Parks, New York City

Favorite thing: This picture was taken in early April on a chilly Saturday morning. Philomena, in the red jacket, sells plants in the Union Square market every Saturday. I have been buying flowers from her for ten years. She used to work for the biggest seller in the market and she was always surrounded by three or four customers competing for a moment of her time and expertise, but a few years back she left that stand and took up with a smaller grower who has nothing like the variety of her former employer. Nevertheless she is busy with those, like me, who have been buying from her for a long time and new customers who happen to ask her a question.

She worked as a scientist, but now she gardens in Greenwich Village and sells flowers in the market. She is always in the company of her dachshund, who sits in a box by the truck while she helps people build their gardens. I enjoy listening to her strong German accent as she describes the attributes of a particular plant.
New York is special that way - the accents are many and varied - like the stories of the people they announce.

Favorite thing: Bryant Park is a relaxing park in between the chaos of Times Square on one side and 5th Avenue on the other. Free movie screenings are held here during the summer, but you'd be well advised to get here in plenty of time for those, unlike my poor excuse for a brother who was supposed to find us a spot to watch Rear Window but failed miserably!