Unique's Photo Challenge: Power Lines

Power Lines over the Sudbury River.

See more of Unique's Photo Challenge here.

Shutterday: Grass

Marsh Grass along the Sudbury River

(One of these days I'll get around to writing up my kayak adventures.)

See more Shutterday here.

Pride

Thirty-nine years ago police raided a gay bar in Greenwich Village in New York City sparking a riot that is commemorated each year in Pride parades throughout the US. In the years since that riot and the first Pride parade, the purpose and tenor of the parade has changed.

We didn't stay long at the first Pride event we attended taking just a small amount of time to wander before heading off. Pride became a regular part of our lives during our active membership in GLOW (Gays and Lesbians of Watertown), a neighborhood social group. Most of the the years I sat at GLOW's table at the festival passing out information. Through GLOW I got involved with the Boston Pride Committee.

When I was a member of Boston's Pride Committee in the late 80s and early 90s, being gay or lesbian meant there was always the possibility of losing a job, friends, family and even your life. And the chants and speeches of the Pride parade and festival reflected that. Pride was the one time when it felt safe to be completely out. This was also a time when AIDS was at the front of the minds of many in the LGBT community and that was also reflected in the Pride events.

It has been years since I regularly attended the Pride parade and festival. We attended one or two Pride festivals after I left the committee, but other aspects of life have taken priority most years. I went to Pride on Saturday and did something I have never done before - I marched in the parade from start to finish. In all my previous years of involvement I have always been at the festival site, and only occasionally joined GLOW or the Pride Committee for the last couple of blocks.

What drew me to march this year is a group of people who have become an important part of my life since January. The story begins about 5 years ago. At that time I attended Meeting for Worship (Quaker) with my sister-out-law (the fabulous Shelley) at Princeton Friends Meeting. On each visit since then I have attended Meeting. At first it felt strange to sit in silence in a room full of people. But over the years it has become a treasured part of my visits. I thought about going to the Meeting closest to my house a number of times. Shyness and the need to be up and out early on Sunday morning kept me away. This January I took a class at the North Bennett Street School in Boston which required me to be up and out of the house before 7am for 5 Saturdays. Being the creature of habit that I am, it also meant that I was up and ready to be moving early on Sunday mornings.

So that first Sunday of January I went to Worship at Wellesley Friends Meeting. What I have found there is a welcoming community. I knew a couple of the members before, they sing in the Broadmoor Chamber Singers with Amy. When I first walked through the doors I wasn't sure if I was going to become a regular attender, but I have. Meeting has become a regular part of my week, and the people are becoming not just Friends but also friends.

Which brings me back to Saturday when I joined 13 other people from the Meeting to march in the Pride parade. There was a party atmosphere at the start. There were balloons and beads and lots of smiles. We took lots of pictures as we waited for the parade to start. The only politics evident were the political candidates working the crowd, and the Obama supporters just ahead of us in line.

We walked through the streets of Boston to the cheers of the crowd, though at least a few of those were for the free t-shirts being tossed from the motorized trolley in front of us. There were familiar faces in the crowd, and lots of smiles. I did okay until the pace picked up as we headed up Beacon Hill toward the State House. At that point I had to drop back, rest a moment and catch my breath before continuing on. I did finish the march – mostly by myself as a major gap had developed – and connected with the rest of our group on City Hall Plaza before heading home.

And now some twenty years after I attended my first Pride event, I can finally say that I have marched in the Pride parade.

Waiting for the start.

Ready to go.

Garden Tour

As my neighbors will no doubt tell you, I am a bad gardener. My lawn is mostly weeds, the bushes are in need of trimming and there are still fall leaves scattered about. The one bright spot is the perennial garden. Situated in the sunny spot where our driveway curves down to the garage the perennial garden is thriving. At the moment it is a study in purple and green with a splash of pink. Soon yellow will join the mix. When I went out to take pictures of it today I discovered that one of the lupin, which I thought had all died, has survived, though I don't have pictures of it.

Another element on which I am a terrible gardener is that I don't have a good chart of my garden and can't remember what a couple of the plants in it are called.

Looking across the lavender, which is starting to think about blooming.

Purple flower (the name escapes me).

Sage

Salvia

Another one I don't remember the name of.

Coreopsis bud.

This pale weed is growing at the edge of the garden.

Lensday: Sunshine

Shining Through the Trees

See more Lensday here.

Unique's Photo Challenge: Trio

Our dogwood has been loaded with blossoms this year, providing a visual feast and drawing my camera on an almost daily basis. The blossoms are fading now.

See more Unique's Photo Challenge here.

Tuesday Challenge: Towers

Galen Stone Tower
The carillon tower at Wellesley College.

See more Tuesday Challenge here.

Macroday: Cap

The top of one of my baseball caps.

See more Macroday here.

Photo Published

I've just gotten word that the picture of the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco shown above is being included in the Schmap guide to California. While there is no monetary compensation for this it's cool that my picture is being included. The Schmap guide is an online travel guide. The homepage is here, and the page with my picture is here.

Thursday Challenge: Shapes

Looking out the barn window at Codman Farm in February.

See more Thursday Challenge here.

PhotoSunday: Yellow

early spring daffodil

More PhotoSunday here.

See It Sunday: Bright

A bright orange flower in the bouquet Amy gave me on our anniversary in February.

More See It Sunday is here.

PhotoSunday: Spring

Spring night.
Before class started on Thursday night I spent some time watching these little guys practice. The uniform shirts were too big, they were missing as many balls as they stopped and they were having a blast!

See more PhotoSunday here.

Thursday Challenge: Spring

This pasque flower sits at the end of our front walk. I really love it's look. Unfortunately it is truly a Spring flower. It blooms for about a week and then is done until next year. In finding the link to the information about it I discovered that it's the state flower of South Dakota and the provincial flower of Manitoba. (And I think my picture is nicer than the one on the listing at wikipedia.) Another picture of it is here.

See more Thursday Challenge here.

Lensday: Purple

On the plaza in front of the hotel near where I work in.

(I'm having a lot of fun with my new camera, though I still need to figure out all of it's features. Work is still nuts, the conference for the users group that I'm president of is in less than 2 weeks and the summer softball league season starts in less than 2 weeks. So, if you don't hear much from me you'll know why.)

See more Lensday here.

Colors

cardinal red
against forsythia yellow
visual feast

See more color haiku here

Sad Day

My wife teases me occasionally about the number of cameras I own (if you count the hand-me-down from her Dad, the one with the broken light meter and the video camera I own 7). I regularly use three - a digital camera bought shortly before we went to Quebec in 2003, the waterproof digital camera I use when kayaking, and a 35mm film camera. The 5 year old digital camera is the work horse of the bunch. At least it was until yesterday. The shutter release stopped working consistently yesterday afternoon, and by this afternoon it stopped working completely.

After trying all of the non-invasive options we could think of, I decided to open up the camera well aware that at some point I would cross the point of no return. Fourteen teeny-tiny screws later a 1/4 inch piece of metal fell out. We were able to figure out that it was one half of the spring mechanism for the shutter. The completely worn out half, and it was not going back where it came from.

The good news is that I have other cameras. I will miss this camera, though. It has taken pictures of wonderful trips - snow in Quebec, the beach in San Diego, our honeymoon in Mexico, smiling children, softball games, flowers, most everything you've seen here that wasn't taken from my kayak.

I'll be adding another camera to my arsenal soon. Until then my waterproof digital will be pressed into service.

Tuesday Challenge: Crisp

Matzo which doesn't so much break as shatter.

More Tuesday Challenge here.

Macroday: Sneaker

The sneakers Amy keeps under her desk at work to pull on when she wants comfort.

See more Macroday here.

PhotoHunters: Glass

This is part of the ceiling in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. The glass flowers were made by Dale Chihuly. We have both admired his glass work from afar so this was a must see destination during our adventure in Las Vegas.

See more PhotoHunters here.