Wednesday, December 12, 2012

December 12, 2012


Weather - 1:00 PM ... Air: 38. Sunroom: 42. H: 71. L: 22. Soil: ?. RH: med. Sky: sun through thin clouds. Wind: ?. Birds ... Finally found the new suet feeder. Downy woodpeckers and chickadees visited.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

December 11, 2012


Finally, a load of wood chips delivered to the gardens. Good stuff too. Fresh, clean and prime. Way on the other side of the gardens, however, couldn't be further away. I'd say it's got to be a quarter mile off. Did five very full wheelbarrow loads. Chipped the grape arbor area, most of the rear patio in front of the nursery and the small west-facing front patio. Listening Bach's 'Goldberg Variations', performed by Glenn Gould. Every day. Over and over again. The way I listened to music as a kid - driving everyone crazy.

Clearing to sun from showers, 40's. Good garden working weather. Sat pleasantly in the sunroom between barrows, almost 60° or so. The birds still haven't discovered the newly filled suet feeder. But birds sometimes take weeks to find a new feeder and feel confident enough to fly in.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

February 25, 2012



Image ... Nightclub entrance, Nassau.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

February 16, 2012




Image ... Lower Mills.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

February 15, 2012



Well, as some of you may know, my camera - a beloved Olympus D-620L - along with my entire camera bag was stolen. I was robbed in SOWA in the South End, which can be a rough neighborhood with thieves, drug dealers, prostitutes, addicts, sex offenders and the insane. Plus the artists, cops, art dealers, yuppies and loft-living lawyers. That was the start to my new year. I'd had that camera since 1999, the first affordable (a grand or so over ten years ago) digital SLR that came on the market. That camera had heart. How could I ever replace it?

Anyway, so now I'm cameraless, for the first time since I began photographing. But I'm looking around. I've always wanted a Leica M. That was Cartier Bresson's camera, of course. The M9 is digital, $10,000 with a lens or two.

Walking around seeing pictures and making notes, taking word pictures.

There's a woman who I see almost every day, sometimes several times, in the vicinity of the Prudential Center or Copley Place. I think she's an Indian from the Andes, but I'm not sure. She has a large face topped with a thick thatch of matted brown hair and slightly slanting eyes. She dresses in thick, warm-looking layers of yellow, red and blue ponchos under which she carries two bulging white cotton bags. She's always hatless and wears sockless sandals in every weather. Her legs are like tree trunks.

She often does a little dance standing in place, swaying and stepping from side to side, sometimes smiling, and falls to sleep standing up, eyes closed, head thrown slightly back, never losing her balance, eyes suddenly snapping open as if out of a distant dream. Sometimes I see her eating at Shaw's supermarket when I'm shopping.

Speaking of which, what is it with Whole Foods and their wretched prepared foods commanding premium prices? Their steam table offerings are awful - they can't even make a decent American Chop Suey - and the over-priced prefab refrigerated sandwiches (who wants a cold sandwich anyway?) and deli items are DOA.


Image ... Map mural (detail) on a traffic signal control box. Across from the Stony Brook T station in Jamaica Plain.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

February 14, 2012



Happy Valentine's Day all!

Image ... Door transom near Old North Church.

Monday, February 13, 2012

February 13, 2012



Mitt Romney stated that he was seriously conservative as the governor of Massachusetts. I, and more than a few others, thought that phrase was seriously weird. But then Sarah Pailin proved once again that she has the permanent lock and patent on weirdness.

Whitney? Did I miss something. She sang schlock. I Will Always Love You? Case closed. At least Bobby Brown could dance.

Image ... Woodswoman.