a lot can happen underground

I spend a lot of time underground--both inside the subway cars and on the platforms waiting for my silver chariot to arrive.  One swipe of a metrocard and you can start your journey, snaking your way beneath the five boroughs of New York City.  Did you know that the longest ride on the subway without a transfer is over 30 miles?  All that for the bargain price of $2.25.

With almost 660 miles of tracks and 468 stations, subway travelers can find themselves with a lot of time and subterranean space to do some work, drink coffee, meditate, play the guitar....and even find love, as evidenced by my photo above.

Lizzard_nyc's image below made me nostalgic.  I used to live a few blocks from this station in the East Village and I spent a ton of time down there.  I love all the lines and patterns in this photo--which reminds me, Tammy will begin musing on repeating patterns tomorrow so be sure to stop by as she kicks off our new theme!

See you soon,

~christy of urban muser

Astor Place 47:365 by lizzard_nyc

ballooning

Have you ever been hot air ballooning?  It is a peaceful, tranquil, and quiet.  Not to mention the beauty to behold as you hover across your surroundings.  My husband surprised me for my birthday, it was such a wonderful experience.  We got to help set everything up ridiculously early (as the sun was rising) float around for at least an hour with another balloon and then my favorite part, landing.  Apparently there is less control than I thought and you land wherever you can find a larger enough field (our pilot had a teenager driving around following us as we flew with the van and trailer to pick us up wherever we landed).  We ended up landing on some random person's property, they saw us coming and greeted us on the ground.  I asked our pilot how strangers feel about this intrusion, and he said in all his years ballooning there was only one person who was annoyed.  Then as custom they bring out champagne to share among the pilots, riders and land owners as the balloons get put away.  The strangers were so excited that we landed at their home and talk about a great marketing technique as the pilots handed out business cards, awesome!

I love all the colors and balloons captured in this picture by chamcam.  And I highly reccommend going hot air ballooning if you ever have a chance!

April of April Newman Photography

up up and away by chamcam

it's not the destination, it's the journey

Living in London I am surrounded by iconic forms of transportation. Taxis, buses and trains. But having spent the week trying to photograph all of these, I realised that they just weren't dreamy enough for me. They were more about the destination. All those buses and taxis and trains were for getting somewhere and going to particular places (at least, for us Londoners). I thought back to our Summer and our day trips to Oxford where it's not the destination that is important. It's the lying back in the punt (a long wooden boat pushed along with a pole) and enjoying the ride.

Carole's picture reminded me of these lovely dreamy afternoons.

As Rat says in the Wind in the Willows, "There is nothing--absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats". And I would have to agree. I can't wait for those long summer afternoons again.

kirstin of fleeting moments.

ED-this is for you !!! by Carole-*

disappearing railroad blues

When I didn't have any thing in mind to shoot for this prompt a friend commented that the best transportation photo is a train, and they are plentiful in my area. Off I went in search of a train.

As I walked along the tracks, looking for a shot, an old song began to play in my head. Many of you are probably too young to have heard it, written by Steve Goodman, recorded in 1972 by Arlo Guthrie, it's considered by many to be the best train song ever written.

Good morning, America, how are you

Don't you know me, I'm your native son

I'm the train they call The City of New Orleans

I'll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done

. . . And the steel rails still ain't heard the news

The conductor sings his song again

The passengers will please refrain

This train's got the disappearing railroad blues

And it's been in my head all week. You can join me and listen to it here.

I love Deirdre's photo, so full of the motion and power of a train. And as she commented, it's not an easy moment to capture. I think she did a wonderful job of it.

xo maureen from Cottage 960

snow train by SuperDewa

much more my speed

I tend to err on the side of caution. I'm not much of a thrill seeker. In fact, the closest you'll ever find me to a "thrill" is the occasional roller coaster. You certainly wouldn't find me on a motorcycle, but I can't help but be intrigued by shiny objects. While I admire this gorgeous Harley, I can't help but to imagine what it might be like to live an alternate life...a life where I throw caution (and my day planner) to the wind.

In the meantime, perhaps pixolga's bicycle is much more my speed.

Until next time,
Ashley of Ramblings and Photos

Écovélo by pixolga

punch buggy purple

While musing on inspiration for the transportation prompt, my first thought was SHOES.  They get you where you need to go, I take an unprecedented number of shots of my shoes already, and one of my mantras is "put on your shoes" when I'm feeling blocked.

But as I was jamming the drawer closed on my daughter's toy chest today, this little purple treasure caught my eye.  Sweetpea is a master of the Punch Buggy game - whacking my hubby or me in the arm with glee when she sees them on the road, and keeping a running count of how many she has accumulated.  She vows to retire once she has reached a certain number.  My hubby once decided to beat her at her own game and sat her in front of the computer while he filled the page with Google images of Volkswagen bugs, punching her repeatedly on the arm as he shouted "Punch Buggy Blue! Pink! Green! Red!" until the two of them were shouting with laughter.

I must admit doing a little vroom-vrooming as I rolled this car around our patio today, remembering my childhood obsession with cars (no dolls for me, I wanted a mechanic's garage) and how I would draw with sidewalk chalk miles of roads and parking lots for my toy cars to travel on the length of our street.  No wonder this photo by Becky Sue charmed me - doesn't it make you want to get down on your knees and play?

cheers,
mosey of mosey along

Blacktop derby by RSL Photography (aka Becky Sue)

vehicles of all kind.

Vehicles come in all forms and shapes. There are romantic ones, traditional ones, expensive ones, extraordinary ones or old ones.

They are all so different in every way, but they serve all one purpose. The purpose of moving us. Bringing us further with every mile. Sometimes every day, on other days we might get stuck in one place and have to find a solution of how to move again. We always find a way to keep going and moving.

In SoapChickAsh's picture I like the sentiment of growing, of development and nevertheless fun.

And yes, I am a sucker for those shoes. They are real cool, in my opinion.

Keep sharing your images. I love seeing each and every one of them.
See you in 9 days!

Love,
Suki

And She's Off! by SoapChickAsh

i can dream

I've got a crush on scooters. Especially vintage scooters. Especially vintage scooters sitting in a back alley of an old city. Is this not the dreamiest thing ever? 

I want a scooter. I want to be driving along, feeling the wind in my hair, er, helmet. Weaving through traffic, going where no car can go. This image by DorteF captured my dream perfectly. Well, almost perfectly. Can we just change it to a vintage scooter, please?

Kat of The Kat Eye View of the World

in red by Dorte F

on the road

for sale by alphabet soup studio / lenore locken

Planes, trains or automobiles…which would you choose? For me, the automobile wins every time. Road trips rank very high on my list of favorite activities, particularly if the journey involves driving along back roads and exploring new areas. You just never know what’s around the next bend and that’s magical. I discovered this rusty old Packard on the side of U.S. 1 in Florida, an unexpected treasure that absolutely made my day. As rough as it was, I wish I could have bought it.

Hannah Bryant’s black-and-white photograph conjures up the magic and mystery of a road trip. As I gaze at the image, I want to know more about this country drive. Is it a vacation, or possibly a trip to Grandma’s farm? What’s beyond the beautiful tree? The photo draws me in and sparks my imagination.

Many thanks to Tammy Lee for allowing me to muse today about road trips. Hope she's having a wonderful weekend!

guest muse lenore of alphabet soup studio
(you can also find me at elemenopea and on redbubble)

Drive by H a n n a h_

the next theme is... TRANSPORTATION

Come take a ride with us...

cloud car by à la mosey

Cable cars, camel, cabs, canoes, carriage, cabooses...

Plenty of Parking by Kat Eye View

boats, bicycles, blimps, bullet train, balloons...

vehicle by Urban Muser

trams, ten-speeds, trolleys, taxis, tugboats, trucks...

Puddle Scooting. by kirstinmckee

subways, scooters, skiffs, school buses, spaceships...

You get the idea.  Let's see what you've got!  Have fun and get creative.

I will see you tomorrow when I start musing on Doors and Windows.

xo

tammy lee