Petals

Patterns in white & purple

Quiet roads

An early morning ride on quiet roads... two lanes, shaded by trees, peaceful.

Glistening water, shapes in sand, colors

The annual Hampton Beach Sand Sculpture context pulled me to the coast this morning. That was just a small part of my wanders though.

Vehicle stashed at Hampton Beach State Park, I walked north along the beach, heading to the location of the sand sculptures. The waves glittered in the morning light, painted with multiple reflections of the glowing sun.

I stood for a while when I reached the sculptures, watching the artists extend their work. Fleeting works of art...

A bit further up the coast, Fuller Gardens were waiting. This was my first visit there; it won't be the last. I started my visit at the Koi Pond, enjoying the shade, listening. What is that sound? It was a repeating sound, calming, but one that I didn't think was created by nature. I listened, moved closer, and found... this:

Water, dripping from a bamboo pipe into another piece of bamboo. The water changes the balance of the bamboo, it pivots, the water empties. As the bamboo returns to a position to receive water, a hollow click/clunk is heard, a sound that carries through the garden.

And then, it was time to wander through the roses. There are perennials around the edges, with the center sections of two large garden areas filled with roses.

A few samples of my day:








Interested in more photos from today? You can see them in the gallery Glistening water, shapes in sand, colors.

Wild

...a wild storm, that is!

There was a severe thunderstorm watch posted for the afternoon, yet the sky remained blue for most of the day. Late in the afternoon, clouds rolled in. As I walked to my car, the rain started.

Rain, light gray sky. Darker, darker, rain pelting down...

Feel the wind! Leaves on trees moving, wind pushing the car as I drove... Hold on to that steering wheel!

Jagged lightening, cloud to ground...

A rainbow, wide and low...

A little further on, another rainbow, then another...

And then, blue sky returned.

Clouds moving

The sky was painted with interesting clouds, moving, billowing, changing, leaving.

I snapped this photo just before I headed out walking early this evening. By the time my walking feet wandered, the sky had changed again. It was mainly blue, decorated with high flung wisps of white.

Glowing yellow, golden

Rabbit, rabbit!

I arrived home this afternoon to be greeted by several rabbits outside of my door. I pulled into the garage, then walked back out to make sure they hadn't followed me in. After all I wouldn't want to trap a rabbit inside!

They hadn't moved, so...

I ran inside to grab my camera, hoping that they would stick around for a while.
Posing, running, hopping, hiding.

Meet Watson

Meet Watson, a child of IBM Research.

Yes, you're right. I talk to computers every day. They follow my lead, and sometimes I imagine they can talk back to me...

I was fascinated to read the New York Times article, What Is I.B.M.’s Watson?. Watson is a question answering computer, and oh! I'd love to see the actual match-up on Jeopardy.

Curious? Click on the video on this page - IBM-Research: Jeopardy!.

Sunday flowers

From heat to chill

Ah, a summer day, hot, humid...

I was dripping with sweat when I returned home from my morning ride, so hot.

In the middle of the afternoon I answered the call of the coast, heading back to Maine to see last Sunday's misty shores in a different light. It was in the mid 80s and still humid when I left home. Oh! What a nice surprise. The temperature along the coast was just 70 degrees, and the wind was howling.

Words with photos, Acadia memories

The words from our quick trip to Acadia National Park last month emerged while we were traveling, and the photos popped up a bit after our return. Words without photos, and photos without words...

I jumped onto Denise's computer while she was at work this week to pick a few photos to scatter among the words. I know, you already read our words! If you're interested in seeing some of the places described in words through our eyes, click here to take another quick look through our Acadia blog entries.

Oh! I added a couple of new blog entries too - to share a photo of someone we met along the road to the Schoodic Peninsula, and to add some photos from behind glass at the top of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge.

--- Rover

Mixed color

Misty

Morning, gray with a possibility of rain...

In spite of the forecast I followed my desire to walk by the water. Light rain started falling almost immediately as I pointed my car towards the northeast, not a mile from home. I quickly rejected the thought of turning around and continued rolling towards Maine. My stopping point? Kittery Point, decorated in mist and fog.

There were two places I thought I'd wander - a section of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, and Fort Foster. The sound of dive-bombing mosquitoes cut my walk at Rachel Carson short. That trail is on my "must return" list for a dry day - today a walk along the road had to suffice. Then I moved on to Fort Foster, a park on Gerrish Island. Today's walk was quite enjoyable, but this park too needs another visit, a visit on a day when I can see beyond the mist.

A few more photos from today can be found in my gallery South Coastal Maine - 2010. When you hit the photos wearing a blue sky, you'll know you've progressed beyond today's misty gray.

Curving

Fragrance

A light breeze graced my walk with its presence, calming...

As I walked past a garden, the sweet smell of honeysuckle wafted to me. What a wonderful scent!

Two seasons apart

There's a spot just outside of the Wild Gardens of Acadia that caught my eye on my visit in November and that jumped out at me again on my recent wander.

It's clear that my camera and I weren't standing in exactly the same spot, but it's close. Late spring, late fall, green, brown...

Look over my shoulder

The photos from my too quick visit to Acadia National Park have jumped from my camera and are now available for viewing. You can start with the top level gallery, A taste of Acadia - May 2010, or you can click on the photos below to enter a specific gallery.

A few favorites:

Colors, curves, angles:


Circling Mount Desert Island:


Rocky Schoodic Peninsula:


Late day light... Acadia:

Interested in words? You can find my ramblings in my blog entries tagged Acadia May 2010.

Between rainstorms

From rain to calm to rain again... It was a crazy weather day, a bit unstable, but I still managed some outside time.

I hoped to find a non-rainy window for a wander on two wheels, but the changes happened so fast that I opted for wandering by foot instead. I almost headed out with a camera in hand for my morning fast walk. A quick glance at the sky convinced me that an umbrella might be more fitting, and it was. The sky got progressively darker, and after a while a light rain started to fall. I wandered through neighborhoods that showed some of the damages from the storms that started yesterday. There were trees down. Poles carrying cables were down too. I found it interesting that none of cables appeared to be broken, although the tether to some houses was pulled out. I suspect there are a few calls out to electricians for help.

By the time I returned home the sky had turned from dark to bright once again. I felt the pull of the Stephens-Coolidge Place gardens (yes, I know, visits there are definitely becoming an addiction) so I took advantage of the lull in the storms to wander there. Although the gardens are only a mile and a half from home, I decided to drive there today. That was a good decision. After a good garden wander the sky again turned dark, and I heard the rumble of thunder. It was time to head home.

Purple