Lori, Luis, and Bea visit RI - Spring 2023
Emily’s cousin, Lori, and her husband, Luis, stopped by RI on their way back from a vacation on the Cape. This was my first chance to meet their adorable baby. Too cute!
Spring Birds 2023
I’ve been on a birding kick recently. No idea why, except it’s spring and they are abundant. Here’s a few shots (plus a fiddler crab).
The Woods - May 2023
Saturday turned out to be a beautiful May day. The sun is out, the air is warm, and the everyone is enjoying spring. I took Sprocket for a walk in the little woods near our house and snapped some photos of the busy birds (and a turtle).
Point Judith
I’ve been aching to take sunset photos of a lighthouse. So on Saturday evening I drove down to Point Judith. It was overcast with a slight chance of rain, but I figured that could make for a dramatic sunset. By the time I got there, the fog was thick and the rain steady. No sunset photos, but some interesting fog…
Just as I was about to call it quits, a seagull flew by with purpose..
Turns out, he was hunting for dinner. He dove down and found a crab, carried it off to the shore, and played a little tug-of-war with its life. Pretty sure he won.
Birthday in Newport
To celebrate my 48th birthday, Emily and I spent the night in Newport. We stayed at Hotel Viking, which was lovely, trekked around on a scavenger hunt, and enjoyed numerous cocktails and meals, which was delicious.
At 5pm, we ambled down to the waterfront to take in a gorgeous sunset. It’s hard to believe, but the blood-red band of sky in the photo is not edited. That was the color of the sky for just a few minutes. Wild!
Birds in the backyard
The bird feeder attracts some birds to our backyard. That makes it pretty easy to snap photos of some birds without even putting on a jacket.
Thanksgiving 2022
Stupid COVID. Both Izzy & Emily came down with the ‘rona so we had to ditch our plans to get together with Gwen & Co. Instead, we had a nice small celebration at the house. Emily & I tag-teamed the cooking which was quite a bit of fun for me. It’s been years since I was in charge of roasting the turkey, but it gave me purpose and turned out pretty well.
Halloween 2022
Hmmm…. I’m not sure where the photos are of our actual Halloween, but I did snap a lot of pics at the Roger Williams Jack-o-Lantern Spooktacular.
[EDIT] Found ‘em! Here’s the pics of our own jack-o-lantern carving:
Newport Mansions
Rediscovering Rhode Island sites through the eyes of a newcomer is one of the many fun things about hosting an exchange student this year. One Sunday when Emily was working on a film (she got her IATSE card over the summer), I took Violet & Dani to see the Breakers and Marble House in Newport. It is hard to imagine how many people earned their livelihood maintaining these mansions and serving the owners.
WaterFire 2022
Yikes, it’s been a minute since I posted some photos. Life is busy and I’m a little less enthusiastic about the editing & posting of photos. Taking photos? No sweat: click, click, click. The rest of that process… ugh. 😆
Alrighty, catching up. This fall we managed to make it to at least one WaterFire celebration in Providence. It’s always fun and unique to Providence, so it feels like something we should enjoy while we can. With Violet’s college years coming fast, soon there will be little left to anchor us here.
Bees again
Earlier this summer I stepped out of my front door in the morning and saw bumble bees swarming around the flower beds. I ran back and grabbed my Fuji to snap some shots. The images are noisy since I was pushing the ISO with a slow lens and a fast shutter, but it doesn’t bother me too much (well, a bit…).
Smorgabord Fall 2022
I got behind. I’ve been taking loads of photos, but seldom bother to edit and post them. This is a mish-mash of the past months starting around June 2022. Here we go…
Spring Concert
Violet graduated from middle school last summer! Her bandmates were the first to perform in the new school’s brand-new auditorium as 6th-graders in winter of 2019. The next time they got to play on the stage was as 8th graders at the end of 2022 thanks to the COVID restrictions. It was bittersweet to watch their second performance in 3 years of middle school. Violet has since declared that she will not be playing flute every again, and evidence suggests it’s not an idle threat.
24 years
Emily and I celebrated our 24th anniversary in June. She had to attend IATSE Union training in Boston on the day, so we met in Jamaica Plain to revisit our first apartment. We tromped around our old haunts and had a great weekend. I took 1, nondescript photo in a T station.
Dance Recital
Violet had a dance recital for tap & ballet in June as part of the year-end wrap up.
Welcome Dani!
This year we’re hosting a foreign exchange student from Spain. Dani joined us in August and will be part of the family until June 2023. She speaks English impressively well, has an outgoing personality, and shares Violets love of synchronized swimming. I’m impressed at her courage and ability to adapt to a different culture at such a young age for a substantial amount of time.
Scotland 2022
In April, we took a trip to Scotland. Izzy had a pile of work to complete for the end of her college semester, so she didn’t make the journey. The last time we were in Scotland, Izzy hadn’t yet started elementary school. It’s been a few years! But, we were joined by Eli who has been eager to see Scotland for years!
We stayed in the city of Inverness, which sits in the southerly edge of the Highlands. It was absolutely gorgeous and a great spot to use as a basecamp for day trips. We rented a lovely townhouse that overlooked the Inverness Castle and River Ness.
On our first day, we went to a craft fair and later a cafe in the nearby Muir of Ord.
A short walk from our townhouse, Craig Phadrig rose up over the town with great views of Inverness and Beauly Firth. The walk through town took us over the Caledonian Canal, then up the steep hill to a site that at one time held a fort of the Pictish king Bridei mac Maelchon. Emily and I made the walk one evening, and I returned a couple of days later to catch the sunrise on the hill.
We made a day exploring Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. No sea monsters were spotted, but the remains of the castle were spectacular.
Violet and I explored the Ness Islands which were a quick 20-minute walk from home base. The city islands have benches and bridges and trails that give you a natural respite in the heart of the city.
The Old High Church near Leakey’s Bookshop has a serene beauty and bloody history. It was used by the British to hold captured Jacobite soldiers after the Battle of Culloden. The captured soldiers were executed in the graveyard and their bodies rolled into the river below.
While wandering through Inverness one evening, we were treated with a rainbow. The gorgeous clouds at sunset were worthy of a couple snaps as well.
The Victorian Market is maybe something to miss, but a quick stop for a photo of the old iron work was worthwhile. While waiting on the sidewalk while Emily, Violet, and Eli shopped, I caught some pics of birds with my 70-300mm lens.
While you could be forgiven for skipping the Victorian market, the Culloden Battlefield and Visitor Centre deserve a visit. The exhibit at the visitor centre houses an enthralling retelling of the Jacobite uprising in 1745. The information is conveyed on opposing walls through several galleries, with one side telling the history from the Jacobite perspective and the other telling the history from the Government, and those loyal to the British crown.
Clava Cairns are ancient stone structures near Culloden. Little is known about their history but there are several structures built over centuries dating back as far as 2000 B.C.
Surrounded by water, and hailing from Rhode Island, we just had to get out on a boat and see the Beauly Firth ourselves. The wind was brisk, and there weren’t any sea creatures in view, but the scenery did not disappoint.
Violet and I took a short drive over to Rogie Falls on our last full day in Inverness. We hiked the short, steep trail and caught some lovely views of the water falls.
After Scotland, we packed up and headed to Spain for a quick, but jam-packed visit to A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela. We met the family of the exchange student we will host in the fall and they gave us an amazing tour of Santiago, the Cathedral, and A Coruña’s Tower of Hercules (an ancient Roman Lighthouse). We also enjoyed scrumptious tapas and jamón. The hospitality was overwhelmingly generous, with the only sadness being the brief visit. We’ll have to go back!
January Sunset
Last weekend I got off my butt and made it to the water for golden hour & sunset. Nature did not disapoint.
Violet's Swim Routine Dec 2021
Before the holiday break, Violet and her teammates showed off their progress as they continue to ready for competition in the Spring. The routine is really coming together!
Christmas 2021
The House
This was our second pandemic Christmas, but also the first Christmas without Roger, Marsda, or Ted. Restarting a tradition from years past, we rented a house out in the country and gathered to celebrate with the Providence, Boston, and Vermont clans. Emily picked the house and it was a winner! Loads of space, beautiful fireplace, and plenty of snowy grounds to waddle around after eating a bit more than advised.
Games
Before, and after, some truly tasty, gut-busting meals like:
veggie feast (shepherd’s pie, “meatballs”, brussel sprouts)
beef tenderloin with potatoes and asparagus
chicken pot pies
taco night
we’d gather by the fire or scoot up to the kitchen table to play a game, or four. Some of the hits:
Pandemic
Scrabble
Boggle
Time Stories
Sushi Go
Uno Attack
Gin
…and probably some I forgot.
Presents
It was a bumper crop of presents this year! So much fun to see all the gifts and the tearing of wrapping paper and the swapping of Yankees 🤣
Pets
Our four-legged friends provided endless amusement. Sprocket remains dauntless in his pursuit of food and Booger was the chillest cat I’ve ever seen. Sprocket was even unfazed by a vicious encounter with a drone that left him briefly bloody in the snout (sorry Sprocket!).
Hanging Out
And of course, there was plenty of time to just sit around and gab, catching up on the comings and goings of 2021. What a great way to put a bow on the year. Here’s to 2022!
Fall 2021
A few shots at the shoreline…
We had another quiet Thanksgiving (thanks, COVID). This year Izzy stayed up at college to host her own dinner, so it was just us 3. Emily made a bunch of plant-based, whole foods dishes, and I cooked a slimmed down traditional meal of Turkey breast, green beans, sweet potato casserole, and stuffing. After our small family meal, Violet scooted over to a friend’s house for dessert. Nice, but very quiet. Looking forward to a less quiet 2022 with more friends and family :)
On Saturday after Turkey Day, the Boston clan came down to Rhode Island to enjoy some QT together. We kept the activities outdoors: walking through the brilliant holiday lights at Roger Williams Zoo and then s’mores and hot toddies around the fire pit at home.
Purgatory Chasm Oct 2021
WIth the fall colors in full effect, Sprocket and I took a trip to Purgatory Chasm.
Hawaii Summer 2021
In late July, we took a (partial) family vacation to Hawaii. I say partial because Izzy decided to stay in Boston, so it was me, Emily, and Violet. I’ve been holding off posting the photos because I had grand plans to transfer photos and my journal entries to the blog, but I don’t quite have that motivation. Instead I’m just going to get the pics up!
Kona
We spent the first few days of our trip in Kona. Fun town, very touristy, but we’re tourists so that worked out. We spent time on the beach. We visited a coffee farm. And we took a kayak tour / snorkeling tour in the bay where Captain Cook was killed.
Volcanoes National Park
Our second leg of the journey was spent in Volcanoes. We had a lovely cottage and spent a couple of days hiking through the National Park. If we were to do it all over, we would have spent more time here and less time at our 3rd stop.
Captain Cook
For the last leg of our journey on Big Island, we returned to the west side of the island to stay in Captain Cook, which was close to where we began in Kona. We also took a couple of excursions to the eastern side to visit Mauna Kea and do some stargazing above the clouds.
Honolulu
We spent 2 nights in Honolulu to wrap up the trip and had good fun at the Waikiki Beach, as well as touring Pearl Harbor. That was a great end to a 3-week vacation and filled us with enough memories to stomach the loooong flight home :)
Woods and Pond
Headed out at dusk to nab some pics of birds in the woods. Found no birds, but loads of mosquitoes found me.
After a very brief time swatting in the woods (shoulda brought repellant), I waddled over to the pond to photograph the ducks with significantly fewer biting bugs.
