Midland Beach

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9/11 memorial #201

May 3rd, 2014



Closer look here

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His trippiest one yet

May 3rd, 2014



Scott LoBaido continues to redefine the American flag mural.

Day 855

Awesome mailbox #91

May 3rd, 2014



This postal receptacle is modeled after the Friendship Firehouse in Alexandria, Virginia. Now a museum, the building was once home to the Friendship Fire Company, established in 1774, whose first fire engine was purchased by George Washington.

Day 855

Bear climbing a tree?

May 3rd, 2014


Day 855

Dog hugging a tree.

May 3rd, 2014


Day 855

Another addition

May 3rd, 2014



to the series

Day 855




in Midland Beach