Nature Boy

When I was a kid and I went to the supermarket with my mom, I remember always seeing the “Andy Boy Broccoli” in the produce aisle. 

Of course, I was always curious why Broccoli was called Andy Boy–what boy or any kid for that matter likes to eat broccoli???

And like most things in life, there really wasn’t a good answer except that this company, “Andy Boy” grows and distributes it. 

Anyway, I was always a nature boy feeling most at home and at peace in the countryside. 

I love being in nature, surrounded by G-d’s amazing beauty, and at one with the universe and with G-d.  

In building all our great cities, buildings, and structures, aside from the crowding, pollution, crime and traffic that we have consequently, we have also lost something elementary to our lives with the absence of real nature. 

A park is not a forest.  A pond is not a river.  A plant is a not a lush valley.  A garden is not a farm.  A hill is not a mountain range.  A pet is not a teeming ecosystem of diverse life.  

The city is man made and fake, but nature is from G-d and real. 😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Israel – Day 2 – Tel Aviv Downtown

(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)

Bodega D.C.

This little deli and grocery in downtown D.C. always reminds me of the spanish bodegas back in NYC. 

The smallish store has just a couple of aisles of stuffed shelves of all sort of fast food eatsies. 

Usually not very organized, but more like you see something from all the grab it type foods and drinks and just go for it. 

Signs are handwritten and taped on to shelves, doors, and counters. 

Food packages jut out from shelves into the aisles and frequently get knocked down by customers on to the floors of the narrower aisles. 

Pour your own cup of coffee or softdrink.

Sandwiches in the back are freshly made while you wait and come heaping with toppings and the price written with a black marker on the celaphane wrapping. 

The store is laidback and informal with the proprietor at the counter reading from his newspaper as people come by to check out and he looks up between paragraphs.

Very working class and for students in the area, the lines can get long to the door at lunch hour. 

A little unkept and no place to sit and dawdle–this is a get in and get out little neighborhood store. 

A big contrast with the cookie-cutter chain stores and franchises–this is mom and pop style. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Outskirts City Life

Liked this piece of art, which I am calling Outskirts City Life. 

In the background, under cloudy skies, the tall city buildings–sort of wobbly with all the people and goings-on, which in a way we want to leave behind for some peace and quiet. 

In the foreground is a bridge and park with some sun and trees and people talking, sitting and laying in the grass and a lonesome car driving by.

The colors are vibrant, the shapes are almost like three-dimensional cut-outs making a sort of fairy tale feeling to the whole landscape. 

The picture is overall one where we balance hectic life in the city with the restfulness and tranquility of surrounding nature. 

It’s a life where harmony is made by conscious choice and actions to promote a healthy body and mind amidst what we seek to do and accomplish and all that which we are asked to bear for it. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

A Beauty In The Downtown

I took this photo in downtown Washington, D.C.

Right between the limbs of this tree trunk was this amazing yellow flower almost popping up out of nowhere. 

It was like “Here I am, enjoy me!”

The more nature we put back into our cities the nicer and friendlier they are. 

Nature sooths man’s inner beast–and we definitely need more of that. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Flowers, Pink And Orange

Gorgeous time of year in Washington, D.C. (although a little hazy, hot, and humid out there).

Pictured here, some beautiful pink and orange flowers in downtown. 

Can’t believe these actually grow (transplanted that is) in the city, but so glad they do…they’re beautiful. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

rED pEPPERS Anyone

No, this is not a Washington, D.C. crime scene.

Just someone dropping their jar of roasted red peppers smack in the middle of the street in Foggy Bottom, and just in time for the morning commute.

Well, watch your step folks (there’s broken glass there) and don’t step in the slimmy red pepper sauce (ala Whole Foods “everyday value”).

Just another hump day in the nation’s Capital. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Up Up And Away

Had a wonderful time with Rebecca Blumenthal today.

We went air ballooning over Las Vegas.

I was surprised at how large the balloons were and how easy the ride was–didn’t even feel it when we lifted off the ground and before I knew it, we were 4,000 feet above sea level.

I shot the video standing in the balloon as it was being inflated–never knew you could do that!

And I took the photo of the balloon with the Vegas Strip in the background–you can see the Stratosphere on the left along with the other fancy hotels and sites.

The view from above was beautiful, the air outside was cool, but under the burners of the balloon we were warm and toasty.

Sheldon Grauberger was a terrific aeronaut and guide today and you could see, completely, the total passion he had for this sport.

He told us how he actually trains others for free–he “pays it forward,” since he was taught almost 20 years ago similarly.

The sky, mountains, city, breeze, and peace and quiet floating overhead was so amazing.

I sort of felt like the young boy, Pascal, in the movie, The Red Balloon.

He dreams of a better future and is carried off by the balloons into the wild blue yonder to live happily ever after, please G-d. 😉

(Source Photo and Video: Andy Blumenthal)