I am moving from Sugar Land, TX to Round Rock, TX tomorrow so I may not post tomorrow and Saturday. I'll be back on Sunday for sure.
-vc
Showing posts with label Photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Photography. Show all posts
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Ghanaian Women
Women in Ghana work hard. They get up early in the morning to start the fire. They cook on coal pots and grind their sauces and vegetables by hand. Most of the small businesses are run by women. My friend Perpetua had a bakery. She baked bread for 4 traders in town and two schools. She also ran a small provision store which is like a convenience store. She cooked three meals a day. Washed her clothes by hand in two large metal basins. When I was first at Sandema she had a small girl, Madua, who did the cooking, the wash and she sometimes watched the store but Madua left.
It's often the woman's income that clothes the children and sends them to school. They In "Half the Sky Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn say that men tend to spend their money to show off. They might throw a large party, or lavish robes but women usually reinvest their money in their families, businesses or communities. The book tells stories of women in Africa and Asia who have received aid and the good work they did with that help. Many of the stories in the book resonated with what I saw in Ghana.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Windsor, CT
I loved downtown Windsor, CT, maybe because it was the first place I live on my own. In college I had roommates then I got married right out of college so in 2004 when I moved to Windsor was I living alone for the first time in my life. I think the first place you live alone is special. Like where you grew up or the towns your children were born in or the first house you bought. Anyway back to Windsor, CT.
Windsor's main street was Broad Street, from there you could go anywhere as this street sign indicated!
The buildings on Broad street were typical New England.
CVS was on Broad Street and the Windsor Public Library. I found a lovely diner, Dom's that I visited for breakfast at least twice a week. The waitresses new I wanted my tea with milk and kept bringing me hot water until I finished the newspaper. A piece of Maine was on Broad Street as well. The local ice cream shop sold Gifford's Ice Cream. Gifford's is the best ice cream in the world. Better than Ben & Jerry's. Although they are in Skowhegan and not Madison, Gifford's Ice Cream still tastes like home.
Bart's was a local drive in that expanded to an eat in restaurant as well. Bart's was located down by the river and once a month they had an antiques auto show.
If you are ever in Connecticut, north of Hartford, you should go to Broad Street in Windsor for a taste of a New England town.
Happy travels,
vc
For more about Windsor, CT try these books.
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| My Apartment |
The buildings on Broad street were typical New England.
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| Masonic Hall |
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| Town Hall |
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| Post Office |
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| Bart's Antique Auto Night |
If you are ever in Connecticut, north of Hartford, you should go to Broad Street in Windsor for a taste of a New England town.
Happy travels,
vc
For more about Windsor, CT try these books.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Topsmead State Forest
Door of the English Tutor style cottage at Topsmead State Forest.
This was another field trip on my photography class. The forest is in the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut.
-vc
This was another field trip on my photography class. The forest is in the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut.
-vc
Monday, July 9, 2012
Hill-Stead Museum - Farmington, CT
I took a photography class at the Farmington Valley Arts Center, the teacher was Eric Dreeke, alas they no longer offer photography classes but Eric does! Eric took the class on a field trip to the Hill-Stead Museum.
Typical New England stone wall, covered in ivy on a foggy day.
A fellow photographer left his bag here. I loved the bright red and then the echo of red in the reflector on the bridge.
The Hill-Stead is also used for functions and parties. Many wedding photographs have been posed in front of this gazebo.
The Hill-Stead was finished in 1901. Alfred Pope purchased the land and Theodate, his wife, was an architect and she designed the Hill-Stead. The Hill-Stead was a working farm that was recognized as a model of agricultural practices. In 1946 Theodate Pope Riddle dies and creates the Hill-Stead Museum in her will.
Hill-Stead Museum website.
-vc
Typical New England stone wall, covered in ivy on a foggy day.
A fellow photographer left his bag here. I loved the bright red and then the echo of red in the reflector on the bridge.
The Hill-Stead is also used for functions and parties. Many wedding photographs have been posed in front of this gazebo.
The Hill-Stead was finished in 1901. Alfred Pope purchased the land and Theodate, his wife, was an architect and she designed the Hill-Stead. The Hill-Stead was a working farm that was recognized as a model of agricultural practices. In 1946 Theodate Pope Riddle dies and creates the Hill-Stead Museum in her will.
Hill-Stead Museum website.
-vc
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Fall
The last time I was in New England for the fall colors was 2007. In Ghana, during the dry season, the grasses on the savanna turned golden but no yellows, oranges, maroons, reds, pinks and purples! Here in Texas you may find a color change to dull yellow. I am in exile from Autumn, therefore in honor of Autumn here are two photographs and a poem from Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
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| Next Door |
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1833)
Go, sit upon the lofty hill,
And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
Do hymn an autumn sound.
The summer sun is faint on them —
The summer flowers depart —
Sit still — as all transform’d to stone,
Except your musing heart.
How there you sat in summer-time,
May yet be in your mind;
And how you heard the green woods sing
Beneath the freshening wind.
Though the same wind now blows around,
You would its blast recall;
For every breath that stirs the trees,
Doth cause a leaf to fall.
Oh! like that wind, is all the mirth
That flesh and dust impart:
We cannot bear its visitings,
When change is on the heart.
Gay words and jests may make us smile,
When Sorrow is asleep;
But other things must make us smile,
When Sorrow bids us weep!
The dearest hands that clasp our hands, —
Their presence may be o’er;
The dearest voice that meets our ear,
That tone may come no more!
Youth fades; and then, the joys of youth,
Which once refresh’d our mind,
Shall come — as, on those sighing woods,
The chilling autumn wind.
Hear not the wind — view not the woods;
Look out o’er vale and hill —
In spring, the sky encircled them —
The sky is round them still.
Come autumn’s scathe — come winter’s cold —
Come change — and human fate!
Whatever prospect Heaven doth bound,
Can ne’er be desolate.
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| Autumn Leaf |
Friday, July 6, 2012
Wyoming Public Art
There are 4 arches made out of antlers at each corner of a public park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Statues in Pinedale Public Library.
Statue in a public park in Jackson Hole, Wyoming honoring the Cowboy!
Another statue in Pinedale Public Library.
They LOVE cowboys in Wyoming!
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Captain Thar Be Whales Here!
Pictures from a whale watch in Gloucester, MA summer of 2006.
The tour guide told us we had a once in a lifetime experience. This whale left his pod and came to investigate our ship. The whale swam around our ship and under it. The guide was shouting over the loud speaker that "This rarely happens! It's never happened to me before! This one's a curious one!" We could have reached out and touched the whale.
The tour guide told us we had a once in a lifetime experience. This whale left his pod and came to investigate our ship. The whale swam around our ship and under it. The guide was shouting over the loud speaker that "This rarely happens! It's never happened to me before! This one's a curious one!" We could have reached out and touched the whale.
-vc
Monday, July 2, 2012
Granite Quarry, Halibut Point State Park, Rockport, MA
Rockport. Mass is one of my favorite places on this earth. I try to visit it at least once a year when I am in the USA. I am feeling a little bit of withdrawal because I haven't been there for 4 years. I visited the spring of 2008 before I went to Ghana with the Peace Corps. So today I am taking you and me down memory lane to the Granite Quarry at Halibut Point State Park.
Let's take a walk down this wooded path to get to the quarry.
Just a moment while I stop and shoot the shadow and light on this fallen tree.
When you come to the quarry take a right. You'll see the water filled quarry and beyond the trees the Atlantic Ocean.
Oh but I couldn't resist returning that evening and taking a sunset photograph.
If you want more information about park and it's history check out their website. Halibut Point State Park
-vc
Let's take a walk down this wooded path to get to the quarry.
Just a moment while I stop and shoot the shadow and light on this fallen tree.
When you come to the quarry take a right. You'll see the water filled quarry and beyond the trees the Atlantic Ocean.
Not to far to the right I came upon this image. I loved the contrast between the granite, so solid and lasting and the branches, here in the spring and gone in winter.
Let's keep walking. About 1/2 way around you can see the museum and gift shop across the quarry.
I couldn't resist making a photograph of this weed/flower growing out of the granite slab.
We will take one last look across the water filled quarry before leaving and heading into Rockport. I'll take you to Rockport another day.
Oh but I couldn't resist returning that evening and taking a sunset photograph.
If you want more information about park and it's history check out their website. Halibut Point State Park
-vc
Sunday, July 1, 2012
"Cow" Boys Fishing - Sandema Ghana
Early in my Peace Corps service in Sandema, Upper East Region, Ghana at Sandema Senior High Technical school, I decided to take a walk to a nearby pond. My landlord's son, Thomas, said he would come with me and be my guide.
Upon arriving at the pond the first thing I saw was this cow. I knew some "cow" boys would be nearby. In Ghana if a family has cows the boys of the family usually take them out to the savannah to graze.
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Next I saw these lily pads.
Then I found the boys. They were all in the water with dried sticks. I asked Thomas what the boys were doing. He said they were using the sticks to fish. They would push the sticks along the shallow edges of the pond hoping to push something on to the shore.
The catch fit into this boy's hands. It was a frog. Thomas said they would roast it and have some meat to eat that day.
These boys are from the Bulsa tribe. The northern regions of Ghana are very poor. Since colonial time all the commerce has taken place along the coast. A chubby frog would be a welcome addition to their diet.
For a map of Sandema Upper East Region, Ghana, West Africa
-vc
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