Monthly Archives: October 2022

Jim Visits

Jim, Margaret and Cathy

Jim, Margaret and Cathy

Jim visited this weekend and we had a really nice time. Of course the main purpose of his visit was to see his mom. So, after his arrival late yesterday evening we headed over to see her this morning. Naturally I took a photo or two (and there will be another, larger group photo tomorrow). Our visit had to be cut short because of a memorial service that I wanted to go to. Jim and Cathy took naps in the afternoon and then he went to visit some other folks. All in all, it was a good day. Even the memorial was nice. Sad, of course, but nice.

Categories: People | Tags: , | Comments Off on Jim Visits

More Visiting With Mom

Jim, Margaret, Cathy, Amy, Dorothy, and Henry

Jim, Margaret, Cathy, Amy, Dorothy, and Henry

As promised yesterday, here’s another photo of a visit with Cathy and Jim’s mom. This time, Dorothy joined us, as well as Jim’s friend Amy. We hadn’t met her before but really enjoyed meeting her and getting to know her a little. After our visit with Margaret (and after taking a few photos) we drove out to Rocklands and had Boxcar Burgers and a bottle of wine in the barn (it’s turned chilly). Anyway, back to this photo. I think it’s a really good picture of all of us, which is somewhat unusual.

Categories: People | Tags: , , | Comments Off on More Visiting With Mom

Adam and Dorothy

Adam and Dorothy

Adam and Dorothy

I took this photo of Adam and Dorothy before the worship evening today. Adam, when he can make it, adds his guitar skills and brings an added level of depth to the music. Shown here laughing before the evening got started, they sit at the ‘front’ of the room but really we sit in more of a circle. As you can see, Anna has decorated the mantle with more dahlias from her garden. I should mention that all of my photos taken on these occasions are by available light, which at times has been relatively low, so the ISO is often set accordingly high. Here is was set to 5,000, allowing me an exposure time of 1/80 of a second at f/4.0.

Categories: People | Tags: | Comments Off on Adam and Dorothy

Kaien, Silas, and Eloise

Kaien, Silas, and Eloise

Kaien, Silas, and Eloise

My cousin and his daughter were in town this weekend. Iris and Seth hosted a dinner for them and the local family, which was really nice. We had carry-out from a Thai place. After dinner I took some photographs, including this one of the three youngest. It’s difficult to get a photo of them all looking at the camera and also not cringing from the flash. I’ll come clean and confess that this one is a composite of two images. Eloise wasn’t smiling in the best one of Kai and Silas, so I pulled her face from another image. I think it’s a pretty good shot.

Categories: People | Tags: , , | Comments Off on Kaien, Silas, and Eloise

Crane Outside My Office

Crane Outside My Office

Crane Outside My Office

The building my office is in needs a new heating and air conditioning system and the replacement was lifted onto the roof today. The back door to the building, which I normally use to get in, was blocked off and this crane was in the back parking lot, lifting the heavy equipment up onto the roof. This picture wasn’t actually taken out my windows, because I look out on the end of the building, so I went to a few different offices to take pictures. I admit it, I’m a sucker for heavy machinery. I’ve been told it’s a guy thing but I think it’s just certain people, both male and female.

Categories: Miscellaneous | Tags: , , | Comments Off on Crane Outside My Office

Milkweed Pods

Milkweed Pods

Milkweed Pods

We took a nice walk in Redgate Park today. The fall color has started but it isn’t really in full ‘bloom’ yet. I did get some nice photos of Carolina horsenettle (Solanum carolinense), American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) leaves which were a deep purple-red, and some pretty, peeling birch bark. Of course there were a few general scenery photos. We saw a heron at one of the ponds but were not anywhere near close enough to get a worthwhile photo and I wasn’t carrying my new, long lens. I got some photos of non-native and invasive plants, as well. These included the dreaded mile-a-minute vine (Persicaria perfoliata), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii), which is found throughout our woods, and porcelain berry (Ampelopsis glandulosa var. brevipedunculata), an Asian vine in the same family as the grape. The milkweed pods in this photo, probably (Asclepias syriaca), were really nice, though, so I thought I’d go with them for the walk’s featured photo.

Categories: Flowers and Plants | Tags: , , , , , | Comments Off on Milkweed Pods

Pseudemys rubriventris​ (Northern Red-bellied Cooter)

Pseudemys rubriventris​ (Northern Red-bellied Cooter)

Pseudemys rubriventris​ (Northern Red-bellied Cooter)

Cathy and I walked on the canal today, heading northwest (upstream) from Pennyfield Lock, getting near Blockhouse Point. We saw a Great Blue Heron and I got a few photos of that but thought this photo of a northern red-bellied cooter (Pseudemys rubriventris​) deserved to be seen. These are large basking turtles and are fairly common along the canal, along with the smaller eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta picta). Often, and especially from a distance, the color pattern on these turtles isn’t easily seen. This one, however, was particularly vivid and with the help of my long lens (zoomed to 531mm, according to the exif data), I was able to get quite close.

Categories: Creatures | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Pseudemys rubriventris​ (Northern Red-bellied Cooter)

Zack and Lexi’s New Place

Jean, Zack, Lexi, Dorothy, Cathy, and Henry

Jean, Zack, Lexi, Dorothy, Cathy, and Henry

We went to dinner at Zack and Lexi’s place this evening. They live in a part of town we aren’t familiar with but we had no real trouble finding it, with the help of our trusty GPS. Traffic was slow at times, but that’s to be expected inside the beltway during evening rush hour. Jean and Dorothy also met us there. The original purpose of the visit was to load a sofa into Dorothy’s van (well, our van but her car is in the shop so she has our van). Once we did that, with a little three-dimentional Tetris, we went in and had a very lovely dinner and evening with our friends. This photo was taken with the camera sitting on the kitchen counter, so the angle is a little odd, but it turned out pretty well, in spite of that.

Categories: People | Tags: , , | Comments Off on Zack and Lexi’s New Place

Jack-O’-Lantern

Jack-O'-Lantern

Jack-O’-Lantern

Did you know that in 17th century Britain jack o’lantern was a name for lantern-carrying night watchmen? That’s what Webster says, anyway. Reading there I also found out that the first known use of jack-o’lantern in print is in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story, The Great Carbuncle (1837), which I happened to read earlier this year. Note that the carbuncle in the story is a deep red gemstone, not an abscess. Anyway, this pumpkin was carved by one of Anna and Greg’s sons and was greeting folks outside their front door. I think it’s a pretty well executed jack-o’lantern.

Categories: Miscellaneous | Tags: , , | Comments Off on Jack-O’-Lantern

Great Falls, Virginia

Great Falls, Virginia

Great Falls, Virginia

After church and also after running a few errands today we drove to McLean, Virginia and took a nice walk at Riverbend Park. We went northwest on the Potomac Heritage Trail about a mile and a quarter. The view of the river isn’t all that good for most of the way, but there were a few good spots for seeing out of the trees. There is a nice bit of trail where it climbs about 50 feet over a knoll into a beech and oak wood before coming back down to the river.

From there we drove to Great Falls Park and walked to overlooks 2 and 3 (where this photo was taken). Because I now have a lifetime senior pass, short trips to parks that we would normally not do to avoid the $20 entrance fee are basically free. As you can see in this photo, the river is quite low right now. We’ve seen it when most of the rocks in this photo are totally covered.

Categories: Miscellaneous | Tags: , , , , | Comments Off on Great Falls, Virginia

Seneca Creek Bluffs Trail

Cathy on Seneca Bluffs Trail

Cathy on Seneca Bluffs Trail

We decided to take a walk on the Seneca Bluffs Trail today, heading downstream from where Seneca Creek goes under Maryland Route 28 (Darnestown Road). We walked about 2.3 miles each way, which was farther than I expected we’d go. For the most part this section of trail is not near the creek. At a few points you can see out into the fields that are on Sugarland Road. The trail has some ups and downs, reaching an elevation of just under 300 feet above sea level, from a low point about 90 feet lower. At one point the trail goes through a stand of eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), which is quite different to the surrounding deciduous oak, hickory, and tulip poplar. I’m not sure I’d do this section again unless I made plans to go all the way to Rocklands Farm, another eight tenths of a mile from where we got. If we had a car at both ends then that would have been very nice.

Categories: Miscellaneous | Tags: , , , | Comments Off on Seneca Creek Bluffs Trail