Beach Again
We are back on the beach for a bit. It has been quite cold here in South Carolina until today. The ocean was really roiled up this afternoon, and the tide was just ebbing from its high point. There were lots of really beautiful small shells at the tide line.
The biggest of these guys is about an inch across.
I especially like the bottom one here.
Recently
Sometimes I get a bit frustrated when I don’t post here as soon as I have some interesting (to me) photographs. / We were up in Maine for Thanksgiving at my brother and sister-in-law’s house. They live near to Higgins Beach in Scarborough, ME and on Thursday the ocean was really kickin’. I went for three separate walks to the beach the next day and each one was interesting in its own way. The surf was up (especially by East Coast standards) and at one point there were at least 40 surfers out.
On the morning walk I noticed that tons of sea creatures were washed way up on the beach, including this guy. Very alive and, I hope, happy to be put back into the ocean. Would have made a nice little lunch though.
On our way home on Saturday, I finally stopped to take a shot of this structure on Route 1 in Scarborough. I liked the light, and it is nice to see how helpful the owners are in identifying just what this thing is.
Further (farther?) down Route 1 is Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery and since Peter was with us it seemed a nice time to stop in for a bite. As usual, amazing fried clams.
Next stop was in Boston for our annual walk around the outside of Fenway Park. So sweet to have the 2013 World Series banner hanging.
And I have always liked this statue, especially Dom DiMaggio’s specs. / We ended the Boston leg of the trip with a stop at the Blue Ribbon. For Peter, this day was a triple play; clams, Fenway, and Blue Ribbon. He was a very happy boy.
And finally, there is this. Image-wise it is kind of an orphan here, but I love the floating cone in the middle. I spotted this on a walk with Pete yesterday afternoon. / I take him to the train in New Haven tomorrow, and as usual, it will be difficult to say goodbye. Cris and I have had so much fun being with him for the past few weeks.
End of a Week
Last Saturday I posted pictures from the Amherst Farmers’ Market. On Thursday I got an email from Casey at Old Friends Farm asking if he could use some of the photos in the farm’s weekly newsletter. I was more than happy to oblige and went into heavy negotiation mode. Pictures for flowers; quite a good deal for us both.
Earlier in the week I went to watch Cris teach an undergrad class in one of the UMASS School of Ed. buildings. The class meets in a now-closed elementary school auditorium. Down a hallway and behind a set of doors with a “NO ENTRY” sign was this school gymnasium. I can remember being a kid at the East End School in Meadville and being in a similar gym (they all look pretty much alike). I especially like the climbing ropes and the cargo net.
Today we drove to Williamstown to meet up with Peggy Ross, her husband Peter, and their friend Pierette who is visiting from France. We met at the Williams College Museum of Art and then walked into town for a beer. It is a lovely small New England town with 2 great museums (the other being the Clark, which is a gem).
Driving back along Route 2, I was compelled to stop and grab a few shots of the Deerfield River.
I hope to have the willardsuitcases.com site up and running tomorrow. I am so excited and will post an update as soon as it is online.
Farmers’ Market
This is white ginger. It usually shows up at this time of the year at the Amherst farmers’ market and is quite lovely. We usually buy some to put in the freezer.
I was taken by the produce at Old Friends Farm stand this morning. Everything looked great in the soft morning light.
Autumn farmers’ markets are the best.
I’ve no idea what these little white pods are, but they look nice next to the tomatoes.
And a question for all you grammarians out there. When I was writing the title of this post I assumed that the apostrophe in farmers would go after the “r”, but when I did an internet search, many sites had it after the “s”. Any clarification on which is correct?
Sunflowers
I had to get the oil changed in Cristine’s car early today and as I was driving through Hadley I saw this field of sunflowers. I stopped on the way home and grabbed a few shots. Some of the flowers were huge. Big honkin’ leaves too. / Peggy Ross came over to work with me on the willardsuitcases.com site (which I am so far behind on) and we got a ton done on the FAQ section. I hope to be able to finish it up by early September. / There is a nice interview on the Port Magazine (UK) site about the suitcases. Here is the link. Betty Wood has been following the project from very early on, and she did a great job asking questions and putting it all together. I was really fun talking to her and am so grateful for her interest and support.
This and That
We went to see the Sox last night and it was a very interesting evening. A make-up day game was scheduled for 1 pm. It started raining in the bottom of the 5th so it was delayed for three hours. Out tickets were for 7 pm but due to the delay, the Sox allowed anyone with a ticket for the night game to watch the end of the first game which restarted at around 6.00. Kind of confusing, I know, but we went in, watched them win the early one, cleared out of the park, came back in and watched ours start at 8.00. The Sox led 1-0 until the top of the ninth when the Rays tied it up on a solo home run. Jonny Gomes hit a walk off in the bottom of the ninth to win it. It was a beautiful evening and the rain held off until the drive home.
This morning we drove Peter to New Haven to catch the train back to DC. We had a great week with him. The underground walkway to the platforms at the station is a bit outer spacey.
After his train left Cris and I drove to West Haven to walk along the sound and enjoy the beautiful day. There is a lovely park with a walking/bike path along the beach. We saw some old guys playing bocce ball and trash talking. It was very sweet and familiar. The above view made me a bit sad, as Dave’s Arcade-Carousel must have been very cool when it was still here. You can tell the original sign just said “Arcade-Carousel” but someone got some stick-on letters to memorialize Dave. He probably deserves the kind thought.
Mountain Laurel and Vegetable Stock #3
The mountain laurels are really wild this year. (Do I say this every year? I know there are previous posts about this plant, but really, this year is amazing.) One of the locals told me that this part of Pelham used to be called Mount Laurel and I can see why. When we look out the window it is almost like there is snow on the leaves of the plants.
I had a great dad’s day today. Peter is home from DC for a bit (the Nationals are on the road) and I got the chance to chill out and cook. I made another vegetable stock. As you can tell by the color, there were lots of beet peelings in it. You can see my previous posts about it here and here. I used some of it to make a wild rice thing for Cris and it was great.
California Coast
This will be a picture heavy post without too many words.
We stopped in Pismo Beach, which is a sweet little town with a nice pier. I like being able to shoot from above, which is a great angle to document guys with metal detectors.
Morro Bay is another pleasant town. We were blown away to see these sea otters rafting at the end of the day so near to the town. The wide angle lens doesn’t make them seem so close, but they were right there.
Next stop was the amazing elephant seal beach just near to San Simeon. These seals have been coming to this location since the early ’90s. Noisy and smelly (but in a very nice way). Remarkable to be so close to these creatures.
They are molting at this time of the year and aren’t particularly active.
Next up, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park near Big Sur. Well worth a visit.
It is Spring out here and wild flowers are everywhere. This looks to be some sort of iris.
This spectacular field is just off Highway 1. We came around a corner and this scene took our breath away.
California poppys. Cris says they are the state flower.
Point Lobos State Park is a wonderful place to hike and get close to the ocean. The trails are extensive; it would be easy to spend a whole day here.
I had never been in the redwoods before. This same photo has probably been taken a million times, but who could resist. Big Basin State Park is just north of Santa Cruz.
Since I’m in California, I can get away with the word awesome. Truly amazing.
Had a nice walk yesterday from the Exploratorium up to the Golden Gate Bridge. Finally saw “The Changing Face of What is Normal” exhibit and will post some shots and my reaction soon.
Lemons and Tortoises
I was all set to do a final post about last weekend’s trip to to DC when the news of events at the Marathon started trickling in. I just felt so bad for most of the week that anything I could say here seemed trivial. Last night I flew out to Southern California to meet up with Cris who has been staying with her sister in Orange County. Since things in Boston appear to be mostly resolved, and it is so nice to be here with family, my mood has lightened considerably. And who wouldn’t be cheered by the sight of these lemons growing in Lynne and John’s front garden. I will never cease to be amazed by this tree.
And Lynne’s desert tortoises have recently come out of hibernation. She suggested I grab a hibiscus flower and as I walked toward George here, he came to me and got right to it.
Tilghman Island / New Orleans
I am going to break a few of my self-imposed rules in this post. I have always assumed that the reason people come to this site was to see interesting aspects of the world that they might not otherwise notice. I have never wanted it to be about me. But this post is mostly personal.
Peter Carroll and I have been working on a project on Tilghman Island for the past several years. In conjunction with the Tilghman Island Waterman’s Museum, we have been documenting the life of the watermen for two films that Peter has been shooting. The second of those films had its premier on Saturday evening at the elementary school. The auditorium was full and everyone loved it.
Then on Sunday Cristine and I flew to New Orleans where she was to receive an award from the Commission on Adult Basic Education. We walked around the city most of the day yesterday and it was as amazing to me as everyone said it would be.
Cris got the Kenneth J. Mattran Award for “Promoting Literacy Nationally and Internationally”. I was so proud and it was great to see people come up to her and thank her for being so inspirational.
After the luncheon we bugged out and walked back to the French Quarter. I would love to have seen this neon sign lit up, but The Pearl was closed today. Next stop was Cafe´du Monde for beignets and coffee. Later as we were walking down an almost totally deserted RiverWalk, we saw a video crew doing a stand up shot of a guy with the river in the background. It turned out to be Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel.
So here’s where I really break my self-imposed rule (don’t ever have a picture of me in this blog). My great friend Tania Werbizky has at various times in her life been totally obsessed with the Weather Channel. After Jim was done with his work, I approached him and asked if I could take a photograph. He was so nice and immediately suggested that he and I be in the shot. So Tania, I mentioned you to Jim effing Cantore. How’s about that?
Our hotel is just next to the Superdome and this is the view from the 17th floor hallway. / It is impossible to walk around this city and not think of hurricane Katrina and the devastation it caused. And looking at this building that housed so many people in such great need is more than a bit unsettling. This is an amazing part of America and I feel fortunate to have finally made it down here.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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