A Gray Day in Manhattan

I haven't gone out on a good long walk to take pictures in a few weeks, but I have a reason for that. My niece and her adorable son are visiting us for a few weeks and I've been too busy having fun with them to be able to go off for long periods of time.  The most I've been able to do is take a few pictures here and there when we take my nephew out for a walk.  I have been able to get a few interesting shots.  Of course, my niece laughs at how I can't just go out for a walk.  I have to take a few pictures.

Today was a different story.  I was able to get the afternoon to myself so I decided to go out to Herald Square.  I usually go to either Times Square or Union Square and at this point, I definitely needed a change of scenery.  I'd love for that change to take place in another country, but that is something to discuss in a different post.

Since it was Herald Square, you had the usual crowd of tourists and weekend shoppers.  It was packed and yet I still saw so many people walking with their heads down and completely focused on their phones.  I'm not surprised and yet I am.  I have no idea why people do not pay attention when they are walking.  I remember a time when I used to work in the Times Square area and as I was waiting for a light, a guy (busy talking on his phone of course) almost stepped right in front of a truck that was passing by.  I yanked his arm back, but damn.  People need to pay attention.  Even if it isn't to avoid bodily harm, how about just being considerate of other people who may not appreciate you walking into them because your head is in the clouds?  The girl with the glasses is even looking at two phones.  In spite of my ranting, I have to admit that this photo amused me.

It was a good day of shooting.  I took around forty five pictures and I ended up keeping about twenty pictures, so I'd say the day was a success.  We all dream of working for ourselves rather than someone else, so I found this enterprising young lady really cute.

I was so busy taking pictures that I had no idea what her sign said until I got home and got the pictures on my computer.  I admire her business sense, but I would have used a marker to make her business intentions more clear to people who were hurrying by.  I hope that she didn't spend too much on those flowers, but I definitely admire any young person (or anyone in general) who has an entrepreneurial spirit.

The day came to a close when it started to sprinkle.  I had already been there for a few hours, so I decided to just pack it in and go home.  When I got off the train at my stop, it wasn't raining and I was holding on to the hope that I could make it home before it started to rain, but of course that didn't happen.  I hadn't brought an umbrella with me, but at least I was wearing a hoodie.  Even though it was kind of cool outside, I wasn't about to let my camera get wet, so I unzipped my hoodie and used it to shelter my camera from the rain.  My family thought it was so funny that I would rather catch a cold than let any rain get on my camera.  Hey, camera people will understand. Right?