It's full-on blossoming-tree season, which means it's high time to take myself for a photo wander in town.
After I drop Reed off at school, I drive to the photo I've been taking in my head all week. I'm so engrossed in deciding where to pull over that I accidentally blow right through a stop sign. Siren-song shot or no, it wouldn't have been worth it if it had yielded a collision with the other driver instead of a scolding.
In any case, walking is safer. Also, there are dogs to pet. This sweetheart is Lily. (Lily's lovely humans whose names I should have written down, please give me a call for a copy of your photo!)
I agree, it's a beautiful day for an open-air ride to an open-air restaurant.
Daffodils! Or jonquils?
And forthythia (how it should be spelled) in full bloom everywhere. This is the Conklin Barn, owned and rented out by the Huntington Historical Society for cool gatherings.
The side door is open, so I walk over to investigate.
I meet Todd, who's there building a kitchenette, and he very kindly invites me inside. Any other day I'd stay and photograph every nifty nook and cranny.
But it's an outdoor day, so I move on. When I see the doors thrown open at the bar/restaurant Red and a woman setting up tables out front, I ask for a menu. While I'm waiting for her to return, this gentleman suggests that I take photos of their beautiful back patio. He's Nino, it turns out, the owner. As he leads me through the restaurant, he asks if I like jam.
Jam?
Jam.
He hands me a mason jar of gold and says, "Pineapple."
(Yes, it's delicious.)
Though I'm not properly equipped with my wide-angle lens, I photograph a sliver of this back-patio heaven and chat a little with the marvelous Justine about film cameras and the precarious future of the Art League of Long Island, and then I ask to take her photo and we agree that it'll be just for her so I won't post it here although it's pretty so I'm a little sad but I definitely think you should go have lunch or dinner at Red asap.
I stop in next at Soul Brew for an iced hazelnut coffee and a wedge of chocolate crumb cake. Look how awesome this place and its baristas are. They agree to a photo, saying, "Yeah, we're a cool vibe, I get it." I didn't get their names, though, so points off for that.
Jam in one hand and coffee in the other, I'm finding it hard to take photos, so I head toward the car, full of crumb cake and riches. As Soul Brew says:
And don't forget the bacon.
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