It’s been up on this porch roof for at least a couple of days.

I was driving to the zoo from school on Monday.

The story I heard from the guy out in front of the house next door?

The guy who lives there does demolition and probably got it from some home he was tearing down.  It is the season of demolition around the city as you know.

A photographer has no choice but to pull to the curb and shoot the scene.  Remember the days of women’s stoles with fox heads dangling and tiny paws with claws? Beady eyes?  Ugh. Wonder if they take him in if it rains?

The last book we read in 2nd grade Intervention Group was the Fantastic Mr.  Fox by Roald Dahl.

It was a beautiful night, capturing the sunlight as the sun went down.  And it ended up being an exciting game with a win by the Pirates.  A few fireworks.  Perfect weather. They close the Roberto Clemente Bridge for pedestrians to walk across to the Park. Reggie Howze is the saxophonist standing on the bridge.

How does color or lack of it affect a photograph? What about cropping?

The five photos below are all from one master image.

Discovered the folklore of Joe Magarac, a legendary steel worker from Croatia  tried to find online if that statue of a steelworker is supposed to be legendary Joe Magarac. Check out the article Folklore or Fakelore?

And I found a cool driving tour of the mills video from 1988

or see the Steel making process in this video

Then I saw the demolition of a house taking place.

I turned a corner and parked and got out and took a few pictures.

I thought the first one the best as it showed most of the scene. But the progressive close-ups complete the story.

My son’s in-laws grew up in this part of Pittsburgh. I heard that the house had been empty for ten years.

It was sad to see it demolished even though it must have been in bad shape. Y0u wonder who lived there.

What happened that it became abandoned.  You know there is a story.

I saw a green plastic basket in the rubble

*And I looked up the CASE excavator model # and it says it is 37, 700 pounds operating weight.

We’re working on decorations for the Spring concert next week, drawing friends.

The theme is friendship.  I’ll make a photo for each student in this third grade and thought that maybe notecards would be nice, too. Several were absent today so it was easier to fit everyone in.

How they helped me out this afternoon after the weekly photo challenge was posted: Hands.  We had a lot of fun.  I told them the problem of creating a heart with all of their hands. This is how they experimented with me.

They were very excited to help and try to accomplish the objective.  Working together and all being part of something was a good exercise in friendship.  The only part I was directing was reminding them to not let their heads get in the way so I could see their hands from the chair where I was standing.  All students were engaged in learning.

Trying individual hearts

And the close-up cropped version

Two school buses and a garbage truck stopped on the narrow street as I made my way to school. A standstill, brake lights on. Do you worry? No, you photograph the scene. Write a note to self.

Rubber bands and string. Buckets of color. Vinyl gloves.

Bought more shirts tonight to take to school to try again.

They’ve got the hang of it.  The practice.

I tell them - no design turns out exactly as planned.

Friday morning in the hallway a blur of t-shirts walked by.

I felt satisfied.

Did you ever tie-dye anything in your life?

Until almost midnight on Monday night. Blue.

Yes, that is a leather bodice.  NYC shop window.  I was focusing on the shoes but the blue dress caught my eye when I was looking for a blue photo.

They’re busy with their lives (and families of their own) but when the little ding sounds on the phone, I am like Pavlov’s dog and I salivate with expectation to see what tasty morsel they have sent over the net. I love the updates, the communication, the pics.

When Mark was on business in Philadelphia last week, he met up with his high school friend, Prem, and the two of them enjoyed an authentic Korean BBQ at Kim’s. Mark said it was delicious.

Here is what he sent over the phone.

I enjoyed seeing what they are eating and I like the one he took of himself and his friend at the table.