Ketchup

and mustard and salt and some pepper hiding behind the salt and a little more ketchup.

Next Best

It's been a long time since I've seen a rainbow. We could see both sides of this one.

One side out the bathroom window:

the other side out back through the bedroom:

Pictures never do rainbows justice, and now I'm regretting depending on it for today's picture. As much as I love photographs, there are many things that just do not translate from reality. I find this often the case when considering nature. I can be stirred so deeply by some natural things (I have a thing for trees in particular) and seeing them in a photograph pulls all the sublimity out of it. It's the next best thing, though, when not able to experience the reality. So, here's my next best rainbow for you all.

Debris

Okay, so it'll take me a little bit to get in the groove of this thing, but here's another photo, though not a new one. I took it last fall when Jay and I visited Philadelphia for a weekend. We saw all this debris in the river or canal or something there from above on the bridge. There was a lot more than is in this picture. It's been sitting in my computer for months (the picture, not the debris, though there's a lot virtual debris in there, too) and I'm really intrigued by it, but hadn't done anything with it until now. Like I said, it'll take a bit for the groove, so I'll probably throw an old picture in once in a while. Hey, at least it's something.



I could have fiddled with the curves to bring out more of the muck that's underneath the water, but then the surface and what's above it gets lost, and I think it's more powerful as mostly monochrome.

Speaking of every day...

Here is something Jay and I do a lot (that's Jay, featured front and kinda center).

Jay goes to CVP, our local pub a few times a week to read and write. Somehow he escapes the world better when it's running mildly around him and most nights the pub is good for that. Sometimes I accompany him and almost inevitably we'll spend some time on a crossword. We find them irresistible. Looks like he may be a little stuck on this one. I should probably help him out.

Over his shoulder are a couple of our fellow locals.

Guy #1 used to come to the coffee shop I worked at for a couple of months two summers back (can it have been that long?). His name is Bill. I remember him getting breakfast often - I think he liked the yogurt with fruit and granola - and he was one of the few who would brave our stifling little indoor seating area in the heat of a Baltimore City summer and still get hot coffee. Everyone else was outside in our convenient shaded area and sipping iced lattes.

Guy #2 I've only ever seen at the pub and always alone. He's there more times than not when I'm there. He usually turns a chair around and watches the tv over the video game machines with his back to the bar. He's a sports fan, especially baseball. We were there last night and I watched as he watched the Red Sox play some other team I can't now recall and muttered to himself. At one point he cracked up laughing at nothing I could determine. Even as much of a regular as he is, he doesn't interact much with the waitstaff and bartenders, nor the other regulars. But otherwise he looks like an average blue collar guy, in his t-shirt and ball cap, drinking his Bud Light. I imagine there's some sadness to his story.

PS. Hooray! I finally got a picture up! Yay!

I'll start tomorrow, I swear.

There it is.

I meant to do this a year ago, but, well, I'll skip the excuses and just say, now is the time. So, a picture a day, every day. That's the idea. Not a new idea, I know, but there it is. Some will be good, some will be of my cat because sometimes I just can't help myself. He's fat, but he photographs well. Hope you enjoy.