February's End

In the morning, I went to my writing group which often meets near the Cambridge City Public Works. On Saturdays, they are open to the public to drop off household waste that can be recycled but is not picked up at the curbside. Metal, fluorescent bulbs, electronics, plastic film (like bags, bubble wrap, etc), packing peanuts, and more. I like going there when I am already in the area because I was already using the gas to get there.
On a walk I took later, I saw this tree that was bursting its leaf buds. The bright red color doesn't come through in this photo, but the tree was glazed in a sheen of red.

bang, bang, crash

Today, home improvements started. Washer and dryer were moved up stairs, an old door frame that the last owners had not removed when they remodeled was taken out of the middle of a wall, and several pipe chases were opened up to see what was what. Monday and Tuesday are when the majority of moving electrical and plumbing will happen. If these guys do a good job, then there is another plumbing job to be done and some outside stuff.Where the washer and dryer used to be.
Looking from the living room to the entrance way through the former door frame.
The state of our living room right now. No t.v. for a few days.

Deep Freeze

Pemberton Market, a few blocks from our house, is the place to go for a quick shopping trip for milk or other essentials (or junk food). Their freezer, however, is mimicking what we have just been through for several months!

warp and weft

This is a weaving I made in class last night. It combines a photo of a desolate road in Alaska with a carnival image. Another good class.

The long walk home

Last art class, we made plaster casts of a hand, foot, or in one case an ear. I did a cast of my hand, and then I did this cast that wrapped around my hand and one finger. We were assigned to "finish" our piece for homework. The variety of pieces in class tonight were amazing. I particularly enjoyed a set of three elephants that were made from wrapping the tips of three fingers in plaster. My spiral hand has positive messages on the outside and negative conditions of the world on the inside.


On of the oddities I walk by often is the new crosswalk at Porter Square. I pass it at night on my way home from art class. The light for cars lasts only long enough for three cars to make the left turn from the parking lot, and even then the last one is running a red light. The rest of the cycle for a very odd intersection is red for this left turn lane, and the corresponding walk signal for pedestrians is very long. The counter for the walk signal starts at 73 seconds, but my shot of that was too blurry. Here is one at 70 seconds.

bumps

In the morning, Boston was coated with ice which had fallen a partial rain and partial snow last night. When I arrived at school, I found the parking lot covered with an amazing texture. Even the grass was encapsulated for the morning. My students enjoyed a game of ice hockey using feet and a stone.

A Few Days!

Hi all,

Between trying to buckle down to get some work done and feeling quite unhappy about the week's vacation zipping by, I haven't blogged for a few days. Here are some highlights of life since Wednesday:

I enjoy Art from Pushing Buttons and Turning Dials and took the suggestion to download Sterlingware. This is my first playing around with that software.
It snowed again. I went outside to take a picture of the patterns created by a thin layer of snow melting around the salt spread on the road, and my camera caught the reflection of the flakes as they fell. The snow was Hollywood quality with iridescent reflections and fluffy lightness.My mom got the blackout cloth lining for Rose's room project going. The material had been sitting on my projects table for a while. Hope I can jump on it in order to get the curtains back up in her room.I took a drive up to Nashua, NH to pick up some parts bins that I found on Craig's List. We had to get Reena's car from the shop which was part of the way there. Otherwise it would have been a crazy use of gas and time to go and get a few parts bins. It felt nice, however, to hit the open road.

Frosty

Before I left for my art class last night, my dad opened his birthday card. Good old Albert!


On the way to class, I passed this drain in the road. Two tennis balls have become lodged in it either on purpose or by accident. Who lurks beneath the surface?
This morning frost coated many surfaces. I took Rose outside for a quick look at the many patterns provided for a short time by nature.
Mom and Rose shared some special time on the couch. I took a video, but probably the picture will do.

I see spots

Every day, the sun drives through the small holes in the blinds in our bedroom. These small rays spread out based on the angle the sun hits the blinds and either makes tightly focused circles or more spread out ovals. Today, there must have been a tree between the sun and our shades because the swaying limbs were caught in our own pinhole camera. The lined up dots triggers my interest in patters, and I finally took a picture of them today. In the future, I will take these images with a tripod to get a non-fuzzy image. Also got Rose sitting in our bed because she was up and we did not want to get up.

Beating the Bug

I, too, fell to the stomach bug that had bitten Rose, Reena, my mom, Reena's dad, and Reena's brother. Yesterday passed with much GI unpleasantness and many movies. Reena took care of everything as I was pretty much out for the count.

Bookish

I forgot to post this picture the other day. Rose likes strings of any kind, and Becky likes Rose. It works out.
Grandpa says goodbye for now with his elbow. Rose is still recovering from being very ill. She lost a pound which is significant when one only weighs 20 pounds. Today she started having formula again and took a few bites of toast. She began to be a bit more chipper, too. One effect of the illness is that she strongly wants either Reena or me to be nearby. She screams when anyone tries to pick her up.
On a walk I took, I came across some rose hips. Reminders of last fall.
Rose has warmed up to my mom and will play with her without Reena or me nearby. This may mean that mom has now acquired the bug that Rose was carrying. We'll find out tomorrow.
I spent significant time today working on some books for my art class. I finished making a star book (middle right of image) that has a haiku about snow.

Five pounds a shovel
Youth's cold confection sugar
Losing its sweetness.
This is the front cover to the origami book that I made. It has the lyrics from Turn, Turn, Turn.
This is a secret room book. The pages have a wrap-around image of the melting, dirty piles of snow that are everywhere. The secret room has a wrap-around image of flowers at the local nursery. Spring may be hidden, but it is coming.

Several Days

Hi all,

Been a few days of high adventure! Well, not so adventurous, but we have been mighty busy around here.

Thursday morning and Friday saw Rose demonstrate the amazing volume of her stomach by showing it to us with velocity and quickness that was truly amazing. This display, of course, took the energy right out of her and had us quite worried as a similar bug had put our neighbor's daughter in the ER. After some advice from the nurse at our doctor's office, we started feeding her Pedialyte in small doses and she is now keeping her fluids down and bodily functions appear to be normalizing. Yay.

In the midst of all of that, Reena decided that the young shall indeed lead, and took Rose's example to heart. Friday night was a night of going between Reena camped out on the couch and Rose fussing in her crib. Both situation seem on the mend.

This is all after the high level of stress at work for the last few weeks finally let up as we are starting a week of break. Time to regroup, do some planning, and get quite a few to-do items done--I had hoped. Perhaps it will still happen, but we are set back a bit.

Friday also saw the arrival of grandparents. Welcomed timing as I was out of gas.

I have now had a bit of a break, and my poor neuron is slowly pulling itself together.

A grammar thought: When did me, myself, and I get so abused? I am reading a book, and the author, having passed it by an editor we must presume, often uses I instead of me. I think this may be more of an East Coast thing, but it still jars on my nerves. "Please give it to John and I" or "Please give it to John and myself." These types of sentences are common now, and I am not really sure when it became common parlance to use I or myself instead of me. Ah well...

The sound of water

Everywhere, the sound of water permeates the environment. Drips and drops emanate from every place water can slowly collect and fall in single drops. Splashes and gurgles follow the conjoining of all those drips and drops and where the banks of snow and ice meet warm pavement or soak in the sunshine. Pools stand on top of ice fields, rivers run where none usually exist, and everywhere, there is the sound of water. On my walk this morning, the cemetery through which I pass was lit up with the sun. I no longer walk through dawn--sunrise painted pastels to accompany my breakfast. Full light and the warmth that comes with it fills my hour walk from home to school.On the way home, I passed the same spot where the translucent ice sheets caught my attention the other day. In their place was a babbling brook of meltwater.

Rose fell asleep on the walk home. I lowered the seat back so she could recline and let her snooze to the sounds of water and the bumps of icy remnants that litter the sidewalks.
However, she soon perked up. This video is for Avi!



And nothing is like a cardboard box or soda bottle for a toy!

Parallel Play

Rose and I visited Rachel and Allie today. We stopped by Noam's to feed his cat, Thor, and then hopped on over to our neighbors' house. Rose and Allie had a good long time to play together. There was much attempted face pulling, but when engaged with toys, it was all parallel play. Seeing them go to town on this stand-around toy was great.

Ice Again

I decided to walk to school today. I have not done so for quite a while, so it was with some trepidation that I laced up my boots and set off. The walking path in the park nearby was a frozen river as many other sections on the walk were. I knew that they would mostly be melted by the afternoon when I had to push Rose home.

This is a close up of the walkway. Ice makes such an amazing variety of patterns. Many have to be appreciated before people come and stomp on them to hear the cracking sound.
The early morning light lit the landscape with an amber light. Glistening stretches of ice covered the pathway, so I walked mostly on the snowy sides.On the way home, I came across this suspended shelf of ice. It was about an inch from the ground and had trapped some moisture and heat. Large drops of water condensed on the underside of the ice. Ice can be transparent, presenting a window into a world of its creating.

Rose enjoyed the long walk home.
The ripples of this paper-thin ice refracted the light to create a wavy view of the leaves behind it. The upper ripples and other frozen forms refracted the light, and it glistened as I walked past.
Ice is ephemeral. Even as I stood and photographed these thin ice sheets, they changed form and shape. This masterpiece was probably only appreciated by my and will never return in exactly this form.

Tacky Tee Shirt

Yes, parents dress their kids in Harvard and Yale shirts. Princeton and Stanford abound, too. Not as many kids are out there wearing a Haverford shirt, so Rose is a bit more unusual in her college statement. At the same time, however, it is a bit crazy to brand infants with college gear. We got the shirt at the 15 year reunion when Rose was only 5 weeks old.
Now that Rose has gotten bigger, she no longer fits well into the infant car seat. Reena and I went to a store to check out next sized car seats and ran into Veronique and Rubin (who was drowsy and fell asleep). It was great to catch up.

welcome art

The ramp entrance to the Atrium has animals made in a previous year's study option. I really like the colors and organic forms that contrast the wire mesh and architectural design.

Toggle

My new laptop, thanks to Noam, is a wonder of small form and weight for little $. I just got the webcam working by finally figuring out that I had to press a keyboard toggle. Fun with photobooth.

Cheerio- kind of

Rose managed to get a piece of cereal (an organic version of Cheerios) into her mouth. This video, however, features the many attempts made between successes.

Aren't we sick of this ice?

Leaving school, I saw the sun illuminating some icicles.