I Ain't Just Music

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2024 – BOB’S OBS-ervations 2nd-half of 2024

On April 30, 2017 - Uncategorized

……………………………………………..(Ignore April 30, 2017 publish date – this was published on February 23, 2025)

As usual, it’s taken a couple of months to put this together. Is it worth it? Hey – you’re the beholder with the eyes……..you tell me.

Also as usual, it’ll be chronological – all the pix I liked as they happened.

Please note that whenever you see the word PANO, click it once (sometimes twice) to fully enlarge the image. Some are minor enlargements and some are BIG.

Ready? Here we go…………

July 1

Early July 4 fireworks from Englewood (note: I shot all towns’ fireworks from home):

July 2

Triple-cross sunset:

July 3

Somebody’s convertible 7 floors below me:

Another triple-cross sunset:

Seven Saddle Brook fireworks shots (two have the triple-cross in them):

July 3

Meadowlands Fair fireworks (by MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford):

July 4

Macy’s fireworks from 5 barges in the Hudson River, 8-10(?) miles away:

Hackensack’s fireworks (from my living room) – PANO:

July 5

Window bug:

July 6

Shirt with “DOG” spelled backwards (says the dog):

July 7

Two very different views of a crescent moon:

Maywood (l) and Paramus (r) fireworks:

Maywood fireworks:

Maywood OR Paramus fireworks:

July 8

Triple cross sunset:

Triple cross sunset sequence:

July 11

Roof work:

Did you notice this in the last pic?

It wanted a closeup:

Roof workers:

Cut and burn:

HFD traffic jam:

July 12,13,12

Trucks near my building that I don’t see very often:

July 16

Mexican hat trick: turning dirt into lovely curb lawn (PANO):

July 20,21

They tell me it was a sinkhole in front of my building. It looks like a Hollywood production with those spotlights by the corner (maybe those big trucks from a week ago caused it) – PANO (first one):

July 21

Same sunset:

July 22

Grand Opening of the Maharaja Hypermarket (PANO):

(“Hypermarket” definition on Google: a very large store with a wide range of goods and a large parking lot, typically situated outside a town.)

This one’s on busy Main St (two blocks away from me) and has no parking lot.

July 24

Let’s all ride the garbage swing!

July 26

Doesn’t look good……….(PANO)

Never DID find out anything about this, so I guess that’s a good sign.

July 27, 30

This shows a scaffold outside my living room picture window where the pointing is being done on my building. Pointing, in its simplest terms, refers to the art of filling the gaps between bricks or stones with mortar or other suitable materials.

He’s working near one of the sliding window screens, but he got a little sloppy, as you can see on the right half (taken 3 days later). Almost 8 months have passed and most of it’s still there.

July 28

This is one of my favorite shots of the year and all I had to do was stick my phone about 6” out of my bedroom window (PANO):

The ropes are connected to one end of the scaffold below me.

July 29

I’ve mentioned and shown – usually from a distance – the triple-cross cross atop a gorgeous steeple about a half-mile west of me in Hackensack. I had a doctor appointment about a block from it and decided to do some closeups:

(I may have enhanced the colors a bit.)

ONE block south of the church, somebody lost her nightie, but hung it nicely from a tree:

I saw this about 3 blocks away from my living room and couldn’t resist shooting the colors:

…………..and that’s how I spent my July.

AUGUST 2024

August 1

Roof replacement:

Heads up!

August 3

More pointing work being done between my bedroom windows:

Overhead closeup views of pointing (PANO):

August 4

Sunset shots:

August 5

MORE roof work:

August 10

Scaffolding work being done down the side street (second one is a PANO):

Interesting sky:

August 11

Gloves left on the roof that you might not want to stick your hands into:

I saw this mounted 3’ x 2’ image at a garage sale outside my former dentist’s office a block away:

I asked the guy running it how much he wanted for it and he said $15. I said, “It doesn’t even have any strings! I’ll give you 5 bucks for it”.

“OK”

That was easy.

It’s now hanging in my living room.

August 12

This is the almost-finished luxury building near me that I covered since it was a parking lot. I called it the MBSC project because Main, Berry, State and Camden streets bordered it:

I was really worried that it would block my view of the World Trade Center, but – thankfully – it stopped just short of doing that.

August 13

Another interesting sunset:

August 14

More work being done at 22 Ward:

Everyone’s new favorite (yeah, right) bug:

August 15

Strange assortment of clothes in mid-Summer (What is she wearing on her left foot?):

“Nothing but net”? Closer to “barely looks like a net” (soon to be replaced):

It might have been a mistake to kill this overly-pregnant bug against a screen (kill one and release 30?):

(I guess I should have X-rayed her first)

I think this is the same bug transferred to a sponge, where it looks like it crash-landed on its eyeballs (but still poppin’ those pups out!) PANO:

August 17

Superman wears non-matching socks:

August 19

What the hell kind of bug is this?

Behind the First Presbyterian Church:

August 20

New Milford National Night Out Fireworks (yes – shot from home):

August 21

Attorney humor (appealing to the Korean community?):

The Bergen County Courthouse:

(That third one looks like anything but justice…..and the fourth one is a PANO)

Disagreeing clocks near a building’s corner………..and neither is correct:

A colorful visitor:

Train on Main:

CSX? Oh, no – one of those million-car freight tr………Oops! Never mind.

Good name:

The guy shown on this car’s gas tank door apparently does the same thing with the license plate (PANO):

I love this shot – there’s just so much going on in every square inch in the basement of the under-construction building at 9-11 Passaic St (PANO):

August 22

Sunset on the roof as seen from my kitchen:

August 23

Sunset in Manhattan:

From my kitchen – construction work at 95 Anderson St………3 blocks away (PANO):

Dog leash tied to tree on Anderson St, while dog’s owner was in a store:

A couple of minutes later, 4 screaming fire vehicles pulled up to what was apparently a false alarm on Anderson St (PANO):

3 people, 6 heads (PANO):

August 24

Healthy walk (for the dog):

One-and-a-half legs or high-steppin’?

August 25

Back at 9-11 Passaic St, PANO-ing has the effect of disappearing most of a chain-link fence:

A somewhat different type of shot at the same place (PANO):

See reply in bottom right corner:

August 28

The head roof rider (why her hair’s so messy):

August 29

This guy again…………

SEPTEMBER 2024

September 2

From my kitchen, I’ve been able to take pictures of trains going by three blocks away. In late August , New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy declared a “Free Week” on all NJ Transit buses and trains because of all the never-ending problems with the trains – especially the commuter ones delayed for hours in Manhattan, stranding the people trying to go home after a long day of work

I never rode on this train (or any other that I can recall), so I took advantage on August 30 (a short trip from Hackensack to Secaucus and back) and September 2 (an end-to-end photo-trip on the entire Pascack Valley Line from Spring Valley, NY, to Hoboken, NJ……..and back).

I’ve already posted about those trips, but if you missed them…………….

https://iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com/?p=21489

https://iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com/?p=21577

ANYWAY…………. On my final trip home, as we were about to pull into the Anderson St Station, I managed to take a shot of the top of my building and circled my kitchen window – from which I’m able to take pictures of the trains:

How many train riders can take pictures of the trains from home AND take pictures of their home from a moving train?

September 5, 2024

Hard at work:

Two extra heads:

Sunset at The Modern in Fort Lee (next to the GWB):

September 7

Work progresses at 9-11 Passaic St (the address will probably change now that one residential building will replace two businesses). But where are the workers? (Probably next door at Mickey D’s):

Another nice sunset behind the Hackensack hi-rises:

And here’s what it looks like in the opposite direction:

September 8

Smokin’ hot parking lot:

Family scooter time (PANOs):

September 9

Wish I could hear what this conversation was about………..

Excited lights:

This was a test run for the World Trade Center’s “Tribute in Light” two nights later (September 11). The WTC is seen to the left of the light, just above a new apartment building:

September 10

Nice hair on both of them:

September 11

From my kitchen and on-site:

September 12

9-11 Passaic St – one from home (no pano) and two on-site (PANO):

……..and look at that sky!

That sky over Hackensack (PANO):

September 12

What is this? Underage drinking/sipping?

Oh, great! The cop is writing her owner up. She looks distraught:

She’s told to sign it:

She obeys:

The cop gives her a copy:

Ooops! Wait a minute……….maybe she just locked herself out of her car:

One week after the sun (reflecting off the left building) set, it sets with the sun reflecting off the other building:

September 13

Well, it took him a month, but this pest has now made it all the way up to my window:

September 14

Aw, you know this commercial…………sing it!

“Safelight repair, Safelight replace……”

The Modern’s sunset and the moon’s rise:

September 16

What every basketball fan wants:

(Does the ball go through that grayish cone or what’s left of the net?)

Blue heron on the Hackensack River (PANO):

Great egret in the same place (2nd&3rd:PANO)

September 19

The mighty Palisades in Alpine, NJ, at the State Line Lookout:

Nestled somewhere in those cliffs WAY below me was this Peregrine Falcon (not real sharp, because I tried to shoot this with my phone):

There was a birder event going on that day and raptors were flying all over the place. This stand-up chart shows how serious these people were:

These are two PANO views of the Palisades and the Hudson River (with New York on the other side):

In the bottom view on the left, you can see a couple of birders and the aforementioned stand-up chart.

A little later, a tug (I think) appeared to be pushing a large vessel upriver:

September 21

There was more work being done on my building that required scaffolding and their ropes were just tied to anything and everything on the roof (2nd is PANO):

It happened to be “Little Ferry Day” in that small town south of Hackensack and this was part of their fireworks display (a smiling face?):

The World Trade Center is visible in the lower left.

September 24

I happened to be on Essex St in Hackensack when unusual spelling and a trashy bus stop bench caught my eye (bench is PANO):

The restaurant has some pretty good reviews, but can’t say the same for the bench (which is NOT curved – my phone’s PANO setting did that).

Always travel in pairs:

September 28 and 29

Fish crows on the roof:

September 30

Why does this poor old guy who’s normally on two crutches (both are under his left arm in this shot) have to drag a heavy load of something (I think I could make out the word “coal” on one of the bags) somewhere?

OCTOBER 2024

October 1

Stupid fish crow with strange dining habits:

October 2

Grab’em by the neck and drag’em by the hair (PANO):

October 3

No tears were shed over this guy:

October 4

…………or this one:

Old Glory brings up the rear:

Jeez – a nightie in a tree on July 29 and now this!

A little late for Groundhog Day (PANO):

A bit of color on the Hackensack Walkway (PANO):

Looks patriotic and disrespectful at the same time:

“So much food………..where do I start?”

Zooming in on another Great egret on the Hackensack side of the river (PANO):

And here are those two sides of the river (PANO) – Fairleigh Dickinson University campuses (Teaneck’s on the left):

Great egret on the Teaneck side:

Can’t read the top? Flip it sideways (PANO):

Posing squirrel:

October 5

Six new residents of the four corners of Anderson Park (across the street from me) -PANO:

They arrived in September, were not well-received, and were gone by late January.

Of course, I posted about it: https://iaintjustmusic.bobleafe.com/?p=21818

October 8

Blazing sunset and hard-to-see-plane:

Same sunset, different plane:

October 9

Note: these are two consecutively-taken pictures facing opposite directions. West-facing NYC buildings with the sun blazing off one of them:

East-facing Hackensack building reflecting that blazing NYC reflection!

That means that the sun is somewhere behind this building.

October 10

The Hackensack Middle School gets rooftop solar paneling:

Meanwhile, NYC keeps reflecting:

October 12:

The hi-rise is in Hackensack and the fireworks are in Lodi, celebrating the Lodi Fall Festival (didn’t know they had one):

October 12 & 14:

Two interesting nighttime shots:

My neighbors to my immediate north (left to right): The Walcott (huge new residential building), the Second Reformed Church (dark roof and tower), the rest of the Walcott, the empty/abandoned Sears building (PANO):

Manhattan and a plane coming into Teterboro Airport:

The plane is most likely over NJ.

October 15

Either this car got a strange stop sign-shaped ticket for being in a No Parking zone (see yellow curb and standing “No Parking” sign) OR a school crossing guard knowingly parked there, left his/her spare STOP sign in the driver’s-side wiper to ward away ticket-happy cops…………and then walked elsewhere:

Either way, I’ve never seen that before.

October 19

I don’t know what to make of this: a big woman with a ball on top of her head and what looks like a soda w/straw on top of her car, was just standing there and not moving:

But then I widened the shot and saw something unforgivable: a spoiler on a 4-door car?

NOT cool!

Is she yelling at me?

Now what cool bicycle museum features this interesting “bicycle” as you enter it? (PANO)

Answer: None that I know of. I saw this permanent display outside of my local McDonalds (check out the “handlebar”). And I wish that other bike would go somewhere else, so I could shoot this unobstructed.

These are windows in a residential building near me that are reflecting the lights of Main St:

October 20

Cloud blows a dart at a plane:

It missed!

October 24

There’s a famous “Halloween street” in Hackensack called Clinton Place. Almost everyone on the street goes full-out with over-the-top displays. It’s really something to see at night, but this year, I also wanted to also see it all in sunlight.

Here are my four favorite shots from that daytime stroll (#3&4 are PANOs):

I WILL go back at night.

Sometimes, the sun’s reflection off some NYC buildings is so intense that it almost-blindingly invades my living room.

The top image shows the reflection off Hudson Yards buildings in Manhattan. The bottom part shows its effect in my living room:

October 25

Fall colors in Hackensack:

Fall colors in Anderson Park:

October 26

Outdoor cooking – Hackensack-style:

No one was hurt in the creation of this picture:

October 28

The early morning sun reflects off the railroad crossing gates on Passaic St AND a residential building:

October 29

OK – time for nine Clinton Place nighttime Halloween nightmares (#1,4,8,9 are PANOs):

October 30

At least one of these is going in (note the new net) – PANO:

On the right is the shot I took from 7 floors up and two doors away.

Not buying that?

Me neither.

NOVEMBER 2024

November 1

Wouldn’t you know it…………..found under a car the day after Halloween:

November 2

Shooting at the sun (two misses, one maybe):

November 4

Hairy wind (PANO):

The MBSC project – nearing completion:

Another Big Trucks Day (including big vehicle-carrying trucks) – PANO:

I might be able to get you a deal on that pampered red beauty that might now be a convertible (PANO):

A nice Fall-colors PANO view of the Hackensack River with Teaneck on the other side (PANO):

If you look over to the far left in the distance, you can see the old Sears tower that’s a block from where I live.

If your goal is to stop cardboard, this might not be the way to do it:

Here’s the back and side (that I can’t see/shoot from home) of the 9-11 Passaic St construction (PANO):

November 6

Five plane shots:

November 7

Now the question is………is that a machete or a small rifle in that bag she’s totin’?

From that perfect neck cut, I’m bettin’ on Betty Machete.

November 8

Hudson Yards, NYC:

November 9

Another “Red Light/Green Light” game:

Catching wood at 9-11 Passaic St:

November 11 (Veterans Day – BIG shooting day at the GWB!)

Stopping midway between the Edgewater entrance and my first destination (Ross Dock), I take my first picture from under the George Washington Bridge – a view that not everyone is familiar with (note the famous little red lighthouse by the New York tower of the bridge) – PANO:

Ross Dock and the Fall colors of the mighty Palisades (which are NOT mountain-shaped and high in the middle – that’s the effect you get when using the phone’s PANO setting – whatever’s closest is biggest/tallest) – PANO:

Turning toward the next-door-neighbor GWB (PANO):

Momentarily-distracted by a gull, a tugboat and a barge of some sort:

Closer to the GWB and its 450lb, world’s largest free-flying US flag that only flies on 9 patriotic holidays:

It’s a good sign that it’s visible from this angle – that means it’s a very windy day when great shots are to be had when you’re ON the bridge.

Having left Ross Dock, I’ve just driven under the bridge again – this time on a road at river-level – toward Hazard’s Dock (you’re only allowed on that road if you’re towing a small boat to be launched from that dock…………don’t tell anybody, but I was a bit boatless that day):

That very first shot under the bridge that I showed you earlier was not taken at river-level, but since I was now at river-level, I stopped again to take this picture:

The strangest thing happened later at home when I was working on these images. I have absolutely NO idea how this happened – meaning that I couldn’t reproduce the way this image came out if you held a gun to my head – but look what I came up with (PANO):

I’m pretty sure that this was taken from that higher-than-river level position under the bridge because the next shot I have is AT bridge level.

And here it is (after parking at bridge level by a meter that I didn’t have to feed because it’s a holiday and then going up and down multiple staircases to access the bridge’s north walkway):

A shot of Ross Dock from the bridge walkway:

The barge/tug and a speeding small boat:

The small boat is a POLICE boat! (Do those look like cops to you?):

Not sure what this is. At first, I thought was a barge, but looking closer, it might be a bunch of connected barges with a tug in the middle(?):

So now I’m on the walkway, which is also a bicycle way, a scooter way and a jogging way (PANO):

(the south walkway is closed for repairs for another year or so – when it opens, it’ll be for walkers and joggers ONLY and the north “walk”way will be for bicycles and other things with wheels).

The wind really helped with shooting the flag. I took a lot of interesting shots, but the best thing I shot was this video of the beautiful and incredibly graceful flag:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ATzk1x8A_k

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to top that.

After one last flag shot……..

……..it’s time to go home.

November 16

Back to the (comparatively) dull and mundane…………

………..like curtains blowing out of someone’s window:

I DO like this lit Holy Trinity Church steeple shot:

Shadowy Bob:

November 17

There had been news about some F-18 fighter jets flying over a NY Jets game at MetLife Stadium on November 17:

https://dailyvoice.com/new-jersey/rutherford/f-18-fighter-jets-will-fly-over-metlife-stadium-at-jets-game/

It came with an itinerary for the jets in and out of Teterboro Airport. I’ve shot a couple of fighter jets there, so I knew how to set up for this.

First, I have to park in an empty lot across Rt 46 from the airport (it’s empty because it’s Sunday).

So I go there and look what I found (PANO):

Half the world had the same idea! (Damn informative news media!)

Anyway, I found ONE parking space that was fairly tight. I thought I came too close to a family’s dog and expressed concern – my way of befriending them so I could get info on what had already happened.

They told me that the jets had already taken off and headed south to MetLife (the family’s view – south across Rt 46 – wasn’t great because of the airport’s fence) they thought they might have gotten the tail end of the plane, but what they showed me revealed nothing.

I told them that I usually shot from across Rt 46, right against the airport’s chain-link fence and invited them to join me, but they declined because they knew the jets were coming back and they thought their location against some buildings would give them the best view of the returning jets………..so away I went.

I crossed the highway at a nearby traffic light and wound up directly across 46 from the family and right against the chain link fence.

Private jets were taking off close to where I was and heading south down the runway. Here’s that view through one of the chain-link openings:

And here’s that jet taking off:

Soon after, I was looking toward the east and saw one of the fighter jets in the distance heading north. They had finished the MetLife flyover and were doubling back. They had to gradually turn in a very wide circle so they could approach Teterboro from the north.

Ideally, that meant that the jets should be coming in over the buildings across 46 from the north, directly overhead and landing – hopefully – where the jet that just took off (above) started from.

That also meant that I’d see the jets coming in before the people across the highway would because they were too close to the buildings behind them.

Suddenly – WAY over to the left, I saw the first fighter jet clear the buildings and start to cross Rt 46 at an angle:

You can see cars parked near me on 46. The police had just cleared a LOT of cars away from there and a bunch more showed up almost immediately after. I don’t see anybody aiming a camera skyward.

Since I was expecting the jet to come in a lot closer and directly overhead, I had my phone in my hand to take a bunch of fairly close shots. When the jet suddenly showed up west of me, I had to shoot what I could with the phone.

It’s not as sharp as I would have preferred it to be, but it’s good enough. Now I have to try to get a shot of it landing.

By the time I finally saw it about to hit the runway, it was fairly far away from me. It’s on the right in this shot:

I didn’t see the other two fighter jets come in.

And that was it as far fighter jets in the air were concerned. I haven’t seen any other shots online from that day.

Now it was time to use my past experience at Teterboro to try to get shots of this jet on the ground…………….but where would it be?

The airport has roads on its perimeter that have entrances to tiny parking lots for employees. I’ve done this before, so I made the rounds.

I found one that had about 8 spaces, but maybe 9 or 10 cars. Other interlopers? I pulled in and parked in a non-space. I saw someone up by the fence and it looked like he was taking pictures.

Bingo!

I didn’t see the jet at first, so I took a picture of a nice-looking private jet (PANO):

And wait…………..what’s that over on the left?

That’s it!

And is that the pilot?

And is this plane close to landing on it? (PANO)

I noticed that some people who were way over to my left finally vacated their position, so I went over there to see what the attraction was.

Once I squatted down to ground level, I saw it – TWO fighter jets (and another plane’s wing) – PANO:

I had what I needed and headed home.

But on the way home…………I saw what looked like a very small car show in Hackensack on Banta Place, so I took a couple of shots (PANOs):

Finally back at home, I wasn’t done shooting attention-getting vehicles (PANO):

(False alarm, fortunately)

November 19

Work continues at 9-11 Passaic St: one shot from home and one from my car:

November 21 + 22

That railroad near me is strictly a commuter line (the Pascack Valley Line) with no freight trains…………with one tiny exception. Once or twice a week, I see a one or two open-car train, carrying what appears to be wood, with one or two Norfolk Southern engines pulling it.

It has a destination somewhere north of me and doesn’t stop at any regular stations. A few hours later, I see it coming back empty. It has a distinctive whistle/horn, so I know when it’s coming.

One afternoon (November 21, 2024), I was driving home on a rainy day. The RR gates started sounding, blinking and coming down and then I heard that distinctive horn: The Wood Train………in the rain!

I grabbed my camera and got about 5 seconds of video of it coming in past the Anderson St Station.

The next day, I heard it from home, shot 18 seconds from my kitchen and combined them to make this video (I never saw wrapped cargo before on this train):

November 22 + 29

Are you aware of all the health warnings lately about human ingestion of plastic? It’s REALLY bad for all of us.

I’ve found a sure source of this ingestible plastic that’s probably given me some of the stuff: plastic half-gallon and one gallon containers of milk, which I’ve been drinking from directly for decades.

When you initially remove the cap, run your finger(s) around the top of the opening like I did on November 22 (PANO):

We may all be ingesting that.

A week later, I was in a supermarket and saw a disgusting sight in the milk cooler (PANO):

How does that happen? I immediately licked them all clean (and if you believe that………..)

November 23

Hackensack flag and parking garage, Manhattan’s Hudson Yards:

Teterboro-bound plane about to land on a building……………maybe:

More wind-blown curtains (PANO):

Vital protection:

Signs inside Burger King (PANO):

November 24

The title of the statue atop the Bergen County Courthouse is “Enlightenment Giving Power”:

The First Presbyterian Church of Hackensack’s steeple:

I think this is a new business (exercise equipment?) near the Courthouse:

I just liked the colors.

Learning to ride a two-wheeler via the STRAP method (PANO):

From her expressions, she looks afraid that if she doesn’t learn fast, Dad will find another use for the strap.

Cloud-packed sunset:

November 27

For some reason, I always shoot these:

November 28

Google translates “Raisins verts sans pepins” into “Green raisins without cucumbers” (?).

These are green grapes – pretty good ones, I might add – and the Spanish word for grapes is “uvas”. How does “raisins” enter into it?

November 29

A fire engine heads down Passaic St.

November 30

Taking garbage out for a stroll:

Except for the dog’s sweater, I can’t tell if it’s cold or warm outside:

This guy needs a car that matches his vest:

Happy couple:

This is a house four blocks away done up for Christmas (as seen from my kitchen):

DECEMBER 2024

December 3

A so-so-sunset:

December 4

These birds look like they just stuffed themselves with food…………should my car be worried?

When I zoom back, things look a lot worse. Now I’M worried. :

The march of the detached heads:

December 5

Police close off Passaic St so the crane can do its work:

I’m just sitting in my living room and this guy’s on my picture window sill. Lazy photography at its best! (PANO)

December 6

Steeple and cool sunset clouds:

December 7

Traded in his dog for a warehouse dolly and a blanket (should have traded in those baggy pants, too!)

Another one of these:

Strange windshield reflection:

Not as good as yesterday’s:

I love when I can get sharp moon craters with my little pocket camera:

HFD activity around the church (nothing serious):

December 8 (lotsa pix on a walk today)

Any year now, Bruce……………. (PANO)

I shouldn’t complain………it’s only going to be replaced by yet another residential monstrosity.

Is this supposed to represent tutoring? It looks like anorexic gossiping between two double-amputees (though the long-haired one is kinda cute):

Wouldn’t you hate to be a lawyer in this law firm? (PANO)

Ah………Hackensack’s Cranberry Junction! Still haven’t gotten inside yet, but……..someday (PANO):

This is as close as I gotten to being inside, but I like their philosophy!

Just down the street from Cranberry Junction is this thing that you don’t want to be in the vicinity of when its lid gets popped! (“pooped”?)

Got a thing for CPR dummies? This is your store:

Dunno what this is, but it’s in the Hackensack River:

This guy loves to pose (PANO):

I think this is that old building from the 1950s where they used to make pointy bras (PANO):

Don’t know if I’d like to have a green head, yellow beak and orange feet, but these guys make it work:

Under the Anderson St bridge to Teaneck (or “Cedar Lane bridge”, if you’re from Teaneck) – PANO:

Wrapping up the day with some sunset shots:

December 9

Not exactly setting a good example, are you, Parking Enforcement?

December 10

Geese leave church:

December 12

I’m sure the ladies are impressed…………

…………..as the sun sets on those pants:

December 14

A 9-picture walk, starting off with a cormorant:

……and some seagulls:

(one of whom guards this submarine – the USS Ling):

Looks like they’re finally finishing the dome repair on the Bergen County Courthouse:

Another shot of good ol’ Enlightenment:

………..and her downstairs neighbors:

Santa was spotted on a nearby establishment’s roof, looking for a chimney:

This dignified establishment is across a small park from the courthouse:

Such BadAss class!

Speaking of class, just around the corner is a vape shop and a tattoo parlor (PANO):

Back at home, this camouflaged gentleman was bouncing a small blue ball. I tried to capture it in mid-air, but I was either too early or too late:

Somebody’s taking my picture?

A quartet of geese pass the Sears tower on their way to the moon:

December 15

Lotsa geese today:

I saw a juvenile redtailed hawk on the roof and took a quick shot:

How do I know it’s a juvenile? It’s got yellow eyes (adults’ eyes are brown).

This is a cement plant in Bogota – just across the Hackensack River from the USS Ling:

Speaking of the Ling, here’s the view of it from the cement plant (PANO):

How’d you like to live in those buildings with a WWII submarine in your front yard?

December 17 (another long walk)

This is the Johnson Public Library on Main St (PANO):

This is the former bank building on Main St that was converted into residential use (PANO):

The rooftop sculpture was added during that conversion.

This is the former CVS drug store at 110 Main St – the store with the two clocks you’ve already seen that BOTH showed the wrong time (and still do):

The truck you see parked in front of it has video sides and back that show changing ads for various local businesses.

The Bergen County Courthouse as the sun begins to set:

The front of The Green (Main St side) – the small park between the Courthouse and a certain coffee house (PANO):

Yeah – THIS one. You can see the reflection of part of the courthouse in the window:

As I started walking up Main St, I saw this (PANO):

I have no idea what it was (you can see some letters, but I have no clue as to what they say). In any event, it’s a picture worth taking.

Clever(?) equations from Downtown Hackensack:

Did it go into the chimney?

Seen above the east side of the Hackensack Bus Terminal:

This is the residential project that stands where The Record newspaper was for decades (hence, the name) – PANO:

Ooops!

Two nice girls on Main St:

I’ve seen these lights between two Main St buildings for years, but never at night.

Maybe someday………..er, night. (and did you notice the flock of birds flying by in the middle of the picture? Lucky I had my finger on the shutter button when that happened)

There’s absolutely no chance of anybody falling into this gaping maw on the Main St sidewalk with the cone standing guard nearby, right?:

Shedding season:

December 18

Cones, wires, broken glass………….what could go wrong?

Actually, this one has two dates: the 18th and the 24th. They’re almost identical!

I think there was a fire engine involved in this one:

Actually, I don’t understand how I got the stationary street lights to move, but not the stationary window lights.

December 19

Somewhat unusual sunset:

Not sure why I took this one, but you can’t go wrong with a good ESB shot:

About a block away, a residential building has a first-floor parking garage and this is what I saw on December 19th:

December 20

This gaggle of geese came pretty close overhead (that’s the top of my living room picture window in the upper left):

December 21

This gaggle of bicycles looks like it was dipped in a vat of vanilla paste:

This gaggle of tire tracks………….oh, never mind. I think I’m about to gag:

December 22

Can you stand some more darling starlings at my picture window?

This shot showed such a dirty window that I spent a long time trying to spot it all out (PANO):

He looks like he’s trying to claw his way into my living room.

A well-behaved threesome:

Head-to-head combat…………….without the combat (PANO):

Looks like he’s holding a tiny cellphone to his ear:

I’m still amazed that I can get this close to wildlife while sitting in my living room.

By the way – these guys (assuming maledom) only show up in the morning because the window faces east and they can bask in the sunlight. This also offers protection from freezing westerly winds.

Favorite part of this pic is the beak colors:

Let’s continue on the Wild Kingdom tip…………..

December 22

This has only happened once before: a real, live CAMEL next door:

It’s the Second Reformed Church’s live Nativity scene, starring Marvin the Camel (I think that’s what the handler said his name was):

Time for your closeup, Marv:

(BTW – that’s my building in the background)

Also featured were a nameless donkey (PANO) and sheep (there may have been a goat as well):

There was going to be a short procession up and down Union St (down one block to Passaic St and back, but not right then, so I took a walk around the park across the street to check on out the four temporary sculptures that were placed there for some odd reason (and recently removed due to lack of ANY interest in them).

The only shot worth taking involved the racial stereotype one called “Getting Down”, which showed a black man with a boombox on his shoulder.

It looked particularly out of place this day because the guy was dressed for nice weather in a blue shirt. The snow on his shoulder, nose, hair and boombox didn’t help make him look less ridiculous (PANO):

Thankfully, it was time for the mini-procession, so back to the church I went.

Marvin is shown here waiting for everyone else to line up behind him (PANO):

Pastor Dwayne (“Wise man”) Jackson heads up the street:

For me, the shot of the day is ALWAYS to get a shot of the camel in front of my building – a once (now twice)-in-a-lifetime event.

OK – I’m done.

December 23

The PSE&G facility in Ridgefield (and right next to the New Jersey Turnpike) puts out a lot of interesting steam formations on cold winter mornings – some (first shot) more interesting than others (second shot):