It was our first non-working vacation since the pandemic started. We flew to California for some hiking, biking and wine-tasting. First stop was the Sonoma Coast, north of Jenner. There was a cold wind blowing at about 1000 kph during our visit to Salt Point State Park. But the flowers were in bloom, and the [...]
The rain stopped, so we went to Brooklyn and walked back across a bridge. We found where all the tourists have been hanging out.
When it’s raining in NYC it’s usually both a great and a terrible idea to visit a museum. Great, because what else are you going to do? Terrible, because everyone else has the same idea. But now that NYC is not swarmed with tourists, and museums are still limiting visitors due to COVID, the rules [...]
It was a bleak year. COVID-19 made sure of that. Without a commute, I didn't listen to nearly as much new music as before. But still... ..... here are 3 albums that I liked in 2020. None of the artists are new to me. Gidge is a Swedish electronic duo consisting of Ludvig Stolterman and Jonathan Nilsson [...]
Daniel Van Willegen passed peacefully at his home in Toronto on Saturday, 19 December 2020. He was 58 years old. Dan was born on 5 December 1962, in Toronto, ON, to Willem and Edith (Mindow) Van Willegen. He received his diploma in business management from George Brown College in 1982 and his B.A. from the [...]
We have been back in the USA for about a month now, but have been keeping a low profile due to rising COVID-19 rates here in NJ. Here are various pics from the past month that I never got around to posting. Socially distancing, here in Hoboken... And in NYC...
It was a good week to be out and about in SW Ontario. And I’m not even talking about the fire, police, ambulance and bomb squad who arrived in the neighborhood on Saturday night to take care of a WWII device discovered around the corner from us. @Etobicoke CreekBirdhouses @Etobicoke CreekHVW + SMB @Etobicoke CreekPrep [...]
Week 2 is not unlike week 1, except I got busy and didn’t take any pictures one day. Quarantine Day 8. Work station upgraded thanks to Don.Quarantine Day 11. FaceTime training session.Quarantine Day 12. Fall mums thanks to Dan.Quarantine Day 13. Best part of Canada. (Not maple syrup, hockey, or the Hip).Quarantine Day 14. We’re [...]
The rules say that if you cross the US/Canada border, then you must self-isolate for 2 weeks. So we are sequestered in a house that is just a few blocks away from our first home in Etobicoke. We left more than 25 years ago. Quarantine Day 0. At the border. Quarantine Day 1. Did the [...]
Since I'm not really commuting these days, I walk along the Hudson River each morning. I take the same picture at roughly the same time every day. This is a smörgåsbord of pictures from August and early September.
This week, our “get out and stay sane” event was a visit to MoMA, which recently reopened. The number of visitors is limited, and you need a timed entrance ticket, unless you are the guest of a staff member or volunteer, in which case you can waltz right in(1). @MoMA sculpture garden w/ PS H1 [...]
Heidi and I last visited Maine in the beforetimes (1). We camped at Bar Harbour and at Acadia National Park. Back then, we thought it was a great place. Still do. So we decided to go back, but this time, we stayed in Portland, the city of 66 thousand after which Portland OR is named. [...]
It's one of those sweltering days in the city that I imagine propelled Ray Bradbury's imagination to conjure stories about urban witches, insomnia and climbing the corporate ladder.
We have been in the NYC area for more than 4 years, but during that time, I have never been back to the Empire State Building (1). HVW went with visitors once, but I couldn't make it. The main reason, is the crowds. They are always, always, out of control. We once had a plan [...]
At work, we worry that people are going squirrely after working from home for 4 months. At home, Heidi and I are going (a little) squirrely. So we decided to get away for a few days to a place that doesn’t require quarantine. If you're fond of sand dunes and salty airQuaint little villages here [...]
The helicopter thundering outside our condo was the giveaway. Macy's secret fireworks location would be on the Hudson River tonight. Instead of one big show on 4 July, there are a series of smaller blasts all week. We ran upstairs in time for the start of the show. It lasted less than 10 minutes. Obviously, [...]
The “stay at home” order has been lifted, so we ventured into the city to see what’s what. Masks were worn at all times during this excursion. The area around the Port Authority Bus Terminal was pretty sketchy. All the tourists and commuters and theatre-goers are gone. The homeless and the drug-dealers and the junkies [...]
Hoboken businesses prepare for a George Floyd protest march tomorrow. Hopefully it will turn out to have been unnecessary.
It was a longer than usual commute yesterday.
Days in lockdown have a sameness to them. It's like groundhog day, all over again. I came across the critter in the pic above just across the street from the Hudson River, during one of my semi-regular sanity walks around town. Stay safe.
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