A beach on the Mediterranean Sea, in Barcelona. From our 2009 trip to Spain. Our visit to the beach was fleeting, as John had a conference call shortly after, and there were storm clouds on the horizon. But Phoebe and Theo had a chance to meet the Mediterranean.
This week’s friday foto finder theme is “sea.”
This week’s theme for friday foto finder is “sky.”
These photos are from 2004, taken during a visit to see my mother back when she lived in Colorado. I took these from the highway that runs from Pueblo to Beulah. (Don’t worry, I wasn’t the one driving!)
Montana may be the state nicknamed “big sky country,” but Colorado has pretty big skies, too. Out on the plains, especially, where there are no tall buildings and few buildings or trees of any size, the sky seems somehow more immense than in other parts of the world I’ve seen.
When summer storms come, the sky can look particularly dramatic.
A particularly ominous mass of clouds.
Look up!
I love the way rain in the distance can look like a bit like clouds hanging down in curtains. (Or like the sky is falling.)
I am partial to this photo for the way it captured a very s-like shape in the side road. But the sky looks pretty cool, too.
These photos were from June, which, up in that part of Colorado, is Spring. The bright green grasses you can see in these photos are mostly brown by July.
To see what the sky looks like in other people’s worlds, drop by the friday foto finder blog.
Back in March, I attended a conference in New York City. It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip, and I managed to fit in visits with several dear friends in addition to the time spent at the conference.
I had a poster to present the evening of the first day of the conference, and after a morning of watching talks, I realized that my brain would be completely full if I sat through talks through the whole day. I decided that even if I missed out on some good material in the afternoon, I’d be better off if I had sufficient brain function remaining to allow me the power of speech by the time I was to present my poster.
In other words, I opted to play hooky. For totally legitimate and not at all irresponsible reasons that had nothing to do with the beautiful spring weather.
I started by meeting up with Magpie for a lovely bit of lunch and conversation. I told her that I didn’t have plans to rush back to the conference, but she still had to get back to work. She suggested that I check out the High Line. Actually, upon hearing that I’d never been there, she told me in no uncertain terms that I was required to visit the High Line. And that she expected to see photo documentation.
The High Line, in case you haven’t heard of it (and I hadn’t) is a stretch of elevated railway, a former freight line, that has been converted into a park on Manhattan’s West Side. It stretches for many blocks, with the former tracks converted to a combination of path and landscaping. There are many interesting sights to see along the way, provided by views of the river and skyline, interesting buildings and architectural details and the occasional sculptural installation.
As is my way, I have been slow to share photos. But take photos I did. It was a perfect day for a walk, and I enjoyed the scene and the scenery immensely. There were lots of people out enjoying the surprisingly sunny and warm March day, and the views from the elevated path were intriguing. I took many, many photos. Below are a handful of them.
It was also a great way to spend the day refreshing myself, with fresh air and a bit of exercise, before presenting my poster.
So, Magpie, I don’t remember whether I ever thanked you for your most excellent suggestion. So, thank you!
Lots of people out for a stroll, enjoying a nice long walk above the traffic. (It was so great to be able to walk for blocks in Manhattan without having to go through a single intersection!)
Bits of the old tracks were left here and there as part of the landscaping.
It was very early spring when I visited (technically not actually even spring yet), but there were already some signs of fresh growth among the well tended plantings. (Of course, this was the winter that wasn’t.) I’d love to go back at other times of year to see how things look.
This meandering post was inspired by this week’s friday foto finder theme of “tracks.” It seemed a fine follow-up to my previous paths, too.
This week’s friday foto finder theme is “path.” Archie has been hitting on a string of themes that work really well with my photo collection. Once again, I had dozens of photos with paths to choose from. (And they were easy to find as “paths & roads” is one of my tags I use in iPhoto.) I settled on this pair, and was amused to find that they were taken 6 years ago to the day. (And further, this day happens to be John’s birthday.) These were taken at Storm King Art Center, a large sculpture park near my in-laws’.
To see what paths others have wandered, please pay a visit to the friday foto finder blog.
This week’s friday foto finder theme is “street.” This is a tough one for me in that I have taken many, many photos of streets over the years. After selecting a half-dozen or so of my various favorites that I had taken over the year, I instead chose this set of three photos that I had forgotten about. These were from our 2007 trip to Paris. Here is a scene that caught my attention while wondering some of the older streets of Paris, on the Ile de la Cité:
It just didn’t look like this car could possibly fit into this narrow street.
And in fact, here is about when the cars tires got jammed between the curbs, complete with much noise of squeaking rubber and revving engine.
Amazingly (to me, at least), the car did make it around that corner and down and out the street.
If you look closely, you can see from the street signs that this was Rue des Ursins. If you find it on Google maps and zoom in on the satellite view, this particular part of the street is too narrow to be seen between the buildings.
I have to say, looking at my street photos gave me some pleasant trips down memory lane. Mostly involving trips. Also, I found myself getting a medley of songs with streets in them stuck in my head. (I feel a list coming on.)
To see what other streets have been wandered for this theme, go check out Archie‘s friday foto finder blog.
This week’s friday foto finder theme is “alone.” This lone chicken was somehow left out when her fellow chickens were penned up. And while she does look rather left out, it looks like the other chickens want out, themselves.
(I took this photo back in March at the nearby farm where usually we get our eggs. This was one of the rare wintery moments of last winter.)
This week’s friday¹ foto finder theme is “right.” I was all set to post a different photo, or possibly a set of photos, when my autocorrect² once again changed the “foto” in my post title to “foot.” I took this as a sign to change directions.³ I present to you a right foot that I found in my photo archives.
This is Theo’s right foot, pressed up against the inside of the car window, when he was about 2 and a half. You may note that the inside of the window bears not only finger prints, but toe prints.
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¹ Yes, I realize it is now Saturday, but I was travelling all week, and while expected to have time to post yesterday, it didn’t quite work out.
² I typically compose my posts in my email application on my laptop, and a recent upgrade brought the joys of autocorrect (once known to me only from my iPad) to my laptop.
³ By making a right turn?
This week’s friday foto finder theme is “evocative.” I took this photo at the deCordova sculpture garden, a beautiful place full of intriguing and thought-provoking works of art.
When snow falls in big cities like Boston, everything is magically transformed into a world of white. For a moment.
Before long, exhaust from the traffic and the spray of sand and dirt turn it all brown and gray. The mounds of snow from the plows sometimes look more like mounds of sand and dirt. The sidewalks become soupy with gray slush. Winter wonderland it is not.
Out here where I live, though, we don’t have so much traffic. The snow, for the most part, stays white until it melts away.
This was some snow by the side of our driveway, the remnants of the pile from shoveling after some partial melting and refreezing. I liked the way the elements had sculpted these interesting forms, and how the low angle of the winter sun illuminated them.
This week’s friday foto finder prompt is “white.” Given that the other regular participants represent warmer climes, I thought it was my duty as a New England resident to offer up this more wintery interpretation.
collecting tokens 