Scribbles and Photos

White Azalea (Conservatory Garden) I am giddy with excitement.  It is April 6, 2012 and Fred Couples is tied for the lead of the Masters.  One has to love this -- he is (like me) a 1959 baby and there he sits at the top of the leaders board of the Masters.  At 52, in shock (his sentiment, not mine). Creamy Magnolia A confession, I started watching golf because of Tiger Woods. I was enamored of the idea of Woods - the idea of Earl's commitment and that grand arrival of Tiger on the scene.  Twenty-one.  Winning the Masters by 12 strokes in 1997.  All of sudden I was becoming familiar with irons, putters, and drivers.  Chipping out of a sand trap, no problem -- Tiger I have you covered from the cheap seats (aka my living room).   I'm rooting for you.  I liked the idea of Tiger winning --- just like I liked the idea of Serena and Venus Williams.  Here were kids who came roaring out of nowhere (some may dispute that but I think it i...

Sunken Wreck II (Tasmania) This last weekend, I had the good fortune to attend my very f irst robotics competition to watch my niece's team compete in the Rebound Rumble.  They didn't do so well (sorry K!).  But, I was struck by a couple of things -- although the teams are competing, there is more of a friendly rivalry here than, well, hmm, how to put this?  A high school football league in any state  (but then again, football is a sport where some pro teams pay a bonus for inflicting injury and so maybe that is not a a fair comparison). These teams actually help each other out in the pit (this is where robots go between competitions) and the game always has a cooperation element built into it where individual teams have to work together to achieve a common goal.  The teams compete in alliances of three teams and within the game there is a game where opposing alliances can cooperate to earn more points.  This is all pretty good if you ask me.  E...

So, that I love ginkgo trees should be readily apparent from previous posts to this little blog of mine.  They are coming to life these days here in the midst of New York City where they line city streets and are scattered throughout Central, Riverside, and other city parks.  It's a magical thing to see tiny little ginkgo leaves unpack from the tight confines of their winter homes.  I don't have time to do that much writing this week.  Or is it that I lack the brainpower to form full thoughts?    Hmm, at this time of night (after 11:00) and year (March heading into April), I am thinking it is the latter rather than the former. So, herewith a few assorted photos that tell the story of ginkgoes over the past several weeks.  More to follow as the mood and the energy level match up. Looking a bit like dinosaurs as the buds start to break open..... Those leaves are just hankering to bust out...... And burst out they do....... ...

Cherry Blossoms (NYC) If it's Sunday morning, I can generally be found trudging back and forth between the building laundry room and my apartment.  My own washer/dryer combo has been broken for a year now and I am eternally torn between replacing it and repairing it.  So I do my laundry downstairs with my neighbor from another floor whose name I do not know.  We exchange pleasantries every week.  She has a daughter who moved to Alaska (for love) that she plans to visit this spring.  In turn, she knows that I just went to Canada for a couple of weeks.  My Sunday morning routine will often include a dash to the Dunkin Donuts -- coffee for me, OJ without pulp for Miguel the doorman.  Miguel, like most NYC doormen, probably knows everything there is to know about me.  Those lazy Sunday mornings always include Law & Order playing in the background as I putter around my apartment (or more often around Facebook, that evil time suck to quot...

Droplets (Shakespeare's Garden) Today is World Water Day, following close on the heels of March 21st which was World Forestry Day, World Sleep Day, and International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination -- all wrapped into one day.  Although yesterday, the only day I saw commemorated was World Forestry Day.  Most notably by Google which used its street view technology to immerse us in the landscape of the Amazon River.  Pretty cool stuff.  I would have enjoyed celebrating World Sleep Day though -- I think a collective postprandial nap around the world around 2:00 pm in each time zone would be just the right thing to celebrate that day. Leaf Boat (Conservatory Garden) I was curious about the World Days and so set off to investigate this on the Web.  It took a lot of trial and error to find an article on Hub Pages about world important days with an actual list.  Tomorrow is World Meteorological Day -- it makes sense to have a run of d...

Purple Haze Although yesterday was the "official" first day of spring, it seems like it's been here for about three weeks now in New York City.  The temperatures have been balmy, leaves are starting to unfurl, and all sorts of flowers are making their appearance, bringing with them the hunter gatherers that spend their day flitting from flower to flower gathering the raw ingredients for honey.  Every morning, the birds seem to be singing a little louder -- celebrating the arrival of warmer weather no doubt. Gathering Nectar Although there is still a bare spot in the Conservatory Garden where my star magnolia once stood, the flowers are busting out all around and the tulips are growing ever bigger with each passing week.  I am always a little surprised by spring -- it seems to creep up on me when I least expect it, bringing with it the need to think about what to wear (coat or no coat) and thoughts of the hot summer days that are all too soon to follow. Tuli...