I'll Fly Away

After 39 years in public media -- the last 22 of them at WGBH in Boston -- plus raising two boys, putting them through college, etc., we've saved enough to start a new chapter in our lives.

Two years ago we bought a house in Corrales, New Mexico (just outside of Albuquerque), as our eventual retirement getaway.

The last piece of the puzzle was whether we could net enough from the sale of our Boston house to make the long-term financial plan work.

So we spent days getting the house ready -- repainting, re-wallpapering, re-plastering ceilings . . . 

throwing out papers, boxes, cabinets . . .

 and then staging the living space for show and sale.

We put the house on the market in mid-April, and by the end of May we had an offer that met our financial plan goal.

Since then, we've been finishing the job:  cleaning out the attic, garage, and basement.  More stuff to the curb.  The pickers have been coming by religiously on Sunday evenings before trash pick-up on Monday mornings.  Don't know what the garbage men think, but I expect they'll be glad to see us go.

So now we're down to our final days in Boston.  The moving company comes to pack us up on Thursday; they load the truck on Friday; and we put a few things in the car and leave Saturday for a 2,200 mile drive from Boston to Corrales.

Once we get out there and unpack a bit, I'll post some final images from Cutler Park, selected from the very few outings I've made since January.

And then I expect to open a whole new vista for you from New Mexico.  I'll keep you posted about that.

The Best of 2011

2011 brought a range of photographic opportunities for me, from the very large . . .

to the very small . . .

strange . . .

and simple . . .

abstract . . .

and literal . . .

machines . . .

monuments . . .

and moments of joy . . .

pain . . .

peace . . .

and awe . . .

each beautiful in its own way.

You can see them all (and more) in four “Best of 2011” galleries at my Hastings Street Photography website by clicking here.

In Praise of Patience

All things come to those who wait.  -- Proverb

This morning’s sky didn’t seem too promising:  two bands of low clouds, the lower blocking where the sun would be on the horizon.  Lots of blue-gray; no chance for color.

                                                6:32am

When the sky is boring, I look for other things to shoot, such as light on the water:

                                                 6:37am

or ice along the edge of the water:

                                                 7:01am

And if I’m really bored, I’ll toss small rocks into the water and shoot the interplay of light and ripples:

                                                7:06am

In the meantime, as you can see from the image above, a few small clouds had begun to appear higher in the sky:

                                                7:03am

Eventually, 12 minutes after official sunrise, the sun rose high enough to light up the gap between the two bands of clouds:

                                                7:07am

And then, suddenly, when the sun shone through the gap between the two bands, the whole scene came together dramatically.

                                             7:12am

Patience.

December Images

December skies at Cutler Park continued the same pattern that has been in place since September:  either the skies were cloudy (as they were on December 18) . . .

Or they were perfectly clear (as they were on December 22, the Winter Solstice) . . .

Or, sometimes, they were both (as they were on December 4) when the sky went from clear . . .

To covered only 37 minutes later . . .

But the varying conditions provided interesting patterns on the water . . .

And beautiful light in the woods along the trail . . .

You can see these and other images at my website by clicking here.

New Mexico in Winter

We spent the week between Christmas and New Year’s at our house in Corrales, New Mexico, just outside of Albuquerque.  The weather was almost totally clear, so no spectacular sunrises or sunsets, just beautiful glows on the horizon:

 

But we took a few day trips around the area and saw some old mission ruins . . .

Some picturesque churches . . .

Some funky restaurants . . .

And some beautiful land- and sky-scapes . . .

You can see more at my photography website here.