Blue Sky, Sunshine...

...and icicles!  I know this is not one of my greatest photographs, but I do like the sense of sunshine and blue sky.  I struggled with this, trying to make a more artsy photo, but if I got closer, all I ended up with were details that were not that pretty - all the sense of the beautiful weather was lessened.  The good news is that the temperatures are forecast to be nearly 45 degrees tomorrow.  Goodbye icicles!

Flying Up

Another cold day, and more crystal patterns on the window.  But these have a completely different feeling to them.  I thought they looked like something flying, headed upward. And then I remembered...  Have you seen the movie "Still Alice?"  There is an amazing piece of poetry from the dialogue, that turns out to be from Tony Kushner.  This is only part of it: "Night flight to San Francisco; chase the moon across America...  But I saw something that only I could see because of my astonishing ability to see such things: Souls were rising, from the earth far below, souls of the dead, of people who had perished, from famine, from war, from the plague, and they floated up, like skydivers in reverse, limbs all akimbo, wheeling and spinning..."

Abstraction or Realism?

It was, of course, distressing to awake this morning to more snow.  The forecasts were for 3 to 5 inches, or 4 to 6 inches.  We ended up with 10 inches by the end of the day!  It was the type of snow that clung to everything, making for the possibility of beautiful pictures.  I was looking at some trees from out of the upstairs bedroom window, and I saw the scene in a different way.  I began to see it as an abstract composition.  So I tried a few different variations, and this is my favorite.  Please click on it to see it in more detail.  I love the complex shapes and forms, and it is fun to let your eye wander around following different objects.  The second picture is a different view of the Japanese Maple tree from above, a realistic scene.  You can pick your favorite from these two.

Rothko

There has been so much going on with the weather, that I never got around to posting one of the photographs from the Yale University Art Gallery.  There are two Mark Rothko paintings on display in the gallery and I was spending some time with them.  I am trying to "get" his work.  I have watched a couple of DVD's about his work, and done some reading, and am still working on my appreciation of these paintings.  While standing there, contemplating this painting, a young couple came into the picture, and I snapped this.  There was something about them and how they were dressed, so I wanted to photograph them.  So here's a confession...  I missed a great shot.  At one point the man on the left, leaned over and kissed the young woman at right, on the back of the head, and I missed it.  Oh well...

A Bit of a Snotty Night...

It started snowing again this afternoon, continued into the night, and then, if that wasn't bad enough, it started to rain.  Yikes!  We were supposed to go to a meeting tonight, so I went out and cleaned off my car, and started the engine to defrost the windows.  My car was parked at the end of the driveway, behind Kathy's car, and when I walked away from it, I saw this interesting lighting.  So I went in and grabbed my camera.  The phone rang, and the meeting was cancelled, so we lucked out.  If you click on this and get a larger image, you can see the rain in the headlights.

The Movies - Not Like Los Angeles!

It was Monday night so we decided to go to the movies, to see "Still Alice."  Julianne Moore won an academy award for "Best Actress" for this film.  We were kind of early to the theater, and the multiplex seemed empty, except for one person in the ticket window, and one person accepting tickets for the whole place.  We went into the theater, and there was no one else there!  So I thought this would be funny to take a picture showing this.  Before the film started one other couple came in.  That was it for the audience.  In Los Angeles, we have to call and reserve a seat and buy tickets before arriving at the theater.  Some difference!

You Have Probably Been Wondering...

...how the demolition has been going.  It has been going well.  The section of the building on the right is getting shorter and shorter.  And the section of the building on the left is getting completely hollowed out.  It will be really interesting to see what they do next to the left hand building.  I drove by the building in a light snowstorm today, and I loved the atmospheric effect that the snow has created.  This photograph is quite different than any other that I have taken from this vantage point.