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February 26, 2006
The Arboretum Project Week 8
Panorama 2-26-06
I'm tired. But I promised myself I'd do this for a year, and I'm not going to wimp out 1/6 of the way through. However. It was a looooong week, so I am limiting the number of pix posted today (also, I really don't want to show the same pictures of the same stuff every week, so I've tried to cut it down to stuff I haven't shot over and over and over again.
It was very dark today. All of these pictures were taken between 2 and 4 pm, but it looks much later, just because of the cloud cover.
Curious Robin
Bamboo
Display
When I finally wandered down to the upper lake, I could hear a lot of splashing. One of the mallards I saw today was taking a bath. At first, I peeked at him through a pine tree, but then I scooted around one side of it to catch him in the act.
Duck Butt
Splashy Duck
Settling Duck
The item below is obviously a nest. It's been created, not just dropped there by the wind. But it's so small. As you can see in the second photo, it's roughly the size of a baseball. And it's made from down and shavings and soft stuff. I can't figure out whose nest it might be. Any thoughts?
Nest I
Nest II
From the Top of the Hill
Fruity
Water
Old Leaf
Grotto
Pinecone
Raptor
Reminder
Shoreline
Feeding Koi
Tiny Seedflowers II
Winter Lake
Tiny Seeds
Trunk
Arden
Twisty
Seedflowers
Waterway
Windy Wheat
Wings
Woodpecker’s Favorite
Posted by sally at 09:33 PM
Whooooooooshhhh!
And that's pretty much all I can say.
That, and Whuff.
I have one VIP still in town, but aside from that, Jazz Festival is over for another year, except for the cleanup. I had a wonderful time. Our lecturers were great people; warm, friendly, knowledgeable. It was lovely meeting them and getting a chance to talk with them. And because I was doing the job I was doing, I had backstage access, and I got to be back there with some of the best musicians I have ever seen.
Hank Jones plays the piano with a touch so light, you can't figure out how he's getting it to make sound.
Benny Green, on the other hand, is a madman at the keyboard, and so much fun to watch.
I don't know whether I prefer listening to or watching John Clayton play bass.
And Russell Malone on guitar, mmmmMMMMMM.
Then there's Jeff Hamilton, who showed me how creative a drummer can be. Everything he touches becomes a percussion instrument, and he uses it all for the sake of the music.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the HOUSE BAND this week. (Well, Hank Jones was a featured headliner, who played every night. But still, EVERY NIGHT.)
Plus, I got to hear James Moody (though I came in on the very end of his set because one of my receptions ended as the show started and I had to stay for cleanup). I got to hear him play saxophone and I got to hear him scat. THAT was cool, a lesson in itself. I also got to hear him rap. Yes. James Moody rapped. It was awesome, and reminded me of the roots of a musical form that I used to enjoy and don't really like all that much as it has evolved.
Oh yes, and I got to see Roy Hargrove play trumpet. Which is astounding. It's like the man is made of music. (He laughed at one of my jokes, too, just so you know.)
Plus countless other musicians. It was glorious. So much talent in that room every night, and I got to be there for most of it.
Also, it was exhausting. And now my throat is sore. I tried so hard to take care of myself, but there's only so much you can do when you're running from 8am to 11:30pm or so. I didn't get to any of the after hours parties. I was afraid I'd not be able to function the next day if I did. That was disappointing, because it sounds like they were really hopping. Our Russian musicians played a lot, just because they love to play.
I cannot begin to express how fortunate I feel to have been a part of this past week. Or how tired. But I can't seem to get back to sleep. I'm afraid the Breakfast Club will be crazy this morning, but if I can't sleep, bacon and eggs sounds like a tasty substitute. (Sleep or eat was a choice I had to make frequently this week. I think I lost five pounds.)
Okay. I must be tired. I'm babbling. I'll stop now, post this and get myself some breakfast.
I hope your week was as good as mine.
Posted by sally at 08:20 AM
February 19, 2006
The Arboretum Project Week 7
Panorama 02-19-06
It's been coooooold this week. Down to 3 & 4 degrees fahrenheit. Consequently, the creek in the Arboretum is frozen almost all the way along. And it snowed a little on Thursday, about 1/2 inch in 90 minutes or so. It's been so cold that hasn't had a chance to melt off. So I got some pix of snow and ice, though not the depth of snow I want.
Footbridge
The Baby
Cold Wind
Footbridge II
Clematis Seeds
Frozen Landscape
Frozen Rapids
Icy Creek
The Golden Mean
Headwaters
Bursting
Icewater II
Icewaterfall
The photos above and below were taken from the same spot, one pointing north, one pointing south. My chin was pretty numb by this time. Icy Curves South Small Traces Winter Island Robins Varied Thrush
Posted by sally at 09:23 PM
Ate half a large pizza just now. Tomatoes, green peppers, onions & pepperoni. Also cheese (hack) . What can I say? It's snowing--at least, it was, hard--and I and every other resident of this backwoods burgh decided to snuggle down with a pizza. It took over an hour for mine to get here. It was good, though.
Posted by sally at 10:08 PM
This is what I saw out the kitchen window this morning after crawling out of our warm bed. It was so beautiful that I had to venture out into the backyard to capture the moment. I was still in my pajamas--the ones I bought for you that didn' tfit--with our combined initials beating red across my heart. (I love the fact that you took my name when we married , just as I took yours.) You were still asleep. Shortly after the shutter clicked in the frozen morning stillness you woke. It was either me or the cats. Probably a combination of the two. You don't live with beings who let you sleep in. Sorry. I didn't tell you about the picture then (even though I took it with the camera you gave me to commemorate this day). And because our lives are what they are right now, I didn't get a chance to view the file or post it until this moment. This moment while you are cooking dinner for us and bewailing the fact that despite weeks of forethought the flowers you ordered for me today failed to arrive. You are cooking and writing and producing and directing and I am writing and teaching and working on my photography. How did we ever get here? This place of two artists, who are blossoming forth in so many ways (despite the non-arrival of the flowers). I stayed here to support your artist. And somehow, in the meantime, I've discovered a new artist of my own. Thank you for supporting her so sturdily. Happy Valentine's Day, my David. I love you more than words could ever say.
Posted by sally at 06:21 PM
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Wow. Six weeks of photographs. I am impatient. Things progress so slowly out in the world. From a distance, very little has changed in six weeks. And yet, when you take a closer look, spring is obviously on its way. There are, for instance, robins everywhere. Panorama 02-12-06 Today was the first day with my new camera. I haven't really had time to play with it and figure everything out. That's going to be a longer process than the old camera was, simply because it's more complex. But wait til you see what it can do. First, the best I could do with the old camera: Distant Robins This new camera is going to be some fun. I was on the other side of the lake from these birds. at least 50 yards. (One thing the new camera can't do is panoramas. And sometimes that's what you need to capture the essence of the moment. So I carry both about with me. I'm such a geek.) (This was also the first time I saw the koi this year. I don't know where they've been hiding themselves, but it was lovely to see them. I'm still holding out for a shot of a turtle.) (We've had all kinds of freezing and thawing lately. What it's done to the ice in the still places is pretty incredible. None of the stuff on the surface in this picture is liquid.) Creek Hawthorns
Posted by sally at 10:23 PM
The first picture taken with my new camera. (By Dave, dammit. I didn't realize it had a built in flash so all my pix are too dark. Plus, he took this before I got home and even saw the new camera. I mean, I know my life is insane right now, but I should have had first crack at it. And before you all go cursing me for being a selfish bitch, yes, I know he wanted to make sure it worked. Because giving me a broken camera would have been my own personal version of the dropped ice cream cone. I just have trouble sharing my toys sometimes.)
Posted by sally at 11:44 AM
They arrived on Thursday after flight delays and changes and every single piece of luggage missing a connection. Eventually, all their bags made it here as well. They seem like a nice bunch of people. The guitarist and the bassist are quite talented. I can't speak for the others, those are the only two I've heard play, and they were just and warming up. (The bassist had to do it in the small lobby/conference space next to my desk because the horn players were in the main lobby and conference room. He apologized for the noise, but I was honestly enjoying it and told him so. It's nice to hear a gifted musician play. And a double-bass doesn't make noises that tend to interrupt one's flow of thought anyway. Whereas you can't really ignore a trumpet.) Only two more performances of Sight Unseen (both today) and then I can focus on the other parts of my life. Jazz Festival (which starts in 11 days--yeep!) and teaching. Thank you to those who suggested sleep-inducing activities. I have adopted the counting back from 100. It seems to work well. And if I could only remember any Dickens other than A Christmas Carol I might try that too. Perhaps I could do the same thing with Shakespeare. Though that might get me all worked up instead, trying to figure out how to stage Much Ado without Verges and Dogberry, for instance, or Comedy of Errors with two people playing both sets of twins. Anyhow, I have managed to sleep for three nights now, each night more deeply and with fewer midnight awakenings than the night before. I even slept in today, until almost 9:00. But now I have to get out of my jammies and shower and stuff because I have to be at the theatre in 90 minutes. I know matinees are necessary, because they serve audiences who want to see the shows and would otherwise have no opportunity, but I always find them weird. There's something strange about disappearing into the dark, artificial world of a theatre, either as a performer or an audience member, on a bright, beautiful, sunny day when you could be playing outside.
Posted by sally at 11:14 AM
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It is gorgeous. GORGEOUS. I am so excited. I want to go use it right now. Unfortunately, I'm so tired I can't stand without swaying. If only I could sleep. I know I could do everything I need to do in the next two weeks and do it well, if I could only sleep at night. I lie there in bed and, well, lie there. I'm doing everything I can think of: meditating, going to bed at a decent hour and also at the same time (give or take 30 minutes) every night. I'm avoiding caffeine, and coffee at 9pm used to have no effect. Hell, in November coffee at 9pm didn't keep me from a full, deep night's rest. When I lie there in bed, I work on relaxing and just letting my mind wander. I'm not fixating on things or stressing over problems or anything. I just can' t sleep. My biggest worry, aside from the whole "I'm so tired I can' t function at a useful level" thing is that I'm going to come down with some sort of horrible cold because I'm not getting enough sleep. And I have no control over that. Tonight, I'm trying a glass of wine before bed. We'll see if that helps. (Though now that I think about it, it didn't help yesterday.) Sigh.
Posted by sally at 10:24 PM
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Oh how I wish.
Posted by sally at 08:50 PM
Gorgeous day. Sunshine. Enough clouds to make it interesting. And Spring coming out everywhere. I didn't have the heart to tell everybody it's still just the beginning of February. Lots of people in the Arboretum today. It was very hard to keep them out of my pictures. Oh yes. This is also the last week primarily using my HP707 digital camera. I'll still use it for panoramas and the stuff I know it can do. But my sweetie is so impressed with my work that he's bought me this for Valentine's Day. Eeeeeeeeeeeee!!! (This is me squealing and bouncing up and down in my chair.) I'm so excited. I can hardly wait until next weekend to take it out for a spin. And now, to this week's pix. In the interest of saving time, I have not only not given them very many clever names, but I'm also (mostly) uploading them in alphabetical order. Panorama 02-05-06
Posted by sally at 07:24 PM
Because I have LESSON PLANS to create! I'm now teaching three sections of Comm 101. I'm sorry it's come about in the way it has, an instructor is in the middle of a family health crisis and just can't give her focus to anything but that right now. I would rather get it because someone won the lottery or got an incredible gig somewhere else. I don't like gaining as a result of someone else's misfortune. And yet, at the same time, I'm thrilled to be teaching. Originally, I was hired just to be on-call, in case she needed someone to cover her classes. So last week, along with all the other stuff I was doing, I watched 72 bag speeches. Which were fun. I came home from the first day and told Dave, "I want to be teaching those kids. I want to be the one who gets to watch them figure it out." And as of yesterday, I am. Of course, this means I have three more crazy weeks ahead of me as I prep for Jazz Festival as well as teach (and next week also give four performances of Sight Unseen). Hopefully, though, they won't be as insane as this past week week was. Here's a sample of my schedule last week: Monday, Jan. 30 Tuesday, Jan 31 Wednesday, Feb. 1 Thursday, Feb. 2 Thursday was by far the worst day in terms of way too much going on in my life. Thank goodness I don't run across many like it. Despite the exhaustion, I felt pretty good about my performance. And last night? I am so stupid. Bad actor. Bad, bad actor. Last night I finally figured out why my character makes her most important decision. I had been coming at it from an entirely different angle. I should have paid attention to the guy playing my husband. He's so good and he had been giving me so much, and I was so busy focusing on the brand new actor who got shoved into the lead role that I didn't really look Peter's way much. But when I started to pay attention to everything he was giving me, WOW. Which is an interesting parallel to my character's situation. She's focusing on this guy who's not as good as she wants him to be, trying to make him her world, all the while resting on and trusting in the presence of her husband, without really thinking too much about him. He's there, he's solid, she knows she can depend on him and has come to without really realizing it. Patricia's arc in the play is one of discovering that she's actually in love with her husband. That the dream lover was never a real person, but a hopeful projection of her desires onto an unworthy man, and that the fantasy and memories she's held onto for so long are mist and lies; none of them reflect reality in the slightest. Yet in the end, her reality is a good place, a hopeful place. Okay. Off to write Tuesday and Thursday's lesson plans. Arboretum pictures tomorrow, though.
Posted by sally at 10:03 AM
©2006 - All content copyright Sally Eames-Harlan unless otherwise noted
Greenery
Inlet
Maple Seeds
Into the valley
Icy Curves North
Mine Eyes Are Dazzled
Secret Entrance
More Cold Water
Old Fruit
New POV
Pod
Seed Feathers
Reaching
One of the lovely things about snow is that it gives you a good idea of who's been here before you.
Sky-Reaching Buds
Snow & Ice
Old & New
Snowy Pond
Willow Buds & Ice Water
Winterflower IV
Withered Rosehips
Winter Landscape
Winter Water
I also got birds. How appropriate that it's the Audubon Society's 9th Annual Great Backyard Bird Count. They are, as much as possible, in the order in which I shot them. The one bird I saw that I didn't manage to shoot was the hawk that sailed through over my head. Twice. Both times, I had just turned the camera off. Dammit.
Puffed-Up Robin
Flicker
The hawk pix would be here. If they existed. Sigh.
Magpie Panorama
SCB (Small Chirpy Bird)
I'm pretty sure these are pictures of the same bird. I know I and II are. But I think III is as well.
Varied Thrush II
Varied Thrush III
Junco
Thirsty
February 16, 2006
Erp
February 14, 2006
For My Valentine
February 12, 2006
Arboretum Project Week Six
Same Robins, New Camera
Also the Same Robins
Robins over the Water
(Have I mentioned that I loooooove my new camera?)
Bridge Knothole
Hobbiton
Cone Roses
Across the Lake
Iced Koi
Burr
Corkscrew
Little Bird
Double Waterfall
Evergreen Star
Grass Seed Dancers
Harsh Shores
Island
More Spring
Old Nest
On Ice
Thorn Berries
Ice Mosaic
Preservation
Streambed
Unfurling Green
Viburnum Buds
Rivulet
Viburnum
Duet
Trio
Pod
Sumac
Under-seedom
Burrs
Fruit
Old Wood
A Little Bit of Everything
Thorny
Sand Painting
Red
Red & Yellow
Trees
Robin with 'Tude
February 11, 2006
Also...
The Russians Are Here!
February 08, 2006
My Camera Came Today
February 07, 2006
You Are Getting Sleepy, Sleeeeepy
February 05, 2006
The Arboretum Project Week 5
Bark
Berries
Blue Skies
Branches
Buds
Bursting Forth
Cone Cluster
Cones
Creek
Culvert
Delicate
Determination
Fallen
Fat Robin
First Flowers
First Signs
Heather
Hidden Gem
Idaho Afternoon
Late Afternoon
Lichen
Lilacs and Waxing Moon
Lilacs
Magnolia Bud II
Magnolia Bud
Mossy Trunk
Old and New
Peeling Bark
Peeling Tree
Peeling
Retaining Wall
Rosehip
Seedpods over Water
Spirea
Sunlit Seedpod
Sunshine Up Ahead
Things Remembered
Willow
February 04, 2006
How 'Bout a Quickie?
8am-4:15pm Work (With 15 minute lunch break)
4:30-5:30pm Dinner with Dave
6-10pm Rehearsal
8:30-10:20am Teach 2 sections Comm 101, grade speeches
(15-20 minute hike across campus to the office)
10:45am-2pm Work
(15-20 minute hike across campus to the classroom)
2:30-3:30pm Teach 1 section Comm 101, grade speeches
(15-20 minute hike across campus to the office)
3:45-4:30pm Work
4:45-5:30pm Dinner with Dave
6-10pm Rehearsal
8:15am-4:30pm Work (with 15 minute lunch break)
5-6pm Dinner with Dave
6:30-10pm Rehearsal
8:30-10:20am Teach 2 sections Comm 101, grade speeches
10:45am-2pm Work
2:30-3:20pm Teach 1 section Comm 101, grade speeches
3:45-4:45pm Work
5-6pm Dinner with Dave
6:30pm Call
7:30pm Sight Unseen opens
late Thursday evening, my parents arrive in town