Monthly Archives: September 2015

El Comercio

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El Comercio is Quito, Ecuador’s major newspaper.  I’ve been following them on Facebook for some time now.  I’d heard about Cotopaxi, the volcano, erupting.  That’s when I found El Comercio’s online presence.  It has been interesting to read news from that small country where we lived for nearly three years.  (Okay, that was forty years ago.)

When we lived in Quito, we would walk out to the sidewalk and turn south.  There in the distance, dominating the horizon, was the perfect cone shape of Cotopaxi.  It is both beautiful and iconic.

Recently, I’ve found plenty of reasons to continue following Ecuadorian news.  Few folks around here got to see Sunday evening’s blood moon.  On Monday I logged onto Facebook and found that El Comercio had published a number of photos of the lunar eclipse.  This one was my favorite:

Ecuador's view of Sunday's eclipse

Ecuador’s view of Sunday’s eclipse

I enjoy pictures like these and the many others I’ve seen on various blogs and Websites.  However, witnessing it with my eyes was by far the best.

Do you follow the news from somewhere other than where you now live?

Blood Moon

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Last night, there was a blood moon.  In other words, a total eclipse of the moon.  It should have been visible from here.  I was ready, and my camera was ready too.

Results were mixed.  I did, however, learn a few important lessons.

The first lesson was, never try to capture an image of the moon by shooting through a window.

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This first shot was a test.  The double glass left some artifacts around the brilliant full moon.  Also,  to shoot this wide, I need to manually control aperture and shutter settings.

As the eclipse started, it was time to capture the next image.  I did this while standing in an open door.

Second lesson was, don’t hand-hold a tight shot of the moon.

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Not too bad, perhaps.  I did brace against the door frame.  Yet, it could have been better.

The third lesson was, atmospheric conditions can spoil your chances.

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I had setup the tripod and was going to capture that “perfect” image of the blood moon.  It never happened.  Dark clouds were rolling in, obscuring the moon.  After much waiting, I managed to capture the above image, which was only partially cloud shaded.  After that I only caught brief glimpses of bits of the moon.  And then it could no longer be seen from here.

Sic transit gloria.

 

Moonlight

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After shooting the “ominous” image in yesterday’s post, I headed back to the house.  On the way, I looked up and saw Luna veiled in a misty robe.

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Being coy, she tried to hide behind our antennas (Sylvia and I are both radio hams).  They did not provide her with cover.

I loved the cool surreal quality of that light in the night.  Music provided by nocturnal insects.  I only lacked the smell of freshly harvested apples to complete the autumnal scene.

Evening Scenes

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Last evening, we sat down to our evening meal and prayed.  As I lifted my eyes, I caught a glimpse of a glorious sunset.  Excusing myself, I dashed for my camera as fast as I could gimp.  Once again, the glory moment had passed.  I captured an image anyway.

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I keep hoping to see that definitive sunset image.  File that under “unfinished business.”

We finished our meal and cleared the table.  The western sky had taken on a complete different character.  I called Sylvia’s attention to it.  She took one look and said, “Ominous.”  For my part, I agreed.

150923cThat tree on the left is just right of center in the previous image.

I turned to go back in the house when I heard a deer chuff loudly at me.  I paused and scanned the low ground from whence the sound came.  After a bit, a second chuff sounded clearly.  A couple of seconds later, a dark shape leaped, turned and flagged her friends as she bounded away toward the willow thicket.  A second and similar shape followed in her wake.  These would have been last year’s fawns.  Shortly after, their mother followed with her longer stronger leaps.

Then they were gone.  The late evening was once more dominated by the sounds of night-time insects while the moon watched over all.

Fall Has Fallen

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It happened as we slept last night.  The declination of the sun was 0 degrees latitude as it hung directly over Earth’s equator.  This marked the autumnal equinox and the beginning of [astronomical] fall.

Sylvia has harvested over 30 pounds of potatoes and there are more in the ground.  We are still harvesting green beans.  It has been a strange year.  We were harvesting peas well into August and we’ve never done that before.

Meanwhile near our back door our old friend thrives.

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Peppermint is a long-time tradition in Sylvia’s family.  Her mother’s parents and maternal grandparents were pioneers in mint cultivation in Clinton County, Michigan.  For that reason, we’ve always grown some close to our back door.  It’s nice to pick a leaf and chew on it.  It smells good to just crush a leaf for that fabulous fragrance.  Or crush it into your tea cup for a refreshing flavorful sip of brew.

These Eyes

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I’ve often wished that I could take pictures with my eyes.  I’d love to show you an image of a vulture that attempts a landing on a tree branch.  As the vulture settles, the dead branch breaks and falls to earth.  The vulture dropped a couple of feet, built up enough air speed, and then soared away.  I saw it, but can only talk about it now.

There have been countless other times I’ve seen a meteor, a landscape or critters just living out the drama that we call life.  I’ve so wanted to capture those moments and share them with you.  Meditating on this, I realized that I do capture those images on the imperfect canvas of my memory.

Last night, it happened again.  The sun was setting as I looked out the window.  Wow!  The sky was glowing with the red-shifted light of the setting sun.  I wanted to capture that so I ran to the office as fast as I could gimp.  With camera in hand, I went out onto the front deck to capture this image:

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Too late!  The magic was gone.  The camera never sees what the eyes do anyway.

Those grapes were probably sour.  So why should I care?

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Tomato

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It makes no difference if you call it toe-MAY-toe or toe-MAH-toe, it is a major staple in our veggie garden.  We love it fresh, sliced and raw.  Sylvia might add a bit of sugar.  I’ll give it a bit of salt and hit it with pepper.  Refreshing, clean taste.

Best of all it is BLT time.  I don’t like store-bought tomatoes for this treat.  Only our own, fresh from the garden will do.  Accept no substitutes.

Oh tomato, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.

  1. Raw and eaten while standing in the garden with juicing dripping from the chin
  2. Raw and sliced on a plate or in a BLT
  3. Juice (Sylvia has put up several jars of this and the following too)
  4. Diced
  5. Tomato sauce
  6. Spaghetti sauce
  7. and my very favorite . . . SALSA!

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Those may look like some mild jalapeños in that jar of salsa.  Don’t be fooled.  Those are Serrano peppers, which are about five times as hot as jalapeños and about ten times cooler than habaneros.  This year’s salsa is a big hit for us.  We’d rank it about medium to medium-hot.  Perfect!  The proof is in how fast the first batch disappeared–never made it into the jar.

Our jalapeños didn’t fare so well this year.  It must have been all the rain.  We even had to buy some to enjoy Sylvia’s poppers.

Anyone for nachos?

Surrounded by Beauty

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Just open your eyes
Beauty encompasses you
See, rejoice, be glad

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The green plant that surrounds the flowers is New Zealand spinach.  We love it as its leaves are thicker than traditional spinach and (more important) it doesn’t bolt in warm weather.  Beautiful greens from spring until first frost!

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The mulch that Barbara and Bryant put down in Sylvia’s granny garden is still controlling weeds very well.  Looks like I need to go out there for twenty minutes and do a little clean up.

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The end of summer is on us, and fall arrives next week.  These blossoms tell me that it will soon be autumn.  Enjoy the warm earth and cooler air of the season.

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Do you think we need more color in this corner?

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This is here to remind us that beauty is wherever you find it.  What do you see around you?

Standing Guard

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Phoebe watches over our garden

Phoebe watches over our garden

For the last several years, Phoebe comes to stay with us.  We must grow nice bugs for her to eat.  You’ll usually see a pair (sometimes two), Sitting on the posts or fence around our garden.

She sits still as a statue and then swoops down, grabs a snack and returns to watch for another.  There are times when she has to land in order to dig out one from among the grass in the lawn.  On the garden side, it’s usually much easier.

I enjoy watching these beauties as they help us by controlling the bug population.  Being fly catchers, they are also very agile on the wing.

This, of course, begs the question, “If Phoebe Bird married Brad Beebee, would she be Phoebe Beebee?”

Three Reasons

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Ever have one of those days?

Ever have one of those days?

It’s nearly 4 PM and I’m still sipping on my morning coffee.  I offer three reasons for that.

1. My insulated cup keeps my coffee hot for hours.  (More than four even.)

2. I sip on my coffee.  (I don’t race to get it down.  It tastes too good to gulp it down.)

3. I got a late start.  (Yes, it was before noon.)

This probably never happens to you.  Or does it?