Dry Before You Fly

On one of my recent walks along the harbor I came across this feathered aviator.  The first time I had seen a bird drying its wings like this was years ago in the Everglades.  The birds I saw doing that were Anhingas.  So these birds have poorly developed oil glands and its feathers are not as waterproof as those of other birds.  Thus, if they wish to fly, after swimming in the water, they must do this to dry their wings.  With their wings free of water, they weigh less, and are able to take flight.  I think that this is not an Anhinga, because I don't believe that they come this far north.  I am guessing it is some type of Cormorant.  I hope that someone out there who reads this will be able to tell us more about this particular bird.

American Vernacular II

When we were walking from our car, parked on Sea Cliff avenue, to the house where we watched fireworks with our friends, I saw this scene, and it stopped me in my tracks!  Is this American, or what!  My friend Stan and I are always looking for "American Vernacular" images for each other.  So I just decided to look up the word "vernacular" and was surprised at what I found.  It is primarily a term used for language!  But then there was this:  "The term "vernacular" may also be applied metaphorically to any cultural product of the lower, common orders of society that is relatively uninfluenced by the ideas and ideals of the educated élite. "Vernacular architecture", for example, is a term applied to buildings designed in any style based on practical considerations and local traditions, in contrast to the "polite architecture" produced by professionally trained architects to nationally or internationally agreed aesthetic standards."  So there you have it, and here it is!

Watching the Blue Jay

Karen has two bird feeders in her garden next to her patio.  There was a Blue Jay at the feeder and the  twins were fascinated watching the bird eat.  This is Grayson at the patio door, glued to the glass, watching the Jay.  It's wonderful what kind of things four-year olds are fascinated with watching.  When we were sitting around before lunch, while Jonathan was cooking the hot dogs and burgers, I decided to recite some A.A. Milne poems that I remember from back when I was a kid.  My favorite is "Lines and Squares" about being sure to only walk on the squares on London streets, because there are bears who wait for "sillies who step on the lines of the street."  They seemed a little bit interested.  Perhaps in another year or so they will enjoy those poems more.  What was also fun was that after I recited a poem or two, Betsey recited her favorite poem.  Funny how these things from childhood stick with us!

The Fourth of July

We had the usual Fourth of July itinerary.  First we drove to Connecticut to have a picnic with my three sisters, and Jon and Lauren and their 4 year old twins, all of which was wonderful, except for getting stuck in traffic.  Then we drove back home, and got some of Kathy's desserts out of the fridge and headed over to the yearly gathering at our friends the Gordon's.  It is always such a nice group and gentle conversations, and then wonderful food and deserts.  And then the fireworks, as seen from their back deck, looking down on the harbor.  This year the sky was lighter when the show began, and so it is a more interesting photograph because of all the detail we can see with the light still in the sky.  All in all, a wonderful holiday!

Pastels

It was hazy and there had been a bit of rain, so the air was not clear - it contained a lot of water vapor.  As I was walking along the shoreline of the harbor, looking northwest, I was taken by the colors.  Because of the haze, there were no saturated colors.  The clouds were faint and the color of the water was faint.  So I took some photographs and when I got back home I realized that the picture was all about pastel colors.  Something different for me.  I love how delicate everything is.

Spiderman at the Dump

On Saturdays I take stuff down to the recycling center - newspapers, magazines, glass, tin, and plastic.  So this is the bin that everything goes into.  I was surprised to find Spiderman hanging on the edge of the compactor, and it made me smile.  I love that at least one of the employees has a sense of humor, enough to rescue Spiderman from the garbage and hang him up here for all to see. 

Hardly a Straight Line Anywhere!

I have passed this home in Centerport so many times in all the years I have lived here, but never stopped to photograph it.  I was on the way to our astronomy club picnic, and the light was just right, so I finally took some photographs of the building.  THEN I looked up the history of this home! The Suydam Homestead is a vernacular farmhouse built in 1730.  No other documented 18th century house survives in the vicinity, which historically was sparsely populated by seafaring people and farmers. The Homestead is unique because it is one of the few remaining 18th century houses on Long Island which was lived in continuously by one family and their descendants from the late 1700s until 1957. Records show that the Suydams were a representative Long Island working class family who supported themselves by farming, oystering, boat building and carpentry. They were active in school and church affairs, fought in national wars, and were solid citizens with a respected place in the community.  Wow!  How amazing is that!  The look of the house is what caused me to stop.  Whe I was framing the image I realized that there is hardly a straight line in this view, except for the door and windows.