a tree grows in brooklyn

 As many of you know, when nice weather comes to New York, I make a pilgrimage to Brooklyn. And I have to blog about it because otherwise certain friends would say I never come to Brooklyn. Let me just point out that this was my second visit within the month. Anyway, we were sitting at an outdoor cafe when this amazingly orange Charger (?) came along Dean Street. As I was taking its picture, I saw a flash of yellow in the crotch of the tree behind it. I did not know what it was, so I approached.
It was an apple, though this was not an apple tree. Overripe. Odd.

 After dining at The Usual Place, we meandered down to Jolie to eat oysters and meet Ed's future partner, the chef Neil of Flying Lobster fame. You can read all about it here. We also wound up with a couple of very tall, blond Danish schoolteachers, and all of us headed to Neil's restaurant, La Petite Crevette, where he treated us to more seafood (yes, I had lobster—along with mussels and scallops and shrimp in some fab soup). That's Neil, with the taco chips in his ears.

 And finally, I Ubered home. The Empire State building and others were lit up in honor of France in the wake of the Notre Dame disaster. It was a very long lunch.