Parts of a Flower

I really have no business photographing flowers, because I haven't a CLUE what they are or what their parts are called! Duh! These remains of flowers are in the little garden under the dining room window. I was attracted to the bright but fading yellow leaves. On closer inspection I saw these "buds" (which of course, are not buds at all. I think they may be called "sepals"). In any case, they are the leftovers from a complete flower blossom. And what really did it for me was to see that they are blue in color. They are also such an interesting shape. I started by photographing from further away, but the closer I got the more interesting the picture became. If anyone would like to let me know what kind of flower this is, I would be most appreciative. By the way, please click on this to see a larger image, and to see how interesting the flower parts are.

The Possibilities of Extra-Terrestrial Life

Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth. Possible forms of extraterrestrial life range from simple bacteria-like organisms to sapient beings far more advanced than humans. It is unknown whether any such forms of life exist or ever existed. Tonight at our astronomy meeting, Dr. Urszula Golebiewska who specializes in physiology and biophysics and does research in cellular biophysics was the speaker. She gave a wonderful talk starting with defining what life is, exactly, and then what is necessary for it to form and flourish, and then where we might look for it in the solar system, and beyond. A wonderful talk for an enthusiastic audience!

The Shadow Lurks

I was down photographing by the water, and was loving the color of the rusted steel bulkhead in the late afternoon light. I happened to see my shadow on the rock, and then started goofing around with what my shadow looked like. So then I took this pose, and loved how it looked. I have no idea why I did this or what it means but it just made me laugh. So, the question is: "How did I shoot this?" Actually it was easy. It did take me a minute to figure it out. I used the self timer. Left the camera hanging around my neck, started the self timer, and turned my body until I thought the camera was pointing at the rock. Click!

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Rider

Truth be told, I am not a long-distance rider. I just liked the play on the title from the book of stories about running. I only do ten miles a day, but I try to ride most days of the week, and I do climb several hills along my route, really hammering it. I took this photograph yesterday, because it rained all day today. I actually SAW this photo the day before, but since I broke my rule about always bringing a camera, I was unable to TAKE the photo. So yesterday I brought the camera. This is the mile-long long hill I climb when I am nearly at the end of my ride, then I turn around and scream down the hill and am nearly home. I just loved the brilliant yellow light that made my shadow and lit up the leaves by the side of the road.

A Blessing for Father Jim

This is Father Jim who has had a really long career as a priest in the the Diocese of Rockville Center. He was ordained 50 years ago, and has been pastor of a number of churches on Long Island. He speaks Spanish, French, and Italian, and has visited the countries of El Salvador, Haiti, Chile and Argentina, where a number of his parishioners were from. When he retired from being a full-time pastor, he came to live at St. Brigids and said masses during the week and on the weekends, which is how we came to know him. Now that he is older, he is going to live at a retirement home for priests. So today was his last mass for a while here, and all the priests from the church celebrated mass with him, and then blessed him at the end of the mass. We will miss him.

A Sign of Fall Color, At Last

Either Fall has not come to Long Island yet, or it is here with an underwhelming display of color. Many trees still have green leaves, some of which are fading to pale yellow - not the brilliant yellows and reds that we love to see. So imagine my surprise when I went out to the car, on the way to the grocery store, and looked up to see the late afternoon sun illuminating this tree which is across the street up on the hill. It didn't hurt that the sun was warmer in color - it certainly added to the brightness of the red leaves on this tree. It also helped that the sky was overcast with gray clouds.

My Strange Room

So I started digging into cracks and loose plaster on the wall in the bedroom with a chisel. I am in the middle of painting this room. It has been a number of years, so there are a lot of cracks and loose plaster. The house is about a hundred years old, with wood lathe and plaster. It is solid construction, but does end up developing cracks after a number of years. So i just went after all the things that needed digging out before filling with joint compound. When I was done digging, I stepped back and was looking at the pattern. I just thought that it somehow looked interesting or strange or both.