shades of pink

A chrysanthemum wearing shades of pink provides a bright splash of color.

at Reid State Park

Can you see the wind?

The temperature yesterday was in the low 50s but it felt much colder as the wind-whipped air flowed from the ocean. I was happy I had thrown a fleece vest and a rain jacket into the car before I headed to Reid State Park - they were the right layers to keep me warm.

High tide directed my feet along the rocky coastline.

Waves rolling onto the shore showed a frothy layer of (sea) foam.

More photos from today's walk in Reid State Park can be seen in the gallery
from Portland to midCoast Maine :: 2015 starting with this photo and ending here.

tidal transition

I headed for the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge late this morning, arriving an hour after the tide started the transition from high tide to low. The sand near the water was firm, a good walking surface.

It was a good day to walk by the ocean, to listen to the sound of the waves, to look at the water, to marvel at the reflections of the clouds on the still wet sand.

More photos from today's coastal walk can be viewed in the gallery Parker River and... 2015 starting with this photo and ending here.

chrysanthemums

Longwood Gardens' chrysanthemum exhibit was still in place when I visited last weekend. I was quite surprised by the number of (what appeared to be different) flowers that wear the same name.

Chrysanthemum variation...

What beautiful flowers!

More photos can be seen in the gallery Longwood Gardens :: 2015.

running

Don't tell Baxter! He thinks my visit this past weekend was just to see him when it was time to be shared with my mom and sister (yes, and Baxter too).

Baxter just loves to run in the woods!

leaves in red

A few leaves in red are still clinging to tree branches.

in a conservatory

Today was a day to wander in the conservatory at Longwood Gardens, a day to enjoy the sight of many different types and colors of chrysanthemums. What beautiful flowers!

time conundrum

I'm sitting at Logan Airport waiting for a plane.

That's really only partially true - I'm waiting, the pilots are waiting, the plane is sitting outside. There are ground delays in Philadelphia that have moved our scheduled departure out two hours so we're waiting for permission to board and take off.

The funny thing is, I just looked at my boarding pass. The departure time shows our new projected departure time of 7:28 PM. The next line shows the expected arrival time, at 7:17 PM. Boston and Philadelphia both live in the same time zone so I don't think time will move backwards between these two cities. That's an oops! a rather interesting defect (in the software).

an orchid, posed

I was delighted to see orchids when I visited the greenhouses of Lyman Estates last weekend. The flowers are delicate; the bloom is long lasting.

paired

A pair of butterflies perch on a green leaf, one moving, one standing still.

I have always been fascinated by the two-sided nature of this type of butterfly. One side of their wings is patterned brown, the other is bright blue. You can see a tiny bit of the blue in the fluttering butterfly's (opened) wings.

roots

It's amazing to see some of the root structure that allows this tree to stand on the edge of a pond.

in a greenhouse

Brr! The temperature stayed chilly today and the wind was howling. To counter the effects of the cool air I decided it was a good day for a greenhouse visit. I headed to the greenhouses of the Lyman Estate in the hopes of seeing some color.

The bougainvillea in the greenhouse created a splash of bright pink that was visible from outside. As I walked into the next greenhouse I was treated by the sight of orchids in many different colors. Visiting flowers today made me happy.

More photos from today's visit can be seen in the gallery greenhouses of Lyman Estate - 2015 starting with this photo and ending here.

delicate

A flower, a glasswing butterfly posing sideways, delicate...

watching

This bird lives among the butterflies at Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory. He was happily eating and keeping an eye on the people, making sure that we stayed away from his food sources.

lined in trees

My eyes were drawn to this tree-lined path in Odiorne Point State Park.

butterfly morning

This morning was a butterfly morning. I headed to the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory to spend some time watching the delicate creatures fly, feed, and light on plants and people. I had several butterflies land on me as I was enjoying their antics and attempting to capture them in photos.

The temperature was quite warm in the conservatory; the butterflies were happy and active. Some were flying through the air, some were perched on flowers drinking and fluttering their wings.

Some butterflies never seemed to stand still.

Others were quite happy to pose for photos.

More photos from today's butterfly visit can be seen in the gallery flitter, flutter, butterfly! starting with this photo and ending here.

along the coast

The air was cooler than yesterday and the wind was howling. It was a good day for a walk along the coast.

unseasonable warmth

It's November, yet the weather wizard has given us a spate of warm days. No complaints from me - I'm happy to have a chance to walk in summer-like temperatures.

To go along with the warmth, here are some flowers captured in early October.

oak leaves

It must be getting late in leaf season; oak leaves are wearing burnished colors instead of summer green.

a walk in the woods

The sky was gray, the air was dry, and the temperature was reasonable for a November morning. November! How did that happen?

It felt like a good day for a walk in the woods so I headed to Maudslay State Park. As I walked my feet crunched through drying leaves on the ground. I followed a loop, passing through sleeping gardens, walking among trees, smiling a hello at other people wandering in the park.

More photos from today are available in the gallery Maudslay State Park 2015 starting with this photo and ending here.

first impressions :: Microsoft Band 2

I've been wearing a Microsoft Band since the formal release of the product earlier this year. I like the tracking ability it provides, following both activity and sleep.

I was happy with the band other than the difficulty I was having getting the charging cable to connect and be recognized. Unfortunately it connected on the underside of the band, the part that was exposed to sweat from exercise.

A few weeks ago I saw the announcement of the new Microsoft Band 2 with a release date of October 30, 2015. I looked at the product information and saw enough to know I wanted to upgrade. I placed an order on the Microsoft web site and sat back to wait.

Friday was October 30th, the day that the new Band 2 was officially available. My new band shipped directly from China with a delivery date planned for the 30th. The box was adorned with this warning:

It arrived Friday morning and was promptly plugged in to charge. As soon as it was powered on it went through the set-up process. The connection to my old band was removed from my phone and the new Band 2 was set up to use.

The look and feel has changed from a flat front with batteries on the side of the band making the band feel a bit clunky to a curved front with a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 coated OLED touchscreen. The sides of the band no longer house the battery; they are made of a soft material. The charging point has moved to the inside of the outer clasp, a piece of the device that is not touched by skin and sweat. The charger snaps in place with a very tight connection.

The original Band was fairly comfortable to wear but the feel of the new band and the resulting comfort is much better. I believe the Gorilla Glass face will wear much better than the face of the old band.

I had my old band set to show the time and day when it wasn't in a band function. The options with the old band was to show the time or to leave the display blank. I'm using it as a watch as well as a fitness device so I chose to show the time. There is a new option on the new band for the time, "rotate on". That means that the display is blank when I am not actively using it; rotating my wrist wakes it up to show the time.

For the most part the functions match those on the previous version of the band. There is the addition of "floors" tracking which tracks the elevation change. My floors count for the day is currently 29. Hmm... I hiked at a park this morning and then did a fast walk this afternoon. There were a few hills, but the equivalent of 29 floors? That feels a bit off. That's OK though, it's the distance that I'm really interested in and based on my knowledge of the routes near home the distance and steps logged still appear reasonable.

So far I'm quite happy with the upgrade.