Bird Bonanza

The street where we are spending our week on Lake Michigan is a haven for birds. All these pictures have been taken the last few days at or within a short walking distance of the rental house.

Magnolia Warbler

White Crowned Sparrow

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

European Starling

Downy Woodpecker Male

Downy Woodpecker Female

Black Throated Blue Warbler Female

American Redstart Male

Smoky Mountain Monochrome

See more monochrome photos at Monochrome Maniacs.

Big Peach Rehab

On our recent trip south, we made our obligatory stop at the Big Peach Produce Market near Bruceville, Indiana, where we discovered the revered obelisk spotted with primer. It is our sincere hope that a fresh coat of yellow paint is soon to follow.

Vive les gros fruits!


Link to more information about the Big Peach.

Smoky Landscapes

A few landscape pictures from our recent trip to Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Giant Fruit in Southern Indiana

In an earlier post, I wrote about the Big Peach, a peculiar roadside landmark along US 41 near Bruceville, Indiana.


I would like to add a picture of another monument to fruit further south on 41, in Gibson County--the Giant Strawberry. It looks forlorn and sits among a patch of weeds in a field. I think it once marked a strawberry farm, but now just sits there with no indication of its history.

Hall of Mirrors

During a recent trip to Chicago, my photography tended toward a theme of reflections.

Self Portrait #1 in Funhouse Mirror - Navy Pier

Self Portrait #2 in Funhouse Mirror - Navy Pier

Cloud Gate, Millenium Park

Mary at Cloud Gate

Cloud Gate Reflection

Photographer and Ice, Cloud Gate, Millenium Park

All this reminded me of a shot I took at Harlaxtan Manor, Grantham, England in October:

Infinity

Shakespeare and Me

Here is the latest installment of my sporadic series of visits to sites associated with dead authors. Past visits have included the home and grave of Edgar Lee Masters in Petersburg, Illinois, places where Allen Ginsberg lived in Greenwich Village and in San Francisco, Jack London's estate (now a state park) in California, Washington Square Park in San Francisco, where Jack Kerouac drank port, and where a probably equally inebriated Richard Brautigan posed with his wife for the cover of Trout Fishing in America.

Shakespeare's Birthplace, Stratford-on-Avon

Shakespeare's Burial Site, Trinity Church, Stratford-on-Avon

Old Will is planted under the floor in front of the candlestick to my left. The stone at the head of the grave reads:

GOOD FREND FOR IESUS SAKE FORBEARE,
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOASED HEARE.
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THES STONES,
AND CVRST BE HE YT MOVES MY BONES.

Pictures of England

Mary and I just returned from a trip to England with our friends, the McCreas. Rather than post more traditional holiday snapshots here, I present a few of my favorite pictures of the natural world and man's handiwork taken at various locations around England.

Bridge Over the Llangollen Canal

Dead Tree in the Marbury Churchyard

Closeup of the Other Side

Dead Tree and Blue Sky Along the Llangollen Canal

Butterfly Reading the Brochure

At the Butterfly Farm, Stratford-on-Avon

Owl Butterfly

Butterfly

Common Mormon

Butterfly

Shakespeare Monument

Stratford-on-Avon

Falstaff

Vines at Bibury

Gates at Thornbury Castle

Black Swan, Coln River, Bibury

Morning at Bibury

Arlington Row, Bibury

Arlington Row, Bibury

Spider's Web, Bibury

Shaggy Ink Cap Mushrooms, Copthorne

Lock at Copthorne

Cedar Staircase, Harlaxtan Manor, Grantham

Great Hall, Harlaxtan

All pictures were taken with a Canon PowerShot A560 Camera.