Morning to evening

I have been busy all week - happily so.

On Tuesday, for example, I arrived at work a bit early, as the sun was rising.

And the first light was touching the street sculpture near the office.

After work, I took a very nice group of physicians out to dinner, and then walked to the train station.

Philadelphia at night is quite pleasant, as long as you are in the right part of town, and the weather is good, and you have a reasonable amount of good luck (because bad things can happen anywhere).

And you like puzzling over odd displays in store windows, such as this roller skate sculpture.

What a voice

Eva Cassidy - such a talent, too short a life.




When we walked in fields of gold . . . I think of this song, and this version of it, every autumn.

Another weekend in September

Absolutely gorgeous weather in Philadelphia this weekend. Here we are on Friday, in the city.

And here we are in Pennypack Park (also in Philadelphia), on Saturday.

Back to the office.

And then again to the park.

Nice weekend. Biked 16 miles on Saturday, did a lot of yardwork and housework, cooked and cleaned. And walked Beanie. I like the nice long walks on the weekends.

So - a quiet but enjoyable weekend here. A memorable, beautiful, tiring, and wonderful weekend for Internet friend Nina.

I do not heart melancholy

Weather so beautiful you just can't stay in the office all day, no matter how much work is piling up.

So I walked down the street, and noticed that a new exhibition had opened at the Institute of Contemporary Art, where admission is free. Who could resist?

It was a Jeremy Deller installation. I had never heard of him (don't know much about art in general).

You can read more about him in Wikipedia.

The first room was a funny concept - as a teen, he used to hold clandestine "art shows" in his house when his parents were out, and the room was supposed to represent his bedroom from those years, with a sample of his early work. Apparently he divides his work into periods, depending on whether he was inspired by Keith Moon, David Bowie, or Neil Young.

I have to say I'm not a huge fan, based on this one view. But it was interesting. And who am I to complain about a free art show?

By the way, this show is an opportunity for hungry unemployed people to get a free lunch. All you have to do is agree to spend a few hours every so often as a living part of the I Heart Melancholy part of the installation. It's a black couch in front of a black wall, and the volunteer just has to sit, lie down, or nap on the couch while visitors walk by and stare. The guy today was lying down with his back to us, apparently sound asleep. Even from the back though, he did look depressed.

The other installation, Valerie's Snack Bar, features a real person sitting behind the counter of the snack bar. The woman who was volunteering as the living part of this installation was reading. I'd rather be part of Valerie's Snack Bar than I Heart Melancholy.

Visitors are not allowed to take any photos inside the rooms of the exhibit, or I would have more interesting photos.

Back at the office, I noticed that the fountain in the garden looked great in the autumn sunshine.

Autumn begins

Today was a bit of this and that, which describes most Saturdays.

Neil biked at the park, but I walked Beanie, who occasionally sat down (but not for long).

I'm glad I took pictures of the corn last weekend, because today the fields were shorn to the ground.

This reminded me that these fields are not just there for photo ops - they represent hours and hours of hard work and the investment of lots of money on someone's part.

The plants that remain are looking quite autumn-ish now, and still quite beautiful.

Grades for the two online classes I teach have to be turned in by midnight on Tuesday, so after the walk in the park I hurried home to sit in front of the computer for several hours.

I cooked, of course. What might these ingredients make?

Hmm . . . fennel, sausage, tomatoes, fennel seed, vermouth, olive oil, and broth.

Soup, of course.

And it was delicious. This recipe is a keeper.

Dinner was very autumnal. Chili on rice with sour cream and fritos, and a glass of dark beer.

Aaaah. Good Saturday. And there is still another day of this weekend to enjoy.

The bluest blue

Wow. Super blue berry.

The most intense color in the biological world belongs to a tiny African berry. Iridescent blue and metallic, it literally outshines any other plant or animal substance in the world.

The color is structural color, a kind of color so strong that it is still vivid in the fossils of 50-million-year-old beetles.

Scientists have not figured out the reason for the berries to have this color. What good does it do them?

I don't know. But I'm glad it's there.

Empty work room

It will be filled with talk soon enough.

Autumn 2012

It's fall, it's fall, it's fall!

Cool, comfortable mornings.

Straggly tomato plants on the patio producing the last few tomatoes.

Yesterday I made red pepper soup with a balsamic reduction.

Beanie sat on the kitchen floor and watched me cook. He likes to watch any kind of food preparation, even if it is something he probably won't eat (although he did like the soup).

 And so it goes.

A morning in the park

Riding our bikes at Northampton Municipal Park this morning, a glorious morning.

I love listening to the birds and the insects, and the hum of the tires. And I also enjoy watching the walkers and runners and bikers and skaters and vollyball players and roller hockey players, and baseball players, and soccer players, and baby buggy pushers, and dog walkers, and picnickers, and photographers.

Clown Shoes Pimp?

Busy days. Good, busy days.

The big news - my older son, Chris, who was working at Cornell University, was informed a couple months ago that his department was being laid off due to budget cuts (he worked in the horticultural department, taking care of vineyards and orchards - a job he loved).

But (this is a bad news/good news story) before his job even ended, his best friend from high school asked him if he'd like to work with him, in Washington DC. Yay!

So Chris is living with us for the next 6-8 weeks, training in Philadelphia, and commuting to DC on the weekends, where he and his significant other have a shiny new condo with a shiny new lease in the Waterfront area. (I think he said Waterfront - I'm not all that familiar with DC neighborhoods.) But I love having Chris at home again, even if it is just for a few weeks.

And his new job is with a fabulous artisan coffee company, which means he brings home some great coffee!

What else?

A friend from high school was in Philadelphia for a meeting, so we got together. Here's Neil and Pam at our favorite Philly eatery, Perch Pub.

I had the Clown Shoes Pimp (nope, no idea how this beer got that name):





We posed by a statue of the Philly Phanatic.

After spending a ridiculous amount of time looking for a place to park in the historic district, we took a tour of the city. It was nice and cool on the top of the bus. Below is Pam, going past one of my least favorite pieces of Philadelphia street art.

As you can see, it was windy. And then it was rainy.

So we finished the tour on the lower level, and even though the tour was not so great, we had a wonderful time, and I laughed more than I have in a long time.

Before the rains came down, we did pass by the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, where two wedding parties were taking photos (it's a very popular spot for weddings).

The rains cleared the air and cooled us all off, and when I woke up this morning and took Bean out for his walk, I knew it was really and truly fall. I love the change of the seasons.