Saturday, July 27th, 2024

Mom + Dad

At the very last minute of our visit, I find time to take some serious portraits of my parents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, July 26th, 2024

Stone Patio

Some of my first photographs ever taken with my first camera are of this very same stone patio,

 

 

 

work in progress, by Mom, sometime between 35 & 40 years ago.

 

 

 

Here she is working on the patio, moving the stones around, levelling, grading.

 

 

 

I have done a small amount of stonework, but I’m always distracted.

 

 

 

I would like Martin to keep me company.

 

 

 

Mom would also like Dad to keep her company.

 

 

 

Marin is better with the level than Dad is,

 

 

 

so I have the excuse of pretending I need help and requesting his presence.

 

 

 

Dad likes exercising. Mom, nearing eighty, moves rocks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, July 26th, 2024

A Walk in the Woods

Iris and I went for a walk in the woods while Dad and Akiva biked up the road.

They say the road was miserable and full of mosquitos.

The woods were lovely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, July 21st, 2024

Sterling Renaissance Faire

The Faire has changed overmuch since I worked there in 1994. It used to be that everyone of the employees of the subcontractors put on a fake Elizabethan accent, dressed the part, and stayed, more-or-less, in character. Now there are subcontractor anachronisms (references to Twinkies and video games) and, most distressingly, no accents. Attendees wear cosplay outfits and carry (gasp!) cellular phones. A few of the food stands were closed and shuttered. I saw no pub wenches. I saw no bosoms filled with cash. There was no catty banter between vendors and customers. The “artisans” had no hand-bound books, no hand-made shoes, no turned wood cups, no stained glass, not even cut flowers. There were no traditional arts. It was factory goods, mostly, and some hand-made play swords. Sad, for me. I wanted something that was no longer.

 

Nonetheless, the children had a blast. Mom rented them costumes. There was music and juggling. The shows by the Wyldewood Players were, by far, the best. Akiva found a new favorite musical group: Wolgemut. We went home with two anachronistic CDs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stage at the House of Physic made a fine backdrop for portraiture.

I could have taken more, in varied places, but I did not.

 

A roguish boy in hunter’s garbβ€”

 

 

 

A pretty young wenchβ€”

 

 

 

Some dual portraitureβ€”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, July 19th, 2024

We re-homed our vintage 1970sΒ  paper blocks at Chloe & Neil’s house.

While Chloe worked around the house,

 

 

 

and the dogs lazed on the floor,

 

 

 

Akiva played with Seneca.

 

 

 

Here, they are designing what is known as a Brother Trap.

 

 

 

First, build an enclosure out of bricks.

 

 

 

It must have a small opening on one side.

 

 

 

It also must have a roof.

 

 

 

Then there must be bait, to entice the brother in.

 

 

 

In this case, a simple pair of blue plastic shoes.

 

 

 

Then you tell the brother, oh! Your shoes are in there!

And slide closed the thick brick door behind him.

 

 

 

But the brother breaks out!

 

 

 

Tada!

 

 

 

Β *Β  Β *Β  Β *

 

 

Later, Iris and Chloe walk their dogs.

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, July 18th, 2024

Day Two at Neil & Chloe’s

In the morning, we go to Michaela’s farm.

In the afternoon, we go to the Shelburne Museum.

 

 

 

 

In the evening, Neil and Akiva play soccer.

 

 

 

 

Neil is extremely good at announcing the plays.

Looking at this picture, you could not imagine how many people are playing the game!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At golden hour, the setting sun pinks the white house.

 

 

 

 

Akiva guards the ball during a short break.

 

 

 

 

When the house turns from sunset pink to evening grey,

Neil, completely spent, uses the “massive man” blocking maneuver on Akiva.

 

 

 

 

After Iris and Chloe come back from their walk,

It is time for bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, July 17th, 2024

Shelburne Falls, LaPlatte Nature Park

We went to visit Neil and Chloe!

We went to the river!

We got wet!

 

Iris poses as a mermaidβ€”

 

 

 

Akiva poses as a merladβ€”

 

 

 

my merkidsβ€”

 

Wednesday, July 10th, 2024

New Dress

Mom has fun buying Iris dresses at the thrift store. There are, at this point, so many of them that it’s a chore to wear them all. I took her out to the woods today to take a few photographs. After processing them, I realize that last time I did this, I also exported in B&W. Apparently, I like it this way.

 

For those of you who notice that Iris has perfected her bored model look, don’t forget to look back at this post to recall how long she’s been working on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, July 6th, 2024

Tessellation

Akiva made a new tessellation out of pattern blocks. The limit to any pattern containing orange squares is always the orange squares. I tried to remedy this by purchasing some more pattern blocks. The new pattern blocks I purchased were off by β…›” on both the blue and white diamonds, so I returned them and purchased some vintage pattern blocks on Ebay, which were fine. I wrote the pattern block company and sent them photographs of the measurement error, thinking they might be interested in a mathematical error in their math manipulatives. They sent me a new set of blocks, hoping that it was just a one-off on the size error. Sadly, it was not. Fortunately, the orange squares are all the correct size, so although I haven’t mixed in the new diamond shapes, we have more orange shapes than expected. Unfortunately, we still run out.

 

I have upgraded to the new version of my photo editing tool, ON1 Photo Raw. It has some really neat AI tools, most of which I won’t use. Here I have used the AI select tool to make the background completely black. So easy!