Monday, May 30, 2011

PANDORA

Ansonia, Connecticut

Memorial Day, 2011, I

Seymour, Connecticut

Today is Memorial Day, but many towns hold parades and other events earlier in the holiday weekend. There was a small but enthusiastic parade in Seymour yesterday.

Seymour, Connecticut

Do click on the pictures to get a better look at the signs with a somewhat strange mixture of messages.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

HOWE CONVENIENT

Shelton, Connecticut

It's a "convenience store." And a pun, I guess. From the look of the building, I think it was probably "Howe's Grocery" fifty or so years ago.

A Last Look at Spring

Thomaston, Connecticut

A couple from the access-way on the Thomaston dam, back on May 16. We froze through the whole spring season, though that kept it going much longer than usual. Then on Friday the temperatures ran right up near 90 degrees, putting a sudden end to all the displays of the flowering trees.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Installation Finished

Roxbury, Connecticut

We spent the afternoon installing Bettina's exhibit at the Minor Memorial Library. Installation is never easy, but we finished in just about four hours, and her visualization of the show turned out to be superb. All 29 paintings fit perfectly into the rather tricky wall-space of the rooms. More at Bettina's Blog.

Still More Flowering Trees

Woodbury, Connecticut

There are a lot of dogwoods on our land, but as of a few years ago invasive parasites like bittersweet vine (the worst) and grape and wild rose species had nearly choked them out. It took two summers of work with loppers and chainsaw to clear back the invasives, but this spring I was rewarded by the most spectacular display of the twenty years we've been here. I put up a slideshow here, so click on over if you're interested.

Tree, Sidewalk, Wall

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Flowering Trees

Washington, Connecticut

My favorite seasonal event in the whole year is the springtime flowering of the trees. This winter was rough on people, but plants of all sorts seemed to love it. The bulbs were fantastic a few weeks ago, and for the past two weeks we've had the most wonderful tree season I can remember. Here are a few views from Meeker Swamp last Saturday.



Playground

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

What Does He Take Picture Of?

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

That's what Tina's cousin from France/Geneva said when she looked back and saw what I'd stopped to photograph. Tina immediately said, "Oh, it's probably the weeds, he does that all the time for the blog." But there's also the piece of painted plywood, the brick wall, the green metal channel post, and of course, the weeds.

love you

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

No Parking

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

It looks as though another sign recommending against driving on the sidewalk would be in order here. There's another one of those wordless "one way" signs across the way.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Blessing of the Motorcycles

Litchfield, Connecticut

This event is a long-standing tradition at Lourdes in Litchfield, a shrine in western Connecticut in the foothills of the Berkshires.


In past years as many as 500 bikes showed up, so I was surprised this afternoon to see only about a dozen brave the rather light rain. I thought motorcyclists were made of sterner stuff than that...what's more, half of them weren't even two-wheelers but new-style three-wheel machines. That actually makes sense—trikes are highly stable and probably much safer to ride in the rain.


When the pair in ski masks pulled forward for their blessing, the priest told them to watch out they aren't picked up as terrorists.

Meanwhile, over at Bettina's blog, two more sneak previews of paintings that will be in the show that opens next Saturday.

MESSENGERS

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Saturday, May 14, 2011

The Pinnacle

Washington, Connecticut

The winter here was very rough on people, but the plants seem to have loved it. I have never seen such an incredible season for flowering trees (I'll post some things of the amazing apple tree blossoming soon) and all the wild plants seem to be bursting into an amazing spring display. So this morning I went to the Macricostas Preserve to see what things might look like in soft, about-to-rain early morning light. I'd forgotten what an—interesting—"walk" it is up to the pinnacle. On a rating of walk/hike/climb, it's at the second slash...you hardly ever have to use your hands.

Good time for a reminder that you will see a larger view of the picture if you click on it. Better to see into those distant receding hills. Use your browser back button to return.

Hotel

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

One Way

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The meaning of a One Way sign is pretty clear even without any text, but I kept being startled to see blank arrow signs around the city.

In the comments, Martina notes that the sign looks three-dimensional. The explanation turns out to be quite simple—the sign is bent:

detail:

Friday, May 13, 2011

Windows and Reflections

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

This post was set up while Blogger was going down, and couldn't be scheduled. It has now shown up as a draft, so I'll just toss it out there into the ether.

SUD OUEST

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Centre communautaire de loisiers Sainte-Catherine d'Aleandrie. And a couple of bikes.

As everyone probably knows by now, Blogger was out of commission for most of a couple days. Several posts with a couple comments disappeared here, and I've put the pictures back up again. This might result in duplicate postings, more or less, if the lost posts are repopulated by Blogger.