Unusual sign

I thought I'd seen every sign there was to see in the city, but then I saw this one.  It's not every day you see a 'Trail closed' sign coming out of downtown!  I was a passenger, so no safety rules were broken :-)

F Number	7.1
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/250
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Political Rally!

I don't publish a lot of political stuff - there are plenty of other places for that.  But this political rally was so unique that I felt compelled to show it.  The designer of this rally has been putting these cartoon characters individually all around the area and today, she decided to assemble them for a protest on the steps of City Hall.

This is very clever and an awesome use of space and colour!  The designer made sure to point out that friend and foe alike have joined forces for this protest.

The cause is a serious one.  In the southern part of the state, various companies are pushing to get permits to allow them to use a process called hydraulic fracturing - fracking - to break up the underground deposits and release natural gas in the Marcellus Shale geography.  People living in Pennsylvania, where such permits have been issued, report ruined wells, foul smells and toxic groundwater due to the chemicals used in the fluid injected into the ground.  It is very controversial here in New York, where Love Canal and PCBs in the Hudson River are very recent memories..

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/2000
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Wood frog

This is a wood frog found at a friend's house.  I never knew it, but wood frogs don't breed in permanent ponds - they breed in ephemeral pools; pools that are present in the wet season, then dry up.  No permanent water, no fish to eat the baby tadpoles!  They are also filled with anti-freeze so they can survive the winter in the leaf litter in the forest.  As soon as they defrost, the temporary pools are filling up and off they go to do their thing.

This particular specimen was an overnight guest, and went back where he was found.  They make the coolest sounds - almost birdlike! 

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/30
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	On, Red-eye reduction

The odd shadow is me deflecting some of the on-camera flash away from the frog. I think it turned out OK despite that.

Mulberries

When we moved here, there was a large maple tree in front of the house.  It got very old and the power company took it down before it snagged the power lines down.  Several years passed, and this spindly thing began growing out of the stump.  It turned into a beautiful mulberry tree!

This is typical of this time of the year.  Full, green foliage and berries in every stage of maturity.  All of us eat the berries right off the tree, and it's encouraging to see neighbours walking past picking them too.  A beautiful and useful tree!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	26.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 52.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/30
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Fireflies

I debated whether to post this or not, but my youngest was so thrilled that I decided to share it.  It really needs to be enlarged, and even then, the light from the fireflies is very subtle.

We were in the nearby hills cleaning up from our recent ham radio expedition, and the fireflies came out.  Well, being 8 years old, fireflies are one of the most incredible sights.  He had to try to catch one.  And of course, having caught one, he had to catch more.  We had a large plastic container and the count kept going up.  Eventually, I stopped the process when he reached over a dozen.  I have to admit that they are one of nature's wonders.  We took them home and showed everyone.  Of course, he had to sleep with them in his bed.

In the morning, they were almost all still active, and we convinced him to let them loose in the front garden.  This photo is of that garden the next night.  To everyone's amazement, those fireflies were still there, still blinking and still flying!

It took several tries with a tripod to get this photo, and it was the best of the lot.  It's been 3 days since, and the last firefly flew off tonight.  Pretty magical, given that we never see fireflies here in the city.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	14.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 28.0 mm)
Exposure Time	8
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Strawberries

The strawberries are coming ripe! I like how the violet leaf mirrors the berry.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/25
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

My roses are blooming too!

I tell you, all of a sudden the garden went from nothing to bam!  The roses opened almost overnight and they're very lovely along the fence.

I will be away from the internet for a bit.  It's time to go play radio again!  This weekend is the annual June ARRL VHF contest.  If you're a ham, check out 6 meters and up - the bands should be hopping!

F Number	8.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/160
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Peony

The peonies have popped open!  I didn't see many ants tending to them this year but they opened just the same.

F Number	8.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/640
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Walking onion

I'm told these are called walking onions because the seed head (the pale bit at the top) gets so heavy that it falls over, dropping the seeds into the ground, starting new onions there.  Makes sense to me; this particular onion is about 5 feet from the spot I put the first one, and I find new ones every year!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/250
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Shelf mushrooms

These shelf mushrooms are reclaiming an old, fallen branch down in the bottom of Vale, near the Cowhorn Creek.  I had a hard time deciding how to frame this.  One of these days I'm going to learn how to use a photo program so I can post-process!

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	31.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 62.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/250
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	400
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Greenmarket crowd

It was hot last Sunday, unseasonably so for early June.  Most everyone went to the Greenmarket in shorts except for the woman in red.

The Greenmarket is getting bigger and bigger, which is very good to see.  Our downtown can use the foot traffic.  The building in the background is the Main Post Office.

One of the regular vendors, Susie made some rhubarb pickles.  I have been eating rhubarb all my life - more often than not broken off the plant and eaten raw.  Most people find them too tart that way and probably the most common way to use rhubarb is as the companion ingredient in strawberry-rhubarb pie.  That's really, really tasty!  Anyway, I tried Susie's rhubarb pickles and I fell in love with them.  She uses cloves and a little hot pepper, and they came out tasting like my Mum's pickled onions, which I loved as a boy.

This was a fantastic Greenmarket trip for me!

F Number	10.0
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/500
Exposure Program	Program AE
ISO	200
Exposure Compensation	0
Flash	Off, Did not fire

Twilight's last gleaming

I was able to catch the sun setting over the far ridge.  This is one of those photos that really needs to be seen enlarged before it looks decent.

F Number	5.6
Lens ID	LUMIX G VARIO 14-45mm F3.5-5.6
Focal Length	45.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 90.0 mm)
Exposure Time	1/125
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO	100
Exposure Compensation	-0.66
Flash	Off, Did not fire