Farewell to Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea, the more gentle of our two kitties, has been sick for about six months.  Recently she was eating very little, in spite of the medicine we were giving her twice a day.  This morning she could hardly stand, and we realized that the end was near. Having lived through the deaths of two other cats at home, we decided that it was time to take her to the vet, and have her put to sleep.  Here she is wrapped in a down quilt for her trip to the doctors. It was a sad and painful day for us.

No More Selfie Sticks!

When I was at the Met a week or so ago, I was coming up the main staircase, and saw these two women doing a "selfie" with a "selfie stick."  First time I saw one of these was at the Santa Monica Promenade where a father was doing a family shot.  I wasn't fast enough to get a shot of that, but I have been on the lookout ever since.  So I snapped a few photos of these two, then one spotted me and started laughing, so I went over and talked with them a bit.  So this morning I opened the newspaper and saw a story that selfie sticks have been outlawed in most museums in New York!  Their concern is that someone might damage an artwork because they are so interested in getting their picture taken!  The Met, so far, is not one of the museums who have banned these.

Winter and Summer

I photographed the Japanese maple during the snowstorm, and thought it was a beautiful photograph!  Please click on it to see the blurred snowflakes falling.  When I looked at the picture on my computer, I was reminded of the photograph I did a couple of years ago, of the same tree, in the summer, photographed with a borrowed infra-red camera.

The Ice Storm

There was an ice storm, but the beauty of it all was not immediately obvious.  It was overcast and everything was gray.  While I was next door helping out, the sun came out and the sky turned bright blue.  Walking back down the street I passed the Japanese maple, and was surprised to see all the ice visible on the branches.  It is such a beautiful sight to see the ice, lit by the sun,  against the blue sky.

Judy's Gate

I went next door today to help our neighbor shovel her driveway for a bit.  She was well along in her work, so I didn't do a whole lot of shoveling.  There is a wall next to her driveway and  I did start up the stairs, removing the snow along the way.  At the top of the stairs is this wonderful gate, with a garden right behind it.  I have photographed it in years past, but to see it covered with ice, with the Purple Coneflowers behind made for a wonderful silhouette against the snow.

Winter Wonderland

It snowed most of the night and into the morning, with a mix of snow, rain, and sleet.  When we shoveled in the morning, it was wet underneath the snow, so the mess would stick to the shovel, and it was heavy.  Got the shoveling done, and the cars cleared off.  Then it started snowing again!  The snow was dry and relatively light, and quite beautiful.  I did a couple of different photographs and picked this as my favorite.  Then we set about shoveling the driveway all over again.  Sigh...

A Walk in the Park

Whenever I walk by any part of Central Park, I make sure to take a peek in to see if I see any nice compositions.  When snow is on the ground it gets really interesting.  Interesting because there are curving walkways and benches, and trees and people.  So when I saw this scene, I found a good composition, and then waited for people to walk into the scene, and then waited for them to get to the perfect spot.  I think this works.  I think I probably stood in this spot for about fifteen minutes until everything fell into place.