So…. I love coffee shops.  I mean, who doesn’t?  Living in the city, there are so many unique ones to choose from.  As an admitted thrift store junky…. the old furniture and eclectic feel of many cafes very much appeal to me.  In my opinion, things that are old and worn in are more comfortable than something brand new.  This is partly because your body molds to the countless other body impressions that have slowly indented themselves into the cushions.  Furniture like this…. it just seems like it has some stories to tell.  And, that, I suppose, gets my interest.

A coffee shop that I particularly enjoy is  The Higher Grounds Cafe in Northern Liberties.  The whole vibe there is great.  It normally isn’t too crowded, there is always beautiful artwork on the walls and they boast quite a wide variety of fine teas….. the way to my heart!

In preparation for a portrait session, I took a few photos of some of this chair that I really love.  I guess it seems silly to post a whole blog about a chair….. but, come on, don’t you just love this chair?  It has a such a grand but worn look to it and it almost appears as if it is smirking…. with the one side down and the other up….

There was definitely a time in my life that I was more or less unafraid of most situations and locations.  I learned today that I am over that!

Since it was such a beautiful day outside, we decided to go for a long neighborhood walk.  I recently learned of a particular location along “the docks”.  This is referring to some of the  very old  and now unused boat docks and ports in Philly.  Particularly there is a location in Port Richmond that I have been wanting to check out.  Knowing that it is trespassing, expansive and in the middle of nowhere (for the city), I decided Carl should come along with me.

It was definitely a bit creepy back there…. but at the same time really beautiful… in that urban style that I love.  What was creepy was that we were so far detached from the public and  that this most definitely was a place where reclusive people that are much tougher than I am probably hang out.  Oh, and with the buzz of the highway in the background and residential homes about a mile away…. our screams would be completely pointless.  Ha!

ANYWAY, we actually were comfy for a bit and were able to take in the scenery.  That is until we noticed some not so pleasant looking people lingering behind the walls.  When they started walking towards us we quickly decided to leave.   I don’t plan to go back there anytime soon… but I am glad that we did.  We weren’t there for long, so I didn’t get too many great photos but for what its worth, here you go….

This was partly through our walk back…. It gives an idea of how far detached we were from any main streets…

My main intention was to get to the very end of this long dock and take some photos.  From that point (I hear) you get a clear view of the city skyline.  Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the end…  bummer!!

Walking around we felt very welcome…. there was even a nice welcoming sign telling us to die in hell.  lovely. 

Once away from the dock, we continued our walk behind some of the now vacant buildings along Richmond Avenue…

A great location for riding ATVs…

Shew…. back to the comforts of home….

I was delighted again this morning to see my photos in The Spirit Community Newspaper.    Unfortunately, it is another snow portrait…. but still!  Hopefully, come spring I can get some colorful and warm photographs in there.  The Spirit had contacted me in regards to using the photograph but I was happily surprised to see it on the front page.  Fun stuff!

the actual photo, since it is difficult to see:

So, my recent blog post The Other 4% of Philly , was picked up by Spirit Community Newspapers.  My blog post was featured as well as a few of my photographs.  You can view it HERE.  More photographs were used in the actual article.

I was excited to see this and hope that Mayor Nutter and other city officials read our local newspapers and react to community needs.  As I look out the window and watch the snowflakes fall, I expect we will find out soon.  I would love to think that a story like this could make a difference.   Time will tell.  Stay warm, everyone!!

According to Mayor Nutter, 96% of Philadelphia’s streets have been plowed.  WHAT?!  REALLY?!  My assumption is that Fishtown (and I have heard South Philly) were the exception to this.  Our entire neighborhood has been a disaster.  Now, nearly 2 weeks after the storms, it is still unsafe to drive down our streets.  I have watched numerous accidents and so many cars slipping, sliding and getting stuck in the 6+ inch holes of ice that have formed.

Yesterday morning there was a tractor trailer immobilized from these holes for almost 2 hours.  A tow truck came along but couldn’t make its way down the street.  Instead it parked way down at the corner and set up cables to “rope” the truck in.

It is tough to see in this picture…. but the red by the wheel of the truck is the cable….

Later in the day, after watching numerous other vehicles struggle down the street, another car was completely disabled.  Some neighbors, a couple of guys from the surrounding cars, and I shoveled, picked and pushed the car until eventually the guy got out.

After that, a neighbor suggested that we all get together and dig out the street ourselves since, clearly, the city wasn’t going to help us.  So, we grabbed our shovels, axes and sledgehammers and slowly but surely neighbors got home from work and came out of their homes to help.  We ended up with a group of about 15.  This all started around 5pm and we didn’t finish until around 9:30pm.  And, yes, we bitched a lot about Philadelphia taxes, the Mayor and the all too forgotten neighborhood of Fishtown….  but in the end, we did it and I am so proud!

Happily we can all now drive down our block of Memphis Street without concern.  Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for most of the surrounding streets.  In fact, just this morning a car was stuck and struggling on the next block down from us.  Sigh….

Though I know I am not the only one that is very sore today with burning and blistered hands, I am happy that we did it!  Maybe other blocks will be encouraged and do the same…. 

My photos are not quite the best as it was extremely dark outside and I really couldn’t feel my fingers or manipulate my lens well.  Besides, I was anxious to get back to work…..  Even still, here you go..

With 6″-8″ of pure ice, this, clearly, was not easy work:

even the kids helped out!!  And, I assure you that these are 2 very strong and determined girls.

try picking that up with 2 hands!

I love that it looks like Carl has a mustache in this picture….