Look Up

Sky shots from the past few weeks. I think the first two look a bit like the ocean.

I saw a poster of a cloud saying - "Look, some of those people down there are shaped like idiots" 

click on photo to enlarge

Sunday

Just some pretty purple flowers to say have a good Sunday

Stay cool

Stay safe

Happy Mother's Day

At The Lake

You can sit on our bench, just push all the fishing stuff over - the little boy tells me

I thank him and sit and watch them for a bit.

My name is Robert
Nice to meet you Robert, I'm Dianne
He points toward the older gentleman - That's Grandpa
Grandpa nods and smiles

I know a lot about fishing, Grandpa teaches me things
You're lucky. I bet he's a good teacher.
He is but we never catch anything. It's just a thing to do while we talk.
I ask what they talk about

All the important things 

A Fork In The Tree

Is It Snow Yet?

A few shots of the snow that took three days to get here and all day Friday to fall. We didn't get much accumulation; a small comfort after the high winds and flooding.

Have a good weekend everybody

Look! Up in the Sky!

At the marina taking photos of the gulls a chorus of honking approached. It took a moment to find them in the sky and as soon as I did I took as many shots as I could.

Oh well, I returned to the gulls.

I had been leaning on a fence near the water's edge with my cane resting beside me. My balance is off since it's the left ankle and right hip that are most damaged but as long as I have an anchor point I'm usually fine.

The noise started up again. I grabbed my cane and moved toward the sound. They were really honking up a storm now as they circled the marina. One hand on cane, other on camera I turned and turned trying to focus and shoot and hang on.

I was a bit dizzy after all that and I thought I was imagining that I couldn't move but actually I had screwed my cane deep into the sand and had caught the tip of it on a piece of exposed pipe. I was going to take a photo of it standing there on its own for your amusement but a young man walked by and pulled it out for me. He chuckled and said he admired my moves.

Only me.

Heart

Seen along the Jersey shore
Courtesy of the men and women working to clean up and rebuild

Ready for a new season ...

... regardless of the surroundings

Looking out to the horizon wearing a little Red Cross cap

Waving to NY

At the base there is a tiny bandage that says "bent not broken"

You've gotta have heart

All you really need is heart

When the odds are sayin' you'll never win

That's when the grin should start

You've gotta have hope

Musn't sit around and mope

Nuthin' half as bad as it may appear

Wait'll next year and hope …

By Adler and Ross

Written for the musical ‘Damn Yankees’

Our World Tuesday

The Three Tenors

These guys are often in the tree right behind the house.

My granddaughter Hope says good morning to them from her bedroom window as she gets ready for school. My bedroom is right below hers and I can hear her. 

One day I was helping her get dressed and I called the birds the three tenors. Hope is interested in opera so I explained a bit about the three tenors and we listened to a recording of their Central Park concert.

Days later I heard Hope saying good morning to them and then I heard her Mom asking her to please hurry and put her shoes on.

"I'm talking to the three tenors" Hope replies. 
"Where did you learn about the three tenors?" Mom asks.
Hope's answer had me smiling all morning - "From the CD Nana played for me, we do more than just princess you know".

A Great Mind at Work

This is what comes to me while waiting at a red light.

Merry and Hopeful

I'm off to Brooklyn The Motherland tonight. I'm sure I'll return with some good traffic stories as well as at least one profound Guido quote.

Whatever your celebration style may be ...

Grand

Fancy

Whimsical

I wish you all good things.


And as always, there is Hope

Life Is ...

... not a box of chocolates I'm sorry to tell Forrest Gump. Not this week.

It's more like ...

a traffic jam and an oncoming truck.

The unseasonably warm and humid weather this week has made me hazy. And grouchy.
I'm always grouchy when I'm spritzing.

The cats have not had a good week. Siren's meds are not working long enough but to increase the frequency would cause other issues. We've been working on more nutritional and holistic treatments but if you know cats then you know that the smallest change to their routine is very stressful to them. Isadora goes to the vet this morning. She's been hiding and crying and I'm not sure why.

My battle with the bank over a mortgage modification based on my huge drop in income heats up next week and I'm not looking forward to that.

I haven't seen Hope at all this week and if there was ever a need for a good shot of Hope it was this week. She's been going to after school activities and to her aunt's house since their new baby is due any day now. I'm thrilled that she's so excited but I'm also selfishly wanting my time with her.

I feel a long series of whines and bitches coming on so that's enough for now.

Oy

Sand Dunes of The Jersey Shore

A series of big storms topped off by last summer's Hurricane Irene have damaged a lot of the NJ Shore Line.

Dune Stabilization projects are being conducted all along the shore. I took these photos in late August at Bayshore Waterfront Park in Monmouth County, NJ. The sign says the project was to be completed in April but I saw evidence that it is ongoing.

This NJ Shore Website has a lot of interesting information and links.

Our World Tuesday

NATURE NOTES

Butterfly

Back in June I  posted  a photo of one of the art butterflys that live all around Keyport, NJ.

A couple of weeks ago I found another one at the marina.

She's a pretty one

Hope and Friends

Hope entertained her best best ever friend Daniel and his baby brother Brian a couple of weeks ago. Before they headed out back to the pool and the bikes and the swing they let me take a few shots.

"I don't think we can stop moving", Daniel told me. I did my best.

Have a great weekend everyone.