Monthly Archives: January 2020

Cousins

Photograph taken on Saturday, January 11, 2020 by Henry
Silas and Kaien

Silas and Kaien

We had a family dinner night this evening, with carry-out from The Big Greek Cafe, one of our favorites. They boys were in top form. First, they both got behind the curtains and then jumped out to surprise us and laugh. Late we asked them to climb up on a chair together. As is usual when trying to photograph youngsters, it was hard to get them both smiling and looking at the camera at the same time. Nevertheless, there were quite a few that turned out well and I think their parents will enjoy them all. This is my personal favorite, although I liked others pretty well, too.

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Pecking Chicken Toy

Photograph taken on Friday, January 10, 2020 by Henry
Pecking Chicken Toy

Pecking Chicken Toy

Today I’ afraid it’s going to be another “I have to find something to photograph” type day. At a little after 10:00 PM, I picked up my camera and starting looking around for things to photograph. Dorothy asked me to document the various pieces of the large nativity scene that’s set up on the piano and I did that, but I’ve posted a photo of that already, so I didn’t want to repeat it, even from a different angle. I photographed this little pecking chicken toy that’s been out since Cathy’s brother and nephew were here, so that’s what you get.

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Still Life with Tulip Leaf

Photograph taken on Thursday, January 09, 2020 by Henry
Still Life with Tulip Leaf

Still Life with Tulip Leaf

Last week Dorothy bought some white tulips and had them in a vase in her room. Before going away for the long weekend she moved them down to the dining room table, so we got to enjoy them while she was gone. They are well past their prime now but I took pictures of them in their wilted state this evening. In this particular vase and with the diffuse lighting I used, this reminds me of a still life painting and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. I have a photograph from 2010 of roses in a vase that also reminds me of a still life and that one may be one of the best photos I’ve ever taken, certainly in the top 100 (not that I’ve ever actually graded them like that). This one isn’t quite up to that standard but I’m still pretty happy with it. I really wish I could paint. Not that I’ve ever really tried, but it’s a lot of work and without a lot of practice, it’s just not going to happen. There are a couple folks I knew in my high school days who are professional artists and I love seeing their work.

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Yesterday’s Snow

Photograph taken on Wednesday, January 08, 2020 by Henry
Snow on Branches

Snow on Branches

After yesterday’s snowfall, today promised to be quite nice. Cool but clear. There were still some clouds when we left for work today but between them, the sun was shining and making all the show quite dazzling this morning. I really like snow on branches and took quite a few photos this morning before we left for work. As mentioned yesterday, local schools were on a two hour delay so we didn’t have any problems with traffic. The roads were all clear and mostly dry, although it’s my understanding that in the northern and western parts of the county it was a bit icier. This wasn’t the sort of snow storm that paralyzes the region. We still have plenty of time this winter for something like that, though.

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Snow Fall

Photograph taken on Tuesday, January 07, 2020 by Henry
Snow Fall

Snow Fall

It started snowing late this morning and it came down fairly hard the rest of the day. Cathy and I had come to work together and she had some things that needed to be done, so we didn’t leave until about 5:30. Because of the snow, most people had left early and there really wasn’t much traffic on the roads, which was nice. It’s been warm enough that the road surface wasn’t too bad, anyway. This was taken as I waited outside Cathy’s building to pick her up. We probably got an inch of snow on grassy areas, but it didn’t really have a big impact on us. Local schools are opening two hours late tomorrow, which means we shouldn’t have any trouble getting in, either, which is nice.

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Another Sunset

Photograph taken on Monday, January 06, 2020 by Henry
Another Sunset

Another Sunset

I went over to mom’s after work today and the sun had just gone down when I got there. The sky was clear but near the horizon the color changed from pale, grey-blue over head through magenta to a nearly purple blue at the horizon. This photograph doesn’t capture it perfectly but it’s as good as I could get. I really like color transitions in nature. I think perhaps my favorite is the deep blue to nearly black of a perfectly clear sky, but this one is pretty nice, too. The fact that the two ends of the transition are blue but the middle is so very different makes it pretty interesting.

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Sunset

Photograph taken on Sunday, January 05, 2020 by Henry
Sunset

Sunset

As dusk this evening there were no clouds to the west and absolutely no color in the sky except a pale blue, fading to grey. In the northeast, however, through the trees across the street, there were some low clouds that were touched with color. That’s what this picture captured. It only lasted a few minutes but I was fortunate enough to see it and have my camera handy. It was a nice, quiet day and we spent about an hour in the used bookstore, which we both enjoy. Not that we really need more books, of course, but there you are.

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Cathy and Jean

Photograph taken on Saturday, January 04, 2020 by Henry
Cathy and Jean

Cathy and Jean

We drove down to Tyson’s this evening and met our friend Jean for dinner. It’s always good to get together with her and it was especially nice to be able to hear about her new job and all that was going on with her family. Of course a new job can bring anxiety but so far things seem to be going well. She’ll be quite busy, learning the ropes and it’s a fairly high-pressure office, but we’re confident she can handle it. Unsurprisingly we also talked about our kids and other things that are going on. She brought us some wonderful treasures as Christmas presents, but I won’t make you jealous by telling you more about those.

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Cattails

Photograph taken on Friday, January 03, 2020 by Henry
Cattails, Typha latifolia

Cattails, Typha latifolia

I left work a little early today and stopped at Redgate Park on the way home. If you’re familiar with Redgate Golf Course, then you now know about Redgate Park. I played this course back in the day—not a lot, only a couple times out of the one or two dozen golf outings of my sporting career—and but it has now been closed and is a park. According to The Sentinel, management of the course was transferred to Billy Casper Golf, a golf-course management company headquartered in Reston, Virginia. I can confirm that the state of the grounds it pretty pitiful.

I walked around a bit and took photos of Asiatic bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) as well as these broadleaf cattails (Typha latifolia). I also saw a nearly frozen snake. I’m pretty sure it was alive but it could barely move in the cold weather. Kind of creepy, actually.

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Ficus microcarpa Bonsai

Photograph taken on Thursday, January 02, 2020 by Henry
<em>Ficus microcarpa</em> Bonsai

Ficus microcarpa Bonsai

In the wild, this species of fig is a tree growing to over 100 feet in height and with a spread of 200 feet. This specimen is, obviously, a little smaller. The tree, variously known as the Chinese or Malayan banyan or the curtain fig, is native from China through tropical Asia and the Caroline Islands to Australia. As a houseplant it is a good choice for bonsai, taking training quite well. In the case of this plant, it is what is known in the trade as a ginseng ficus. The “stems” are actually roots. The plant is allowed to grow with these fleshy roots underground and then the plant it re-potted so that they are above ground, giving the appearance of ginseng roots. This was a gift to Dorothy from her friends, Rachel and Andrew.

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New Year’s Day

Photograph taken on Wednesday, January 01, 2020 by Henry
Friends on New Year's Day

Friends on New Year’s Day

On fifteen of the last seventeen new year’s days we have gotten together with a slightly varying group of people. Most of those years we were hosted by Amy although we hosted for a few of them. We were at Amy’s again this year and this is the crew. We had our traditional fondue lunch, with three pots for meat fondue and one for cheese. That’s one of the few things that has been constant through all the years. Anyway, this was and is a great way to start a new year. This also begins year ten for my photo blog. I’m hoping my camera can make it through another year of this. The expected life for the shutter in my camera is only 100,000 shots and I’m more than 70% over that (this image is number 173,093) so I feel like I’m living on borrowed time.

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