The Twins!

These are the twins!  It is so much fun to see them, because they are growing so fast!  They are playing with the coolest thing - it is a tunnel that collapses like a slinky for traveling, and then when it is time for them to play in it, it springs open.  They had so much fun crawling back and forth through this toy.  Grayson is in the tunnel, and his twin sister, Evelyn is watching from the background.  Don't you just love his grin!

The Bobbsey Twins

We had our family picnic today in Connecticut, and at the last minute Kelsey decided to drive down from Northern Maine, which is a seven hour trip!  It was great to see her - it's been a while.  This is a photo of my sister Karen, on the left, and her daughter Kelsey on the right.  They were getting dressed for the party and then noticed that they were dressing the same.  Thus "The Bobbsey Twins."  Perfect occasion for a portrait.

The Well Used Cookbook

The first picture is that of Kathy's Betty Crocker Cookbook that was given to her by a roommate back in 1967.  I love that you can see how well used it is, with spots, drips, smudges and spills all over the pages.  There is a glass bowl of freshly peeled peaches sitting on the cookbook, in preparation for the baking of a Raspberry Peach Pie.  The pie is being made for the Fourth of July family picnic.  No, that's not a misprint - we had such a hard time trying to pick a date for the July 4th picnic that it ended up being moved to August!  Does this look good, or what!  My sisters will report back tomorrow when they get to eat it!

Thunderstorm!

How's this for a photograph!  I was on the way home from picking up dinner - don't tell anyone but it was Colonel Sanders tonight!  There had been thunder around all afternoon but it wasn't until I was driving along the harbor that I saw this.  It is unusual to see a thunderstorm from the side - usually it is a squall line moving through.  The thing that first caught my eye, other than the dark clouds overhead, was the rain core - the medium gray shapes streaming toward the ground.  I don't remember seeing that before.  Thunderstorms are powerful and dangerous, and so incredible beautiful.

"This is the church, this is the steeple..."

As I was leaving Mass MoCA, I found myself driving toward this church.  I was stunned to see the structure of heavy timbers tapering from wide to narrow.  I immediately realized that it was the framework of this church steeple.  I parked my car, and rushed over to spend some time photographing the church and the ruins of the steeple.  Turns out that this church, St. Francis of Assisi, was built in 1863, and eight years ago was abandoned as the Catholic Diocese consolidated churches.  I have seen references to North Adams, Mass, as the city of steeples.  Interesting that the three steeples in the distance, in the lower photograph, are all tall and slim, as was this steeple before demolition.  It just seems so sad that such a beautiful structure and steeple will no longer exist.  In many communities unused churches around the country have been repurposed.  That was the hope here, but there was never a critical mass to save the building before falling masonry that landed on sidewalks and streets, requiring the immediate removal of the steeple.

"Cubic Sky"

Mass MoCA never disappoints!  This piece is called "Cubic Sky" by Fred Tomaselli.  These objects are plexiglass cubes, illuminated from inside.  They were painted black, and then the paint was scratched off where all the stars were meant to appear.  They are suspended from the ceiling in a completely dark room.  It was just amazing to enter this room, and after my eyes got accustomed to the darkness,  I discovered some beanbag chairs on the floor.  So I sat down, and just stared at the cubes of stars.  It was so incredibly peaceful that I stayed here for quite a while.  This is such a brilliant piece of sculpture

Looking at Sunspots

As I mentioned yesterday, those that came to look carefully at my 1" telescope were really fascinated by the project.  This young woman came along, and was amazed that she could actually see sunspots which the telescope projected on to a piece of paper.  I pointed out that there were four spots in two separate groups, and she said "There is another one right there!"  And she was right!  I had overlooked the fainter spot.  If you can see it, it counts!  It doesn't hurt that she has much younger eyes!