Author: alejna

splashes of spring color

Here are a few photos I took while we were visiting my mother-in-law for Easter weekend. The kids and I decorated eggs on Saturday, and we had the traditional egg hunt on Sunday.

I find dyed eggs to be so appealing, visually. So much color, so much potential for variation. So many eggs to use for egg salad afterwards. (The color is not always so visually appealing then, though.)


Not so subtle a hiding place.


Incognito.


A blue bloom popping up among the green fronds.


These are totally not eggs, but they are springy, and mighty colorful.

going through the car wash

Winter is finally over, and a sunny spring day is a fine time to wash the road salt and grime off the car. (And if you, like me, enjoy taking photos of patterns and ripples and drips, inside the carwash is a good place to take some photos of patterns and ripples and drips.)


Suds.


Still sudsy.


Rinse.


A magnificent rivulet.


Last clinging drops.

further selections from the Boston Public Library

Here are a few more photos I took on our visit to the Boston Public Library on December 31st. It’s really quite a striking building, with lots of details small and large to admire.


A reading room with quite a few people apparently at work on New Year’s Eve. I love the table lamps here, with their green glass shades.


Here is another light fixture that caught my eye, this time for its leafy ornamentation.


There are fossils to be seen in the stone of the floors.


I loved this little corner with the lamp with the spherical shade, and the circle of marble in the wall echoing its shape.


This delightful mechanical model of the earth is on display in the map room.


The courtyard is lined with stately columns and arches, which can be glimpsed through this door.


The courtyard is a wonderful place to get some fresh air and stretch your legs after being dragged around a large building with a mother who likes to take pictures of light fixtures and spots on the floor.

selected statues at the Boston Public Library

I guess that it’s probably time I set aside the ducks, at least for the time being. Yesterday’s imposing duck and stone lion statuary from Beijing made me think of some other regal stone lions.

I’m quite fond of the large stone lions that guard the stairs inside the Boston Public Library.

We paid them a visit on New Year’s Eve, and wondered around the library a bit. I hadn’t remembered previously encountering this statue of a little girl and a goose. I can’t really tell whether she is supposed to be feeding the goose grapes, or trying to keep them away from the goose. Actually, I suppose it could be a swan.

I admit that what made me think to post these photos was coming across this photo of the statue’s feet. (Seeing the webbed foot reminded me of ducks.)

Stately guardian statues near the Forbidden City

When I visited mainland China in 2012 with my cousin for a conference in Shanghai, we also made a quick trip to Beijing so that we could make an excursion to see the Great Wall. Even though it was a short trip, we also wanted to see some of Beijing, including the Forbidden City. Between a hole in the wall place where we had breakfast and the Forbidden City, we encountered this impressive building:

Stone guardian lions are quite a frequent sight in China, but nowhere else did I see a guardian duck. This little (well, actually, it was quite a large duck) welcomes visitors to the Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant. (I’d never have remembered that, but I can make out the English text on the very shiny golden revolving door.) The internets inform me that this is quite a famous restaurant, and possibly the home of the original Peking duck. We did not enter this colorful building, so I can’t speak for the interior, or comment on the quality of the food. I can only vouch for the memorability of the duck.

get up on that duck and ride

Continuing with the onslaught of ducks, I present these two grainy photos that I took on my sad but trusty little flip phone back in 2009. They probably amuse me more than they should.


Skilled duck rider.


Less adept duck rider.

It also amuses me to think that people first encountering my blog these days may think I have some sort of duck fetish. No, really I don’t. I have more of a fetish for running with themes. (Cf. that time when I got carried away with potatoes. Or utensils. Or bread. And dare I even mention pants? (I dare.))

headless ducks

After yesterday’s array of duck heads, this photo of a headless duck seemed a fitting follow-up:

And no, it wasn’t really headless. Just tucking its head away under its wing. These two didn’t hide their heads quite as thoroughly:

And so the duck roll continues. It being Thursday, I fleetingly thought of putting together a duck-themed ThThTh list. But I really don’t have time for that now. So instead, I’ll just take things one duck at a time. Or three ducks, in this case.

duck heads in a row

I’m on a roll with my ducks these days. Not that I have any actual ducks. I do, however, have plenty of photos of ducks.

This photo is one that strikes me as funny, probably because it’s not a sight likely to be seen in the US. I saw this display of duck heads on my trip to China in 2012, at a food stall. I believe it was in the city of Hangzhou, which is near Shanghai.

Most Americans prefer to dissociate the meat and poultry they eat from the animals they come from. Typically, these purchases are made in a supermarket, with cuts of meat and poultry wrapped in cellophane, denuded of as many signs of having once had feet and faces as possible. Clearly this is not the case in many parts of the world. I still remember being somewhat shocked as a kid when we moved to France, and encountered butcher shops and market stalls with whole animals hanging from hooks, and being disturbed that the chickens we purchased still had feet and head attached.

In any case, it seems that in China, duck heads are a fairly popular food dish.

ducklings in a row

I found this draft of a post that I’d started in 2013. Not sure why didn’t get around to posting it. It looks like it was a friday foto finder post for the theme of “ducks“. Anyhow, I wanted to post something today, but I have a bad cold and a splitting headache, so not enough mental capacity to get any new ducks in a row.


The mama duck has all (or most of) her ducks in a clump.


Now she has her ducks in a row.


So fuzzy.


Mama-baby moment.


I love the little pouf of down on this little guy’s head. (And of course I love the rippled reflections on the water.)