Olive’s New Bowl
When Judy Berde and I were making arrangements for my talk on Roosevelt Island, I got an email from her asking if I had a dog. The question came out of nowhere, but I told her about Olive. When I finished my talk she presented me with a box with this amazing gift inside. Olive now has a new bowl, and she loves it! (Well, it has food in it and she is a Labrador; what’s not to like?) I think these bowls are for sale through the Roosevelt Island Historical Society, as well as mugs with the same text. Any of you who live in the metro New York area should think about joining the organization; Judy does a great job and the island has a really interesting history.
Olive is also now rocking a new Red Sox collar, which is a gift from my sister Karen. Thanks Sis.
New Page
I have just created a direct link to all of the suitcase posts for those of you who have very little interest in my dog, or the other bits of my life that I like to post here. If you look to the column on the right →, under “Pages” you will see a link to “All Willard Suitcase Posts”. I hope that it makes it easier for folks who are looking for all the suitcases in one place. I will still upload all suitcase stuff to this site.
We are in South Carolina for a bit and seeing tons of interesting wildlife. This bobcat was just hanging around on the deck yesterday.
And this little lizard was on one of the dining room chairs.
Olive has been swimming every day, and it doesn’t take much to get her to nap between dips.
Happy New Year’s everyone, thanks for following, and be well. Cheers, Jon
Olive at the Beach
Due to the wonderful generosity of my brother and sister-in-law, we are back at the beach in South Carolina. This is Olive’s first visit to the ocean.
She took to it like a champ. Full blast, right into the water and ran like the wind. Here she is during her first encounter with a horseshoe crab. Initially she was cautious, but after a minute she just barked at it until we lured her away with biscuits. She is really becoming a great dog.
Nor’easter Walk
There is a Nor’easter spinning around New England today. It is always a bit odd to have weather move in from the East. I have been spending a lot of time in front of the computer editing photographs and answering email, and thought the dog and I could use some time in the woods.
I have written before about these little plants that grow around here and, as usual, I can never remember what they are called. The recent rains have really brought them out.
Fantastic stick action for Olive.
In addition to the usual horse shit and acorns that she usually finds and eats, she also ate some of these mushrooms before I could stop her.
Anybody have any idea if they are poisonous? Or hallucinogenic? Let’s hope not. Ach, puppies.
Transition
I have been back from England for several days, but had some images from there I wanted to post, so this will be a bit transitional.
Cris and I had a nice walk in the Green Park and in St James’s Park on Saturday before heading back up to Stratford upon Avon.
There was an amazing exhibit at the entrance of St James’s called “Fields of Battle – Lands of Peace“. Photographer Michael St. Maur Sheil went to major sites of the first world war and documented what remains from 100 years ago. It is a brilliant idea, and executed really well. It is wild to see huge photographs mounted outside.
Whenever I drive from London to Stratford upon Avon I stop at the Oxford Services on the M40. Just above the carpark is a hillock where you get a great view of the countryside. I think I might have posted a similar photograph from a previous trip.
We basically did the same walk on Sunday that we had done the week before.
This time it was very misty. I am happy to say that the horse with the red coat had his friend back.
The nice thing about doing walks in different weather conditions is that you see the landscape in an entirely different way.
Although the beer looked pretty much the same.
As did the outdoor gents. (Gentlemen is such a nice word; it should be used more.)
After the Sunday roast at the pub, we went next door to Snowshill Manor. The whole place is really bizarre, and very interesting. The gardens are really nice and I was really pleased to see this Green Man water spigot. I have become somewhat obsessed with the idea of the Green Man; it is very pagan but you can still find him in some early churches in England. I think there are 4 in Shakespeare’s church in Stratford upon Avon. (There is also a great XTC song about him.)
It is nice to be home, although for some reason England is always the place I feel the most comfortable. But I live here, and it is a beautiful part of the world. The Olive was really glad to see us, and after the recent rains she has been able to find water (and mud) everywhere.
A Lovely Sunday
I thought it might be a nice day today as this happened this morning when I threw a handful of things from my pocket on the bed.
John, Flora, Violet, and I drove to Broadway in the Cotswolds to walk from there to Snowshill and back.
We started on the outskirts of Broadway and we were immediately in fields.
Blackberries were plentiful.
Quite quickly we climbed up to the ridge where the view was spectacular.
As we were walking next to this pasture, we were passed by a horse carrier that contained one of this fellow’s mates. They were both whinnying and it was obvious that they weren’t happy about being split up. Horses are really interesting animals.
The footpath at times was on public roads, and at times just a narrow trail through the woods.
This is the view of Snowshill when we were about 10 minutes walk away.
Here’s another example of when the public footpath shares a country lane.
I have always liked these convex mirrors.
St. Barnabas is directly arcross the road from our halfway stop.
The Snowshill Arms is a great place for a couple of pints and the Sunday Roast. It was excellent.
After lunch, I stuck my head inside the church. It is very simple and not old (in relative terms), and the windows are beautiful.
This sweet little cat followed us for a bit and mewed the whole way.
Once outside the village, we were pretty quickly back into the woods.
It is such a peaceful walk, and we rarely saw others on the path.
Violet gave me this stone with moss growing on it.
This property is called Middle Hill House. It is pretty easy to fantasize about living in a place like this.
This sort of day is so exotic to me; for my friends who live less than an hour away it is a regular trip to make at the weekend.
It is so interesting to me that the public footpath goes right through the middle of farms and fields. We shared our walk with horses, cows, dogs, cats, and of course, lots of sheep.
This particular horse was very friendly though he could be a bit nippy.
A farm just on the outskirts of Broadway breeds dogs for the hunt, and these very friendly pups loved the attention.
A great day. Thanks to John, Flora, and Violet. Wonderful.
Another Walk and a Baby
Cris and I took the Olive up into the woods late this afternoon. Thanks to Sarah, Leonard, and SCJ (all readers of this blog) I think I can safely say that this is a ghost plant (aka Indian Pipe, monotropa uniflora, or monotropa hypopithys).
And there is no doubt this is a dirty yellow labrador retriever . It hasn’t rained much lately so the woods (is?) are full of lots of mud holes and very little running water. What is most amazing to me is that within an hour she is completely clean again.
And my lovely niece Heather just had another girl. On Sunday, we got to meet her while she was chillin’ with her big sister.
I am off to the UK on Thursday for some work and some fun. My great friend John Wilson just sent me this link to a wonderful article on lists. It is a great story. He’ll pick me up at Heathrow Friday morning and I can’t wait to see him.
Football and Frog
If you read this site regularly, you might think that most of my photography has to do with the suitcases project or random things that go on in my life. But I still shoot stuff in an attempt to make a living. Once in a while I help out my friend Thom Kendall, who has the contract to shoot UMASS sports. Today was the first game to take place in Amherst in several years, as the team has been playing home games at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro (yeah, it’s complicated). Upon review, this play was ruled a touchdown, and I was happy to get this shot.
With all the TV timeouts, I didn’t get home until about 7.45. We had some nice mozzarella and one of the last good tomatoes of the season, and Cris wondered if any of the basil that we grow in pots on the deck was still edible. It was dark out so she brought in the pot and started trimming leaves. Quite quickly she noticed that this froggie had come in with the plant. We caught it, and after I took this photograph, put him (her?) back outside. Love those sticky feet.
Recent
I haven’t been posting lately, and I suspect one of the reasons is above. I am remembering that it takes a ton of work to have a puppy in the house.
The good news is that I am spending a ton of time in the woods with her. Any help on what this lot is?
Cris and I flew out of Boston early yesterday on our way to Denver. Hard to believe the above shot was taken in the airport. Looks like something out of someone’s private home in South Boston. / On our way up to the mountains we stopped in Arvada to see the house where my aunt Leora and uncle Herald lived, a place I have been visiting since a young child.
We are in Colorado for the wedding of one of Cristine’s grad students. Laura was a favorite of ours, and the nuptials are in Beaver Creek. It is beautiful here. The aspens are so lovely at this time of the year.
Absence
Hi Everyone. Sorry I’ve been inactive here lately. There is a lot going on and the old karma congestion has set in. Tomorrow I am off to the TEDx event on the Vineyard, which has been consuming quite a bit of my energy. I won’t be speaking (which I am relieved about), but will be taking 10 framed prints to be exhibited at the venue. I’ll post from there.
And this little one has been keeping us busy. Please welcome Olive; you will see more of her from time to time.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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