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Here and There…Now and Then |
Maylandia estherae (Red Zebra)
I picked up Dorothy at her friend Julia’s house this evening and stayed long enough to take a few pictures. Julia’s mom, Maureen, has a tank with African cichlids and this, I believe, if a red zebra (Maylandia estherae). It certainly looks right and it’s from the right lake (Malawi). The picture is a bit soft because it is by necessity photographed through the aquarium glass. Still, it’s a pretty fish and shows up pretty well.
Turkeys
Thanksgiving is over and the decorations are being put away. These are three turkeys that Cathy gets out every year. I’m sorry to say that I’m not as supportive as I should be when it comes to seasonal decoration. I’m not really a scrooge but I’m not necessarily affected by the decorations. Still, there’s no real harm in them and decorating makes some people happy. When “some people” includes your spouse, you really should make an effort. Sorry, Cathy. I’ll try harder for Christmas.
And yes, that’s Edgar Allen Poe in the background.
Bell Peppers
There are not many foods I don’t like and as I get older, the list gets shorter. Bell peppers are probably at the head of that list, though, along with licorice, perhaps. Unlike licorice, however, I think bell peppers are beautiful, in all their amazing colors. As long as I don’t have to eat them.
Iris, Tsai-Hong, Ralph, Maya, and Stephen
After two days of Thanksgiving, we had a somewhat unexpected extension into a third day when Stephen and Maya invited us to their new apartment for brunch. They have a nice apartment not too far from their work and close to all of us, which is nice. Here’s a picture of them with with the rest of the family.
Beaver Moon and Jupiter
The full moon in November is called the Beaver Moon. We got to see it with Jupiter above it. You cannot see it in this picture, but to the right of the moon was a very bright star Aldebaran. So bright, in fact, that until I looked it up, I assumed it was a planet, as well. I thought that the brighter object was Venus and slightly less bright was Jupiter. So I have them both wrong, although I at least thought that one was Jupiter. It was quite lovely, especially when it was first coming up over the horizon.
Camellia japonica ‘Lady Clare’
Azalea Leaves
Old Allium Blooms
We had Second Thanksgiving today. If hobbits can have second breakfast, I don’t see any problem with Second Thanksgiving. There were sixteen of us at mom’s house this year, which is pretty close to the limit for her dining room table. There was more than enough food, of course, with plenty of leftovers for everyone to take home.
I took a little time in the afternoon to go out in the yard and enjoy some Thanksgiving-season color. First up is a Camellia japonica ‘Lady Clare’ in the back yard. There is currently just this one bloom on it but it is absolutely covered with huge buds and before Christmas it will be in full bloom. How can you not love a plant blooming this time of year?
The second photograph is not of a flower, although it certainly competes with flowers on color. It’s a little roseate of leaves on an azalea bush in the front yard. Many people think of azaleas as a one-season shrub, blooming for a few weeks in spring and doing nothing the rest of the year. That’s certainly true of some but many of them have leaves that turn all sort of shades of red for the winter. To my way of thinking, those are to be preferred over those that simply stay green. Look at all the color in those leaves!
For our third and final photo, we have something that is flower-related, although not a flower itself. These are the pedicels from allium umbels, or, in layman’s terms, the flower stalks from the ball of flowers on an ornamental onion.
Night Sky
As we were putting things in the car to head home from our day of Thanksgiving I set the camera on top of the car and took a few long exposures. This is a 30 second exposure at f/4 with a 24mm lens (which is equivalent to a 38mm lens on a 35mm film camera). It was taken at about 8:15 PM. Can you tell which direction I’m facing?
Thanksgiving, 2012
Although less thankful that we should be, we are nonetheless thankful. It’s true that we should be and indeed are thankful every day of the year, it is right that we set aside one day specifically for the purpose of being thankful. We were fortunate, this year, to have guests with us as we celebrated and gave thanks at Cathy’s mom’s house. On the left are Josh, Diana, and Jake. On the right are Kendra, Dorothy, Marge, and Cathy. Margaret is at the head of the table.
Kendra and Dorothy
Cathy and Dorothy picked up Kendra and I met them at Cathy’s mom’s house after work. They helped cut bread for stuffing, peeled potatoes, and made jello for tomorrow’s meal. When they were done working, Kendra and Dorothy sat at the piano and made up songs. You won’t hear any of them on the radio any time soon but we enjoyed their efforts (for the most part).
Ripples
It was a beautiful day today, cool but not cold. I went out and took some picture, mostly of ripples in the stream that flows through the empty lot next to my office building. I could sit and watch flowing water for a long time. Of course, during a work day I don’t have any long stretches to spare, so I make do with short stretches, instead.
Ceramic Dogs
Once upon a time, Cathy collected ceramic (and glass and whatever) dogs. She still has the collection, although she doesn’t actively collect them any more. A few of them are out in various places in the house. These are on top of a small set of bookshelves in our bedroom. I sort of like the terrier-like dog on the left but decided to focus on this pitiful looking hound in the foreground instead. Sorry the picture is so “grainy.” I still had the ISO set to 3,200 from yesterday and didn’t notice until later.
Ben and Trish
Two of my favorite people were leading the singing together this morning in church. Do I describe a lot of people as “of my favorite people?” If so, then I guess it just shows how fortunate I am! I don’t know if it is Ben that picked the songs or if they are picked because he’s leading. Either way, I especially like having Ben lead because of the songs we sing when he does. Thanks, guys (and the rest of the team, as well).
Maggie and Hannah
Marilyn with Sky
Today was the Christmas bazaar at Dorothy’s school. I didn’t spend a lot of time taking pictures because I had a table and was selling them, instead. I’ve done that before and had quite varied success. I’d have to go back and check but I think this was my best year so far. That was due at least partly to my excellent location (thanks, Cathy).
Over the course of the last few weeks I went through all the pictures I’ve taken in the last year or so and pulled out some that I thought people would like. I made cards and matted 5×7 inch prints of them. If anyone wants an 8×10, naturally I can do that. I still had cards and matted 5×7 and 8×10 inch prints of older pictures, of course. I had questions from two different people about making larger prints of a few, so you never know.
The first of these, Maggie and Hannah horsing around, was taken from behind my table. Cathy manned the booth for a little while to let me get out and take a few pictures. That’s when I got the second of them, of Marilyn, not exactly horsing around, but…
I also took a couple pictures of Maggie (from the first picture) with Marilyn’s palomino, named Diamond. I’ll post one of those along with a few other pictures from the day on Facebook.
Moon Through the Trees
Let’s face it, my life is not all that well suited to this “take a picture every day” thing. I go to work, I sit in an office, I go home. There often isn’t a lot to take pictures of. Somehow I’m mostly through my second year and have managed to get a picture every day, but some days it is a bit forced. Today is one of those days. As I came out of the office, I say the crescent moon through the trees. Actually, the prettiest part was the deep blue color of the sky, but that hasn’t really come through in the picture.
Anyway, I offer you, “Moon Through the Trees.”
Hair and Leaves
By trimming my beard outdoors, I eliminate much of the clean-up process. I do need to move the bulk of the hair somewhere that Cathy won’t come across it by accident. Otherwise she might see it and think a small animal has been mauled. At our old house there was a catbird that built a nest in an eglantine rose every year and my hair played a prominent part in its makeup. It’s nice to find that your hair is going to a good purpose.
Dorothy the Doodler
I often doodled in school and I still occasionally find myself drawing during meetings. Most of my doodles are either random shapes or very poor drawings of people. I would love to be able to sit in a meeting and draw actual people from the room. As it is, I usually hide my doodles and they eventually find their way to the shredder. Once in a while I’ll come up with something worth keeping (and the bar isn’t even all that high).
Dorothy is also a doodler but her doodles are of a much (much) higher caliber than her old papa’s. For a good while now she has carried around a small book that has become her journal. In it are notes and doodles intermixed. This isn’t that book but another that she happened to have with her today. The outside cover is nicely decorated. Yes, she’s making a bit of a face here, but it’s not a bad picture of her, and the notebook is nice.
Soda Can Flower
Flowers, like many things of beauty, are ephemeral. To me, that only adds to their beauty. Sometimes, however, we come across that most unusual of flower, the aluminum rose. Actually, I’m not completely sure it is a rose, but it looks about right. There are no truly blue roses, but then, there are no truly aluminum roses, either.
Dorothy was at her friend Julia’s house today and when I went to pick her up, I saw this on the kitchen counter. Apparently it was made by the father of Julia’s friend, Rachel. It’s surprisingly delicate looking. Not a lot of fragrance, though. Smells oddly of soda.
Illuminated Leaf
There are many, many (many) beautiful things in this world of ours. I’m one of those old fashioned types who believe that there is true, objective beauty. I won’t say that nothing is as beautiful or even that nothing is more beautiful than sunlight shining through a leaf but that is certainly one of the beautiful things. I’m not, of course, claiming that this is an ideal or even a very good representative of that beauty, but I was outside today and saw it all around me. Even on the edge of a parking lot, there is breathtakingly beautiful color. Thank you, to the creator of beauty and whose face shines brighter and purer than the sun.
Autumnal Orange
When I took this picture, I know I was thinking how orange it was. Looking at the pictures later, there is more yellow than I remember. Maybe it’s a trick of the light and a consequence of the way the camera sees light as compared to how we do (or how I do). Anyway, this is the view out my office window. I could certainly have a worse view. Of course there is a parking lot if I look a little lower but there is no building next to us in that direction. Anyone who has been following my photographic doodling for a while knows that there is a ten or twelve acre lot next to my office. It happens to be on the same side of the building as my office. I know people with offices in more scenic places but I really cannot complain.
This is a willow oak, Quercus phellos. It gets its name from the leaves, which are similar in shape to willow leaves rather than the lobed leaves we normally associate with the oak genus. The willow oak makes a good, if somewhat large, tree for a yard. Its smaller leaves are easier to deal with and fall sooner than those of the red and white oak groups (although the willow oak is actually in the red oak group, section Lobatae).
Rock Creek Church
During our Sunday School time this morning we gathered to put together donated food to go to Manna Food Center for their Smart Sack program. This was organized by Erick’s Hope and our good friends, Donna and Richard Brown. We gathered briefly in the church lobby to fellowship and I asked if everyone could get together for a picture. They said yes, and here it is.