Sunday, February 19, 2006
Today marks the return of the robin to Mystic. Large voracious flocks of them have descended on the berries and trees here. I tried counting them, but they were flitting to and fro in large numbers. At one point there were at least 25 stripping the remaining berries from the 4 or 5 small holly bushes along our front walk area.
We’ve always loved Robins, but ever since Idaho they have had a very special place in our hearts. They nested right outside our window and let us watch them raise two broods of chicks. In part it was all the more exciting as it was confirmation of our efforts to rehabilitate the backyard environment where we lived. We still have the time-lapse video we took. Two years of hard work paid off with the Robins, hummers, hummingbird moths and many others.
Like the Robins our activity here has been a bit sparse. Hopefully that will pick up a bit. We do have a couple of entries in the wings and we’ld like to catch aeveryone up on our doings over the late fall and winter. It’s been busy — some good, a little bad — basically life…Abundantly.
Friday, December 23, 2005
This image is from the night of the Winter Solstice, a shot for Yeimaya at Flickr. Collecting shots of sunrise and sunset on the equinox and solstice days. A great way to really visualize the travels in our sky as we spin and orbit…
That night and the night before Tammy, Johann and I watched the sun set in it’s glorious beauty as we were on our way back from Stonington. The first night we just pulled over on the side of the road. Tammy and Johann watched from the comfort of the car (it was bitterly cold out!) and I tried to get a picture as the sun set in a ball of glowing orange over the hills between Stonington and Mystic. The next day we timed our outing so we could be at Enders Island in time for the sunset on the solstice. Another beautiful sunset that lasted for well over 20 minutes. Totally different from the night before, and just as magnificent.
Tonight I was out trying to track down some chocolate chips without milk in them. As I pulled into the local A&P and looked to the southwest the sunset was beginning to spread through the sky. Although it would have been much better viewed from Enders Island, it was again magnificent. The light kissing the undersides of the clouds, revealing their structure in whole new ways and making them blush in pinks and reds. Other, higher clouds glowed bright yellow against the deepening blue sky as the horizon changed through a range of reds and purples. Shear beauty in rich palletes which no master painter could ever equal. Completely different from the night before, if any anything, even more magical.
The whole time I stood transfixed in front of A&P barely noticing the cars and people around me. A few asked if I was ok…some wondered what I was staring at… but none seemed to see the beauty as they hurried to and fro in their last minute rush. I feel sorry for them. Somehow I have always been transfixed by the sunset, a magical event that repeats nightly but is never the same. My favorites are the ones I see out west, but in the winter here there are some truely spectacular ones as well.
Sorry about the lack of updates…things have been a bit crazy around here lately.
Finally everything is off to Texas for the Show at the 1550 Gallery. We ended up sending 22 items, mostly scarves but also some bags and a pair of indigo shibori pants as well. When I wasn’t working on the show there was (is) school and then spending time with Johann. September is literally a blur. One festival, multiple trips to see parts of the whale trail, science experiments, just for fun outings, school, the show, giving Tammy time to sew…I didn’t get more than about 4 hours of sleep on any given night.
I think I’m going to sleep for a week!
Didn’t have much time for photography either, but luckily on Fridy I caught a few (almost 40!) herons and egrets gathered around a swampy pond during a break in the rain. Best of all there were three black crowned night herons!
The majestic cheetah from the Zoo in Providence, RI. It was a hot and humid day there and he was pacing restlessly. The screen and scratchud up plexi (scratched from the human side!) in the viewing area was a bit of a pain for photography, but I did get a couple of good shots. Surprising how many people were saying “oh, look at the pretty Leopard” especially when there were 2 signs proclaiming the species in 8 inch tall type in white on black. Oh well….
This shot ended up with a nice discussion about cheetahs as well as the role of zoos and aquariums. If you don’t have a flickr account I would be interested in hearing your views in the comments here.
