Carnival!!

Met up with some friends for some fun at the annual Immaculate Conception Parish Festival in Clinton, NJ this past weekend! They have great rides for the kids and adults, and it was a beautiful day. Turn down the sound when you watch the videos:


All aboard the Monkey Mayhem! Monkeys were a popular theme at this carnival.





The Monkey Maze Fun House, with a mirror maze, fun house mirrors, and a twirly slide at the end! Yes, Daddy went through the maze and down the slide.


The Ferris Wheel, and views from it:






Assorted other rides:










The sun set on an awesome outing, with a good time had by all!

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

The View From Here: Father's Day with Cloud Visions

Happy Father's Day, one and all! Here is the wonderful art that my daughter created for me, as well as two other pieces she made recently:

In my opinion, this vase with flowers can rival Van Gogh's Sunflowers anyday:


Looks like she used wax or melted crayon on this one:

In case you haven’t figured it out, I have a thing for clouds and sunrises. Transient and elusive, formed and fleeting in seconds, clouds fascinate me as a metaphor for life itself. These photos in particular put me in mind of composer Philip Glass' Cloudscapes, or the opening chorus from Bach's Cantata 26, which likens the brevity of life to the fleeting clouds. These were taken just after a large thunderstorm had just passed through:

The rising sun always reminds me that no matter how dark life can get, a brighter day is coming:

The View From Here: Sunrises of Note and Wild Skies

As I was driving along in Hunterdon County this week I was passing by a surprising number of deer along the road. It was a bright, sunny, early afternoon. My experience has been that deer are active at certain parts of the day, but this time I was passing by a lot of them! Thank God they all stayed put. But imagine my surprise when just around the bend, there was a BROWN BEAR crossing the road! It was small, though if it stood up it would probably be as tall as me. Naturally I slowed down and fumbled, trying to get my cell phone out so I could get a picture of it to post. But it lumbered across the road and disappeared into the brush, which is just as well. I knew Momma Bear or Pappa Bear had to be nearby and could be watching. My first thought upon seeing it was how beautiful an animal it was. The second thought that quickly followed was how to get away from it or keep it from getting excited about my approach. It appeared not to even notice my car at all and thankfully it was going the opposite direction of where I live, though I have seen "evidence" of bears around. Since it was smack dab during the daytime I was surprised to see it; I thought they were mainly active at night. Personally I don't want to see any more of them but this is the second time this year they have been sighted uncomfortably close to where I live.

Since I didn't get a snapshot of the bear, here are two sunrises of note that I photographed this week, and a couple of wild skies after a storm:

Another Emerging Artist

Today, in addition to my photographs, I'd like to introduce you to another emerging artist in the family: my daughter! She enjoys making art, just like Daddy! Here is a gallery of some of my favorites of her works. She's sure to be one to watch -

Wait until I get her into knitting too! : )

And here are a couple of panoramic shots of the rolling hills of Hunterdon County, NJ:

The View From Here: Thick Morning Fog

Last week I was greeted with a variety of early morning conditions on my commute. One morning the fog was deep and murky, so thick you could barely see through it enough to drive, even though the sun was already up. I didn't blur these pictures; that's how it looked:

The next day it was bright and sunny, with beautiful colors in the clouds as the sun rose. The sun is that tiny red dot near the horizon, believe it or not:

Then over the beautiful, sunny, warm weekend I had a chance to take some pictures outside of a dogwood tree. The first picture I'm not that crazy about, but I included it so you could see how the whole tree looked, loaded with blooms:

Up close and personal:

Even more personal still:

I couldn't resist!

The View From Here: Clouds & Matzo Balls

Today I am exhausted. I had planned on going outside to do a little yardwork (emphasis on the word LITTLE), since we have been getting so much rain and everything is turning into a jungle. Today is the first day in a week that it hasn't rained at all, though it has been overcast all day, and cool. Ideal for doing work outside. So outside I went, after generously slathering myself with bug repellent cream. I was going to mow the lawn but then I thought, hey, I'll trim the hedges too, it won't take too long. Next thing you know I was cutting tree branches and pulling weeds, and it was after 6pm when I came back inside. Work always turns into more work, it seems. But the job is done and it looks nice. And I had a chance to think as I worked, which is always nice too. Naturally, as I look out the window while I type this, it is getting darker and darker, so we probably will get some rain after all. Glad I got it done in time.

Here are a few photos I took of the clouds around here. They are all taken on different days, and all taken with a cell phone camera. I like the way I was able to frame the shots and how interesting the clouds looked:

No, I wasn't driving when I took this picture.

This one looks like a painting to me:

I like how the trees are framing the clouds in this shot:

I almost forgot to mention: at Easter-time this year, I decided to make matzo ball soup for the first time. I looked online for a simple recipe and went to the store to purchase the supplies. But alas, when I went to purchase the ingredients individually, I was not happy with the price. So I decided to make a prepared mix. Streit's matzo ball soup was on sale, so I bought that one. My daughter enjoys matzo ball soup as much as I do, so she was interested to see how I made it. I followed the directions, shaping the matzo into small, meatball-sized balls. I thought they were going to stay that size, but they expanded nearly 3 times as much once the soup was done. It was very good, but it didn't taste like the kind that we usually get from the diner. Next time I will splurge and make it from scratch to see what it tastes like that way; I like the experience of making food from scratch, even if it takes longer. I sprinkled a little italian seasoning on top before I ate it:

Hot Melted Butter...

I was making chicken tikka masala for dinner the other night. I poured olive oil into a skillet, and then put several pats of butter in. As the skillet became hot, the butter started melting in a very interesting pattern:

almost fern-like, or like an undersea coral. I don't recall having seen it melt like that before, or maybe I just didn't take the time to notice such things, have you?

One more picture of some beautiful blooming rhododendrons:

Almost to the end of my series of blooming flowers. Next up will be dogwood and peonies, once they bloom.