The Princess Helps Walk the Dogs

Vivian loves to be a princess and Amy is wonderful letting her wear whatever she wants.  She showed up at Liz and Sarah's house today, wearing this beautiful dress and a gold tiara!  When it was time to walk the dogs, Vivian wanted to help, so off we all went with Vivian being the best dressed dog-walker ever!  So we all had fun walking around the neighborhood together.  Maybe Vivian had the most fun of all!

 

The Getty Center - Garden

I went to the Getty center the other day as you know because I took my first Uber to get there.  There is always so much to see.  The exhibits, the special shows, the architecture of the center, and the gardens.  You cannot begin to see it all in one day.  This is the South Promontory Cactus Garden, which is spectacular.  There are so many barrel cacti in the foreground, going all the way into the distance, and then you have the skyline of Los Angeles!  I mean, come ON!  This is unbelievable, and wonderful!  It is always a joy to visit this museum.

 

Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS

The latest excitement in the field of amateur astronomy is the arrival of a new comet named C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS.  It was discovered in China and the name of the observatory where it was discovered means "Purple Mountain."  A comet comes into the the inner solar system from way out beyond Pluto.  In late September it could be seen under good conditions early in the morning before sunrise, but only for a few days.  Then the comet went around the sun, and now is the time to see it after sunset for perhaps two weeks, but it is getting fainter by the day.

So here we are in Venice California visiting Liz and Amy and tonight was the first night that the comet would be visible after sunset.  I had some hopes because I would be looking from Venice Beach out over the Pacific ocean where there would less light pollution.  So I went to the beach and looked and hoped.  I had about given up because it was getting really dark with almost no color left in the sky.  And then, scanning the sky with 10x50 binoculars I saw it!  So I started shooting and these are two of the best photographs I got.  And I am thrilled!  I poster larger than normal images so please click on them.

 

Gymnastics Class

We had fun the other day because we got to go to Vivian's gymnastics class and watch all the children go through their exercises.  This is called, apparently "The Turtle."  They had the children warm up and then bounce along on some long trampolines and work their way around a kind of obstacle course, and then, on a really soft spongy floor, do a forward roll.  Most of the children enjoyed their exercises, and every mother had their phones out to photograph their kids.  I was lucky and had brought a 200mm telephoto lens and was able to get this close up image.

I always take a lot of photographs of course and for some reason this was my second favorite one of the day.  Not sure why, except maybe it was to show the size of the children or something.  Here their coach is about to explain the next series of exercises that the children will perform.

 

My First Uber!

Today I took my first Uber!  It was really cool and easy and great rides in both directions, and great conversations with both drivers!  When we came to California we always rented a car, and it turned out that some days we never drove it.  So the girls suggested that they pick us up at the airport and then if I wanted to go somewhere, then I could get an Uber.  So I did that today for the first time and took an Uber to the Getty Center.  It was a great ride.  My driver was a woman who grew up in Mexico and we talked about our families and children and our beginnings.  It was such a nice ride. And my ride home was with a man who works for a company that makes and sells solid electric guitars and he talked about growing up in Russia and wanting to come to America and be in a rock band.  Two amazing conversations while riding in my first Uber!  What a day!

 

Princess Elsa

When we arrived at Amy and Gus' yesterday, we got a sneak preview of Vivian's Halloween costume!  She is going to be Princess Elsa from the movie "Frozen."  Vivian loves the idea of being a princess, and she has a number of princess dresses.  She also has a red princess dress as well, and maybe she will wear that one, but I am not sure.  In any case, she is cute as a button, whichever dress she wears.

 

Seeing Our World From the Air

New York to Los Angeles today, for a visit with our girls, and Miss Vivian.  I took a billion photographs out my window  all the way.  I had not noticed who was sitting in the seat in front of me.  But when we descended to about 5000 feet on our approach to Los Angeles airport, I suddenly noticed this young boy looking out of his window.  He never took his eyes off the ground as we continued to descend.  Fortunately he was not aware that I was photographing him.  Clearly he was riveted to the scene outside his window and how different the world looks from the air.