Forecast: Wintry Mix

The combined effects of global warming and New York City's urban heat island have decreased our annual snowfall from over two feet a year to the occasional flurry. Last year was particularly paltry, and the measly scattering we got this December was incapable of sticking past forty-eight hours. Today I woke up to a thick curtain of white and that strange silence that descends as the usual flurry of morning activity is dampened under a layer of snow. Hopefully we'll get a repeat of the 2006 snow bonanza. The picture above is my backyard. The two tall metal towers are leftovers from the era of handwashing. Each one is three stories high (as tall as the building), with two sheaves for laundry lines at the height of the second and third story windows. Antiquated? Maybe. Still strange and charming? Definitely.

Orange County Great Park

The (now defunct) El Toro Marine Base is turning into a large scale ecological restoration project called the Orange County Great Park. For now though, it's a large lot of abandoned military hangars and a rather lonely giant helium balloon ride. I took some pictures over there this Christmas and apparently the LA Times recently ran an article in its California section with a cover photo from the very hangar Deena, Linda and I visited. Why is it that forgotten architecture always makes for the best photography?




More photos on my Picasa gallery.