Tag: Spring
Decompression Area
The flexibility to stand or sit at my desk is very helpful to me, but there are days, moments, concerns et al, when I need to remind myself that, “If it doesn’t add to the quality of my life—or someone else’s—then jettison it.”
Spring part 3
Music of the Night*
*Title of song from the stage production of Phantom of the Opera, with due respect to Mr. Andrew Lloyd Webber, Mr. Richard H.Z. Stilgoe and Mr. Charles E. Hart
Big Picture
This requires a short preface. Currently underway is a long-standing project to repair the viaduct that transports drivers north and south on I-91. It requires the replacement of span supports, expansion joints, drains, electrical conduit and more. A lot more. These first 2 images were taken with a telephoto lens, a 300mm, and it brings one closer to a detail or two, in this case a glimpse of workers, the newly placed steel beams, etc.
The next 2 images offer the same perspective but with a 50mm lens, which represents one’s normal field-of-vision.
Yes, it’s important to appreciate the finer details of many things, but sometimes seeing the big picture can add immeasurably to our understanding of what needs to get done.
Spring part 2
Spring
Every March, we try to make our way up to Smith College to see their flower show. This is one of our favorite peripatetic sorties. Not surprisingly, most visitors appear happier or at least cheerful in demeanor. It’s gotten to the point where smartphone cameras rule the aisles; rarely seen is a “regular camera” as we know it.
The Tree
The Specialty Bakery
What’s the sensory attribute second only to vision, that can impact your perception about as quickly? Smell.
I think of all the pleasant smells anyone can encounter, there’s no denying that of a bake shop. The Polka Dot at Greenpoint in Brooklyn is a case in point. While I do not understand Polish, I can comprehend reactions from patrons when they see or hear about something this little bakery offers.
The Specialty Bookstore
I love books. I also like e-books, but the operative word here is “love.” Celebrated poet Emily Dickinson said it best:
There is no Frigate like a Book
To take us Lands away
Nor any Coursers like a Page
Of prancing Poetry –
This Traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of Toll –
How frugal is the Chariot
That bears the Human Soul
I paused for a moment just outside this Brooklyn bookstore to appreciate the titles in the window. I couldn’t understand many of the titles, but I did recognize some authors and subject matter, the latter based on the cover image or illustration. There have been many articles defending the purpose if not the endearing qualities of paper-bound books. Others ask to use electronic reading devices more often than not. Both have advantages as well as disadvantages. I’ll leave it at that.
I’m glad to have come across this bookstore filled with all sorts of titles, fiction and non-fiction, written in Polish. There was something there for everyone, including people who don’t read or understand the language.
Winter Colors [sort of…..]
“Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen….” and so goes the opening chorus of a popular spiritual song, which, in light of this year’s winter snow, feels appropo. I can’t remember a time when so much cold and snow visited our fair states. Substitute “winter” for “trouble” in the opening line and you can get a good sense of what burdens the lot of us. The quantity of snow has wreaked havoc on just about everything, and I mean everything.
But, all is not lost. This past weekend, scores of winter-weary New Englanders flocked to Smith College to soak in the colors, aromas and textures of the annual flower show. To wit:
This year’s theme, “Monet’s Garden,” contains relevance. The artist had a fondness for working the earth as well as the paint brush. Monet had indicated that aside from painting and gardening, “he wasn’t good at anything.”
It seems that both gardening and painting were a very good fit for him.
Carlo Centeno 