[OT from cottage renovations]
Here in the Grove it's Music Weekend. Though often overlooked by some, the children's recital is always one of the high points.
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Under the supervision of the choreographer, the first in a queue of dancers can be seen waiting in the wings to perform in McCathran Hall on Saturday morning.
[OT from cottage renovations]
Seen through its ripply old glass exterior windows, the interior of the Town Hall catches the setting sun. It is the natural gathering place where we meet for all sorts of functions, but when empty this most public of our spaces takes on an intensely private feel.
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[OT from cottage renovations]
given how ridiculously soggy wet this year has been it really didn't come as a surprise when the temperature went down for the precipitation to have continued.
it was a very quiet day here in the Grove, most folks having the sense to stay indoors.
the only people I saw abroad had snow shovels, sleds or cross country skis.
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there are some images that I haven't had the sense to get past taking, and this is one of them. of note is that the snowcap on the porch roof has drifted up above the bottom of the upper front window; it is odd to look out through it and have the view partially obstructed by snow.
of course. what else were you expecting?
with no events going on in the Town Hall the snow was drifting up to its porch. the sign in front, the flag and the brick chimney provide the only chromatic highlights in an otherwise highly subdued scene.
another iconic image, we seem to have some severe repetition settling in here. the large oak growing up through Mimi's porch is framed by lesser trees in the foreground; that one on the R with its leaves doesn't do much for the image but I was neither able to crop it out nor willing to remove it digitally (not that I wasn't tempted, but perhaps tomorrow will afford a chance to go back and find a better location from which to try again with this image).
unlikely though it may seem to those who know the setting well, this has become one of my favourite views within the Grove: looking down Acorn Lane across Chestnut Avenue and the church parking lot into the West Woods. this is another image I've tried to capture at different times but it can be a challenge to compose -- I wanted it to be about depth as well as height so it needed more cropping to the R than I would have liked.
if you think you've seen this before, you're right.
crank the wayback machine to April 2006 (and scroll to the bottom of the entry).
holiday lights shine brightly on the façade of Hutch and Linda's cottage.
[OT from cottage renovations]
one of the high points of the reception following the halloween parade came when the children sat down in a circle for a spooky story -- with a tactile and olfactory overlay that produced these facial expressions:
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[OT from cottage renovations]
one afternoon of non-rain was all it took to allow some beautiful light.
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Japanese Maple leaves when stacked allow layers of light to create compositions like this.
this oak leaf with acorn cap is about as evocative of the Grove as anything could get.
the bittersweet seems to be coming along sooner than usual this year -- or perhaps I just haven't been paying enough attention to the passage of time.
this corner of the upper field is slated for residential development at the hands of the Toll Bros. my own (and strong) preference is for it to stay the way it is, but that doesn't seem to be an option. this view won't last much longer; that it remains at all is an artifact of recent economic distress.
Ridge Road has two sharp bends, the first of which exceeds 90° and is colloquially known as "big bend". before the Town got around to resolving drainage issues the body of water that could be found there after a goodly rain was known as "big bend lake".
big bend is marked by this large maple, caught at its brilliant best in Sunday afternoon's sweetlight. for me even the power lines don't detract from the setting, rather they seem to help frame the treetop.
[OT from cottage renovations]
two views of the same small flower, found this afternoon on the Center Street side of the Hall grounds.
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[OT from cottage renovations]
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is it not so that a grouping of stars is a constellation, even when they are all Stars of Bethlehem?
seen on edge it can take on a completely different appearance.
[OT from cottage renovations]
ah, yes, the dandelion seed head. look at one and what do you see? Expo '67 in Montreal, the Star Wars® Death Star, the AT&T logo, a natural construction that surely was engineered by Buckminster Fuller himself.
such a tempting target for the lens.
and trite beyond all endurance.
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but is it not the very nature of temptation that now and then it can overcome any amount of prudence?
looking directly upsun with the chunky dark backdrop of one of the Grove's solid oaks, the seed clusters polarise the sunlight. trying to resist, my will is slipping, and suddenly ... click
damn.
[OT from cottage renovations]
one of Sunday's respites from weekend rain afforded this chance to admire all that's in bloom, not the least of which is the redbud.
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the views below, to the W and E respectively, are backdropped by a tree trunk and the Town Hall's shingle façade.
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| Cercis canadensis | |
in choosing between different views of the same subject I don't always find it possible to decide which one is worth posting. sometimes the deadlock is resolved by holding back on both candidate images. the alternative is to damn the bandwidth and go with both of them.
[OT from cottage renovations]
another diffuse light image.
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[OT from cottage renovations]
Friday evening's bake sale and silent auction for the benefit of the Gulf Coast relief expedition was a success. a wide variety of goods and services were donated and bidding on many items was brisk, particularly as the time began to run short.
the word this morning was that the amount raised was enough to cover the group's travel expenses -- our getting there is now assured -- and to get a good start on covering the equipment and supplies that will be needed.
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the event was well attended ...
... by enthusiastic participants of all ages
many thanks to all who organised the event and who donated and, of course, who bid on and purchased items.
I have received some queries about whether and how one could contribute to the project. donations can be sent in care of the Grove's church:
| Washington Grove United Methodist Church
attn: Katrina Relief P.O. Box 115 Washington Grove, MD 20880-0115 |
thank you.
[OT from cottage renovations]
the annual chili supper is a Grove tradition, held in February when we'll all looking for an excuse to venture out from our cottages to mingle with neighbours and take on some high-octane fuel.
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down on the floor these patterns were formed by shadows of backs of folding chairs.
[OT from cottage renovation]
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Town Hall detail in afternoon sun.
[OT from cottage renovations]
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at sunset
[OT from cottage renovations]
the theme of the Grove's Holiday Revels, held earlier this evening, was
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[note: taken without flash in ambient light, image quality varies accordingly]
as neighbours arrive the hall starts to fill up ...
[OT from cottage renovations]
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doorwindowwall]
there's nobody in the Town Hall but the exit sign is illuminated Just In Case.
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[OT from cottage renovations]
today wasn't going to be dedicated to the image muse -- I had given her the day off, even set aside jobhunting in order finish a piece for the writers' group. said piece had been stuck in the gumball chute for a couple of weeks and was driving me nuts; getting it out was an act of self defence.
it was, for me, a long piece, c. 2100 words. when it was at about the 80% mark I got a call and needed to make a delivery in Town so with Meg trailing along I headed briskly down the walkway all a-purpose. with the the errand fulfilled and begging off on the offer of a visit in order to get back in order to get the piece wrapped up, on the way back I was doing fine until
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I saw the way the afternoon light was playing with this coral honeysuckle:
so I set aside setting things aside and gave these blooms some attention.
these images are unaltered. really, if I'd tried to make these up nobody would believe it, unless, that is, I explained they had been lifted from Dr. Seuss. how could anybody have a problem with that?
[OT from cottage renovations]
each year in July the Town Hall is given over to the children of the Grove for the summer-in-the parks recreational programme. details of its transformation will be the subject of a later piece. the usual crop of little Grovers is customarily supplemented for the month with grandchildren and others whose affiliation is part time. I always hope in their case that the roots run deep.
the Wonder boy participated as a camper and later as an assistant counselor; his lasting contribution to the Grove was having introduced the tradition of capture-the-flag which continues unabated to this day.
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wandering past the Town Hall on Tuesday afternoon I was struck by the campers' T shirts, hung out to air dry. the earth tones look warm and inviting and no wonder, on inquiring I learned it's a mud-based dye.
[OT from cottage renovations]
slanty afternoon light, I can't help it, I just have to head out into it. and when things are backlit in it, well, I'm sorry, it exceeds my power to resist.
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these nascent berries are bathed in a light that when it caroms off the grass gives them a ghostly appearance.
there's (common) honeysuckle and there's (coral) honeysuckle. Lonicera japonica is an invasive pest, but L. sempervirens is a cultivar, so this one is safe from my eradicatory tendencies. the others probably aren't all that worried: they have me outnumbered and they know it.
[OT from cottage renovations]
in the evening Gypsy Meltdown provided the music and contra dancing broke out in the Town Hall.
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the lighting was subdued, which improved the event for participants but also made imagery even more challenging than usual. that's completely as it should be. I often get quite concerned about the intrusiveness of taking pictures during Grove events; having a visual record may be A Good Thing in its own right but capturing images should always be subordinate to the activity itself. the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle as applied to the Grove, as it were.
well, O.K., that's it for yesterday.
it's time to head off to the Baroque Brass Band Breakfast over at the Gazebo.
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