I'm Going to Miss the Playground with Willa

I got playground duty several times while Willa's mama and papa had things to do.

We went to Ana Grace's Love Wins playground in Elizabeth Park.

She is an adventurous little thing.  At 18 months, she insisted on playing on the playground 

for kids five years old and up.  Just like her mother.

Back to Florida for two weeks, but back to Connecticut for Thanksgiving.

I'm going to miss Willa (and her parents).

Planting Tulip Bulbs

I thought I was finished with the Elizabeth Park photographs for this season.  But, then I saw Bob Prill and another volunteer planting tulip bulbs in one of the annual beds.  Bob has been planting the annual garden for many years.  He has announced that this is his last year.  He will be missed.

The Steg is Back!

In September I wrote about the ambitious plan to strip Alexander Calder's monumental sculpture Stegosaurus of its badly faded paint, undertake some conservation measures to preserve
the sculpture for decades, and then repaint it with a new, tougher, longer lasting finish.  

It is almost done.  Some touch-up is being done in areas where the scaffolding interfered,

and some work needs to be done to the area around the base. 

The paint was modified from military camouflage paint.  The bright red color was developed with funding from the trust that owns the Steg, the Calder Foundation and the Department of Defense.

The project's sculptural conservator, Abigail Mack, shows us how well the new paint

matches the paint sample provided by the Calder Foundation.

A Warm November Day in Bushnell Park

November is not supposed to be like this.  On Wednesday the temperatures reached 70 degrees.

I walked around Hartford's Bushnell Park at lunch time.  The shirts were playing the skins in frisbee.

The soldiers and sailors arch was bathed in light.

As was winged victory.

And General Israel Putnam, always a favorite of mine, because 

he came from the Massachusetts town where I grew up.

I was also able to take a decent photograph of the Pump House Gallery at the southwest corner 

of the park, usually unphotographable in its dark shade.

It has been a looooooong fall foliage season

Yes, it is very pretty when the trees hold their leaves well into autumn.

But, it is time for the trees to drop the leaves.  If Connecticut has a significant snow or ice storm before the leaves drop, tree limbs will crack and power lines will follow.

Susan Raff

Connecticut is having a serious drought.  An environmental group has been battling Hartford's water agency (the Metropolitan District Commission) about non-disclosure of some sensitive documents.  The CBS affiliate sent their political reporter -- Susan Raff -- to cover a hearing.

Susan has been an investigative and business reporter before getting the State Capitol beat a few years ago.  She was born into the television news business.  Her father was with CBS 

in New York for more than 50 years.

Out of Focus

It was a cold and rainy September morning near my house in West Hartford.  

The high school students gathered at the corner to wait for the school bus.

I took a photograph through my hydrangea border.
My focus was a "fail" but the image was not.

City Daily Photo bloggers today will be showing out of focus images for the monthly theme day.

Click here to see them.