Strange Shapes in the Dark

I woke up one morning, sleeping the the guest bedroom and Liz and Sarah's.  There were these strange dark shaped in the early light before dawn.  I knew what they were but they seemed so strange to me.  So I got out of bed, got my camera and got back in bed and took this photograph.  What you are seeing is my towel, hung on one post of the four-poster bed. In the middle of the photograph, bottom is a "cat tree" I think they are called.  There is a central stalk and then three sort of "baskets" with soft material in them where cats can sleep.  You see one completely and then the other has some stuff in it.  I just thought that this was such a different picture because of the strange shapes.

Look at This Bread!

You all know that Kathy is a first rate bread baker, right?  Well, the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree.  Liz baked these loaves of bread when we were in Los Angeles!  These are beyond stunning and they were absolutely delicious.  What is amazing is that these loaves of bread look like they had come from a professional bakery!  Everything is perfect about them.  Bread baking is a mystery to me because of all the things involved that a baker has to know.  And then you have to know how to fix all the problems if a loaf doesn't come out perfectly, and both Kathy an Liz are experts at this as well.  Fresh, hot bread! Yummmmm.

 

Windows and Trees

                               

I often walk with Liz when she brings the dogs out walking in the neighborhood and I am always finding new photographs.  What's funny is that over the years she and Sarah have been in their house, we sort of take the same route over and over.  So I have passed many of the scenes many times.  And then one day, I suddenly see a photograph!  That is the case with this photograph.  It is the side of a really large church that I have passed so often.  It is Zion Hill Baptist Church, a huge and beautiful building.  But on this day, I saw the strange shapes of the trees against the pattern of the windows and there was my photograph. I like this a lot.

Doing Some Painting

We have had these four small pieces of wicker on the front porch for about 30 years or so, along with a large wicker chair and a larger table.  The wicker is old and eventually the white paint fades and the wicker gets dirty and looks awful.  So I paint it all maybe every 8 years or so.  But using an automobile spray gun and compressor, the paint has to be thinned and I would put three coats on the wicker and it would only look OK.  So I bought a new HPLV spray gun that you hold in your hand and it plugs into an extension cord.  No air compressor required!  And it sprays a much thicker latex paint.  This time the wicker almost looks brand new!  With only one coat of paint!  Wow, so much easier.

So here are five of the pieces back on the porch, looking almost brand new!  What a wonderful feeling of accomplishment to get all of these painted, over a two day period.  The porch now looks so much nicer!

 

The March 13, 1989 Aurora!

On March 13, 1989 I was out in the side yard using a new telescope and I was not paying attention to the time.  It was aboutr 2:00 AM and I had to get up for work in the morning.  I began to notice a greenish glow on the horizon and I thought it was light pollution from Glen Cove but I didn't recall the greenish tint.  Gradually the green went away and was replaced by a brighter reddish glow.  Finally it dawned on me - I was seeing an aurora!  And seeing an aurora so far south from the northern latitudes was very unusual.  So I ran in the house, grabbed film Nikon and a 20mm lens and some 3,200 speed Fuji color negative film and quickly set to work as one area of the sky would fade and another area would begin to show color!  It was just astounding to see!

Look how brilliant the red color was!  And you can see the Big Dipper hanging in the top of the photograph.  The reason you are seeing these photographs now, 37 years later is because I received a phone call from a company that sells college-level courses to the public, and a professor is making a new course and one episode will be about the 1989 eclipse!  The producer had looked everywhere and couldn't find any photographs of the event, until he found some of my photos online somewhere!  So how cool will that be for me to be part of the course.  I will get a copy of the course when it is done!  Oh, and by about 3:00AM the aurora had completely faded and I finally went to bed!

 

LA Freeways

I was glued to the window as we approached LAX and I had been taking photographs all the way.  When were about 6 miles from landing we flew over these two intersecting expressways.   I was stunned by the sight of this intersection!  You are looking south at the intersection of Interstate 110 running from bottom to top of the photo, and Interstate 105 running east and west.  I couldn't believe the complexity of all the ramps connecting the two expressways!  Years ago in Rochester, NY they rebuilt a smaller complex connection of two expressways and that was known as "The Can of Worms" which is funny but which seemed really appropriate.  Since everyone who has been to Los Angeles always talks about "the freeways out there!" I though this would be an interesting photograph for those who have driven the freeways.  Please click on this image because I posted a larger size showing more detail.

 

Venus and a Delicate Crescent Moon

After dinner tonight we needed to take a quick drive up to Stop and Shop for a few things that our local grocery store does not have.  What great luck. I happened to look out my drivers side window and saw a beautiful and delicate crescent moon in the sky, with the planet Venus very close to it.  It was not in a black sky but rather in a delicate pastel blue sky which made it even more beautiful.

I thought the best photograph would be this close-up so I did this first and then as an afterthought, decided to do a wider angle view with trees and the Moon and Venus so much smaller.  But now I think that wide-angle view was a far more interesting photograph.  Not sure what you all think. NOTE these are extra large images so please click on them to enlarge them and see more detail.