Photo of the Day: Street Musicians, Columbus Circle, NYC

I took this photo nearly two weeks ago, when, with a few minutes to spare before a movie, I walked around Central Park and, at its southwest corner, Columbus Circle in Manhattan.

Longtime readers of this blog know that this is not the first image that I’ve posted of street musicians. I’m not sure why they continue to attract my interest. Maybe it’s because, against all odds in a city that continually rises the ante and tries to monetize art at all costs, these musicians find every way possible to continue to practice their art.

Photo of the Day: The Fountains of Columbus Circle, NYC

While going to a movie not far from Columbus Circle, I couldn’t help notice the spray shooting up from at this Manhattan landmark, so I snapped this photo.

Photo of the Day: Horse and Carriage, Columbus Circle, NYC

No matter how often I come upon this scene, it never gets old for me. Maybe it comes from a vicarious desire to experience 19^th century life, but without any of the attendant ills. (Yes, a high concentration of these horses used as transportation back then created their own noxious smells.)

Or maybe it derives from something genetic: the way my late father’s eyes lit up in the Eighties on a drive deep into the rolling bluegrass surrounding Lexington, Kentucky, getting out of the car and approaching a white fence, patting the back of a magnificent but gentle animal, and remembering how he felt as a farm boy so many years ago in Ireland.

Photo of the Day: Columbus Circle Subway Station, NYC

I’ve been passing through the Columbus Circle subway station for 40 years, back to when I attended Schafer Music Festival concerts in Central Park. I had gotten, I thought, immune to the general banality and dinginess of its interior. Then, a week ago, I was surprised—and glad to see—the dash of color on the mural I photographed on my way down to catch the subway.