she sells seashells by the seashore

…but she dropped one
(by the seashore).

(I’m not going to harbor any false impressions that this is a fantastic macro. It’s overexposed, and it was taken with my old Nikon, which has a very finicky macro setting and doesn’t like to focus on whatever subject I have in mind. BUT! It is neither a landscape nor an architectural shot, both of which dominate my winter photography… so enjoy it while you can. )

 

abandoned 3

A shopping cart… all alone behind Value City, which used to be part of Ocean Township’s Seaview Square Mall back when there WAS a Seaview Square Mall. Some years ago (maybe 10, give or take a few), the crime rate for this mall increased significantly, so people stopped going here and went to Monmouth Mall instead. As a result, Seaview Square is now comprised of a few large stores (Value City, Target, and Sears) but not much else. The large stores are no longer connected in a mall format.

Wikipedia tells the story better than I do.

(Gosh this picture is old.)

 

aftermath

Apparently, the promised Nor’easter was actually snowy and icy a little further north, but down here, we just got a boatload of rain.

And wind.

Right now, it’s very very windy.

 

my name is ringo

I read the definition for lead room after I composed this shot, so… dang. But these beetles, which are almost as big as the first two joints of your pinkie, have been crawling around Joe Palaia Park for several weeks. Judging by their prominence, they must be some sort of invasive pest, but I’m not entirely sure of the species.

Edit: I think it’s a rove beetle.

 

battered

The past few days have been rainy, overcast, and generally miserable. Plus–the park where I skate has been so littered with leaves as to make skating quite an obstacle. On top of THAT, the street I live on IS NOT CHANGING COLOR; the leaves are all either green or dead.

Grrrrrrrr. This part of autumn annoys me.

 

biiicycle

Biiicycle!
Biiicycle!
Biiicycle!
I want to ride my bicycle!
I want to ride my bike!
I want to ride my bicycle!
I want to ride it where I like!

(A portion of the Sandy Hook bike trail.)

 

red thing

I think this is some kind of celosia, even though I found it growing through cracks in the street. (Celosia is usually not a weed.)

 

lines 2

This is totally not my concept.