Actually, I’m not sure if this really qualifies as a lowering sky. It was actually the sun shining through, which is a much more cheery. Still, it looked dark and threatening. It was actually a nice afternoon. Not too cold and a nice day for a walk.
Into The Wild Blue Yonder
Have you ever looked up at planes overhead and wondered, as have I, where they are going? Do you think about all the people, somewhat uncomfortably crammed into their cattle-class seats, wondering, are we almost there? Does it make you think of far away places, exotic smells, wonderful food, or the sounds of a foreign tongue? Or do you ever wonder whether “blue” or “yonder” is the noun in that phrase? Perhaps not.
- Contrail to Nowhere
- Heading Into the Blue
Dem Bones
Of course, dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones really refers to human bones and these are from a deer, but you get the idea.
Chhutney
Many of us are familiar with Major Grey Mango Chutney. Well, who knew they made this? Major Simone Chhutney!
Ice
It’s gotten cold again and was a beautiful winter day today. Cathy and I went for a walk in the neighborhood this afternoon. We talked mostly about the things that are bugging us at work, but you certainly don’t want to hear about that. I stopped a few times to take pictures of ice.
Urban BBQ
We stopped at Urban BBQ for carry-out this evening. It was hopping. This picture has Kendra and Cathy looking at the menu. Dorothy sat down as I took the picture, so that’s her knee. This is the Urban BBQ that used to be Urban Burger.
Contimplating A Navel
I had to run a few errands at lunchtime today and when I went out to my car, there was this orange in the parking lot, just sitting there. Contemplating its navel, I assume.
Montpelier Mansion
I took Dorothy to her art class today. I enjoyed a little time at nearby Montpelier Mansion. I haven’t actually been inside but I’ve walked around the grounds a few times. Here is a sampling of the pictures I took.
- Montpelier Mansion
- Osage Orange
- Turkey Vulture on Chimney
- Chives
- Heather Flowers
Late Christmas Lights
Most of the Christmas lights in our neighborhood are down. There are still some white lights out but all the elaborate decorations have come down, with the exception of one house that still has them all up. I don’t mind, actually. Lights don’t really convey Christmas to me as much as winter, anyway, so what’s the big deal. This yard has lots of color and they are pretty intense, bright colors, too.
Rainy Night
Cold and snowy on Monday, a pretty beautiful day on Tuesday, then rainy and gray on Wednesday. Typical winter weather, actually. The rain was light most of the day but it started raining pretty hard in the evening.
Stop
I didn’t have a chance to get out and take any pictures today so when Dorothy went out to run an errand this evening I brought my camera along. We stopped on the way home to take a few photos and this is our favorite.
Snow
We had our first real snowfall of 2012 today. It snowed quite hard back on the third but none of that really stuck on the ground. This evening the snow covered grassy areas and certainly made the rush hour traffic a little crazier, as the slightest suggestion of snow tends to do here. We thought about going to the grocery store to buy enough food for a week. Then we decided we would try to survive until tomorrow on what we already have. Tomorrow it’s forecast to be in the fifties, so our mini-winter is destined to be short-lived.
Guitar
This is my old Nagoya guitar. I don’t play it much any more but it gets use when some of Dorothy’s friends pick it up.
Henna
Last night Cathy and I went to the wedding of a friend, the youngest son of good friends of Cathy’s parents, folks they’ve known since forever, more or less. The bride is of Indian extraction and was dressed traditionally. I knew that Dorothy would want to see her hands so I asked if I could take a picture of them. She had roses in henna (as well as her bouquet) in memory of her late father and the rose bushes he planted in their first home. She also had her late grandmother’s initials in henna but they don’t show here. Anyway, I was right, Dorothy was really excited to see this picture.
We had a great time and are thankful to N and Z for inviting us. May they have many years of joy together.
Low Scoring Game
Here’s a basketball score you won’t often see—one to nothing. Of course it was only two and a half minutes into the first period, but still, one to nothing. We left at half time, when WCA was up 22 to 16, so I don’t know how it ended.
Sunrise, Sunset
Maybe I should change the tag line for the blog from “Here and There…Now and Then” to “What’s This Guy Doing?” (if you’ll pardon the pun and with apologies to Jimi Hendrix). I don’t know if it’s a function of the time of year, when the sun happens to be coming up as I’m getting Dorothy off to school or if the weather pattern just happens to be right, or what, but we had another wonderful sunrise this morning.
Another Sunset
After writing that I’m not a big fan of sunset pictures, here I am posting another two days later. This was taken from Hadley’s Park on Falls Road. It was too nice for me not to stop and take a few pictures, despite the “No Use After Sunset” sign.
Teeth
It has finally gotten a bit chilly here. The temperature was in the teens, although the upper teens, yesterday morning.
At lunch time I went out to the empty lot next to my office building and came across a jawbone with a few teeth still in it.
Sunrises
While sunsets are overdone, sunrises are sadly less common. They have, if anything, more beauty than their post meridian siblings but are considerably less commonly seen or appreciated. I suppose they share most other attributes with sunsets but are more private, somehow, and therefore somewhat more precious. Today’s sunrise was particularly beautiful, although this photo, like so many, doesn’t do it justice.
Blue Sky and Snow
Sadly I was in a meeting today when the snow was coming down so I wasn’t able to get a picture of it. I did get a shot of the beautiful blue sky with clouds down low, though.
























