Dinner With Amy & Gus

Liz drove Kathy and I over to Amy & Gus' home this afternoon and we got to play with Vivian and talk to her and take part in her little scenarios which was so much fun.  For a while Kathy and I wore tiaras and I was the king and Kathy was the Queen.  We stayed for dinner, and Amy had planned this for us all.  It is chicken teriyaki on cabbage slaw with ride and sesame, and broccoli along with a cucumber salad.  It was out of this world! I have never photographed my meal in restaurants, which is of course the new thing.  But this dish demanded it. Wish you all could have been here.

 

Playing Squigz with Vivian

Amy and Vivian came over to Liz and Sarah's house today in the afternoon and Vivian loves to play games or have people play with her toys with her.  Here Vivian and Kathy and Sarah are all playing with a game called "Squigz."  All the parts have suction cups on them and the parts will stick to each other or walls or tables or furniture or floors.  Not sure what they were building but they were having fun. It is wonderful to see Vivian and see how she has grown and learned more things.

 

Shiprock from 34,000 Feet

New York to Los Angeles again, this time for Christmas.  We booked late for some reason and when it came to seating, the only seats left were on the left side of the aircraft. For some reason I always pick the right hand side of the airplane, and of course, only a window seat.  So believe it or not, everything looked different on the same trip we have made so many times.  The main reason was the sun was shining on the landscape from "behind" meaning that everything had a shadow and was more dramatic.  As we flew through New Mexico, I saw this black pointed object, and it hit me: "Is that Shiprock?"  I have photographed  this astounding feature which is made from lava that hardened in a volcano and then gradually the outer part of the volcano was eroded, leaving just the hard lava. And there are also two "dikes" leading away from the plug.  They were openings in the ground - cracks - which also filled with lava.  When I saw them I was sure it was in fact Shiprock.  What a thrill to see this monumental geological feature from the air for the first time!  It dominates the landscape from the ground and you can see it from miles away. If I was home, I would have found my print of this from the ground to show you what it looks like as I have known it. 

 

I Didn't Do This Right

I calculated what time hight tide would be today and went back to the beach to photograph how different it looks from the really low tide of six days ago.  But I didn't do it right.  I would have to be standing in the water to get an exact match.  I SHOULD have taken last Thursday's version of this photograph from the part of land that sticks out into the harbor, where that tree and bench are. That way both photographs viewpoint would be the same.  But still, you can see the huge volume of water that it takes to fill up Hempstead Harbor to the high tide mark.  As you can see, it takes a LOT of water!  So here is today's photograph, and below is yesterday's photo so you can more easily compare them.

 

The Low, Low Tide!

Last Thursday I had some errands to do in the afternoon, and when I drove down to the harbor at the end of our street I could not believe how low the water was!  So I drove to the beach where we have Dunkin'  Donuts each week, and couldn't believe my eyes!  In this photograph, we sit on the beach to the left of the last line of tidal debris in the distance!  Hight tide comes to where the footprints are.  Look how far the water is to the right!

It felt as if half the harbor had been drained!  So I grabbed my camera and did all kinds of photographs trying to show how far the tide was out.  The first thing I saw was was the sandbar way over to the left.  That looks as if it is half way across the harbor!  And normally, at low tide, we do not see this dark area where I am standing - it is always underwater.  Fortunately, I know what the explanation is for the low tide. It is full Moon so the Moon is lined up with the Earth and the Sun, thus having a greater effect on the tides.  But the larger force was the wind.  The wind had been howling after a frontal passage, and it was blowing from the west at 30 to 40 MPH.  When the tide goes out, the water in Long Island Sound drains to the east of Long Island.  Whe the tide started to come back in, it was facing these howling winds, and the wind kept the water from coming back down the sound to the west.  Thus, one of the lowest tides I have ever seen and photographed since we have lived here!  What a wonderful and amazing place I live, where I can see things like this.  PLEASE click on this lower panoramic image and you can see it much larger and with so much more detail!

Room For Everyone

I had reached the half-way point of my 3 mile walk to where the old power plant was located, where I turn around and start back.  I think I heard a noise above me and when I looked up saw all the wires on this telephone pole full of birds!  I couldn't believe my eyes, how perfectly it seemed that they were spaced!  As if they measured their separation.  Isn't this amazing!  I mean, look at those birds!  And then the phrase "Room for Everyone" was suddenly in my head.  And I thought how appropriate that phrase was for this Christmas season.  About being kind to everyone and being respectful and making room for everyone, in our minds.  That's not a bad though for us all to keep in mind.

 

Christmas Candles

Years ago I bought some electric candles for the windows of our house, as Christmas decorations.  I always remember the houses around the green in Guilford, Connecticut.  I think everyone agreed to just put white electric candles in every window, and to see all the houses around the green decorated that way was stunning.  So I had, in the past, maybe 4 or 6 white candles that I put up some years.  Then I would forget where that box was, which contained not only the candles, but the custom fabricated extension cord for each one to reach the nearest socket.  I guess they are in the attic somewhere...  So this year I bought a box of 6 white electric candles and tried them out.  They looked great but were too bright, I thought and I wished they were a warmer color.  So I bought some orange spray paint and unscrewed the bulbs and painted each one, after masking the metal screw on the bottom.  I liked the look so much I bought 6 more and now every window on the north side and on the east side has it's own candle.  Finally!  Pretty, and subtle, which matters to me.

So this is what the house looks like from the side yard.  No one driving by sees the house this way but it is a pretty view, I think.  So finally, I have a candle in each window, and I will put bright yellow tape around the box so I can find these candles and extension cords next year!