July 2020

July 2020 is ending today, here is some news.

It has been a very hot and humid month. Our discipline in maintaining social distance and wearing our masks whenever we outside continue. It has become quite habitual, we keep busy at home and masks are an extension of us now. The weather has not allowed me to go out even for my short walks in the neighborhood.

After some planning, we managed to arrange a garden pizza party with our friends, Dennis, Jim, and Mary. It was too hot for Chris to make it. We enjoyed pizza from Little John’s, the best around; some drinks and dessert. Everything was arranged so that we maintained our safe distance and did not share any food. These days, we show how much we love our friends and family by keeping our distance!

At her July appointment, Jan got a very good report from her electrophysiologist, the pacemaker was doing its job. We were particularly pleased to hear that the doctor wanted to see her in a year! Good news.

Jan’s Photographs in a Publication

Another piece of good news is that some photographs from Jan’s abstracts series got accepted at the International Lens Magazine July 2020 issue dedicated to women photographers and got published! You can have a peek at a small preview at MagCloud. Click on the small “Preview” button below the cover image. Nice going Jan!

We took a few rides just to go somewhere else, be it north towards Providence or south towards the malls. During one of our outings, I drove on Narragansett Parkway and took one of the short streets that end at the water’s edge of Pawtuxet Cove. I had my infrared camera with me and took a few photographs there. You will see them in the gallery and although the colors may look somewhat “normal” there is nothing real about them at all. All fake colors! Better than fake news!

One morning, I drove Jan to a nearby farmer’s market, Morris Farms. She did some minor shopping there and everyone observed the rules and wore their masks. The waiting line was properly distanced too.

Our Pleasant Neighborhood

The rest of the photographs are from our neighborhood. The tall pampas grass is around the corner, the wilderness nearby with climbing wild roses is at the end of our short street, the hydrangeas in motion are in another neighbor’s yard. The rest, the miniature roses, and the swallowtail butterfly are from our front yard. The swallowtail visited us yesterday. As I photographed while it fluttered from one flower to the next, I noticed the big missing piece on its wing. It did not seem to affect its movements though, still swift and graceful. And, it also seemed to have a wingman, a bee following it all around which you will see in a few photographs.

Oh, in case you may wonder why some elements in one of the photographs with the chairs are cut off, did anyone ask Degas why he painted horses that way in some of his paintings? Take a look! That is the nature of photography, we superimpose a frame on the world before us cutting it out to capture it in our frame. There is always more beyond the frame! Degas wanted to make his paintings have the characteristics of photographs. Think about that!