Graffiti Detail

Here is a bit of graffiti detail from a local alley. This is tamed and domestic graffiti as it is placed here legally to the best of my knowledge. I think I like it better this way. I'm still not blogging much and am beginning to doubt I will ever again do much better but I'm on my holiday break so here I am! Happy Holidays.

G is for Gravestone

Playing the photo memes today. This one is for PhotoBlog Challenges: Begins with G. This headstone was for a woman who died in 1790 at the age of 27. The graveyard is in Cape Cod, details of the town somewhat forgotten at the moment. The image looks better large. Oops, that was last week's challenge. I'll leave the post up since I like the shot anyhow. Guess I should have eaten breakfast first. Especially since it is 1:30 almost.

Day's End

I took this photo a bit over two years ago while visiting with friends in Cape Cod. The sunset was so wonderful I took 56 pictures. I'm still trying to figure out which ones are worth posting to Flickr. I like most of them but it is still sunset overdose. Sorting through these photos makes me realize how behind I am in reviewing old pictures. I guess I am not as dedicated as I used to be. Unfortunately it means I also forget some of the details of the shots. This one is for PhotoSunday--Sunny. Happily it remains sunny here in Chicago. Yesterday I biked to the lake and appreciated the weather greatly. As they say in Game of Thrones--Winter is Coming!

Clocked

Posting photos on Flickr can be dangerous for the closet hoarder because it lends to collections (and sets and galleries). Since the collections are virtual they are less hazardous to the housekeeper which is a good thing in my case. My obsessions with photos of clocks (mostly attached to buildings) began with my noticing all the photogenic clock towers there are around the world. It turns out that clocks frequently get placed on banks, funeral parlors (a morbid preoccupation with the rapid passage of time?), official buildings, churches, barber shops, diners and other various and sundry small businesses. My Flickr set of clocks has 113 photos at present (with a few duplicates) representing clocks in Chicago, France, Spain, California, Wisconsin, New York City, Edinburgh, Portugal and St. Croix. I may have missed a spot or two as well. I aim to keep on collecting and my family have learned to tolerate my demanding a stop here and there to photograph an entirely unprepossessing building merely for the sake of growing my "collection." What can I say? It's a hobby.

Domke Lake

August 16, 2007. Domke Lake fire on Lake Chelan as seen from west end of the lake. We returned to this area last month for a brief (4 night) stay and hiked, bicycled, ate and played board games. This is a wonderful part of the world. No cell phone access and only limited access to other electronic amenities such as TV and internet. This is quite liberating, at least on the short term. I am posting here a comparative shot from nearly the same location, minus the fire effect. There were other fires burning in the region while we were there and a number in the intervening years, almost certainly a negative consequences of global warming. August 27, 2013 For more photos of the Domke Lake fire, look at my set on Flickr.

Stacks within Stacks

Photo Sunday's theme is Beach. This shot was taken while backpacking in Washington State last summer. Sea stacks are remnants of harder rock left behind after erosion and wear by the ocean. They make for wonderful photos especially around sunset. Last summer I finally got the family to backpack. My husband has done so in the past but neither of my two sons. We were joined by one of my son's friends and my brother. We all had a good time but only one of my sons got the bug to do it again. Since he just moved to Seattle he will have ample opportunity. I'm jealous. Backpacking from Chicago is not quite so geographically easy. Even though this particular hike was incredibly easy--the only complication was needing to carry all our water the first day--barely 4 miles a day and flat, my 51 year old joints protested mightily. If I ever dream of doing any "serious" hiking, and I do, I will need to get into much better shape. It isn't that I can't "walk the walk"--it is that I need to build up some serious muscle around the major load bearing joints, especially my knees which are feeling their age. Time to get in training.

Edinburgh Under Siege.

The image isn't at its best at this small size so feel free to click on it and see it in Flickr. This was taken during the Festival fireworks show but the red glow makes the castle look on fire. It's positively medieval.

For See It Sunday:  Darkness

Just Plain Tired

I came across this abandoned car near Lake Shore Drive in Chicago last fall.  It has a certain pathos but also the tire has a certain sculptural air to it.  Or maybe beauty is just in the eye of the beholder.

For PhotoSunday:  Accident

Taking the Sun in Edinburgh

No I'm not there now. Besides from what I hear there isn't much sun in Edinbugh around this time of the year.
Here in Chicago we have around two inches of snow. This is our second winter of not much snow which makes us all wonder about global warming. Of course the East Coast is getting hit hard in places. Our last really big snow was two years ago this month when we had nearly 2 feet of snow in one day. Digging out took a while.
This photo was taken from the top of the Scott Monument in Edinburgh. I love how the people are soaking up the sun. Growing up in Seattle I can relate to how folks from rainy climates really appreciate the rare sunny days. The Scott Monument is quite a sight but climbing up it gave me a bit of acrophobia. It wasn't so much the height as it was the extremely narrow and well worn stairs with no handrails. It was like climbing up the inside of a corkscrew.
For See-It-Sunday: People.

Do Not Disturb (emphatically)

The thematic photograph theme of the week is soft.  It may be a bit of a cliche but I think this picture amply demostrates photographic softness.  Don't get a hairball.  Rub her tummy at your own risk though.

Multiples

For another photography meme I am posting photos of items with multiples of something in them.  Here are (in my mind) two rather contrasting takes on multiples which both come from my winter break to Arizona (Phoenix and Tucson). 



The first is a photo of the Biosphere 2 which we toured.  It is a self-contained environment supposed to test the ability of humans to live within strict, space-station-like parameters.  The experiment was not an unmitigated success.  Currently the place functions as a tourist venue with some science going on.  The multitude of geometric shapes here takes me back to high school math.



Next I share a photo of Saguaro cacti from the desert near Tucson.  We took a lovely but challenging (for out of shape, 51 year old me) hike to a creek in the desert.  During this trip I definitely fell in love with the Saguaro.  It is a grand plant, comparable in its own way to a stand of redwood trees for its age and seeming timelessness.

Eye Can't See You

This week's See It Sunday theme is "Eye." I decided to go with something that is not an eye but can fool a predator into staying away. This "eye" is on a tomato hookworm that was unfortunately eating last summer's tomatoes. Unfortunate for me, since I had a great crop of tomatoes going--not a given in my shady back yard--and not for it since I took it inside to watch for a while and it quickly died.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Nurses' Rally in Chicago.

For Thematic Photographic 228, I am posting a few of my favorite photos of 2012. I can't post them all and if they are favorites, I likely have posted them before but here is a smattering.


Weird Window Display in London


Cactus in Phoenix


Annoyed Box Turtle

Happy New Year

Well, I've been reviewing my photos from last summer for the worst of reasons:  I got a coupon for free prints on Snapfish.  It almost makes their incessant e-mails worthwhile.  So while I'm at it I thought I'd print a photo or two from my backpacking trip.  I really need to get on here a while and tell the whole tale.  It was a great trip.  But here are the photos. I just learned that today is National Bird Day. I added this little bird in its honor. I haven't worked on an ID yet but if you know what it is please let me know in the comments.