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Here and There…Now and Then |
Cathy
It’s been a while since I put up a picture of Cathy, so I thought I would, today. We were dropping Dorothy off at a friends house and we got there shortly before the friend got home. As we waited I took a couple pictures of Dorothy and Cathy. This is one of them.
Lenten Rose
I’ve posted pictures of the dark claret colored Lenten rose before but this is the first time for this flower. We got three plants from Brady last fall, when they were being dug up to be replaced at her work. I planted two along the back fence and they are both blooming now. At first I thought they were going to be plain white but they are not, they have a nice bit of color and I’m very happy to have them. Thanks, Brady.
Pink Hyacinth Flowers
It’s true that I’m not a huge hyacinth fan. Still, I have to admit being cheered by these this year. It’s really only the smell I object to, I don’t mind the flowers themselves. I found their fragrance to be overpowering, though, and it’s not something I’d willingly bring into my house. In the yard, however, where you don’t notice the smell so much, I have no objection to them.
These were planted, along with some crocuses and daffodils, the fall after we moved into our house. They were given to me by friends for taking family pictures for them, and I enjoy them each spring. Erin and David, if you see this, I hope you still enjoy the photographs. Of course, there are more of you now. The crocuses are still blooming — the purple are done for the year but the white soldier on — and the daffodils are just about to open. Spring is here, although it was in the 20s this morning and it’s suppose to be cold the next few nights.
7-Eleven
When I started this project I said that I couldn’t promise that any of the photographs I took would be worth anything. I flatter myself that there have been some pretty good photos among the considerable amount of chaff. I’ve taken and used my camera in places I never thought to take it before — the dentist office, getting a CT scan, the grocery store — but I recognize that some days it just doesn’t work out.
Frankly, my life is pretty pedestrian and the pictures I take are for the most part pretty run of the mill. Today, I was in my office all day. I looked up and it was 6:10 and I had to be set up for a Skype-based interview at 7:00. I rushed home to get my computer and then to the church and by the time we were done it was after 9:00. I took this picture on the way home. I think it’s safe to say that this one lives down to my promise of not being worth much. But, I took a picture today, my 826th consecutive day taking a picture.
Corvette
It’s a little bit funny. I don’t think that I’d be interested in a Corvette even if I could afford to be. On the other hand, I think they make good photographic subjects. I happened to be passing Criswell Chevrolet this morning and decided to stop to take a few photos. Partly it’s because they have a nice, curving line of them along the road. I suppose their bright colors and sleek lines also contributes. Anyway, this photo is a bit more red than I remember the car actually being, which seemed more orange but perhaps that was because of the deep, dark red car that was next in line.
Dorothy and Hannah
After a sunrise service and a regular Sunday service (well, a “regular” service with the addition of a 25 piece orchestra), we went with Cathy’s mom and Dorothy’s friend, Hannah, to the Cosmos Club for a late lunch. We didn’t have a table until 3:00 PM and we got there a little early so we had a chance to wander a bit. Dorothy enjoyed showing Hannah, around.
After we ate we went out into the little back garden and I took some pictures of the girls with a beautifully blooming camellia behind them. I also took one of the girls throwing flowers (that they picked up off the ground) at each other. A nice time was had by all.
Chionodoxa
Since not everyone is fond of spiders, I thought I’d post this photo in addition to the spider picture posted earlier. This is Chionodoxa, which I planted on the south end of our house about two and a half years ago. They have bloomed each of the last two years but this year there are quite a few more flowers.
I really like blue flowers and these are among the best of the early blooming sort. I can recommend them highly to anyone who wants an early splash of blue. They are pretty short, so you can’t plant them where there is much else of any height, but otherwise, they aren’t all that particular.
I planted two Camellias this morning. In the front of the house I put in a C. japonica ‘Mrs. Lyman Clarke’ that I expect to replace a dogwood seedling that’s much too close to the house. The other was C. sasanqua ‘Cleopatra’ which I planted against the fence at the north end of our back yard. This is a large shrub with simple and small (for a Camellia) pink flowers. It’s also one of the hardiest. Hopefully I’ll have pictures of flowers some day that I can post here.
Update: I had this post labeled as Scilla Siberica ‘Spring Beauty’ but that’s not what it is. For some reason, I have some tendency to identify Chionodoxa as Scilla. This is the former, not the later. I still haven’t found my drawing showing where I planted bulbs but it is either C. forbesii or C. lucilae.
Little Spider
I know it looks sort of big in this picture but that’s only because I was pretty close to it. This spider is only about a half to three quarters of a centimeter long. I had been working in the yard and took a break to photograph some flowers (I may post one of those later on). I had set my camera on the glass table on the patio and when I came back to pick it up, this little spider was nearby. I was able to get a few good pictures from the front and behind (as it turned to run away) so I’m hoping I’ll be able to get an identification before too long. I think it may be some sort of jumping spider (Family Salticidae) but I’m really not too sure. I’ll update the post if I get it figured out (or more precisely, if I find someone who can figure it out for me).
Chase
Amelia
My friend and co-worker, Katie, brought her two children to work this morning. I asked Amelia if she would let me take her picture if I went and got my camera and she said that she would. I took a few picture of her before her brother got back. She’s had her picture here before, on Monday, March 05, 2012 and she is a little less shy than a year ago.
When Chase came, I asked her if she’d get him to let me take his picture with her. I think that helped him be a bit more comfortable with a total stranger. We took a few with both of them but frankly, I like the pictures I took of them separately better. They are both quite adorable and we had a fun time.
Chionodoxa Forbesii ‘Pink Giant’
There are a lot of things coming up in the yard now. I’m afraid that you are going to be seeing a lot of flower pictures in the next few weeks. I guess there are worse things. Today’s flower is a pink version of the usually blue Chionodoxa Forbesii, appropriately called ‘Pink Giant’. Note that giant is relative. This thing is tall enough to stand out above the pachysandra but that’s about it.
Very pretty.
College Hall
Dorothy and LKarlee on Locust Walk
The last of our five college visits was to the University of Pennsylvania, or simply Penn, the only Ivy League school we’re likely to consider. Two of Dorothy’s cousins went to Penn, I have a couple friends who went there, and my grandfather earned his Ph.D. in applied mathematics there, about 100 years ago. I was a little (but only a little) surprised to find that there are more graduate students at Penn than undergraduates (11,092 vs. 10,324).
Like Swarthmore, I think of Penn as an engineering and science school, but only about 1,700 of their undergraduates are in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, with 6,344 in The College at Penn (School of Arts and Sciences).
There is no question that it’s a beautiful campus. It is very different to Swarthmore in being an urban school rather than in a quiet, tree filled, suburban setting. For all of that, though, there is a surprising amount of open green space. While Drexel fills city blocks with buildings, Penn seems to have eliminated (or never had) every other street, filling the space with a quad, either green or paved. This produces a much more pronounced campus feel. The fact that Penn was in session, while Drexel was on spring break contributed to this difference, of course. Penn was teaming with people, Drexel was not, making the comparison somewhat unfair.
Dorothy liked Penn the best of the five schools we visited. I know the Director of College Placement at Dorothy’s school will be excited to hear of Dorothy’s interest. Of course, getting in and paying for Penn is not a given. It’s a tough school to get into and a tough school to succeed at. It’s also not a cheep school, although it’s hard to know how much any school will cost, since few people actually seem to pay the sticker price any more. Still, at about $60,000, that sticker price is pretty scary.
I have mixed feelings about so many schools and about the Ivy League in particular. Intellectual diversity and intellectual curiosity are not encouraged in most departments at most schools. There was a time when “question everything” was a popular idea. Now, questioning the liberal orthodoxy can cost you your education and even your career. And I’m supposed to send my daughter there to learn. And to pay dearly for the privilege. Scary.
Westphal College of Media Arts & Design
Continuing our two day college visit tour, we dropped Cathy off at her training and then took the train from Malvern into Philadelphia. It’s a short walk from the 30th Street station to the Admissions office at Chestnut and 32nd. What a beautiful building that is. Both the train station and the administrative building are great, actually. They don’t build them like that any more, and that’s a pity.
The girls got signed in and we had a chat with Maggi, who pointed us to various buildings we should visit. Unfortunately Drexel is on spring break, so the campus didn’t really have much of a campus feel. The Chestnut Square buildings are being renovated so they are covered with scaffolding. They are fine inside, but of course, without people, they are just buildings. We did like the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design building, which is one of the places Maggi suggested we see.
Dessert, After
Dessert, Before
After a long day of visiting schools, we picked up Cathy at the end of her first of two days of training at the Microsoft office in Malvern. After a short rest we headed to the King of Prussia Mall and found a place to eat. The girls all had burgers of one stripe or another and I had mac and cheese with blackened shrimp, which was very good. Comfort food of the first order.
We were all hungry enough, though, and the desserts looked good enough, that the four of us split two of these brownies with ice cream. Seriously rich, seriously chocolaty, and seriously good. As you can see, the girls had no trouble finishing off theirs. The one Cathy and I shared was treated similarly and we went back to our hotel full, happy, and tired.
Scott Outdoor Amphitheater
Cloister at Clothier Hall
Jonathan, Karlee, and Dorothy
Our third college visit today was Swarthmore. It is possibly not so well known as Villanova, at least partly because it doesn’t have a basketball team that features in the NCAA tournament. It’s also a fairly small school with enrollment between 1,500 and 1,600. For all of that, they have a surprisingly broad variety of courses of study.
My contact with the school has been mostly through two friends and two cousins. The two friends were Carol and Erik, a sister and brother who were very good friends of mine in high school. My cousin, David, went there, as well and his son, Jonathan is a freshman there now (and is in the third picture presented here). All four of these folks were on the science end of things (engineering and physics) so I think of it as an engineering school but they have good programs in the social sciences and arts, as well. I just don’t know much about them.
Erik is now a professor of engineering at Swarthmore and he gave us a private tour, which was very nice. We started by walking through the science center and then down past the Scott Outdoor Amphitheater, where graduation is held. What a nice place for a graduation ceremony, unless it’s raining, of course. We walked through a few other buildings including going into a few art studios, which was nice. The second picture here is a cloister that’s part of Clothier Hall. Clothier Hall is built to look like a church but in fact it houses the college bookstore, a snack bar and café, the Intercultural Center, offices for various campus organizations. We also got a slightly different tour with Jonathan, who took us to see his dorm room and a few other places we hadn’t been. He seems to be doing well and obviously likes Swarthmore quite a bit.
The campus is quite pretty and in a few weeks, when everything starts to bloom, it’s going to be really something. There is a lot of space for a school with so few students, so it’s fairly quiet. Dorothy didn’t think it was the place for her, and I think she’s probably right. Still, I’m glad we visited and it was good to see Erik and get caught up a little.
St. Thomas of Villanova Parish
The second of our three college visits today was Villanova. It’s a much different place to West Chester and for a number of different reasons. First, rather than being a state school, it is a private school, founded in 1842 by the Order of St. Augustine. Second, and it’s clear that they have a good deal of money. Considering the tuition at the two schools, there’s no question why. Villanova isn’t a cheap school, by any stretch of the imagination.
Dorothy and Karlee liked the campus and it had “good vibes.” It’s a big enough school (about 6,600 undergraduates) although not huge. It seems to take its Augustinian roots seriously, which I think is a good thing.
It was also great to visit with my old friend Pedro, whom I haven’t seen in far too many years. Thanks for having lunch with us.
Plato, Aristotle, Bacon
Because everything goes better with bacon…
I took Dorothy and her friend Karlee on three college visits today. The first was a school I knew very little about but we were going to be in the area and it turned up in a list of schools. West Chester University of Pennsylvania is in, not too surprisingly, West Chester, Pennsylvania. Our hotel was also in West Chester, so it couldn’t have been more convenient. I’m glad we gave it a visit, although Dorothy wasn’t too keen on, it in the end.
Still, any school that recognizes the empirical importance of bacon can’t be all bad. I think Francis would agree.
Snow in Tree Branches
We’ve had some late snow this year, although the 𠇋ig” snow we were supposed to get on March 6 was a big dud. We had a dusting again four days ago and I posted a picture of the Pachysandra in our back yard with a little snow on it.
Today, however, we got a real snow. It wasn’t a blizzard, by any stretch and I still went to work and had no trouble on the roads, but when I woke up there was already an accumulation of about three inches and it continued snowing for most of the morning. While it wasn’t a problem in terms of traffic, and while it didn’t affect school, since they’re on spring break anyway, it was quite beautiful. It’s hard to get a great picture of snow, though. It’s so white. These are the trees to the south of our house, covered with snow.
Crocus
The crocuses have been up for a while and I’ve been meaning to go out and get a photo or two. Today I actually managed to do it, probably not a bit too soon. They are starting to fade a but, although the color is still pretty good on this purple flower. It’s lying on its side, though, so it’s not what it was. I really love the combination of the bright orange stigma against the deep purple petals of this crocus flower. I also have white crocuses, which are also in bloom right next to the purple. They are coming up through Vinca minor (periwinkle), which is also starting to bloom.
Sprinkle
We were out for a bit today, doing some shopping but not actually buying anything. On the way home we decided to stop at Menchies for some frozen yogurt. I took some pictures from our table of the paintings on the wall, among other things.
This character, sort of the Cousin It of Menchies, is apparently named Sprinkle. I wasn’t sure what she was (and I don’t know for sure why I think she’s female). Odd creatures painted there, but the yogurt is good and we enjoyed ourselves.
Other characters include Kiwi (a monkey with a sliced kiwi fruit for a face), and Mellow (made out of marshmallows and kind of creepy looking). Silly.
Raise your berets, to those Canaan days
This evening we went with some good friends to see a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at Covenant Life Church. The cast are high school students and they have a lot of talented kids. The production was very impressive and it was a lot of fun, made all the more so by knowing a few of them.
In this picture, Simeon sings Those Canaan Days, as they contemplate the famine and their fate before going to Egypt and their ultimate reunion with Joseph.