Christmas 2017

It was a nice Christmas. On Christmas Day, Pam, Greg, Rebecca, Sean, and I opened presents after having brunch here. Then we all drove to niece Christine's house for dinner.

Today I took my usual close-up of the tree decorations:

Then a few hours later, I was having a before dinner drink and noticed the reflection of the tree lights into my glass of bourbon. This is what it looked like:

Vermeer exhibit at National Gallery of Art

It was a real family affair. Pam and I met Rebecca, Sean, and Sean's parents to see the paintings. "The Geographer is of my favorites:

After leaving the museum we all had a nice meal at a restaurant downtown.

Second snow of the season

Neither were major, but today's left some interesting patterns on the pond:

Some scenes around campus

I got inside Cole Fieldhouse a few days ago. Although the indoor practice field is complete and is shown below, I believe the work in other parts of the facility is still going on.

Since both of my classes this past semester are in the Art History Department, I spend a lot of time in the Parren Mitchell Building, formerly called the Art/Sociology Building. A few days ago, I looked out a window and noticed the clouds, so I took this picture.

More beach pictures

Sunset Saturday night facing town of Bethany Beach. High tide left a long puddle between the boardwalk and the ocean.

Also at sunset but facing the ocean.

Sunday afternoon in front of Addy Sea:

The walkway from the parking lot to the beach, also on Sunday afternoon:

In front of Addy Sea in the late afternoon sun:

A few days at the ocean

Sunday morning sunrise:

Not much going on in the center of Bethany Beach on Saturday afternoon:

 

This was the second time we've stayed at the Addy Sea Bed and Breakfast.

 

 

They're all set up for a full house which they usually get in summer, but the chairs weren't in demand this weekend.

 

 

 

Lunch in Deale, Maryland

Fired oysters and Maryland crab soup on Herring Bay on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay yesterday. The restaurant was Skipper's Pier.

Changes in skies, lighting, trees, and water

Not only is every day different outdoors, there are also changes during the day. Yesterday was dark and overcast on my morning walk, but a few hours later in the afternoon the day looked very different.

The pond on a rainy fall day

Another photo of the midshipmen's sailing boat

I'm putting this in for two reasons:

1. To provide a relief from too many autumn foliage shots.

2. Because I like this shot as much as the one I showed a day or two ago.

Out our back door yesterday

I've read that because of weather conditions earlier this year, this season's autumn foliage isn't as striking as usual. While I'm not sure of that, I do feel that the foliage change might be spread over a longer time period because almost two months ago I showed my first photos for the year of autumn leaves.

Back to Paint Branch

Naval Academy sailboat

On the boat trip this afternoon, we passed this colorful which Dan says is used by the Naval Academy to train midshipmen.

Waterfront lunch

Today my friend Dan invited me for a boat ride with a friend of his who wanted to get out on his boat one more time before putting it away for winter. That's Dan on the left in the photo below and his friend Bill on the right.

We headed out of Annapolis Harbor, into the mouth of the Severn River, north into Whitehall Bay, and slightly west to Mill Creek where Cantler's Riverside Inn sits along the bank. Bill backed his boat into an empty slip and we went into the restaurant for lunch. Here's Bill's boat at the docks of the restaurant:

The food was great. I had a cup of Maryland crab soup that might have been the best I've ever had. The soft shell crab sandwich was excellent as well.

We passed a lot of sail boats on the way back to Annapolis Harbor. The mild weather tempted many people to get out on the water one more time.

New music venue in College Park

It's called the MilkBoy ArtHouse, and it's right on route one in a building that has housed many different restaurants and, many years ago, a bowling alley.

Last night my friend Stan and I went there, had dinner, and listened to a very fine jazz vibraphonist Warren Wolf and his quartet.

Another Paint Branch Autumn

 

 

After hiking along the creek on Saturday, I proceeded to the pond,

And surprised a great blue heron.

Visit to the National Gallery of Art on Tuesday

 

My art history class saw a lot of 19th century works, and my favorite were the British landscape painters.

J.M.W. Turner:

 And John Constable:

Weather changes on Monday

The morning was overcast and foggy:

And the sun came out in afternoon:

Autumn at the pond

Colors not as striking as they'll be in a few weeks but still noteworthy, even in the light of a drab day.

Return of the geese, early autumn 2017

Although I believe these to be migratory, I can't tell for certain.

 

This evening in the park

 

Nationals' game, Wednesday night

Pam and I attended with next door neighbors Jim and Sue. Although Pam isn't much of a sports fan, she had a good time. I always have a good time.

First signs of Autumn

Though it's still summer by the calendar, I've been seeing signs of fall on my daily walks. Up until recently, these signs have been subtle, less green in the foliage and some bushes have gone dormant, but today there were striking glimpses of the coming season.

The Root Boy Slim All-Star Band

 

 

Friday night Pam and I went to The Blues and Jazz club in Bethesda for this tribute show. The crowd was loud and enthusiastic and included several people I knew.

How can I explain Root Boy Slim? Maybe I could say he was a unique product of a certain time and place. The time was the late 1970's and the place was Washington, DC. Root Boy's appeal didn't seem to transfer outside this area, but for some of us he was a local legend who we remember fondly.

He was born into a wealthy family and went to an Ivy League school, I believe, but the culture and politics of the 1960's took their toll on the Root Boy. Many of his songs were autobiographical, such as "I used to be a Radical" which tells how he tried to climb over the White House fence and "Dozing and Drooling" which describes the effects of the prescription drug he was later given (thorazine, I think.). Mostly though, Root Boy was about fun. "You Broke my Mood Ring" and "Boogie 'til You Puke" were probably his best known songs.

The band we listened and danced to Friday contained at least one former member of the original group which Root Boy named The Sex Change Band. Saxophonist Ron Holloway went from back-up to the Root Boy to a successful jazz career. He seems to still operate from this area because we saw him last year sitting in with Little Feat at the Warner.

Root Boy died a couple of decades ago. It was nice to see so many people who remembered him. We had a good time, and I was thankful that once again in my life I was able to call out "Root!"

Millennials

 

 Yesterday afternoon while I was fishing the stream pictured above which is located in the Maryland suburbs, I came across a pool where I spotted a number of nice bass. Although I carefully got to a place where I was partially hidden, the fish were spooky and I caught only a couple of bluegills. While I was deciding whether to change positions or to change flies, a woman came walking along the trail on the other side of the stream with her dog. She stopped at the pool and threw a ball into the middle of the stream, and the dog went bounding in to retrieve it. Of course all the fish scattered for cover.

Rightly or wrongly I decided to just leave without saying anything to her because I was so pissed that I was afraid I'd say something to the old bat (she was probably about my age) I'd later regret. I walked downstream where I caught a few more fish before I decided to pack it in for the day. I was wading across the water through a shallow area when a young man who looked to be in his twenties came walking up the trail. He also had a dog with him.

"Are you fishing here?" he asked.

"I was, but I'm pretty much finished," I answered.

"Is it ok if we come through?" he asked.

"Yes, it's fine. Thank you for asking."

Millennials often get a bad rap. The old woman could learn something about consideration of others from that one. I know that one reason I'm defensive for that age group is because my two children are on the upper range of that demographic. They and their friends are nothing like the negative generalizations I sometimes hear about millennials. They are honest and hardworking and don't whine about the crummy circumstances handed to them by the older generations. Another reason I defend the millennials is that my group, the baby-boomers, were also subjected to unfair and inaccurate stereo-types by some of our elders. Old people have been complaining about the young forever. Those geezers are probably just jealous.