The Laughing Couple

I was driving along today, and happened to look over at a car to my right.  Inside were two elderly people who were both laughing.  I kept looking and they kept laughing while talking.  It made my heart feel warm and fuzzy.  Imagine, a couple like this who have been together for so long, and they laugh so easily together.  This is not a great photo, because I elected NOT to try and do a photograph while driving!  That's a first.  I waited until we both stopped at a light, then I got the camera out and made a few exposures.  I wish this photo was better, but it does allow me to tell your their story.  If you click on this, you will see them in more detail.

Another one for Betsey

One more photograph from El Matador beach, for Betsey.  This is another of the rock outcrops along the beach.  I love that this one is standing all by itself and the late afternoon sunlight gives a golden glow to the colors of the rock.  You probably wonder why I am still posting photographs from California.  It's just that I can't deal with the reality of the East Coast cold, and so I am imagining that I am still on the West coast!

The Importance of the Cellphone

I was sitting on one of the benches on the 4th Street Promenade while the ladies were all shopping.  A young woman stopped and was standing right in front of me, and appeared to be waiting for someone.  She was just looking up and down the Promenade.  After a while she got out her cellphone and was apparently texting.  I wanted to do a photo because it looked like a good shot, but she was too close to me, and would have seen me.  So I waited, and then she went over to the wall of the building and continued to text, and I thought that it looked like a good shot.  I was far enough away to finally take the picture.  I really love that her face was illuminated by her cellphone. After about ten minutes, she finally walked away.  Don't know if she ever found the person she was looking for. 

The Hatmaker

There is a new hat store in Venice, and the girls, knowing that I LOVE hats, said that we should visit the store.  It was really cool, because when I tried on one of the hats on display, the hat maker came over and took the hat I was wearing, and spent about 20 minutes or so changing the hat almost completely!  It was so cool to watch him at work, using a special steam iron and another metal tool to form the felt, and add an upturned edge all around the brim.  Of course all the steam was a magnet for me, and I asked if it was OK to shoot some photographs, and he said that it was.  So here is Ruben, the hat maker, at work.

No More Pretending - Snow!

OK, no more pretending.  I am home, and it snowed.  Boy, did it snow.  Well, actually only 8 or 10 inches, and it was a light snow, which was nice when it came to shoveling.  I went over to the neighbor's to help her shovel.  But she had another helper, with a snowblower - the neighbor across the street.  So there wasn't too much to do, but I did the stone stairs and the front walk.  While doing the stairs I noticed this - this beautiful old rusted gate and the Purple coneflowers in the background.  This does look cold, doesn't it?

Keep Pretending I Am Not Home...

Betsey asked for more photographs of El Matador Beach, so here is another one.  It is really a spectacular landscape, and it looks so different from above and from below.  I keep meaning to do some searching on the web to learn how it was formed.  There are similar landscapes, of large rock outcrops on the beach, on beaches up in Oregon and Washington State.  I am guessing that pieces of the cliff fell off into the water, but I want to know more about the geology.  I will be sure and let you know what I find out. (So far I did find out that the name of the beach is EL Matador Beach...)

Electric Avenue Faces

We go over to Abbot's Habit each morning for a breakfast of coffee and danish.  The parking lot is behind the store on Electric Avenue.  I love the name of that street - there was even a Rock n' Roll song called "Electric Avenue" by Eddie Grant, but it is about Electric Avenue in London.  Anyhow, we parked on the street, and while walking to the coffee shop we passed this wall around someone's house.  These faces are amazing. I have no idea why they are green, but it is a stunning painting.  We have also seen this artist's work on walls in other parts of Venice.