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Archive for the ‘On the Road’ Category

saint saviour’s dominican priory

Posted in Inspiration, On the Road, tagged architecture, art, churches, colors, dublin, faith, Inspiration, ireland, Photography, religion, travel on November 10, 2015| 3 Comments »

As the previous post suggests, yes, I am on the road for a bit beginning with a return to Dublin, Ireland! A quick trip for work and pleasure, and it was certainly a pleasure to chance upon the Saint Saviour’s Dominican Priory. I had such a short window of time to photograph that I mostly focused my attention on a few windows. These are details from one window.

Here are details from a second.

Here is the third …

Little literature could I find at the time on the church’s architecture or artwork but the stories can be discerned from the glass.

I found the building by getting lost, but if you are seeking it out, it is located at 9-11 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin 1. Learn more about the priory via the following link: http://www.saintsavioursdublin.ie/

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in the waters of st. stephen’s green

Posted in Branches, Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged colors, dublin, Inspiration, ireland, nature, Photography, st. stephen's green, travel, urban landscape, water on November 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

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an archaeologist’s eye

Posted in Branches, Guest Contributor, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged art, beauty, cemeteries, colors, gothic, green, Highgate Cemetery, history, Inspiration, London, nature, Photography, travel, Victorian Age on October 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »

photo by D. Ledesma

I am grateful to have family and friends who as they walk in the world will sometimes pause and think, “Hmmm. This is a picture that Cynthia might like.” Some people will share photos of that sight in the moment by text. Other times, as most often happens with my brothers, they will give me a ring and describe in great detail the Virginia sky above them. It is all wonderful, as are these images shared by a friend who recently traveled around London. She is an archaeologist who has been involved in Egyptian digs and one day I will convince her to sit down for an interview about why she chose that field. Until then here are photos she shared of a walk through Highgate Cemetery.

photo by D. Ledesma

As the website notes, this cemetery opened in 1839 and is considered one of England’s great treasures with its fine funerary architecture. There is an east side and a west side. The west side which includes an Egyptian Avenue is considered fragile and accessible only by special tour. People of many backgrounds are buried here with some of the most famous figures buried including Karl Marx and George Eliot.

photo by D. Ledesma

From these photos alone one can see the interplay of light and shadow upon the beautiful sculpture. Scary movies (e.g. one involving Dracula) have been shot here but from these photos one can also imagine the serenity of this sacred space. It is still an operating cemetery.

photo by D. Ledesma

For history buffs, the history page on the website is an amazing compilation of old and new video as well as text. I don’t know if I will ever have the chance to view this place in person but I thank Ms. Ledesma for sharing these images with me.

Learn more at …

http://highgatecemetery.org/

http://highgatecemetery.org/about/history

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a feather found on the ground today

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged abstract, beauty, feather, Inspiration, nature, Photography, urban landscape on October 10, 2015| 2 Comments »

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walking half way home

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged abstract, beauty, colors, Inspiration, nature, Photography, urban landscape, walking on September 16, 2015| 2 Comments »

I took a friend’s advice. Instead of walking all the way home from Copley Square, I walked half way and this is what I saw.

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shades of brown and gold in the virginia wood

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged colors, Inspiration, landscape, light, Middlesex Fells, nature, Photography, Virginia Wood on August 31, 2015| 6 Comments »

You can learn more about Virginia Wood and other areas of the Middlesex Fells Reservation here.

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he moves in darkness …

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged fear, fences, Mending Wall, musings, nature, Photography, poetry, politics, Robert Frost on August 31, 2015| 2 Comments »

“He moves in darkness as it seems to me,

not of woods only and the shade of trees.”

— excerpt from Robert Frost’s Mending Wall

Yesterday, I watched a former politician speaking with great authority, as his wife looked upon him adoringly, as he spouted hatred and nurtured fears in a subtle way. I had to turn off the television before I put my shoe through it. I sat for a bit trying to remember that Booker T. Washington quote, about allowing no man to belittle his soul by making him hate him.

Not long afterwards I found myself reading about current politicians and wannabe politicians, echoing the sentiments of that former politician. They spoke with great gravity about the need for bordering walls. Southern walls. Northern walls. Who knows,maybe even walls within cities. Nothing new, I suppose. Throughout human history, there have been such calls. It’s the public response to those calls that I wonder most about.

In Frost’s poem, Mending Walls, as two men rebuild the wall separating their farms, one says, “Good fences make good neighbors.” The poem’s narrator replies…

Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder

If I could put a notion in his head:

“Why do they make good neighbors? …

Before I built a wall I’d ask to know

What I was walling in or walling out,

And to whom I was like to give offence.

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,

That wants it down! …”

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surface of the charles river

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged abstract, beauty, Charles River, colors, Inspiration, nature, patterns, Photography, urban landscape, water on August 29, 2015| 1 Comment »

The surface of the river along the Charles River Esplanade . It was a sunny afternoon, the waters churned by gusts of wind and the wake of many canoes and kayaks.

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frogs and toads and …

Posted in Inspiration, Nature Notes, On the Road, tagged amphibian, assabet river, camoflage, colors, frogs, Inspiration, landscape, nature, nature photography, Photography, sudbury, toads on July 5, 2015| 3 Comments »

I don’t suppose I should call them all Melissa’s frogs or her toads — she’s the friend for whom I try to make a reasonable attempt at photographing the amphibian-kind of the forests wherever I visit. They do have species names and local titles. I think this little fellow, actually he would have fit inside the palm of my hand, he might be an American toad.

Later I did see a teeny tiny frog that could have sat on the tip of my finger with room to spare. He moved too fast for me to capture. At first I thought it was a cricket. Aside from frogs and toads, I did see a few other things in the woods that made the day quite special.