Random Thoughts. A compendium of favorites - people, places, and things - garnered via my various wanderings.
July 6, 2011. Slough Cove Road, Edgartown.
June 11, 2011. North Road, Chilmark. Forty-nine cents a gallon.
March 2, 2011. Too much time inside lately, working on images and other creative projects; not enough time behind the camera or outside. Today, on a short walk, just to clear my brain and get the blood flowing a little, I told myself, "Just take a picture - anything." I've been watching the afternoon light on the brick wall of the post office (across the street from me) for the past seven years, and today that light coincided with my walk.
January 17, 2011. These frost patterns in the Woods Hole parking lot caught my eye today; hoar frost, I think.
November 5, 2010. Dedham, Massachusetts, clearing after two days of rain; oak leaf on hood of Honda CRV.
November 2, 2010. Anthony, Island Music.
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October 7, 2010. Still trying to get the perfect Allston Trainyard shot. I've schemed up a way to shoot above the chain link fence: I mounted my camera on a mono-pod, extended it all the way out, and set the timer. It took many tries to get a working version, and I don't think I'm done yet. But so far, I like this one.
August 19, 2010. Jamaica Pond. I wish I had the discipline - not to mention the time - to always leave home twenty minutes early just in case I come across something worth photographing. I sometimes even actually remember this idea.
There are not too many things that cause me to pull over in my car and take a picture. First of all, there's rarely a place to park (which is why I prefer traveling by bike or on foot), second of all, I'm a bit lazy. Sometimes I'm even too lazy to reach around and take my back-pack off to get at my camera. At this stage of the game, it's really got to be worth it; third, it's that time thing again.
These birds - the silhouettes and reflections in the morning light - did inspire me to drive all the way back around Jamaica Pond this morning so I could photograph them. Luckily, I was not in a big hurry, so it all worked out. I'd say it was worth the effort.
In my next life, I will do nothing but play my fiddle, take photographs, write, and play with my grandchildren. Oh, and do a little surfing (if the great white sharks that have decided to grace our waters the past couple of summers ever go away).
Oh, and Sara's Big Dream is to take a couple of months and drive to California and back, with bike, surfboard, instruments, and camera, exploring on bike with camera, and finding sessions in which to play along the way.
My other dream is to acquire and learn how to play bouzouki.
PS - I took a closer look at this photo and now see that there are also five turtles on those logs.
Update, October 2010: got the bouzouki - LOVE it, and coming from fiddle and guitar, learning it has been like the proverbial duck taking to water (interesting choice of words, considering the above photo, and entirely unconscious and unplanned).
Woods Hole, August 19, 2010. This is a little puffin-type day-sailer named Heidi. Heidi is moored in the little bay behind the USCG station, past which I walk on my way from the ferry to my car in the back lot (and visa versa - this is my first smell of salt air on my way to the island - intoxicating). I have been admiring Heidi's simple lines for years. This morning she was pointing in the right direction, the light was right, and I had time to stop and capture this image.
July 6, 2010. North Water Street, Edgartown.
May 11, 2010. Donald Heller, hurdy gurdy man, Boston Public Garden. This was my first encounter with a hurdy gurdy, which, as a life-long strings player, I found fascinating. The hand-crank turns a rosined wheel that acts as a "bow," vibrating either two or four strings. The levers under Mr. Heller's left hand stop the strings - analogous to fingers on the fret board - to make the notes, with a couple of the strings sounding as drones.
The hurdy gurdy originates from the fiddle - it is also called a wheel fiddle - most likely from Western Europe or the Middle East, and is primarily associated with street musicians.
April 12, 2010. Little Beach, Edgartown.
April 1, 2010. Brother "Mystic Man" Breez. "An ear, a shoulder, an understanding. By appointment - mostly : )"
Today was my first day out and about with my camera in what seems like months. It was also the first sunny day after several days of torrential, record-breaking rains and flooding. The entire city was out-of-doors today, enjoying the sun and the warmth. After walking all around Chinatown, the common, the public gardens, and coming up fairly empty in terms of photos (but enjoying the exercise and fresh air immensely), I fell into stride with this colorful gentleman on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall. He graciously allowed me to photograph him, and we enjoyed a lengthy conversation in which he described some of his travels, mystical and otherwise ("Are you traveling from another country?" "I'm traveling from another time zone."). He's writing a story about a girl named Sara, with no H, and was happy to have met me. He brightened my day, too.
February 27, 2010. Larz Anderson Park, Brookline.
February 9, 2010. Self-portrait
February 8, 2010.
January 19,2010. Seaview Avenue, Oak Bluffs.
January 3, 2010. Harvard Street, Brookline.
December 28, 2009. Stuart Bangs' fishing shack, Lagoon Pond, Vineyard Haven.
December 4, 2009 I had a forty-five-minute slot into which to fit a bike ride - which I desperately needed - a couple of days ago. Threw the 40D on my shoulder, just in case, but not really expecting much, nor did I have the time to put into photos. But a little street-side stand in Chinatown did catch my eye. This is one of three shots I took that day, literally all I had time for. I posted this, not thinking it was earth-shattering - which it definitely is not - but because, 1. I am addicted to photography and had to; 2. This is so much better than the *nothing* I came so close to coming home with; 3. To prove that it's possible to make something out of practically nothing.
November 21, 2009 Quincy Market. Rami Salami.
September 2, 2009. Today marks ten years that Nancy Cook has been raising and lowering every flag in Edgartown every day (Memorial Park, the monument at the intersection of Pease's Point Way and Main Street, town hall, the courthouse, Memorial Wharf, and the VFW hall). Nancy tends to the flags to "support our boys." God bless you, Nancy.
August 18, 2009. Dahlia, Emily Post's former home, Edgartown.
August 17, 2009. A classic Vineyard summer day - sure took its sweet time getting here this year - topped off by an evening bike ride. It was a perfect evening for perusing the shady streets of Edgartown; come the dinner hour, all quiets down and cools off, even on the hottest days. In the back of my mind on these rides of course is the possibility of running into a fellow islander or two, a rare and treasured occurrence since fewer and fewer of us dare to venture out into the summer madness of crowds of strangers and gridlocked streets. My side trip down to the Reading Room did pay off with this find: Phil Reynolds, waterman, descendant of Edgartown's Osborn whaling family, just come ashore from working a day on his new venture, delivering water to boats on their moorings, and bringing to a full and succinct circle the word waterman.
August 13, 2009. Gay Head, after the rain, nary a soul to be found, a rare treat in August.
July 27, 2009. During a five-hour layover in Chicago - transferring from the Lake Shore Limited to the Southwest Chief - I explored the city by foot. It was a sweltering day, oppressively hot. On my walk east from the train station, in search of the harbor, ultimately, I came upon Millenium Park, in which there are two very tall, very artsy fountains with water spilling out of the top - a gathering and cooling place for families and children; a lively summer city-scape.
July 17, 2009. On my walk down town this morning I found the Scoops gang, assembled and open for business in their newest venture, Scoops Cafe: Scoops ice cream shop, a thriving afternoon and evening business - become morning coffee shop. Here we have Adnan and strategic members of the Courtney family - a good beginning.
June 9, 2009. Last night, on my evening walk (oh, how I love living in town), I happened upon Dave Corcoran walking up Main Street. Dave has been a familiar and friendly presence in Edgartown for a number of years, works down at Thor's bike shop - Sam Norton's old place at #1 Main Street. A musician, mechanical genius, and artisan, Dave once built a beautiful, albeit unusual, stand-up bass (that retained elements of the tree - branches and all - as I remember it).
Summer nights, you'll find Dave sitting on the bench in front of the paper store, corner of Main and North Water, playing guitar. He plays and sings really well and usually draws a pretty good crowd of after-supper ice-cream seekers. David is also an extraordinary whistler.
Dave has recently returned from a x-country bike ride and has lots of stories to tell. I look forward to hearing them.
June 7, 2009. Daisy time. Falling-in-love time.
June 7, 2009. Sweetened Water Farm. Knee-deep in daisies.
Evening, May 11, 2009. Leaving Tiasquam Valley preserve, re-entering Middle Road, Chilmark, this silhouetted stone wall caught my eye. More photos of Tiasquam Valley here.
May 11, Monday morning, Neponset Reservation marsh. I pass Neponset Reservation every Monday morning and Tuesday afternoon on my way to and from the island and have always wondered what was down what appeared to be a bike path. Today I had time to stop and walk and explore. On this quintessential May morning (tra la) there were a few walkers and bikers, and birds singing from every direction - cardinals, red-winged black birds, Baltimore orioles, and others. Their songs were the songs of the morning: songs of a new day, of the sun and of the sky; of Earth waking from the winter.
There's a little trolley that crosses above the path-way, similar to my light-rail Green Line in Brookline, but an orange Creamsicle version that looks somewhat older, like toy trains from the 1950s. The path appears to eventually lead into the town of Milton, and I now see on the MBTA map that the trolley is the line that runs between Cedar Grove and Mattapan, connecting with the Red Line at Ashmont.
