The Hartford Skyline

Tomorrow the City Daily Photo bloggers will post photographs of their cities' skylines,
to illustrate the August  theme of My City's Skyline.

This photo is from a couple of years ago, and I can't do much better.
Still, I have a couple of new photographs to show tomorrow.

Most folks from elsewhere only see the Hartford skyline as they pass through from
northern New England on their way to New York City or further south.

I am still in South Africa.  Back in a few days.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Sun and Clouds

The clouds were dark gray but the late afternoon sun

poked through one clear opening.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Field

A pretty field in Sun Valley.

Out of the Jurisdiction: A Hiding Place

Willa likes to play in enclosed places.  Her favorite spot is under a spreading bush, 

next to an aloe plant.  Late afternoon in Sun Valley is truly the golden hour.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Willa and her Sleeping Bag

Back in Joburg.  Willa likes to play in a fluffy sleeping bag.  She is wearing a sweater bought
in Peru in March.  It arrived in Joburg not a minute too soon.  She is bursting out of it.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Walk to the Ocean

The walk to the Indian Ocean was different from other beach access walks I have taken.  The land

just beyond the beaches is densely forested, so the walk is like hiking through a wooded tunnel.

Gorgeous.  

Along the way I saw a few brightly colored butterflies.

With limited wifi, I have not been able to identify them yet. 

Out of the Jurisdiction: Dolphins and Things

Confession time.  I wasn't really excited about bouncing around in a little Zodiac, 

so I gave Susie and Wessel my new underwater camera.  They did great.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Susie and Willa at the Beach

After a short worried period when she needed her mama's protection,
Willa got down and toddled around the sand and then into the ocean.

Out of the Jurisdiction: On the Indian Ocean

We took a five day trip to the eastern coast of South Africa, in KwaZulu Natal.  

For three days we were at a nice resort with access to beaches on the Indian Ocean.

No one as far as you can see to the left, no one as far as you can see to the right.

The only signs of humanity are tire tracks of the vehicles taking guests

to the boats where they will watch whales and dolphins
 and snorkel and scuba dive.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Winter Blooms

Out of the Jurisdiction: Horse Country

Sun Valley, where Susie and Wessel live, is horse country.  

Horse shows are on the weekend.

On our three mile daily walk, I'll bet the dogs and I pass more than 100 horses.

Out of the Jurisdiction: My Walking Buddies

The girls lead me on a daily three-mile walk on a dirt road loop around Sun Valley.  

No leashes.  Those are for civilization.

The ostrich is no longer frightened by the girls.  I think they are mellowing and

harassing the poor bird a bit less aggressively.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Thatch

This young woman was with a group in the fields picking dry grass and bundling it into thatch.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Johnny Clegg

We went to a Johnny Clegg concert.  Clegg is a longtime revered South African songwriter and musician whose music is based on Zulu and Celtic influences.  His early bands featured 

white and black musicians singing songs with coded anti-apartheid messages.  

Clegg's performances often feature his energetic foot-stomping Zulu-based dances.

In the song shown above, Clegg is backed by the award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir.

One of Clegg's best known songs is Asimbonanga, a 1987 protest song dedicated to Nelson Mandela,

who came onstage and danced to it in 1999 when he was South African President.  After Mandela's death in 2013, Clegg re-recorded it.  Today is Nelson Mandela Day in South Africa. 

Out of the Jurisdiction: Making a Fire Break

Winter is the dry season in southern Africa.  The grass that grew in summer is tinder dry.  So, field hands create fire breaks by torching a strip of grass at the edge of a field and quickly drenching it.

The hope is that any fire that begins will run out of fuel when it hits the fire break

and won't be able to jump to the developed parcels.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Back in Joburg with Willa

Yup. I am visiting Susie, Wessel and 14-month old Willa outside Johannesburg for three weeks.

Willa is a chatterbox.  She doesn't speak English yet, and Wes says it is not Afrikaans,

so it must be Willanese.  She is also a professional-quality animal sound imitator.

Visiting Willa has increased my admiration for fellow blogger Bob Crowe, who regularly publishes

pristine photographs of his young granddaughters.  Bob, how do you get clear photos of a 

perpetual motion machine?  Do you photoshop out the banana on their eyelids, the 

smashed peas on their cheeks and . . . forgive me! . . . the snot dripping from their little noses?

Willa is a sweet, happy and adorable little girl and I am obviously mad about her.  But, you will probably get what Susie calls "realistic" images of Willa from time to time, not idealized ones.

My Evening Walk

The light was bad, it was getting dark and my cameras were packed away for a trip to South Africa.

So, I went for a walk.  My iPhone was in my pocket.  I wondered, if I set the phone to 

monochrome and shot things I might not usually shoot, how would they be?

See you tomorrow from Johannesburg.

Red Dress Race for Women

The annual race to raise awareness of heart disease in women took place last Saturday.

The young runners always impress me.

I admire the less young ones, too.

This woman runs every year.  She was featured in my fifth post on this blog back in 2010.

The leader came through with her lipstick and make-up intact.  Now, THAT was impressive.
Brittany Heninger is a 27-year old former UConn runner with a doctorate in physical therapy.