fresh pond fall '09

This is a city?!

tallest dahlias ever

newburyport

Beaver Brook

This is the park in Belmont where we used to go to a)catch crayfish and b)run around in the sprinkler park. It made for a nice lazy afternoon outing in the extreme heat. Cora worked on her rock stepping.

Ceci in the blue room

Our fuzzy, always happy, kitty. Room by Cora; photo by Larry.

details: arrow street, cambridge, ma

Y
You might ask, what (the heck) is a reversible collar? Made of cloth fused with paper, the collars were manufactured in the late 1860s. They were considered a step up from what were originally throw away paper collars.

cambridge rooftop view

I never noticed the beautiful details on this building until I was standing in a student's 5th floor apartment.

somewhere in Connecticut

On a drive to the MGM Grand at Foxwoods we took a couple of detours. There wasn't much to see but this charming record store in an otherwise dead town and some cornfields.

facebook

I'll be posting family photos on facebook and nice neighborhood photos on this blog. This shot is from a building near Harvard Square; I think it's a Harvard dorm.

admission

With my new position at Harvard (which I'm loving) I've lapsed in my photography and posts. As a step back in that direction, I wanted to recommend a book I've been reading, Admission, which is steeped in Ivy League atmosphere and just a great summer read. It's especially resonant for me as a parent who has recently gone through the college application process coupled with my working in an admission-like setting. Bamboo was from a park in Redlands, CA. I cheated; it's an old photo.

nest in an old house window

notice the feather, too. This is what happens when buildings are left unoccupied -- the birdies move in.

brattle street #5

brilliant pink and yellow

sitting on the porch

First hot day of the season: 85 degrees!

today's april showers

will bring more of these.

good morning

brattle street #4

Moss gone wild.

brattle street #3

I hope to get up to Brattle #50, which would suggest that I've been dutifully walking to work everyday.

brattle street #2

Same pot as previous post, with new flowers (pussy willows were recycled). Will they have yet another next week?!

spring walk on brattle street, cambridge, ma

As Passover approaches I was struck by the contrast in these two photos taken while walking to work along Brattle Street. The first suggested wealth and beauty and hope to me -- not just the material wealth of whomever put the planter in front of their house -- but the richness of plants and spring. The second photo was both sad and made me laugh. First of all, I never thought I'd see an empty storefront in Harvard Square (not that the world needs another Crate and Barrel, but still). What the future will bring is anyone's guess.

sidewalk art

family art

Top photo of Samantha by Larry, second drawing by Alex, third painting by Samantha, fourth painting by Cora, and last pastel is by me.

good morning

shadows and sun

My fondness for shadows in images comes in part from their generally evocative quality and from knowing that the sun is shining brightly or they wouldn't be there.

More vintage: cocktail shaker and mini tea cup

Again, from my mom in law (like a mom to me). The shaker's use is obvious and on the other end of the healthy habit spectrum I use the tea cup to hold the day's vitamins.

vintage aluminum

Now that stainless steel is all the rage I have even more appreciation for the vintage aluminum containers in our kitchen. Inherited from my mother-in-law, we use the cake pan to store bread and the canister for coffee grounds (not sure what that was for originally). The aluminum adds a retro metallic note to the kitchen but isn't as shiny and harsh as stainless: it's stainless steel's more modest cousin. And it reminds me of the ice-cold aluminum tumblers my Southern Ohio grandmother used to serve lemonade in during our summer vacation visits.

hydrant trivia (and another twin set)

Did you know that fire hydrants come in different colors? And that when there's a big snowfall the fire department goes around shovelling around the hydrants?

the ice is melting

Soon it will be nothing but a memory (yes!).

twins

Our neighbors' Madonnas, who look like they're contemplating the recent snowfall in their ancient roman attire. For more lovely outfits of a contemporary nature and on our first lady, have a look here.