Monthly Archives: January 2018

New Year’s Day

Rob, Diane, Cathy, Dorothy, Karen, John, Kyle, and Amy

Rob, Diane, Cathy, Dorothy, Karen, John, Kyle, and Amy

On January first, 2004, Amy and Kevin had us over for what she described in the invitation as a low-key, relaxed, New Year’s day party. It lived up to its billing and with the exception of two rough years early this decade, we have had a suitably low-key repeat. Fondue is the traditional fare, with both beef and cheese pots going. This is the crew, except James, who hadn’t made it to the table yet. There was laughter as well as mourning, as we looked back on a year that called for both. We don’t kno, of course, what the year ahead holds, but with friends like these, who needs enemas.

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Miscellaneous Foreign Coins

Miscellaneous Foreign Coins

Miscellaneous Foreign Coins

We’ve been going through boxes recently, throwing away old papers, etc. and Cathy came across a small box full of random, foreign coins. We started sorting them and by the time we were done, we had envelopes marked with more than 40 country names from Afghanistan to Venezuela. Most of the coins are from the 1960s but there were a few older coins, like the one with George the Sixth. The coin on the left with an eagle under a sunrise is a 2 Afghani coin from 1961 (۱۳٤۰, 1340 in the Solar Hejira calendar). I see Pakistan, France, Brazil, Vietnam, Peru, West Germany and Great Britain, as well as a 2 Euro coin at the top edge of the photo (the bi-colored coin).

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Frost

Frost

Frost

It’s finally become what I would call cold. When it gets down into the single digits (Fahrenheit) I’m liable to wear a sweater. So, I wore a light one for my commute. I left it on for the walk across campus to a meeting. A lot of folks are complaining about the temperature in my office building but for me, it was too warm to leave my sweater on. The car windows were all frosted this morning and a few times while stopped at traffic lights, I took pictures of the frost on the passenger side window.

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Eagle Lectern

Eagle Lectern

Eagle Lectern

Back on Wednesday, January 23, 2013 I posted a photo titled “Lectern Eagle’s Talons” which was a portion of a wooden lectern carved in the shape of an eagle. This is the head of the eagle, which unfortunately has a chipped beak. There is also a large crack across the breast of the bird, but that adds character more than anything. Otherwise, it’s in pretty good shape. There was, at one time, a brass plaque (I’m assuming brass) which probably said who paid for the lectern or something of that sort. There really needs to be a small set of steps behind this, so you can get up high enough to read from it, as the whole things is well over six feel tall.

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Evening Clouds

Evening Clouds

Evening Clouds

It was mostly clear today and fairly cool. As I was leaving work there was this one cloud to the east. As I stopped at a light, I grabbed my camera and got too pictures of it before the light changes and I had to watch where I was going. It’s been a busy few weeks and I’ve had a hard time getting pictures every day. I’ve managed but some days is a chore. I really appreciate sunsets because I generally don’t have to go far for the picture, especially when I’m in my car (and when I have traffic lights to stop me). This image is a little soft because it was taken through the windscreen, but it’s really more about the colors than anything else.

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Move, Part 1

Move, Part 1

Move, Part 1

Today was phase one of “The Move”. We’ve been so long getting to this point that it was a little anticlimactic. Well, maybe. It was still a big day. It went very smoothly, though, largely due to the overwhelming support of those who came and carried and organized and directed. I really didn’t do a lot other than drive the truck, which is about at my pay grade. This was only part one of the actual moving process and really only one phase of many. Nevertheless, thank you to everyone who came out to help on this cool January day.

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Normal

As Far As Anyone Knows, We're a Nice, Normal Family

As Far As Anyone Knows, We’re a Nice, Normal Family

Note the juxtaposition of this pack of tissues with the humorous message and the somewhat creepy heart with a little doll’s head on it. This was intentional, of course. Cathy came across these two things at her mom’s house recently and decided they needed to go together. So, they are in our powder room. I don’t know that it’s true, of course. I think the number of people who both know us and think we’re a nice, normal family is vanishingly small. But who wants to be normal, anyway?

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Computer Room

Margaret and Cathy In The Computer Room

Margaret and Cathy In The Computer Room

Now that Cathy’s mom has moved in with us, we needed to integrate her computer into our home network. The small office just inside our front door (and now just outside her bedroom) is where my computer has been for over a year and where Cathy’s has been since the construction started towards the end of October. Now Margaret’s computer is here, as well. By the time I’m writing this, on January 14), the table is gone from the middle of the room and it’s much easier to walk around. My computer and the printer is to my right, along with a tall bookcase. We need to put a few pictures up on the walls, but it’s coming together.

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Sunset

Sunset

Sunset

As I was leaving work today, there was another nice sunset going on through the trees along the back edge of the parking lot. I took a few pictures, knowing these events are fleeting and if you don’t act quickly, you can easily miss them. Then I drove around to Cathy’s building to pick her up and as I turned into her parking lot, this is what I saw. I parked at the top of the lot, up the hill so as to get as much sky over the trees and the building on the left as possible. This one turned out pretty well, I think. These are not the colors I generally associate with sunset but they are what they are. Within about five minutes, all the color was gone except some deep blues as the sky faded to black.

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Old Glory

Old Glory

Old Glory

It was a mostly grey day today. It’s still cool but it’s supposed to warm up for a few days. It’s also supposed to rain, so we’ll finally have temperatures above 60°F but wet. On the way home, I was sitting at the light and the large American flag at the Ourisman Rockmont Chevrolet car lot was blowing in the wind. The wind was coming out of the southeast, which is a little unusual so it was blowing farther behind the trees. Usually it’s blowing to the right, out from the trees.

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Cathy

Cathy

Cathy

Cathy was nice enough to let me take a few pictures of her this evening. They were not anything special but it was nearly 10:30 and I hadn’t taken any pictures today. I asked Dorothy if I could take her picture but she’s not really all that fond of having her picture taken. I certainly understand that, feeling pretty much the same way myself, but of course, as the one taking the pictures, I’d prefer she be more agreeable. Nevertheless, I really do understand and sympathize. But Cathy was fine with it.

Between when this picture was taken and now, when I’m writing this four days later, Cathy’s had a hair cut. If you saw her without seeing this picture or without having seen her for a while, you might not notice. Her hair isn’t short at this point, but before the haircut it was, as you can see, pretty long.

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Walnut in Asphalt

Walnut in Asphalt

Walnut in Asphalt

I went across campus for a meeting today and on the way back, I walked around the building once to take a few pictures. I came across this black walnut that has been pushed down into a crack in the pavement. I think it’s really kind of pretty. In case you aren’t sure, the pavement is wet. Our weather has definitely warmed up (it was over 60°F today) but it’s very wet out. Tomorrow the rain is supposed to be gone but the temperatures are supposed to drop back to freezing and then colder into next week.

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Sunset

Sunset

Sunset

We had a pretty spectacular sunset this evening and I enjoyed watching the bands of clouds turn a beautiful orange, against the darkening blue of the southwestern sky. It had been a pretty busy day, with folks moving into Cathy’s mom’s house and doing a very small bit more towards getting her things out of it. There is a lot more to do, of course. Nevertheless, a sunset like this helps me unwind and slow down. I stand on the back steps and just watch, occasionally lifting my camera to take yet another picture, as the colors grow more intense. Is a very healing activity and I’m thankful for beautiful sunsets (and sunrises) and the opportunities they provide.

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Kai

Kai

Kai

We haven’t had regularly schedule family dinner nights for a while, although we’ve seen each over over the holidays. Because Dorothy is about to go back to school for the spring semester, mom asked if we could get together before she was gone. She fixed both a pot roast and a vegetarian stew, both of which were terrific over mashed potatoes. Of course, the highlight of the evening was seeing each other and, as usual, this little fellow was often the center of attention.

He’s been quite expressive for a while now but it getting more and more so every time we see him. I won’t claim that he’s the cutest kid that’s ever lived, as that’s a pretty high bar but he certainly is cute. He’s a happy kid, as well, and getting this smile from him is fairly easy (although catching it on camera is a little harder). I also got some pictures of him with his dad, who was wearing a matching shirt, albeit without the tiger on it.

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Church

Cross Community Church

Cross Community Church

We’ve been a part of a few different churches over the years, from Fourth Presbyterian Church, where we met, to Calvary Fellowship in Juneau, Alaska. We’ve gone to a couple Evangelical Free Churches and a non-denominational church for a little while. We’re currently involved in our second church plant, both of which have been Presbyterian (first EPC and now PCA). There’s something special about a church plant, although to be honest, the facilities aren’t always as comfortable as many would prefer. Today was our fourth and final meeting at this county school facility over the last four months. Generally we meet at the Rockville Senior Center, which is a much nicer facility (although not necessarily the easiest to find without GPS). The first time we met here, in October, it was swelteringly hot and humid. The next two times it was chilly. Today, the heat was on so most people were comfortable (and I was only a little warm). Next week, back to our regularly scheduled location.

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Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

After a meeting across campus today, I stopped to take some pictures of the ice around the drainage control pond next to my building. With the rain on Thursday and Friday, the water had been high. As it drained, the temperature dropped and it froze, but the water level continued to drop, leaving lots of ice around the banks of the pond. As I walked down through the middy area leading to the pond, this great blue heron (Ardea herodias), took off and flew a little further away from me. After that, he waded around and I was able to get a few more pictures, both from this side (where he is back lit) and from the other, with the sun shining on him from over my shoulders. Without more than a 100mm lens, this is the best I could do.

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Mellow Mushroom

Mellow Mushroom

Mellow Mushroom

For more than two years now I’vebeen meeting regularly with a group of (mostly) young men. For over a year we met most weeks. Starting last summer we switched to every other week and during the holidays it was hard to organize. Three of us finally got together this evening for dinner. Mellow Mushroom sounds a bit sixty’s but the food is honestly pretty good. The decor is very much comic book colors and it makes for a good picture. There were not a lot of patrons there this evening, but a Tuesday in the winter isn’t likely to be busy in general.

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Kalanchoe Flowers

Kalanchoe Flowers

Kalanchoe Flowers

We’ve had somewhat mixed success with houseplants over the years. We have a few that have lasted really well. I have a snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) in my office that Dorothy’s second grade teacher gave me when they moved to Florida. That was 11 or 12 years ago and it’s doing really well. We have a very large Kaffir lily (Clivia miniata) in our kitchen that gets put out into a shady spot in the yard most years. On the other hand, some plant seem to just barely hang on to life. This one, a Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana), isn’t really doing all that well. It is blooming, however, so it deserves a picture.

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Life’s A Beech

American Beech Leaves

American Beech Leaves

I love beech trees in the winter. They hold their leaves which turn a beautiful, copper brown. They are especially nice against all the grey of a normal winter woodland and with the sun shining on and through them they are particularly nice. I’ve had a few pictures of beech leaves in the fog, which is also magical, but today was sunny and they were glowing in the sun. It’s been something of a crazy winter so far, with temperatures down around zero (Fahrenheit) and then up into the 60s. We have had a few minor snows but nothing of any great depth. Also, they have come when it was cold enough that it was easily swept off the sidewalk instead of needing to be shoveled. But there’s a lot of winter yet, so you never know.

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Don’t Look Back

Sunset In The Rear View Miror

Sunset In The Rear View Miror

It’s funny how a phrase can call up vivid memories in much the same was certain sounds and even more smells can bring you to a place you haven’t been in a long time. When I was growing up, we’d visit my grandparents in North Carolina a few times a year. It was something I always looked forward to eagerly. Their house was familiar and yet unfamiliar enough to be just a little exciting. It was an old house with lots of character and quirks. There was also a huge shed out back full of all sorts of treasures. One thing I can’t say I always looked forward to was going to church. It certainly wasn’t the fault of the particular church and had much more to do with my age, my inability to sit still for very long, and my general lack of interest. Nevertheless, I actually remember a few lines from a sermon given there, probably in the early 1970s. The phrase that sticks in my mind was “Don’t Look Back” and the sermon was on Luke 9:63, “But Jesus said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’” I thought of that as I took this picture in my rear view mirror while stopped at a traffic light on the way home today.

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Waxing Crescent Moon

Waxing Crescent Moon

Waxing Crescent Moon

The new moon was four days ago, on January 16. The synodic period (the amount of time between full moons, or new moons or whatever) is 29 days, 12 hours, and about 44 minutes. The sidereal orbit (the orbit around the earth without regard to the relative position of the sun) is a little more than two days shorter than that, of course. In the time it takes the moon to circle the earth, the earth has moved almost one twelfth of the way around the sun and it takes the moon that extra two-plus days to get back into the same position relative to the sun and the earth. During the first quarter of the cycle, the moon is a growing (waxing) crescent (less than half visible). The second quarter it is waxing gibbous (more than half visible).

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Ashes to Ashes

Burning Card

Burning Card

We’ve got a bunch of boxes in the garage marked shred—old bills, checkbooks, business correspondence, that sort of thing—and we’ve been meaning to get rid of them for a while. There used to be an outfit that allowed individuals to drop off boxes of papers to be shredded for free (making their money from businesses) but they are no longer doing that. Well, what’s better than shredding? Burning. This little fellow didn’t suffer as he was consumed by the flames. Four boxes done. Six or eight more to go.

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Rubber Stoppers

Rubber Stoppers

Rubber Stoppers

You can’t really call them corks when they aren’t made of cork. Note that box on the right, which says “Corks” on it actually contains real corks, made from the bark of the cork oak (which should be called Quercus corkus but is actually Quercus suber). These brown stoppers are made of gum rubber and are good for all sorts of stoppering needs. These are in a drawer in a small cabinet that has a fairly wide variety of things in it. As you can see, a few of them have holes cut through them. Dad used them in his home lab and I’ve found a few uses for them myself, over the years.

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Rusty Chain

Rusty Chain

Rusty Chain

Outside my office, between the parking lot and the woods, there are a half dozen wooden picnic tables, stacked one on top of the other. They are chained together, presumably to keep any of them from wondering off (as it were). The chain is a little the worse for being out in the weather all the time. I didn’t really test it of course, and for all I know it’s still strong enough to stand up to average abuse. Nevertheless, it looks a bit weakened and a strong piece of iron inserted between the sides of a link and twisted might snap the chain quite easily.

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Stone Rings

Stone Rings

Stone Rings

Our Community Group (our church’s small groups) met this evening at Kofi and Danielle’s apartment building. It’s a newish building and a lot more swanky than anywhere we’ve lived. I’m not complaining, mind you. We’re pretty happy where we are. All of the apartments we’ve lived in had doors off of (mostly open) stair wells. The first place we lived, which was in Chevy Chase, had an enclosed stair but the others had open stairs. That’s not counting the Quonset Hut we lived in when we first moved to Juneau. After that we moved to an apartment that opened off a balcony across the bridge on Douglas Island. That and the apartment we moved into back in Maryland after our around-the-world trip in ’88 were both on the third floor of three story buildings.

Anyway, we met in one of the common rooms in the apartment building because there were about fifteen of us, which would have been a crowd in their one bedroom apartment. In addition to this stone sculpture on a table, there was a gas fire burning in a long, low fireplace. Needless to say, however, the real warmth came from the people we were with.

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Mushrooms

Mushrooms

Mushrooms

Do you like mushrooms? Cathy and I both do. Dorothy isn’t a fan so I have to leave them out (or cook them separately) when she is home. Now that she’s back at school, I’m buying them in bulk again. Great Wall Supermarket has big bags of these mushrooms and they go pretty well with just about everything I cook. Tonight that was hamburgers with mushroom gravy. What I really love are porcini (a.k.a. cep, Boletus edulis), which have such a wonderful, earthy flavour. Bought dried in very small packets they are convenient but quite expensive. I really should buy them a pound or two at a time, which brings the price per ounce down quite a bit. I don’t think I’m ready to buy a 25 pound bag, though. Walmart has one listed for $1,048.32. I don’t think so. Sorry.

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Sycamore Leaf

Sycamore Leaf

Sycamore Leaf

It was a beautiful day and I went out into the woods for a little while during lunch time. There was ice on a drainage pond in the woods near my building but in the sun it was quite pleasant. I got down onto the ground and took some pictures of this sycamore leaf (American sycamore, Platanus occidentalis). They are large and heavy and really pretty with the sun shining through them. I also found a small deer antler that had been shed. It was only six or seven inches long and had no forks, but I picked it up to keep, anyway.

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Burning More Papers

Burning More Papers

Burning More Papers

It was another productive Saturday, getting a few things crossed off the top of my to do list. It was also, if you will, the opposite of productive (i.e. destructive). We burned another three boxes of “shred” papers. It doesn’t save a lot of time over shredding and in fact, if we took them to someone with an industrial shredder, it would much faster. Nevertheless, burning is relaxing. There’s something about flames. I won’t say they’re cool, but if I did, you’d probably know what I meant. The boxes today had, among other things, canceled checks from 1979. I think it’s safe to get rid of those now.

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Carpet Pattern

Carpet Pattern

Carpet Pattern

I was looking around for something to photograph today and took a few pictures of this carpet in Margaret’s room. It’s not a huge carpet but it’s certainly quite pretty. I love the colors and the fineness of the weave. We have a few carpets but that includes a few imitation Persians. When we got married, Karabet gave us some cash as a wedding present and we bought two relatively inexpensive carpets. They aren’t nearly as nice as this one, but then again, he gave us the gift out of his relatively modest means. We still have them and I still think of him when I consider them. That’s often where value lies (but I’m not saying it lies like a rug).

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Black Walnut Husk

Black Walnut Husk

Black Walnut Husk

I walked around outside my building for a little while today, looking for something to photograph. I had a picture of a rusty chain last week and in the same area, on one of the picnic tables that are stored there, was this husk of an eastern black walnut (Juglans nigra) seed. They are quite popular with the squirrels. The birds basically leave them along because there aren’t any bird around here with the ability to get into the shells. With the gnawing ability common in rodents, however, squirrels have no trouble with these delicious (and relatively high calorie) nuts.

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Office Building Art

Office Building Art

Office Building Art

Cathy and I were in a local medical office building today and I, you’ll be surprised to learn, had my camera with me. I didn’t take pictures in the actual doctor’s office but in the lobby of the building was some art. The wall opposite the entrance was covered with these lined, glass panels, lit from behind. So, when it was time to leave, I took a few moments to get my camera out and take a few pictures. I don’t really have a lot to add. It is what it is. I wouldn’t call it high art, but decorative art seems appropriate. If nothing else it did add some color and interest to an otherwise nondescript office lobby.

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Reflections

Reflections

Reflections

I went over to the Rio today to have a cup of coffee with a friend. It’s often good to have an excuse to get away from the office for a little while and doing it with a good friend is even better. We chatted about this and that and then headed back to our respective work. As I was going back, I noticed the reflections in the Sodexo building. I turned around and parked the car along Washingtonian Blvd and then walked down the side of the building. This is a reflection of the BroadSoft building (and a tree).

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