Category: photos

multilayered, multicolored

I do love the way paint looks when it’s past its prime. Well, I don’t love it that way on my own house, but out in the rest of world, I find the patterns and texture of weathered paint to be very appealing. Especially when such weathering reveals multiple layers of paint of different colors. The effect can range from map, to marbelizing, to abstract composition. Here are a few examples that have caught my eye, in my travels, and around my town.

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This was a railing at Canobie Lake Park, an amusement park in New Hampshire. Many of the rides and attractions have been around for decades, and display a colorful history of paint color trends. I saw this on our visit to the park this August. This looked to me like a map.
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This was likewise a railing at Canobie Lake Park. This particular railing was at the mirror maze, and caught my eye in 2014. I was sad that the mirror maze was no longer at the park this year.
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This was a fence in or around Dublin, as seen on my 2014 trip.
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This more subtle set of paint layers graced a pedestrian bridge in Central Park. It caught my eye this past Saturday.
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This colorful and curvy composition can be seen on the back of a turtle-shaped climbing structure at our local zoo. I took this photo in 2013. I’m sort of curious to see the turtle again, and see if it has a (boring) layer of fresh paint.
yellow-purple-wheel
This yellow wheel was in a town near Dublin. It appears to have once been purple, and possibly green before that.  

This is far from the first time I’ve posted photos of peeling paint, but I think only one of the above (the pink railing) was included in another set. (Admittedly, though, it’s become harder for me to keep track of what I’ve posted here.)

I recall Central Park in Fall

It’s really not all that remarkable that I can remember Fall in Central Park, since it was just yesterday that I was there. However, Cental Park is pretty remarkable in the fall. Even late as it was in the foliage season, there was some striking color to be seen.

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Various waterfowl in the pond by the Gapstow Bridge.
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A trio of Muscovy ducks preening on some rocks in front of the foliage.
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A single juggler preening on The Mall.
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Dark iron lamp post and iron dark tree trunks among the vibrant leaves.
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A graceful little Japanese maple.
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A very twisty tree.

And in case you don’t recognize the title I used for this post, it’s a line from the song Danke Schoen. (Where “schoen” rhymes with “rain.”) I remember this song primarily for having been in the movie Ferris Bueller’s day off.

waiting for it

I mentioned yesterday that my family and I were in New York to see a show. What I didn’t say was which show. (I did leave a couple of hints for those who know the show.)

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I caught Hamilton Fever from some friends about a year and a half ago. When another friend with the same affliction decided to buy tickets for the show in New York, I plunged in and got tickets for my family, too. This was back in March. That is to say, eight months ago. We were willing to wait for it.

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I may write more about seeing the show (which was amazing), but we just drove home to Massachusetts, and I’m wiped out. So you, too, will have to wait for it.

dispatch from the greatest city in the world

We are travelling this weekend, something we haven’t been doing as much of lately. We’ve headed down to New York City to see a show.

We’re staying in a hotel somewhat near both the theater and Central Park, and as our room is on the 65th floor, and on a corner to boot, our views are pretty amazing.

Even though we arrived after 10 last night, we got up at the crack of dawn. You see, we have an avid birder in the family, and we have been talking about going birding in Central Park for a while. (I’ll probably write more about this later.) Early morning is one of the better times to see birds. And so it is that I have photos of the view at sunrise. (I usually avoid being awake at sunrise. Especially on weekends.)

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I was looking at the map to see what is in the direction of these views, past the water. I was vaguely aware that New Jersey was to the west. In particular, it appears to be Weehawken.

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View towards Weehawken. Dawn.

In the other direction, we can see a bit of Central Park.

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This room must have had an amazing view of Central Park before those two new buildings sprang up.

We spent basically the whole day today in Central Park, birding. We got to see a number of interesting water birds (wood ducks, coots and shovelers, for example), as well as many of the bird types that frequent our neck of the woods (jays and cardinals). All my bird photos are on my camera, and it’s too much work to download them to my laptop for now. (These photos are a few from my phone.)

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A very expressive tree in Central Park

(For those friends of mine who live in the greater NY area, I’m sorry that I can’t see you this trip. It’s a rather short trip–less than 48 hours in town, sadly. And we have committed to birding for most of the trip. At least for the hours that are not spent in the theater for the show tomorrow.)

And now I need to get to bed, because we’ve got more birds to see bright and early. (The early worm catches the bird?)

lasting impressions and life goals

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In addition to being the 11th anniversary of my blog, yesterday also marked the 10th anniversary of a dear friend’s death.

My friend Elizabeth continues to be one of my personal heroes. She was an extraordinary person, but chose to live an ordinary life. Or at least what might appear from a distance to be an ordinary life. She didn’t seek fame or fortune, but valued the richness of her life, her friends, her family, and the many things in life that brought her joy. She was witty and insightful. She was warm and kind and incredibly supportive, but could show biting sense of humor. She cared deeply and passionately about the world, but also loved to let loose and get silly.

She died far too young, and I feel her loss still. There have been so many things over the past 10 years that I have wanted to share with her. To discuss, to celebrate, to lament.

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I know that I am not the only one who continues to miss her. She had an impact on so many who knew and loved her. Her impact was not from any single great feat or action, but from the sum of countless moments of connection with others.

Her life was indeed extraordinary.

This blog goes up to 11

Eleven years ago today, I put up my first post on this blog. Here we are over a thousand posts later, and I am still more-or-less here.

analog-clock-1111 It appears that I am quite partial to the number 11. Not the least because I regularly post at the eleventh hour. (It might not surprise you that it is now after 11 as I write this post.)

elevenThe number 11 has featured prominently in quite a few posts over the years, in particular on 11/11. In anticipation of the exciting (at least to me) date of 11/11/11, I encouraged others to post things that go up to 11. I’ve posted about the word for the number 11 in Spanish.  I’ve posted lists of elevens. I’ve posted photos of elevens (or at least photos of patterns that look to me like 11s). And I posted a ThThTh list of 11 things, which, given that I posted it in 2007, did not include one now very well known Eleven.

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This is all really just a very roundabout way to say happy birthday to my blog. Thanks to any and all of you who have dropped in over the years.

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When in doubt, post a trout

 

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A fish sculpture in Paris. 2007.

When it gets late, and it gets tired, I typically find I don’t have the energy to do actual writing. All too often, this is what motivates me to post photos. Not to say that I don’t often have photos that I want to share, but posting photos over text has been my default when I’m tired.

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The Majestic Cod of the Massachusetts State House, Boston. 2016.

And then I try to come up with a catchy title. But sometimes, a catchy title catches me. And makes me laugh a little inside. And makes me hunt down (or in this case, go fishing for) appropriate content to go with it. When in doubt, post a trout.

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A gleeful boy taking a grouchy fish for a joyride. As seen on a bridge in Paris. 2007.

And so it was that I remembered that I have quite a few fish photos. Even more specifically, I have a bunch of photos of fish statues and sculptures, taken over quite a long period of time, and in quite a few different locations. (I was sorry to not find any fish sculptures in my photos from Asia, so it looks like I have only 2 continents represented. Unless you want to consider this startlingly shiny gold fish furniture from my hotel in Shanghai.

 

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A shark shack in small town near Dublin, Ireland. 2014.
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A surprised looking fish in Boston. Probably not a trout. 2016.

But I have a terrible confession to make: while I may have lots of photos of fish, I really don’t know whether there is a trout among them.

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A deranged looking fish in London. Almost certainly not a trout. 2005.
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A fish bone sculpture from the DeCordova Museum in Massachusetts. 2012

So, what say you? Can you find a trout among today’s catch?

superlative skies

I guess I may have my head in the clouds more than most, because I do find myself noticing the sky quite often, and even pointing it out to others. Take, for example, the rather spectacular, improbably pink sunset below, which I saw during my son’s soccer practice one evening.

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I was completely entranced by the shape and color, and took quite a few photos. When the soccer practice ended, the other parents and I walked toward the filed to collect our kids. I asked the nearest parent: “Did you see that sunset?” In turns out that she had not, even though she had been sitting only a few feet away from me.

The composition below is another one I saw during a soccer practice. What the photo doesn’t quite capture is the the colorful right edge of the cloud, which had both pink and green.

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And because I like to post things in sets of at least three, here is a non-sunset cloudscape from yesterday morning.

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(in)spired stump

On my walk in the woods last weekend, my eye was caught by a particularly complicated-looking tree stump. Perhaps it was caused by the weather, or insects, or some combination thereof, but the wood of the stump was carved into an intricate display of spires and arches. It reminded me of a fantasy city, such as from the Lord of the Rings movies. stump-spires-1

My daughter, though, tells me she sees ghosts and screaming faces. I can actually see this, too. stump-spires-2

What do you see in the patterns fo the stump? A fantasy scene or a nightmare? Or do you, rather, see only the weathered and broken wood shards of a tree stump?