Farewell to the Cape. See You Next Year.

Amazing sky Saturday night!  Low tide at First Encounter Beach.

I had to leave after this photograph so I wouldn't be late for dinner.

 If I could have waited ten minutes longer, the sky would have been cherry red
and the open water would have been royal blue.

Strolling Provincetown

 On Cape Cod for a few days.

Tourists.

More tourists.

Provincetown Public Library from the pier.

"They also faced the sea."

Cape Cod

Sunset at First Encounter Beach.

Everyone should have good friends like Dick and Mary to visit

in their beautiful gray shingled home overlooking a marsh and the bay.

My Good Friend Nydia

Nydia, the Blind Girl of Pompei, is in the first gallery at New Britain Museum of Art.

Whenever I visit the museum, I take another photograph of her because the curators keep 

changing the artwork behind her.  In July she stood in front of a mirror-image
self-portrait by Provincetown artist Nancy Ellen Craig (1990).

 In August, it was an aerial nighttime view 

of London by Gabi Trinkaus, Lo Se Mo (2014).

A few days later I visited Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and visited again with Nydia.

Her surroundings are quite different.  And more formal.
There she stands before Niagara (1879) by William Morris Hunt.

The Annual Garden

The roses at Elizabeth Park were less gorgeous than usual this year,

but the annual garden has been wonderful.

I have taken numerous photos of the annual garden this summer, but none really showed

how pretty it was, so I didn't post many.  Until Monday, when the solution occurred.

Use a stepladder!

Mary Lou and Frank

Mary Lou and Frank have been friends for 65 years.  They were in the same social circle, went to the same dances, played cards and socialized.  Both lost their longtime spouses a few years ago.

Today Frank and Mary Lou are boy friend and girl friend.
I met them in Elizabeth Park.
Cute kids.

Susan Three Times

Susan works at the New Britain Museum of American Art.

Her bright but conservative pink dress caught my eye, so I went

looking for somewhere to pose her.

The first idea was to place Susan in front of Martin Kline's 2007 three dimensional work,

Empoisonner, meaning "to poison."  The artist statement says that some of nature's most

beautiful creatures are poisonous.  (Susan, the painting's label says that, not me!)

The second idea was to place Susan with Sam Feinstein's 1950s abstract painting, Pieta III.
The label has lots of words that I know, but taken together I have no idea what it said.

(Sorry again, Susan, I didn't write the label.)

The third idea was to place Susan in front of the vibrantly colored and densely layered collage

painting, Incredulity (2012), by Nobu Fukui.  Looked at closely, this painting has
images of Batman, Elizabeth Taylor and Winston Churchill, among others.

(That "vibrantly layered and densely layered" stuff is pretty good.
  It came from the label.)

Which do you prefer?  My own vote is the third.

Two Caras

Cara graduated from college recently with interests in writing, poetry and art history.

She works at the New Britain Museum of American Art, where this 1888 portrait
by  John Singer Sargent hangs.  The name of the painting?

"Miss Cara Burch."

The observant among you will note the frilled shoulders on both Caras' blouses.

Verne

When I ask a West Hartford woman wearing a sling, "How did you get that?" 

I don't expect the answer to be, "I slipped on a step on a Paris subway."

Verne is a vivacious grandmother with seven grandchildren, most in their teens.

She takes one or two on a big trip every year.  This year Verne took her 15- and 

12-year old grandchildren to visit Paris and London.

The separated shoulder didn't slow her down.

Copley Square

Boston's Copley Square hosts a friendly architectural competition between I. M. Pei (the
glass-walled skyscraper from the late 20th century) and H. H. Richardson
(Trinity Church from a century earlier).

Trinity Church probably wins the popular vote.

To see more photos with reflections, please visit James' blog, Weekend Reflections.

Fenway Park

I went to Boston Tuesday night for a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Angels.

David Ortiz got the Red Sox off to  good start with a first inning home run.
Big Papi is a modest man and never plays to the crowd.

"Hot dogs here!"  I went down below to get an Italian sausage instead.

Fenway Park is a wonderful place to be when the sky is dark and clear.

Some fans have their own special routines when Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline"
is sung in the seventh inning.

The Red Sox have two Japanese pitchers.  When Koje Uehara enters the game in the ninth inning,
it is usually "lights out" for the other team.  But, Tuesday night, Uehara didn't
have his magic.  Angels catcher Chris Iannetta drove in
the lead run with a double on this swing.

The Angels won 4 - 3.  Still, a beautiful evening in Boston.

More Faces of Hartford

Lloyd calls himself "old school."  He is 85 years old and worked many years

at Pratt & Whitney.  He says that he wears a hat every day.

During the week Keirsten works in a sedate real estate office, 

but her real passion is roller derby!

Shakyla is 17.  This summer she is working in her mother's clothing boutique.

And, yes, she is signed to a modeling agency.

Laree operates a business called Vintage Chic by Design.  She also organizes special events.  

She recently closed her store, but she still operates the business online.
Laree is thinking of opening a new store for the holidays.

Bark

Mother Nature is one heck of an artist, don't you think?

Trunk of a tree seen during a hike in New Hampshire.

Wild Bill

Wild Bill has operated a nostalgia store for at least 30 years in Middletown.

Bobble heads.  Posters.  Tie-dyed shirts.  Movie and sports ephemera.

Old records, 8-tracks and DVDs.

Etc.

To see other murals, please visit Monday Mural.

West Street Grill

West Street Grill is a very popular restaurant on the main street of

Litchfield.  Many prominent local residents like

film star Meryl Streep dine

here regularly.

Faces of Torrington

The main street of Torrington was blocked off for a street fair, so I parked and walked through.

This singer was giving his all for a syrupy love song.

Krawdaddy has a New Orleans music show on Torrington's community radio station, 

WAPJ (89.9 FM), and Joel's show is called Unhinged.

I almost signed up for a subscription to the local newspaper to reward a woman who could
wear a balloon hat without looking embarrassed.

Kathy had a booth selling clothes.

And Herman was a Seabee in the Navy.

This is the Part Where I Nod and Act Like I'm Listening

                              Jack:      Where did you get that tee shirt?
                              Steve:    From a girl friend.
                              Jack:      Your girl friend?  I'll bet she is a former girl friend.
                              Steve:    Yes.  A former girl friend.

Katharine Hepburn

The late actress Katharine Hepburn was born to a wealthy Hartford family and

made Connecticut her home throughout her illustrious career.

The Connecticut Historical Society has an exhibition

of costumes she wore in her films and plays.
(Including "On Golden Pond.")

Through September.

It was raining heavily yesterday, so I dipped into the archives. 

A Pre-Dawn Run in the Park

They are out running early in Elizabeth Park.

As early as 5 a.m.

Before the sun comes up.

How do I know?
Sometimes I don't sleep very well.

Summer in Connecticut

This one is from back in West Hartford.

Moving Day in New Hampshire

Woke up early, saw a pretty sunrise on the lake, and rushed outside with my camera.

Left Squam Lake.  Drove through Sandwich and noticed a beautiful little public library.

Went to the Audubon Society's Loon Preservation Center in Moultonborough

and learned some more about loons' lives and challenges.

(I photographed this loon a few days earlier on Squam Lake.)

Drove through North Conway.  (You really don't want to see photos of all the factory outlet stores.)

But, ended up at the charming Notchland Inn at Hart's Location in Crawford Notch.
G'nite, folks.  Back in Connecticut tonight.