Darius on Christmas

Photograph taken on Friday, December 25, 2015 by Henry
Darius on Christmas

Darius on Christmas

I warned you that there might be a few pictures of this little boy. After opening our own stockings at home, Cathy, Dorothy, and I went over to Cathy’s mom’s house and enjoyed the rest of the morning and the early afternoon with her, with David, and with Darius. In particular we participated in Darius’ joy in opening his presents. If you know him, then you will see the joy in his eyes in this picture.

He was vary patient, waiting until after breakfast to open presents. Then he helped his dad pass presents around, stopping now and again to open one to himself, of course.

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Ginger Snaps

Photograph taken on Thursday, December 24, 2015 by Henry
Ginger Snaps

Ginger Snaps

Cathy made my favorite cookies today. Ginger Snaps. That isn’t to say that I don’t like other cookies, of course, and if I only ever had ginger snaps, I’d probably miss other types, but these are, I think the cookies I like best. They are especially good when warm out of the oven, as almost all things are, but they are also good after they have cooled and are slightly hard, with that characteristic crunch (or snap, if you will).

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Darius

Photograph taken on Wednesday, December 23, 2015 by Henry
Darius

Darius

If you don’t like pictures of cute children, then perhaps you might want to take a break from following my posts for a few days. Darius is in town and that means pictures. I’m afraid that there will be the occasional picture of him through next Monday, when he and David head home. We really enjoy seeing them both and are so glad that, even if he sometimes gets us all confused with each other, he has some inkling of who we are. Like many kids this age, he tries not to let good photographs be taken of him. This one turned out pretty well, though.

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CT Scanner

Photograph taken on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 by Henry
CT Scanner

CT Scanner

I started the day off right with a visit to the radiologist’s this morning. There’s nothing like a CT Scan to get you going. Well, I suppose that’s maybe overstating it a little. But I did have a CT Scan today. All is well, so don’t worry (if you even thought to worry in the first place). This is just keeping an eye on things and things seem to be fine. I snapped a couple pictures of the scanner after we were done and as the images were being copied onto a CD for me to take with me. This machine always looks like an enormous point-and-shoot camera to me (e.g. Canon Powershot E1).

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Amaryllis Bud

Photograph taken on Monday, December 21, 2015 by Henry
Amaryllis Bud

Amaryllis Bud

Dorothy is home for Christmas and when she came, she brought this amaryllis with her. Fortunately, she didn’t fly home, or that would not really have been possible. It would have been sad to have left it at school, though, because it’s going to bloom in a week or less, and it would have been done by the time she got back, particularly without any water in the meantime.

It’s sitting on our kitchen table now, and starting to open. We’re all looking forward to it’s full splendor when the four flowers open up, deep clear red.

The plant also reminds me of my dad, who liked amaryllises and would often have one at Christmas. It’s a funny old thing, life, with changes you’d rather not face or remember but which cannot be avoided. Every year seems to bring more of them (the changes) and as we get older, they seem to accelerate. I’m ever so thankful for the things we have (mostly for the people we know and love) but always conscious of those who we have lost.

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Santa Lights

Photograph taken on Sunday, December 20, 2015 by Henry
Santa Lights

Santa Lights

Because our church meets in the afternoon, our Sunday schedule is a bit unusual, compared to what it has been in the past. We got home this evening at about 6:40 and we could hear the music from “Santa’s Sleigh” as he made his annual pre-Christmas Eve rounds of our neighborhood. We didn’t have long to wait. Within a minute or two he was coming up our street, music blaring and Santa Ho-Ho-Hoing as he came. His helpers (Elves, I suppose) threw a few fibre optic “Santa Lights” our way and Cathy let me take a few of her, twirling them around in our front hall.

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Unique Thrift Store

Photograph taken on Saturday, December 19, 2015 by Henry
Unique Thrift Store

Unique Thrift Store

Cathy and I went to the Unique Thrift Store this morning to buy a few things. In addition to good bargains, we enjoy it as a cultural experience. There is a store that specializes in clothes and accessories for Latino parties in general and Quinceañera in particular. I particularly like the shelves with rank upon rank of figurines dressed in their quince-best. The varying colors along with the otherwise identical postures and features make for interesting patterns.

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Kimia and Solomon

Photograph taken on Friday, December 18, 2015 by Henry
Kimia and Solomon

Kimia and Solomon

We had our friend Kimia over this evening and she invited some people she knows (a few of whom we know, as well) to hear about her plans to go to South American. She was a missionary kid in Africa and she always expected that when the time came, that’s where she’d go. As it turned out (and is continuing to turn out), she’s going to Colombia, instead. It was nice to have a chance to catch up with her again and to meet some of her friends. While she was here ahead of the others, we got caught up on all our lives. She also was brave enough to hold Solomon and pose for a few pictures. He’s a Mexican bird, rather than Colombian, but at least he isn’t an African grey.

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Brief Afternoon Blueness

Photograph taken on Thursday, December 17, 2015 by Henry
Brief Afternoon Blueness

Brief Afternoon Blueness

It rained quite a bit today, off and on all morning. It had the look of a day that will be dreary for the duration. However, there was a brief episode of clearing at about 4:00 this afternoon. I was fortunate enough to turn around and look out the window and see it. The clouds were puffy and white, the sky between them was a deep, lovely blue, and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful evening. By the time I left work, though, it was overcast and grey again (but not actually raining).

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Bramble Leaves

Photograph taken on Wednesday, December 16, 2015 by Henry
Bramble Leaves

Bramble Leaves

I got outside again late this morning. It was quite pleasant out, warm and mostly sunny, and I walked around looking for color. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the predominant color outside now is brown. Of course, there is always a significant amount of green, as some grasses keep their color throughout the year. But other colors are a little harder to find. Many of the bramble bushes have lost their leaves and are only providing color in their rusty red stems and the red, hairy thorns that coat them. But I found one large patch that still had quite a few leaves, mostly a dark, mahogany color, but with a few that were bright crimson.

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Rose Hips

Photograph taken on Tuesday, December 15, 2015 by Henry
Rose Hips

Rose Hips

The leaves have all fallen, except those of the young beech trees and some oaks, which hold their dried leaves ’till spring. The fall color has mostly faded to brown and the brighter colors are mostly subdued. But there is still a little color to be found. This afternoon I went out into the woods beside my office and took pictures of two sources of color. This the first, is of rose hips from a multiflora rose growing among the trees, it’s bright hips happy in the afternoon sun. The other was of the red fuzz on bramble stems, forming a glowing mist in the lowering sun.

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Phalaenopsis Orchids

Photograph taken on Monday, December 14, 2015 by Henry
Phalaenopsis Orchids

Phalaenopsis Orchids

I’ve been bad about keeping the houseplants in our kitchen watered lately. I think I went about three weeks without watering our orchids, which is a bit too long. Then, earlier this week Cathy noticed that this one was in bloom. So, I guess I didn’t do any permanent harm to them. I’ve watered them now, and will try to keep it up better, but in the meantime, we’re enjoying these beautiful blooms. We’ve had this Phalaenopsis orchid for a while now and it blooms about once a year. The flowers last for more than a month, if it’s taken care of while blooming, which is pretty impressive for a flower so delicate.

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Two Puzzles

Photograph taken on Sunday, December 13, 2015 by Henry
Hubble's Galaxy Puzzle and Kepler's Planetary Puzzle

Hubble’s Galaxy Puzzle and Kepler’s Planetary Puzzle

Cathy gave me these two puzzles for my birthday. I do enjoy puzzles and these were quite nice. The first that I tried, on the right, was labeled as Kepler’s Planetary Puzzle. Apparently it is more properly known as a Chuck puzzle, invented in 1897 by Edward Nelson. It is a form of Burr puzzle, a three-dimensional puzzle of interlocking pieces, often made of wood. This was a bit tricky but I managed to get it back together in about a half hour. The second, on the left, was labeled as Hubble’s Galaxy Puzzle and that took me a little longer. It took nearly an hour, with the first 45 minutes or so being trial and error (mostly error). Once I figured it out, it took another 15 minutes or so to actually get all the pieces together.

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Pond Reflections

Photograph taken on Saturday, December 12, 2015 by Henry
Pond Reflections

Pond Reflections

Cathy and I went up to Pennsylvania with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law today to cut Christmas trees. It’s probably silly to go so far to cut trees but it’s become something of a tradition. Before going to get our trees, we stopped for a little while at the farm. It was a pretty day, with dramatic clouds and I took a few pictures of the pond, reflecting the trees and the clouds quite nicely. This is my favorite of the bunch. After getting our trees we stopped for lunch at Ott House in Emmitsburg on the way home.

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Holiday Party

Photograph taken on Friday, December 11, 2015 by Henry
KC, Jane, and Brice

KC, Jane, and Brice

This is the fourth year in a row that I’ve posted a picture from my company holiday party. The previous posts were on December 07, 2012 , December 19, 2013 , and December 12, 2014. This year, I took fewer pictures because I was a little distracted. On the way to the party, the brakes in my van stopped working. I was approaching a traffic light and it turned red. I put on the brakes and nothing happened. The car barely slowed down. I tried pumping them and the pedal went to the floor. Fortunately no one had started through the intersection and I went through without incident but I had to use the parking brake to slow down the rest of the way to the party. I had the van towed from there and got a ride back from the party. Anyway, enough about that. The party itself was nice and it’s always good to be with these folks and not be talking about work.

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Sun Through The Fog

Photograph taken on Thursday, December 10, 2015 by Henry
Sun Through The Fog

Sun Through The Fog

This morning, as I was leaving for work (and running about 15 minutes late), I enjoyed the sight of the sun, streaming through a light fog that was just about to finish burning off. I had noticed the fog earlier but it was so thin, I didn’t think much of it in terms of photography. But the light in the fog out our front door was nice, so I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures. Here you are.

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Boiling Eggs

Photograph taken on Wednesday, December 09, 2015 by Henry
Boiling Eggs

Boiling Eggs

I happened to be hard boiling a few eggs this evening and as I watched the water boil I realized how cool it looks (cool in a hot sort of way). The rolling bubbles, bursting, sending spouts of water up into the air, was just beautiful. But it all happens very fast. So, I pulled out my camera and took some flash pictures, easily freezing the boiling water. I think there’s more to be done here, but this is a reasonable first attempt.

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Another Sunset From My Office

Photograph taken on Tuesday, December 08, 2015 by Henry
Another Sunset From My Office

Another Sunset From My Office

Once again I had meant to go out during the day and take some pictures but once again I got busy and by the time I thought to go out, the light was failing. Actually, the sun was setting. Fortunately, there was a little color in the sky and by looking at an angle out my window I was able to see some clouds, lit by the setting sun.

It isn’t a particularly spectacular sunset, but it’s a sunset and better than nothing.

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Self-Portrait

Photograph taken on Monday, December 07, 2015 by Henry
Self-Portrait

Self-Portrait

I’m not a big fan of the selfie and I don’t even particularly like having my picture taken. I know that’s a bit funny coming from someone who is often trying to get others to smile for me, but it’s the truth. I would much rather look at pictures of other people than of myself. I suppose that’s a fairly common attitude.

This evening, though, I set the camera up on a china cabinet and set the self-timer, focused as best I could, and took a few pictures. This is the best, in terms of my expression, etc., although it’s not perfectly sharp. Still, not a terrible portrait. And as much as I don’t like looking at myself, I guess I should be thankful that I don’t have to very often. Sorry, for all of you who have a harder time avoiding it.

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Rena

Photograph taken on Sunday, December 06, 2015 by Henry
Rena

Rena

Taking pictures of kids can be fun but it can also present some very unique challenges. One of the biggest issues with kids is that, even if they want to be photographed, they often don’t know how to smile naturally. That’s sometimes true for adults, as well, of course, but not as common. With kids, even if they have the most beautiful smile in the world, if you ask them to smile, you get a very forced, very unnatural, toothy grin.

What’s really nice, though, is when you are able to catch an real, natural smile on one of these little ones. This picture is a great example. Rena’s “smile please” isn’t terrible, but it’s still a little less natural than her “real” smile. This is her real smile. It may not be her biggest, happiest smile, but it’s genuine and delightful.

And beautiful.

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