Hail Storm in Zagreb Croatia- Guest Post
In my email this morning-
Dear Mom,
A hail storm broke out in Zagreb today and my friend Maja captured it with her iPhone from her 9th floor office. She was a little bit reluctant to be blogged, but she had this to say about the picture : “It looked so great and it made me so happy that I wanted to share it.”
And it reminded me of the sentence from the film “American Beauty” – “Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can’t take it, and my heart is just going to cave in.”
I think that quote is a great motto for us to live by. You and your blog do a great job reminding us all of the beauty that surrounds us every moment of every day, so I knew what to do with Maja’s picture right away!
Love you,
Matty
Thank you Maja for sharing your beautiful photograph of the hailstorm from the ninth floor window and thanks Matty, too.
Woke Up, It Was a Foggy Morning
In The Early Morning Fog
My sister and I were on the phone and she had just asked me about my seeing things to photograph and am I always on the lookout for a good photo and I said I think I take fewer pictures now, that I am not obsessing about getting a decent shot blah blah blah and THEN-
And when I got to the red light at the end of the Liberty Bridge before the tunnel, I saw the fog enveloping the PPG building except for the pointy towers peeking through.
I opened the back window and took a quick shot.
On the way to school the next day I didn’t get a red light so no photo.
Day three! A red light and another quick pick of the city without the fog.
Flowering Pear Blossoms Fall Like Snowflakes
There were thunderstorms and heavy rains. then it cleared a bit.
As I pulled out of the school parking lot, a strong wind came up and the blossoms swirled and fell like snow.
Sure Sign It’s Spring
Bloomfield Bridge Tuesday afternoon waiting at the red light I looked next to me and saw a vision.
Top down on a shiny brightly colored convertible.
A definite change in the weather and I took it as a sure sign that Spring is finally here. (it’s a Murano by Nissan).
Pyramid of LED Lights on the Gulf Tower, Change with the Weather
Dear Blog Readers,
Thank you for the thoughtful expressions of sympathy, your comments and emails yesterday, on the passing of Murphy the Airedale.
It means a lot to the whole family to read such an outpouring of love, care and concern. Your words offer comfort and understanding. xxoo Ruth
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For years the Gulf Tower Building ( built in 1930) had a beacon that displayed the weather- red lights for fair or blue lights for precipitation
Now The Gulf Tower has a fancy installation of programmed LED lights that change with the holidays, sporting events and special occasions but still tell the weather at five minutes before the hour. The combination of lights can produce any color.
Designed by Cindy Limauro, professor of lighting design at Carnegie Mellon University and husband, Christopher Popowich, partners in C&C Lighting LLC.
Read more: at the Post Gazette article with a chart telling how to”read” the lights.
This photo was taken from my car window while waiting or my sister to buy her train ticket back to NYC at the AMTRAK station downtown.
Thinking Spring. Seriously!
Even though the weather is NOT cooperating, we won’t speak of w#&*#r, cause it is SPRING!!! (Dear Groundhog Phil, You were wrong wrong wrong)
March 20 was Mr. Rogers’ 85 anniversary of his birth and Pittsburghers were sporting sweaters to remember him. And sweaters were just what everyone needed in the city- Yesterday AND today! Not sure about the sneakers.
When I looked out and saw snow coming down I was glad I’d baked apples in the oven to warm the kitchen.
After supper the family called on Face Time and I got to participate in Jack’s birthday and the other grandma (and Pap) were on another iPad FaceTime so we saw each other watch the birthday boy open his gifts. It got pretty wild when Matty called in on SKYPE from Croatia onto his brothers device He joined in the fun and we all watched as Jack opened up the No Stress Chess his Uncle Matthew had sent to him. It was a deviceful family event this evening as Jack turned 6 today.
Helps to have all these communication possibilities available when you live out of town.
The wooden rabbits are from Germany when we lived there. I took them to school and some of the students arranged them to take pictures, make a card. And I saw them set up on a wooden stool at the front of the classroom and I took a quick photo myself as they were looking at me as I got ready to go home.
You can see the pull down screen behind them. They look Spring-like to me!!! (Just don’t look out the window.)
Vernal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere- 7:02 AM
Spring!
We are eager for it to begin. In earnest.
Monday there was a two hour delay due to ice, snow and sleet. It was unexpected and I heard it on the radio as I was already driving to school.
Can we trust the groundhog? Phil said it would be an early Spring. Well Phil, it’s Spring tomorrow on the clock and calendar but it feels like WINTER today. Chilly and gray. We are ready for blossoms, muddy earth, warm breezes. Saturday I saw my first robin in the back on the porch post.
Now I know, no one reads the blog for the weather report but the change of seasons is significant. We just want to be reassured that a true Spring is coming and will warm us up. SOON. (Florida readers- I saw those photographs of you in short sleeved shirts!!)
Before school I stopped in at the Giant Eagle and bought this bouquet. I took the daffodils to school for the students to photograph. They were buds in the morning and by the afternoon they had opened.
You can see the set up with the background of folded white paper to eliminate clutter. When I was ready to go home and the lights were off, this is what I saw.
Just received from a Florida friend who is visiting friends in Boston-First Day of Spring.
Thanks Kristin
Guest Blogger’s Response to Yesterday’s Waiting for Spring Post
Okay Aunt Bobbie (the one who gave Anna the Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls). Bobbie saw my almost Spring post of the flowering pear trees and then sent me a photo for the blog today. YIKES!
I was so hopeful. Just when I was thinking of how the earth will warm up and the buds and blossoms will burst. I was counting the days until Spring, ready for the winter to be OVER!
I love it when someone is inspired by my photos on the blog, though. Even if it is a snow photos. Well more that just any snow photo.
21 inches of snow in Kansas City in a week!!!
(Chicago John, this one is for YOU, too!) For everyone shoveling and plowing and hopeful that it will just all go away….and SOON.
(Rob, you must be so glad you moved out of Northern Illinois to Florida this year. Kristin, how was Hawaii? Sue, you enjoying Spring training in Bradenton?)
Thanks Bobbie for the photo today. Where are the crocus?
A p.s. to Aunt Bobbie’s picture
Two more responses, this time from faithful blog reader ROB
writes to
Ruth,
Brrrrrr.
Reminds me of a song that my Music Monday Maestro might find….
“Button up your overcoat, when the winds are free. Take good care of yourself, you belong to me.”
Waiting for Spring
The Spring Equinox is March 20 at 7:02 AM. Just THREE weeks to go. I checked the Old Farmer’s Almanac for the official word.
In another 5 weeks, it’ll look like this in our part of the country….I have to keep it in mind.
Blossoms and green grass, bulbs shooting up through the earth. The RedBud will bloom.
Three weeks ’til Official Spring. This photo was taken two years ago the first week of April.
March is Friday. I think I have it calculated right.
Old State Road in Columbus on the way home. (I pulled over!)
Tree in Snow, Tree in Sun
Another in my winter tree series. Actually I drove through the park today and the snow is gone. See the tree below.
I wanted to post the trees in silhouette, though and the sinking sun behind the trunk.
It ‘s the warmth of the sun on the snow that appeals to me.
My drives through the park after school on my way home have help me appreciate the beauty of the winter.
A different tree but this is the angle of the sun at the time I was driving into the entrance of Highland Park.
Today on the way home, the car thermometer read 63 degrees. Here’s what my trip into the park yielded Monday afternoon. Find the car to check the scale of the tree. Because of the mottled peeled bark, I believe it’s a giant sycamore. Long shadows and blue sky with pretty clouds made it feel like April.
Dog Walker and a Snowy Tree
Scroll down for the crop with the dog walker and his dogs in the distance. Didn’t see him when I shot the photo.
Another color photograph that looks black and white. Shot with a EF Canon 50mm 1.2L Lens- 500 ISO f/16, 125 shutter. Wish I had tried a few more settings at the time but wanted to get home.
Thursday the temperature is to be in the 50′s. Unusual fluctuation- one day twenties and snow and ice, another day about zero, now up to sixty?
Something feels off.
Skumps, Groundhog!
Just a couple of days left to prepare for the big day. Groundhog’s Day! You know he’s going to see his shadow and predict 6 more weeks of winter.
Preparations are in full swing in Punxsutawney PA. There are other groundhogs who try to share the limelight but Punxsutawney Phil is the REAL groundhog prognosticator of the weather. Just about 85 miles Northeast from downtown Pittsburgh.
When Steve and I were at Grant Bar in Millvale, this was the special on the chalkboard. This is a local brew made in St. Mary’s PA at STRAUB. You can take a virtual tour of their brewery here
The bartender brought one out and allowed me to photograph the label. No groundhogs were harmed to make this brew.
It’s Cold Outside!
This is the first meal I ate in Zagreb when I visited Matty. I must have had the spoon in my hand when I took the photo?
Thought this bowl of hot soup looked inviting for this way below freezing January night. I shot all those vacation pics with a Canon 20D and I miss that camera. The shutter eventually failed and I even had it repaired but it failed again. I just liked that camera.
Reading About Hurricane Recovery
This is the skyline of Hoboken, shot across the Hudson River when I visited my sister in April. I heard a story on the radio about Hoboken residents and the Hurricane Sandy clean up efforts. So many people still suffering.
Although my sister has power back in lower Manhattan as of today, unfortunately there are areas that are just devastated and still without power.
Almost a week later, remembering those affected by this massive storm.
All the leaves are down and the sky is gray
I heard a loud machine sound out my bedroom window this morning. No school today. I shot this right through the screen and glass and need to pull the storm windows down. It was a vehicle with a strong leaf blower. Hmmmm. The tree muncher arrived later to chew up a few branches that fell on the park across the street.
How the Weather Changed at the HS Football Game in a Blink
Friday afternoon, Cupples Field on the South Side, right after school.
I went to my first High School football game in years!
The flag flew at half staff. (There is a site that lists notifications to fly the flag at half staff.)
One minute it was blue sky and fluffy white clouds, the sun catching the gold dome of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Church on West Carson Street.
A wind came up and the rain began to spit. The temperature dropped. The sky got dark.
I’d taken cameras for students to take photos outside of the classroom. It was time to head home!
Somewhere Under a Rainbow
The neighborhood is Shadyside.
Almost to Walnut Street along Shady Avenue, I had to stop and pull over.
A summer cloudburst, along with the sun appearing in the western sky- rainbow!
I’m sure the image could be tweaked a bit to darken the colors, but this is just as it was. The building is Calvary Church Parish Hall on the left, the church on the right. The 50mm 1.2 L lens was on the camera.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside
Inside seems simple enough. Until you start to read all the definitions and think about the multi-meanings
Cut and pasted from Your Dictionary - the dictionary you can understand
noun
- the part lying within; inner side, surface, or part; interior
- the part closest to something specified or implied, as the part of a sidewalk closest to the buildings
- INFORMAL the internal organs of the body, as the stomach and intestines
adjective
- on or in the inside; internal
- of or suited for the inside
- working or used indoors; indoor
- ☆ known only to insiders; secret or private: the inside story
- BASEBALL passing between home plate and the batter
adverb
- on or to the inside; within
- indoors
in or to the inside or inner part of
within the limits of: inside an hour
Murphy inside the van looking outside.
Cool enough on Friday to take Murphy to the Post Office so I could mail something. He WAS in the back seat. Moved himself up to the passenger seat while Maura and I were inside and wouldn’t budge for the short trip home. Yes, I worried about air bag deployment and the seat belt dinging alarm sound the whole way. We made it. He does have a harness that attaches to a seat belt for car trips.
We were safe inside the house as Mark held the iPad showing the violent storm while I shot the rain and blowing trees outside. This is the storm where Laura and James lost power for 5 days and Marlene and Donald( Roanoke VA) lost it for 8.
Maura waits inside looking outside for the guests.
Here is the inside of the ceramic fruit bowl Mary gave me when I visited her at Easter time.
The Jesus statue contained inside the clear box was photographed on this trip.
Old fashioned hats in Bedford Springs Resort display with the stairway banisters reflected
Challenge- How to show what one is feeling inside?
Check out fellow bloggers posts. Get the inside scoop.
Ohio House Front Yard
The blog has been a real family effort since I have been on vacation. My DIL drove by slowly so I could shoot the giant flag and Mustang on the lawn. This is one of those 100+ days we had in early July. Already we are past mid July! Oh my.
Now it’s drought conditions around here so the lawns are more brown. The thunderstorms just don’t provide enough precipitation
The Radio Said One Hundred One…..
German Village, Columbus OHIO. Back to the Book Loft on Third Street.
We were headed to Cup O Joe for an iced coffee or something wet. The thermometer said ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN!
And the humidity was right up there along with the temperature. The boys T-ball games cancelled due to the heat.
When I showed the iPhone image to Mark after supper, he called the boys to look at the photo asking them Who would like this picture? They said it would be me.
They looked more carefully than I did. They saw the Stars and Stripes of the American Flag reflected. Because I was born on the Fourth of July, my DIL and son have told the grandchildren how I love American Flags and everything Red White and Blue. A real Yankee Doodle Dandy !
They point them out everywhere we go. It has become a game in the car to see who can find them.
How comforting it is to know that when I’m gone and they see one (sometimes they are 1/4 of an inch on a cereal box) I will come to mind-
They call to me and tell me to look so I can see it. This year one of my birthday presents was a Red White and Blue apron with a flag motif.
Being so focused on the temperature this afternoon and the quick iPhone shot as we left the Book Loft, I did not even notice or see the reflection of the flag at the 12 spot if it were a clock.
What a gift of a reflection, captured unintentionally.
Happy Groundhog’s Day as One Blog Leaks into Another
We haven’t really had a winter yet so at dawn, if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, it won’t be surprising to hear there’ll be 6 more weeks of winter. I heard that Punxsutawney schools are closed on February 2nd for Groundhog’s Day. It’s a great holiday to celebrate. No gifts. Thursday night I will serve Groundhog Chicken from the NYTimes, late 1980′s recipe which is browned chicken in orange sauce with ginger, cinnamon, Tabasco and slivered almonds served with CousCous and some garlic green beans. I own cooky cutters in the shapes of Groundhogs, a large and a small, but did not make time to roll dough and cut out cookies to bake.
If you want to watch the Groundhog News or see the Live Webcast, click HERE and if I get a chance I will update what the furry prognosticator declares. UPDATE at 7:20 AM Phil the Groundhog saw his shadow. Six more weeks of winter!!
There is such a wonderful Chicago tour written by Chicago John on the Cardboardmetravels blog that I am not going to bump it off the other blog with today’s groundhog photo. You have read many of his comments on my blog and you may have clicked on his link from the Bartolini Kitchens to read his stories of childhood memory and the preparation of heirloom Italian recipes.
In 1990, three years before Groudhog Day (Bill Murray movie) hit the theaters and everyone had heard about Phil the Groundhog in Punxsutawney, my sister flew out from NYC to Pittsburgh. In the middle of a foggy night, we drove to Punxsutawney for the event. Mary wrote postcards and mailed them so they would have the February 2nd postmark from Punxsutawney. We had a fun day although it was freezing in the woods and all felt a bit strange. You’ve seen Nativity scenes and Santa in yards at Christmas? Well, the residents have GROUNDHOGS on their lawns. Big wooden cutout groundhogs. We experienced the occasion and I guess it could have been something on a bucket list if we had one. Visit Gobbler’s Knob at least once in your life!
So a single post for Groundhog’s Day and here is my Groundhog Folkmanis Puppet holding the original Flat Ruthie in the backyard after school and I will take some license and say he is looking for his shadow? Only problem is the time of day.
Not screaming like Fay Wray did with King Kong
Hailstones Sunday Afternoon April 3rd
Weather
Another item
for the list
of things
out of our control.
I never used to talk about it much
or even pay attention to weather.
Lately it’s impossible to ignore!.
Pittsburgh just had a big hailstorm about ten days ago. What a sound. When it stopped I went out and photographed a few patches of lawn. Haven’t gone anywhere in a couple of days and was wondering what to post. Thought I was going into the archives. My answer arrived after the thunder and lightning! Someone told me it depends on the size and wind and all but some hailstones can fall to earth the speed of a major league pitch.
looking out onto the roof and park from my bedroom window as the hailstorm started
Groundhog Sports Black and Gold Beads
Happy Groundhog’s Day. A friend sent an email of a groundhog finding a Lombardi trophy as a shadow.
You can click here for all the serious information from the official website in Punxsutawney PA.
I hear there are some competitors around the country but Phil lives close by …. “If Candlemas be fair and clear, there’ll be two winters in the year.” or this poem from Wikipedia “In Scotland the tradition may also derive from an English poem:
As the light grows longer
The cold grows stronger
If Candlemas be fair and bright
Winter will have another flight
If Candlemas be cloud and rain
Winter will be gone and not come again
A farmer should on Candlemas day
Have half his corn and half his hay
On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop
You can be sure of a good pea crop
One year(1990) my sister and I went to Punxsutawney to see Phil the groundhog. Pre-Groundhog Day movie.
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