Tuesday, June 24, 2014

In which - just a bunch of random photos

This is me on the top deck of the Vassar Hospital parking garage. We stopped by week before last to drop off some flowers for a friend's mom (who's now out and doing fine.)














That's the top of the main building behind me. It was just too crowded to get any good pics of the front entrance, so we didn't try.

Maddy said that there's one really odd thing about it now - what's now the lobby used to be a big courtyard in front of the entrance. Sometime between 1983 and 2002, they put a window wall around it and turned it into a new, larger lobby. The thing that makes it odd is that now several rooms in the Cardio-Thoracic Unit have a lovely view of the lobby instead of outside.



You can't beat the view from the parking deck, though. This is a nice moody shot of the Mid-Hudson Bridge.












That's Illinois Mountain, of NOAA Weather Radio transmitter fame, in the background. I think the taller one is the transmitter and the smaller one is a cellphone tower. (It's also the transmitter for the local classic rock station.)









The Hudson River.













~*~

And the Hudson again, this time from Cold Spring. This was taken about a month ago. Believe it or not, the sun actually does come out around here. It just wasn't out either of these two days.











It reminded Aura of Scotland, though, so it wasn't all bad. I asked her if she ever gets homesick, but she pointed out that she's a deva and can travel pretty much wherever and whenever she wants, almost by thought. I admit I'm a bit jealous of that. I think Maddy is, too. :)









Just a picture from near Beacon to prove that yes, we do have sun here.












More sun. Maddy usually makes taking these look easy. This one, not so much. I think she discovered a rock the hard way when she scraped her elbow on it.
















She said it was worth it for these shots, though.


















Pink? Purple? Purkle?

That last one sounds like a cross between a pug and a turtle. Or would that be a purgle?









Caterpillar girl. Trust me, there's one there even if it's not in the picture...

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

In which - Happy Go Fishing Day!

Which may seem a little odd after World Ocean Day, but hey - everything in moderation.

"As long as you do it responsibly, and don't take more than you need," Aura said. "I think your fella was talking about it in that interview you showed me."

(My fella? I kind of wish. She means John Ashton, who does indeed like fishing.)

 "I've never tried it," I admitted.

"I did. At a rainbow trout farm in Tennessee when I was a kid. Somewhere there's probably a photo of me with a hat like yours and a fishing pole," Maddy said. "And no, I never caught a thing. All these poor fish in a cement pond probably not being fed so idiots like us could come by, rent a pole and pretend we were actually out there being sporting and all and nope - not a nibble." She shook her head. "I've got a bad feeling it was the aquatic version of that awful buffalo farm in Bless The Beasts and the Children."

"Well, back in Scotland we do it a wee bit differently," Aura said. "Of course, when you're a deva, a minnow school is pretty much the equivalent of the salmon run. But watch. I'll show you how to do your Woodstock fella proud. You reel out a bit of line, then you swing it back like this....."







"Wait, what? Oh bugger - excuse my language."

















"And that's more than I ever caught," Maddy said with a laugh.

"Besides, fish paralyzed by helpless fits of laughter are somewhat easier to catch," Aura added. 

(It's all kind of moot since none of us have a fishing license, but oh well.)

*No curtains were harmed in the making of this photostory*

Sunday, June 8, 2014

In which - Happy World Oceans Day 2014!

On behalf of Zephyr, Cyan and Mystic (the baby betta's) oceanic relatives, we'd like to wish everyone a very happy World Oceans Day!

And check this link out: Fabien Cousteau's Mission 31. Thirty-one days under the sea. Sort of like living in the world's most awesome aquarium without having to scrape algae off the front of the tank every other day to see the fish.

Maddy: "The plants should take care of that. Eventually...."