tribute to an unknown neighbor

the month turns and s&s leave one apartment to move to another. what ill miss most about their old place is their neighbors. the girl doesnt know them, ive never seen them - but i love their house. just a typical white clapboard dwelling but so interesting and personalized. theres a weather vane leaning against the fence. hanging from the porch are a myriad of wind chimes whose tintinabulation drifts beyond the small yard and out into the neighborhood. in summer morning glories climb the fence and spill over to the other side. here and there small metal objects are suspended on nails. and on a wall outside next to the door, there hangs a mirror. like the kind you put up over your dresser in your bedroom. only this ones outside where it can reflect weather and wildlife and folks who visit. every time i pass this place i wonder about the people who live there. in my mind, theyre arsty and creative, daring and courageous. left over hippie types who throw convention to the wind and let it go tinkling thorough their wind chimes day and night, all year long.

sing of spring

a great day to get out with the camera and shoot some pictures. amazing color, brilliant sun. luckily i had the telephoto lens handy when i heard a spring song coming from high atop an old dead maple.

video night

movies consume me. on the couch under a quilt watching a video i can do nothing but immmerse myself in the story. forgetting everything else. rewinding and watching parts over again. smiling and crying and laughing out loud. for that reason i dont often watch movies. and when i do i watch them by myself.

new old box

i have about twenty boxes like this one. they appear old and hold thngs that dont. earrings in one, receipts in another, hair rollers in a third. the entire sewing stash in two stacked cardboard boxes painted blue and crackled to look old. q-tips, matches, stamps, small toys, hats & mittens, nuts & bolts all hidden in boxes like this one i bought today. did i need another? probably not. but it was cheap, made in china, and is just as utilitarian. this one will hide the camera the charger and all the cords that look too high tech to be in such an old place.

urban birds

right in the middle of our little rural community we have a downtown area where these pigeons long ago took up residence. they roost atop this old church building. occasionally they take off en masse and circle the town only to return again to this same roof. and theyre always there. every time i pass them i wonder. why are they in this locale? why are they in no other place in the area? whos feeding them stale bread crusts and peanuts? what kind of place is this for such a bird? they should just fly themselves to boston. or to new york. pigeon life there must be way better than it is here.

the next big thing

i brush. i floss. i use fancy toothpaste. and i visit my dentist regularly. yet is this enough? nooooo. now the hygenist tells me to get a waterpik. so here it is. i used it for the first time tonight. it was reminiscent of the time i accidentally got caught under the misting mechanism in the produce section of the supermarket. take heed london. one day this may be you.

driving home in daylight

this picture taken coming home as the radio announced it was five-thirty. 5:30! and look! its still light out - sort of. i am always so amazed when i notice the days beginning to lengthen at last. and daylight savings time will be back in less than three weeks!

rushing the season

when i took this picture i was going to blog it as sign of spring #4. but really its easter napkins and its not even lent yet. still two more days to ash wednesday. its just plain rushing the season. of course i did buy them. id be a fool not to. theyre so pretty and pastely and springy. and if id waited forty more days til the season was here they might have been gone.

weekends

saturdays i play - and go to church. but usually on sundays im home and working. cooking or cleaning or doing laundry. getting caught up with unfinished work from the last five days. working on projects that i dont have time for during the week. regrouping for the week to come. its not as hectic as it sounds - its a nice laid back kind of day for me. i listen to npr on the radio. skip makeup. wear flannel. and always i watch the birds. its the only day i can. chickadees and juncos and blue jays. titmice and nuthatches and even a woodpecker. i usually try to photograph them on sundays but they are so elusive so quick to fly. heres a titmouse who sat still just long enough to be snapped.

blizzard winds

with a storm like this today deserves two postings! outside tonight the wind is howling and snow is blowing everywhere. when it stops gusting the snow is still falling horizontally. a few times tonight i couldnt even see out there. places that were shoveled several hours ago are again socked in with snow. just look what the wind has done to the view out the kitchen window.

happy heart day

this is just a lovely valentines day. there is a snow day today for all of us here. the perfect storm that started last night is raging still. i am warm and cozy and i have roses. and i even had a chocolate from a heart box.

snow day?

new england is bracing for its first big storm of the season. a nor'easter its called. comes barreling in off the coast with strong northeasterly winds. this one coming sounds like it may last a while. on nights like this theres a fervent hope among most new englanders that tomorrow there will be a snow day. a no work no school roll-over-and-go-back-to-sleep snow day. and we have ways of helping that to happen. some of us go outside at an appointed hour and do a wild snow dance to bring on the storm. friends have a small ball with a bear inside that they roll around. some children make up silly songs and chants about the weather. adults bring extra work home. and everyone stocks up on the staples - milk and eggs and bread and an extra video from the store. what ill do is just hope for the best. and tonight before i go to sleep ill whisper a little prayer - with my pajamas on inside out, just in case.

the comfy chair

the chair in my office on campus is a far cry from the ones i normally sit in. a yellow wooden windsor chair at home. a molded plastic one in the lab. mismatched old ones in the friday haunt. and itty bitty little ones in found spaces at school. but this chair is plush and high backed - the kind you can fall asleep in. and i almost did.

a milestone

yesterday was my 100th post. i was going to let it go by without mentioning it but if i do that ill have to wait til the next big significant number to bring it up. like 500 maybe. who knows what ill be doing in 400 more posts? so i acknowledge 100 now. it sure doesnt seem like ive taken 100 pictures, written 100 captions. i have to admit i sort of like this business of blogging which i didnt expect would happen to this extent when i started writing back in september. whats different now you say? it must be you the readers. bless you for checking in with me.

tgif

these last few fridays i have taken to stopping at a quiet little spot in town on my way home. i order soup or tea and it comes steaming hot. i set up in the back room at a worn table with mismatched chairs and a tiny lamp. i read or do a little light work, i sip my tea, i listen to their music, and i leave the work week behind. its peaceful. and a nice transition into the weekend. heres the view from the window where you can find me sitting.

fruit flies

remember the end-of-january post? i almost titled it time flies like an arrow, taken from this groucho marx quote:
time flies like an arrow
fruit flies like a banana.
but i always thought this was such a stupid quote. that groucho marx was an idiot for saying it. yeah, time flies. but fruit doesn't fly. who ever heard of a flying banana? and the other night when i was thinking about it again, i finally got it. fruit flies. they like a banana. groucho marx was brilliant.

sign of spring #3

in this part of new england, there are certain signs that mark the coming of each season: geese on the wing in fall, skim ice on water in winter, the opening of the local ice cream stand for summer. and there are signs of spring. candlemas and the groundhog is always the first. our secretarys countdown at the bottom of our daily notice is usually second - and yes, it has already begun. and heres a third one, spotted today afixed to a telephone pole just before a huge bump in the road.

souper bowl

okay so its a souper pot. i made the best carrot leek soup today. lots of celery and basil and oregano. the recipe said to add heavy cream but i used fat free chicken broth instead pureeing it in the blender to make it nice and creamy. topped with plain yogurt it was a yummy way to get vegetables into me. because i hate to eat vegetables. but i sure dont mind drinking them!

looking like winter

never thought id see the day when two inches was considered a lot of snow. but thats how it looked this morning. fluffy and white everywhere. heres the holly shrouded in snow.

candlemas

i always liked the name of this day. midway between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox, its one of the first signs of the coming spring. used to be it was the official end to the christmas season, a time when all the greens and holly decorating the dwelling needed to come down lest bad luck befall the inhabitants of the home. it was also a day to bless the beeswax candles that were going to be used in the home in the year to come. nowadays its just plain groundhog day and no he didnt see his shadow. either way i look on it as a good opportunity to post yet another photo of a candle.

full snow moon

an almost full snow moon spotted on the drive home tonight. i turned around and went back to shoot it. i wished id had my good camera instead of the small one. even though its not quite full, its a good thing i caught this moon tonight. tomorrow when it is finally full its supposed to snow. hence the name.