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Here and There…Now and Then |
UMBC Campus
Dorothy had the day off from school today so I took her and her friend Hannah to UMBC for a college visit. Our friend Kadie gave us a nice tour of the campus and then we went up to Stephen’s dorm room for a while. It’s a nice campus. The academic buildings are gathered together but there is a fair amount of open space, as well. It’s a little bit surprising to me that having lived in the area nearly my whole life I’ve never been here before, but there you are.
Sushi
I went to Lowe’s at lunch time today to pick up a few things and decided to go into Whole Foods to grab a few (other) things since I was right there. Whole Foods prices are high and they aren’t really very convenient to where we live. One of the only reasons I ever made the effort was to buy proper, dry cured bacon. Naturally I’d buy a cartload of things while I was there but it was the bacon (and cheese) that got me there. Giant and Safeway (and Shopper’s and Harris Teeter) only carry brine cured bacon, which is fine, but I prefer a good, thick cut, dry cured bacon.
Well, it turns out Whole Foods doesn’t carry bacon any more. In fact, they don’t seem to carry any bacon, dry or wet cured. They have something oxymoronically called “uncured bacon” which is basically sliced pork belly (except much of what they have isn’t even pork!). There was a time when they had a better selection of cheeses, as well, but that’s no longer true, either. So, there is now no reason for me to go out of my way to Whole Foods.
Since I was there and since it was lunch time, I bought a pack of sushi for my lunch. As I got back to work it started to rain very heavily. I decided to run into the building and got soaked for my trouble. I had a nice relaxing lunch, although my clothes were a bit sopping.
Dodge Pickup Carrier
I dropped our van off at the mechanic’s today and while I was waiting to be picked up I took a few pictures, including this one of the carrier and ring gear for a Dodge pickup rear differential.
Pork and Mushrooms
With Dorothy away for the weekend, Cathy and I decided to have a nice dinner together. We sort of skipped doing anything for our anniversary last month so let’s say this was for that. We went to a little Italian place in Olney named Al Sospiro Trattoria. It’s a little on the pricey side but the food was excellent. I mean, really, really good. After mussels as an appetizer, I had this pork loin wrapped in bacon and served with sautéd mushrooms. It was about as good as it gets.
Clivia miniata
We’ve had this in our kitchen for a few years now and this is only the second time it’s bloomed. It seemed happy enough but we decided to move it out int the back yard for the summer. We found a mostly shady spot for it, since full sun burns the leaves, and it’s very happy and decided to thank us by blooming. As you can see, the flowers are very bright and cheerful. You’re welcome.
Colored Pencils
When I got home from work today I noticed this bundle of freshly sharpened colored pencils. They were sitting on the dining room table with the afternoon sun shining in on them and making the colors bright.
Clouds
I almost didn’t take any pictures today but when I realized that, I quickly shot a few of clouds. Sorry, not really much to look at but they were actually kind of pretty in real life. I did also take some dashboard-cam pictures later but none of them are worth much so you’re stuck with clouds.
Mug Shot
Dorothy wanted to go to Ikea to pick out a bookcase this evening. She’s finished painting her room and is ready to move back in so we decided a bookcase was a reasonable request. Off we went. We did find a bookcase and Dorothy picked out a mirror but the mirror was out of stock.
I brought my camera, as I do much of the time now and found that Ikea is a great place to look for patterns.
Condiments, Bombay Bistro
Dorothy and I went to Bombay Bistro for dinner tonight and enjoyed a meal of chicken tikka makhani and paneer matar accompanied by garlic nan and sweetened with mango lassis. A very nice meal and a nice time with my lovely daughter. I took a few pictures of the meal and some of the decorations at the restaurant but I like this one of the condiment tray best. The green is the one I ate most of.
Night Lights
On my way home this evening, after work and a meeting at the church, I realized I had only taken a couple pictures today and I really didn’t know how good they would be. I don’t promise that my pictures will be good and I think sometimes that I live down to that promise. Anyway, I used my dashboard mount on the way home to get some long exposure, abstract images. As usual, most of them are not worth looking at but I sort of like this one.
Two Different Colors
I’ve mentioned a couple times recently that we’ve been stripping the wallpaper in Dorothy’s room and getting it ready to paint. Well, the painting started today. We let Dorothy pick the colors and while I don’t think I would choose them, they look alright. I don’t know that they show up in this picture the same as they do in actuality, but they are reasonably close. We went with Olympic paint and the pairs of opposite walls are each painted a different color. The yellow on the larger walls is called Fall Gold (A17-5) and the purple on the wall with the window and on the wall with the door and closet is Grape Popsicle (A42-5).
Dorothy In The “Flower Room”
From the time we started stripping the wallpaper in Dorothy’s room she moved the lion’s share of the things that had been in her room into what was going to be our guest room across the hall. For about two years that was her dressing room, play room, and basically everything except sleeping room. Much of the time it looked as though a tornado had come through, since she had more clothes than dresser drawers.
On a few occasions she cleaned the room and got things reasonably organized but there was simply too much stuff for the space and entropy inevitably won the day. This week Dorothy began what can only be described as “the great purge.” She went through everything and decided what she wanted to keep and what she was willing to give away. To her great credit, she was fairly ruthless and I would say that about half her clothes and more than half her things were put in the “get rid of” pile.
So, here is “the flower room” in a state that it hasn’t seen since, well, it seems like forever.
Harold The Classy Scotsman
I’m not sure what to say about this post. It’s a photograph of a drawing and while I took the photograph (which earns it the dubious right to be posted here), the drawing was done by Dorothy. We were at a friend’s house and Dorothy started drawing on their whiteboard. This is how it ended up. Interesting.
Note that Harold is wearing argyle socks and wing-tip shoes. Also, I’m informed that he is wearing tails but you can’t see them from the front. He thinks that bow-ties are cool.
In yesterday’s post about the Craigs visiting I mentioned that the visit wasn’t completely without incident. This post explains that a little. Do not adjust your set. There is nothing wrong with your picture. Because some folks will not want to see the pictures, I have hidden even the smaller versions so that you must click on the links to the right to see them (the images should open in new windows/tabs). If you are bothered by a little blood, don’t. They are not really all that bad, but you have been warned.
I was trying to cut the rind off a piece of Parmesan cheese. It was narrow piece and about half rind. I should have laid it on the rind, chopped through that and then cut the rind off the smaller pieces. But, no. I like to claim that I was distracted by the arrival of the entire Craig entourage and their presence in our smallish kitchen but the fact of the matter is that I was being careless. I was also using a large and quite sharp knife. In general, a sharp knife is safer than a dull one, because you don’t have to use so much force with a sharp knife. In this case, there was a lot of force being used and when the cheese fell over and the knife came down on my thumb, naturally it did some damage.
I don’t know if the cut went to the bone or not. It certainly felt like it did, but then, this isn’t a feeling with which I have a lot of experience. Nor do I want to gain such experience. I stopped the bleeding (mostly), washed it a bit, and kept my hand elevated for the evening, which helps explain why I only have a few photos from the evening. Before they left, Kristine helped me change the dressing. The bleeding had stopped by then. The next morning (today, 08/07) I stopped by my doctor’s office and got three stitches, which is when these pictures were taken.
Enjoy, or not, as you see fit.
Fredericksburg Silhouette
Leaf Shadow
On the way home from the beach we stopped in northeastern North Carolina for a mini family reunion. It was wonderful to see so many folks and we are very thankful to those who planned it as well as everyone who could be there. If you were not, we were sorry to miss you.
We drove a bit further north after that and spent the night in Chesapeake before driving the rest of the way home today. Rather than take interstate 64, which had very heavy traffic, we decided to take US 17 as far as Fredericksburg, getting on interstate 95 at that point. That route is a bit longer, distance-wise, than I-64, but I nevertheless recommend it highly. Traffic varied from light to practically non-existent. Definitely a more pleasant drive.
We stopped for a bathroom break in Fredericksburg, Virginia and I took these two pictures near the visitor center. The first is the side of a building, obviously, and I like the simple pattern of bricks against the sky.
The second is a picture of a line painted on the parking lot pavement, marking the space I parked in. As you can see, there was a leaf on the pavement when the paint was put down. The leaf is gone now but it took the paint with it, leaving another silhouette.
Pier Patterns
I already posted the family picture from today but thought I’d also post this one, which I like. It’s just a pier out into the Intracoastal Waterway near where we were at the beach. Actually, it’s the next door neighbors of one of my mom’s second cousins. Mom and her brother had visited earlier this week but we drove out there on our way out, so that the rest of us could see her house and where she lives.
I like the pattern of the crossed boards and the way it’s reflecting in the water.
Live Oak Allee
Dancer
Edward Field Sanford, Jr. (1886-1951)
Bronze, 1917
Reaching
EvAngelow William Frudakis (born 1921)
Bronze, 1996
Gift of Dr. Pierre Rioux
The Diver
Stephen H. Smith (born 1958)
Bronze on granite base, 2007
Tiny Tree Frog
Black-crowned Night Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Ralph and I drove down to South Carolina to visit Brookgreen Gardens today. Brookgreen is the legacy of Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington. It was originally a rice plantation but was bought in the early twentieth century by the Huntingtons. They turned it into a sculpture garden which their web site describes as having “the most extensive collection of figurative sculpture in an outdoor setting by American artists in the world.”
The old plantation house is gone but the grounds contain an extensive garden with sculpture throughout — some large, some small, some whimsical, and some classical. There is a pavilion with sculpture covered and protected a bit from the elements as well as a pair of indoor exhibits (which are also air conditioned!). There is a wonderful allee (a walkway lined with trees) featuring old live oaks (Quercus virginiana) pictured here and many and varying garden “rooms.”
I can’t possibly show you everything, or even everything I photographed so I’ll limit myself to a brief selection. One of my favorite sculptures is simply called “Dancer” and is a bronze by Edward Field Sanford, Jr. (1886-1951) from 1917. This is in the Brown Sculpture Court so photographing it is a bit more difficult (lower light). As someone or other said (and I have no idea who said it first), “I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like.” This is one that I like. There are actually quite a few at Brookgreen that I like.
Let me pause here to interject an interesting fact about the Huntingtons. They shared a birthday, March 10, with Archer being born in 1870 and Anna in 1876. Then, they got married on March 10, 1923. From then on, March 10 was known by them at their “three-in-one-day.”
Another work that I like (and this one happens to be in the Brown Sculpture Court, as well, is called “Reaching” by EvAngelow William Frudakis (born 1921). This bronze from 1996 was a gift to Brookgreen from Dr. Pierre Rioux.
The first time we came to Brookgreen, Cathy took a picture of this sculpture and there was a water lily on the surface of the pool. She lined it up perfectly so that her picture made it look like the woman was reaching for the lily. I had no such fortune this year. Still, one that I like.
In addition to the sculpture there are plaques with short poems carved on them. Reading one of them made me sort of chuckle to myself and as I write this on a public blog, I continue to chuckle. Here’s a slightly modified version, with apologies to Emily Dickinson:
I’m nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us — Don’t tell!
They’d banish us, you know.How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
And brag about your blog!*
Cathy asked me if the garden had changed any since last time. There were a few things that have changed since we first came ten years ago. I didn’t recognize this sculpture, called “The Diver” by Stephen H. Smith (born 1958). Since it was new in 2007 (the gift of John Sanders in honor of Ann Beal Sanders) I guess that explains it.
There is also a walk now out to the creek that runs behind the gardens. The creek is actually a branch of the Pee Dee River. Our favorite thing about that was the signs that said, “Swimming and wading are prohibited. It is illegal to feed the alligators.” Enough said.
There is small wildlife throughout the garden. We saw a snake (a little black snake lying on top of a trimmed shrub), lizards, lots of huge grasshoppers, birds, and I saw this tiny green tree frog on a leaf. It’s only about an inch long.
In addition to the gardens there is a Low Country Center (which we skipped this time) and a small zoo which has, among other things, a cypress swamp aviary. That’s where I took the photo here of a black-crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax). There are also ibises and a few other birds. We saw otters and alligators, as well as a few owls and hawks and two bald eagles.
It was quite warm but all in all, I’d say I had a enjoyable time at Brookgreen. I’d come again (and plan to).
* The original last line is, “To an admiring bog!”
Ocean Isle Beach
It rained a fair amount today so even when I did go out I didn’t have my camera with me most of the time. I did take the camera out for a short while but of course I had to wait for it to warm up a bit after being indoors. It’s so humid here that it fogged up immediately. After that, mom and I left them out on the deck most of the time each day so we could use them at short notice.
This is a view from just in front of our house on the beach. As you can see, it wasn’t exactly crowded today. Still hot but less so after the rain. Very humid, but it’s the beach.
Taylor and Efird Halls and Wait Chapel
After spending a night at the cabin (see Glen Orchard) we stopped to buy a few apples and some damsons from Frank before heading to the beach. Since we were going right past Winston-Salem, and since Cathy and I both spent some time at Wake Forest, we decided to stop and let Dorothy and Karlee see the campus.
It has grown a bit since were where there with a fair amount of construction being done right now, but the central quad hasn’t changed all that much (except there are no large trees on the quad any more). I lived on the second floor of Taylor, the building at the left in this picture. Cathy lived a few years later in Efird, which is attached to Taylor and between it and Wait Chapel.
Ominous Rain Clouds
In the other post for today (James Madison University) I mentioned that we decided to drive to the beach by way of the mountains. Between JMU and the orchard, though, we stopped for gas just as some pretty impressive storm clouds were rolling in. The first picture here is taken from a gas station on Interstate 81 near Roanoke, Virginia. As we pulled back onto the highway the clouds opened up and it poured for about ten minutes. After that there was light rain off and on but nothing that affected traffic significantly. During the heavy rain, though, traffic thankfully slowed to about 40 mph.
Great Grandmother’s Cabin
We got to Glen Orchard, know more publicly as Levering Orchard, in the middle of the afternoon. My great grandfather’s brother, Ralph, started the orchard in 1908. It is now run by Ralph’s grandson, Frank. In 1936 or ’37 my great grandmother retired from her position as a dorm matron at Guilford College and her family built a cabin at her brother-in-law’s orchard. It is now owned by some of her grandchildren (Frank’s and my mom’s generation).
I have lots of good memories of the orchard from when I was young. We would either sleep in the attic of the cabin or camp in a flat area just past the cabin and next to the pool. The pool was a roughly made concrete pool fed by a spring and always very cold, even during the heat of summer. An early morning dip was a great way to start the day.
View From The Cabin
One of my two favorite memories was a time when I was in high school when second cousins from my grandfather’s side (the orchard is on my grandmother’s side) came and spent a week there with us. I recently came across a slide taken then and it brought back a lot of pleasant thoughts.
The other favorite memory was when my Uncle Bobby and two cousins, Dana and David, took a camping trip out from the orchard. We walked along and over and up the mountain, finally coming back down to the orchard from the Blue Ridge Parkway.
My third picture here is the view from my Aunt Virginia’s house, above the cabin (which is in the trees near the pole on the right of the picture). I can’t tell you how many pictures have been taken of that view and none of them really captures the feel. Montana is known for having “big sky” but this view is pretty big and on a clear day you can see about 50 miles. It was a bit too hazy for that today but still a great view.