Hello...

It's been a long time since my last post, and I'm starting with a shot from last spring.

They'll be back soon, bringing sticks to repair old nests and build new.

A Tough Month

It's been a really tough month. Working on this year-long photography project is a lifeline to normal, or maybe just the illusion of normal, good enough for now. Maybe it will help to keep the grieving at bay until pleasant memories return.

This is the Haserot Angel at Lakeview Cemetery. Despite the long hair, it's a male figure, notable for the weathered tear stains on the face and neck. No one seems to know it the artist foresaw them.

Favorite earring on a favorite background, my Dad's childhood desk. My brothers also used used it, as much for a work bench as for a desk. When I refinished it, I left the battle scars.

Yup, coming up on Easter. A bunny I made a million years ago.

There's always a redwing blackbird on the topmost branch of the tallest spruce in my backyard, reminding all comers that this is his territory and they better stay the heck out. Added a Kim Klassen texture to a very dull sky.

And yes, after surviving the winter undiseased, it got me. Triple-soothing? Nuh-uh.

Bye for now.

A Good Start to April

This is a Painted Pony zebra. You don't have to look too closely to see all the zebras in his coat.

Chuck, scratching Sootie's cheek. Shot with the iPhone, hence all the noise.

Out with the old, in with the new. The black purse has a hole in it, so I bought something lighter for spring and summer (it is spring, isn't it?).

If there are crocuses, it must be spring.

Peony snouts, definitely spring. The little yellow spheres are Osmocote fertilizer. Peonies don't need much care, but after this past winter, maybe a little help is needed.

A good start to April.

March to the End

I'll never understand the fascination with selfies. Don't like taking them, editing them, or posting them. No telling what possessed me to shot this one. Gaussian blur is my friend.

Another new house - the second one this year. The economy is definitely picking up.

Tax day. Got the federal and Ohio taxes done in record time. RITA on the other hand was a hot mess. Their website was crashing right and left, but in the end, I wrestled a printed receipt from it. Whether they got my tax return or not is their problem now.

The Cake Mix Doctor is my best friend and Death by Chocolate is the best chocolate cake ever. This is the beginning. Add some oil, eggs, sour cream and a splash of vanilla...

And you have birthday cake fit for a brother.

 Went waterfowling at Mogadore reservoir. Every single duck, goose, swan, and heron was out of range of my 400mm. So I settled for a garden-variety ring billed and took the Subaru offroading on the south side of the reservoir. Plenty of mud and no problems getting out of it.

River birch in my front yard. Love the peeling bark. The inner layers feel almost like very soft skin.

And with that, we close out the bipolar month of March, 2014.

A Motley Collection

Headstone at Mater Dolorosa, the little cemetery next to Happy Days Conference Center. Wonder if the builders intended that irony.  Read up on memento mori today, brought to mind because of the plant closing. Yep, all flesh is grass, but does thinking about make it any less frightening?

 

Let's think about deer instead. You may have heard that cars make good blinds, animals just ignore you as long as you're in the car. Nope. They scatter the second they see a camera and all you get is a pixelated blur. Next time, you white-tailed devils - next time!

Little park at the end of 306 in Mentor. The lake was still jammed up with ice, but plenty of people stopped to take a look, no doubt hoping for Spring. Picture this with blue skies, dappled shade and picnics.

The herons are pairing up. Apparently, the sticks met mama's standards. Kind of breezy, swirling up their topknots and neck feathers.

Battered. I've lost count of how many times I've made this cake. Lots of apples and cinnamon, perfect for cold weather.

 

A motley collection, mid-way through March.

A Good Week

Finally, home for a while. Took a peaceful walk in the neighborhood, just around sunset. The economy must be picking up - there are houses for sale and sold, and new houses being built.

 

Chuck's birthday cake. We went out to dinner and just had a nice evening together.

Summer hat, wishful thinking right now.

This saucy little fellow is a house finch. Mama looks similar, but doesn't have the rosy highlights.

Getting ready for Chuck's Big BIG Birthday Party - twice baked potatoes. I made two sheet cake pans full, and there wasn't a one left. The recipe is really easy, too, and can be made a day ahead.

 

So glad to be home, and to have something to celebrate.

A Week Ending in Herons

One day at home in a week of travel. Chuck took me to dinner at a quirky Kent restaurant called Wild Goats. They serve brinner, breakfast for dinner. This is his favorite hot sauce, which he liberally applies to his breakfast burrito.

 

Then off to "sunny" Florida: day one, monsoon; day two, 55 degrees, exactly one degree warmer than home; day three (Saturday), lovely and we headed for the airport at 11 am, of course! The view from my hotel room.

Love this dolphin statue - so exuberant!

Ah, Chipotle. Decent food, no resort prices.

After all the travel craziness, I needed some time outside. So we (me and my 80 - 400 mm lens, roughly the size of a small cow) went to the Bath Road heronry to shoot some herons. Look at this handsome devil - decorating for his lady-love.

And with that, I will say goodnight.

More Changes, Some Good, Some Bad, Some Bittersweet

The last day of February, I said goodbye to my Honda. I tried to get it washed before turning it in, but it was a nice afternoon after weeks of rotten weather and all the car washes had lines a mile long. The Accord was a great car, reliable, safe and solid. It did have one quirk, though. It did not like to plow through snow. It liked to ride up over the snow until the drive wheel was off the ground. Can't tell you how many times that happened. You'd think the driver would have learned.

 

Good car - I'll miss it.

 

And this is my new car. Pearl white, light grey cloth interior, AWD. No more perching. Plenty of room for bags of mulch, suitcases and camera gear. More adventures ahead!

 

Mom's, March 1 - daffodils already popping up. Spring is on its way.

Breakfast with Chuck at Yours Truly.

My room at the Cleveland Renaissance, sales meeting week. Very short meeting, long enough to announce the plant closing, followed by a subdued awards dinner at the Hard Rock in Tower City. Not that you'd got there for the food, but it was so-so at best.

 

 

Had a chance to shoot a little bit of Public Square while waiting for a colleague for the trip home. Same window I looked out a hundred years ago when I was with Avery. The view was pretty much the same, minus a few police cars.

 

 

The sun will come out tomorrow, tomorrow...

 

Is Mom a Martian?

Hmmm, hard to tell. If she is, we must be alien space babies.

 

Cute little waterfall, tucked under Rt. 82 in Brecksville.

 

Apple Blossom, blooming away. My neighbors actually peeked in the basement windows to see what was going on with the plant lights. A tad cheeky, don't you think?

Bellacino's, yum. And there's always enough for tomorrow's lunch.

Mom (or the alien posing as Mom), gave me this mustard pot. It's been in the family for a while. Note the phoenix, apparently rising from the flames of Chinese hot mustard.

That's it for tonight. Almost through February's photos and it's already April.

The Times, They are A-Changing...

It's been a year of goodbyes at my company. These are two of my co-workers. He retired, she left for a job at another company. With the recent changes, both of them made good decisions. Over the twenty years I've been there, I watched a bustling, productive and profitable plant slowly grind to a halt. The company goes on, but the plant where it started will finally go dark in May. It will be a very sad day...

 

The Great Big Home and Flower Show. The gardens were lovely, and a reminder that spring will come. We took a winding drive home along the Canalway, a pretty drive when you have some time to spare.

Messing around with the zoom produced a lovely soft look to these soft yellow and rose mums.

I have about a zillion mismatched pieces of silverware. This lovely pattern graces four grapefruit spoons. Yes, back a hundred or so years ago, folks ate grapefruit - when they could get it - with special spoons.

Another mum, this time backlit with the flashlight app on my iPhone.

 

That's all for now. I'm doing a lot better at keeping up with P365 photos that I am with posting them. 

Nothing like Living in the Airport

A huge snowstorm in early February, outline all the branches with white. This tree is just inside Chapin Forest Reservation in Kirtland.

 

 

Flying over the Lake Erie Islands on my way to Salt Lake City. The ice was checked with giant cracks - it almost looked like a road map. Catawba Island is on the left ( and is actually a peninsula). South Bass in the middle and Middle Bass on the right.



 

Stuck in Salt Lake Airport. Akron-Canton was closed due to bad weather that didn't materialize until well after I would have landed. 29 hours without sleep tied my previous record from my detour through Paris on the way to Brussels. Thank you once again, Delta. Beautiful view of the mountains from one of the concourses. And, while I was having dinner, bagpipers in full dress came skirling down the concourse. Never found out why, but happy to hear bag pipe music. Photo processed in Snapseed.

 

Finally on my way home...not soon enough. Did finish Anna Quindlen's Still Life with Breadcrumbs and Maeve Binchy's A Week in Winter, both very good.

 

 

Poor Sootie, not enough lap time, and then tortured by having his picture taken. He was back to sleep in about two minutes. He snores like the Three Stooges - weep weep weepweepweep!

 

 
All photos taken with my trusty iPhone.