Keys

I was messing around with my new macro flash equipment today. I’m looking forward to insect season with this. The extra light means I can take pictures at f/32, which means as much depth of field as possible and with a fast enough shutter to stop the movement of those always moving bees and wasps. Up close like this, Depth of field can be just a few millimeters. At f/32 it is more like 10 or 15. Big difference.

These keys, of course, don’t move much by themselves. With a tripod I could tak as long an exposure as I like. But this was hand held at f/32 and 1/200 of a second.

Leeks

Cathy isn’t hugely fond of leeks but I like them a lot. It’s not uncommon to find them in my kitchen but when you have a leeky kitchen, something needs to be done. Tonight I thought a creamy leek sauce would go well with skate wings. I’ve never actually cooked skate before and I was pleasantly surprised by the taste. They are not terribly fishy but have a nice, delicate flavour. The sauce went pretty well with them but I think something a bit tangier might be better in the future. I also happened to have some blood oranges, which I sectioned and put over the fish and that might be a better base than the leeks.

Fire

It’s a bit chilly today and we’re getting ready to watch some football game or other. I thought a fire would be nice so I laid one up and got it going. There’s nothing like a good fire to warm you in a comforting way (a controlled fire, of course, otherwise it is liable to warm you in a very non-comforting way). As the pre-game show droned on and on, I muted the sound and turned to the fire, instead, which was much more interesting. Getting a still picture of fire that is interesting, I think, can be pretty difficult. It’s mostly hit or miss, because the flames are moving so fast. This is my favorite. It’s what you get today, anyway.

Carpet Rainbow

I have a 70 gallon fish tank in our kitchen. Late in the day the sun hits the corner of the tank and, all the way down the hall in our family room, this rainbow appears on the floor and slowly moves away from the kitchen for about ten minutes before disappearing for the night. It’s pretty good size, covering about four feet by a foot and a half. It’s quite bright and very pretty, running the spectrum (literally) from violet through indigo, blue, green, yellow, and orange and finally to red (vibgyor).

Snow on Tree Bark

We had another snowfall today. It wasn’t enough to close school. Of course, around here, “not enough to close school” is very litte indeed. It just was enough to turn things white. There was talk of it being worse by the end of the day but it didn’t happen. They are also forecasting much more tomorrow. Still, it was pretty.

I took this picture near the parking lot of my office building. This is the bark of a black gum or tupelo tree (Nyssa sylvatica, also known as ). It’s a nice tree with a few things to recommend it including very good fall color a very bright orange-red. if you decide you want one, though, you will want to know that they have dark berries that will drop and be tracked into your house. Also, the birds eat the berries and if they then perch over your car, you might not like the results.

Eagle Statue

If you’ve lived in this area for any length of time then you almost certainly know where this eagle is. It isn’t a great picture, hurriedly taken before the light turned green for me to proceed. I do like the framing, however, even if the picture isn’t as sharp as it might be, having been taken through my windscreen. In any case, this eagle stands in front of the Jefferson Plaza at the somewhat complicated intersection of Rockville Pike (MD 355) with Veirs Mill Road (to the east, named after the mill owned by the Viers family, but the misspelling is there for good or ill) and E. Jefferson Street (MD 28).

Fruit and Whipped Cream

Our good friend Julia came over again this evening. Actually, Cathy had picked her up to help with a few things at her (Cathy’s) mom’s house. They came back here and Julia helped me carry in a new bookcase and move some books onto it. She stayed for dinner (panang curry) and dessert (fruit with freshly whipped cream). The fruit was apple, plum, cantaloupe, and mango. Not a bad dessert, if I say so myself.

The View from My Office Window

Traffic coming to work was light today. I’m not sure if the forecast of snow and the terrible traffic the last time it snowed combined to scare people into staying home or what but it had only just started coming down as I drove in. A little later and it was coming down quite hard. The flakes were large and fluffy and it accumulated to about three inches. This is a tree outside my office window (a willow oak) and you can see how well the snow is sticking to every branch and little twig.