A promise fulfilled

For my wife, Lois, the crocus speaks of God's promise fulfilled. It's one of her favorite flowers as it symbolizes the transition from one season to the next, from cold to warm. Crocuses burst through grass and the dead fall leaves as they reach for the warm sun and the open blue sky. It's a hardy little flower that can even survive an early spring snow, but you have to look quickly as the deer love them, too.

How's your ride?

There is nothing like a roller coaster coming out of the woods to describe some of the things going on in our lives today. Just when we think we are out of the woods and things are looking up, they come crashing down again and again. It's a rough ride, especially when people have little hope for what's ahead.

These past few years have been rough on a lot of people struggling with many tough issues in their lives that have had a strong impact on their emotional stability. We have witnessed ups and downs in our financial markets and wonder what will come next. We have seen the same in banking, housing, autos, healthcare, and perhaps in our own employment.

So, where will the ride end? What or who are you putting your hope in? I urge you to think real hard about it as we move into Easter. Yes, there really can be hope at the end of your ride.

The butts stop here!

Hot butts, cold butts, tired butts, big butts, or little butts. There are just soooooo many thoughts that come to mind that perhaps it's time for me to butt out and give your mind a chance to ponder and wander.

Burned by Kindle

Until 2007, to "kindle" meant to start burning, to stir up or cause to glow, but the introduction of the Amazon Kindle gave new meaning to the word and to how we read. The latest version of Kindle will hold about 1500 books. Yet for many book aficionados, there's a special feeling about holding a book and turning pages that is just not the same as holding the equivalent of a small notebook computer screen and scrolling electronically from page to page.

So what's going to happen to all those hardcover books as people get attached to their Kindles? And what about those favorite bookmarks that you have so carefully preserved over the years? Then there are those who will never be able to turn down the corner of a page to mark their favorite spot. Soon, people will be flocking to the dollar boxes at the flea market like bargain hunters to a Filene's basement sale .

The appraiser

Finally, the Woodbury flea market is open for the season. It's one of my favorite places to shoot street portraits. From vendors to shoppers, it's a place loaded with character and characters. Vendors renew friendships with other vendors that they haven't seen since early December and talk about the deals they got buying things nobody else wanted. Customers walk from table to table trying to find something they really don't need, unless of course, the price is right.

”The appraiser" is such a great character study. There wasn't one piece of jewelry at this table priced more than five dollars, yet she spent nearly half-an-hour analyzing every bracelet, ring, and watch for authenticity. A few minutes before I took this picture, she was actually using a jeweler's loupe to check the quality of the stones in one bracelet. I'm not sure if she carried it all the time or if she had just bought it from another vendor, but it was good enough to convince her that she should move on to the next table.

Yay, spring!

In three weeks, we have moved from winter to spring. In fact, the snow melted so fast, that the crocuses came up before the maple syrup buckets came down. Sap for syrup requires cold nights and above freezing daytime temperatures just warm enough for the sap to run but not so warm that it spoils in the heat. But when the crocuses come up, so does the temperature. It's a sure sign that spring is here, and it's time to take the buckets down and put the winter clothes, boots and snow shovels away for the year.

Taps

St. Patrick's Day to tavern owners is what Black Friday is to the retail business. It's the busiest day of the year for most. It's a day that if all who claimed to be Irish actually went to Ireland, the island would sink. But leave it to New York City to come to the rescue. Taverns open for breakfast while Fifth Avenue is closed from 96th to 44th Streets for the annual parade representing not only those of real Irish decent, but politicians, first responders, schools, interest groups, political parties and just about anyone else who can walk fifty blocks and wears green to identify with the Irish for a day. It's an annual event that is 250 years old and people actually come from Ireland to New York just to be a part of it.

I'm not really sure what all the partying has to do with a lad who was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave and then escape, only to return later as a bishop. Tradition says that he used the shamrock to explain the three persons of the trinity as he spread God's word throughout Ireland for the next thirty years.

My how things have changed during the past 1600 years.

Spring always brings a smile

Whether it's on your hat or your face, there's something about beautiful spring day that just makes everyone want to wear a smile. Who knows what she's really thinking?

The old door

If you want to have some fun and get some attention, go through the historic district of one of our cities and photograph doors. Every door is different and each one has a story. Some have been restored, others renovated, and some have just maintained their function of privacy and security while keeping changed aesthetics to a minimum, like this one. (I must warn you, however, watch out for the neighborhood block watch.)

Like people, from a distance this door looked beautiful. It's color was vibrant and certainly complemented the blue door frame. But as I got closer, I could see the layers of paint were faded and chipped. A more modern keyed deadbolt had replaced the original for increased security, probably as the area was transitioning from an old neighborhood to a historic district ready for a makeover. At some point in its battle scarred life, someone added a doorbell but could not quite match the original doorknob. There are no windows for us to look inside its soul, only a small mail slot. In fact, no one knows if anyone is in there, or not.

What about us? What do people learn about us when they get close? Is our paint chipped and not well maintained? Have we replaced outdated parts? Do we let people into our lives or do we hide behind a door? Are we on the outside wondering who or what is on the inside? What will it take to open your door? What's inside? Invite someone in.

Odd dog out

So what's wrong with this picture? Maybe nothing. Did you ever feel left out or did you just hope you would get left out if no one was watching? These guys probably live in one of those nice Fifth Avenue apartments overlooking Central Park, but how frustrating it must be for a dog to be cooped up all day in some penthouse with hundreds of acres of park across the street. I'm sure it's a good life and they are well pampered, but they are after all, dogs.

I'm sure we all can identify with each dog at various times throughout the day. We could be in front leading the charge and expect others to fall in lockstep behind us, or we could follow close behind a leader who is stepping out ahead of everyone else. Eventually, we get to the point where we don't want to follow the leader, or we don't like the direction he is going, so we just hang back.

Yes, it's the odd dog out who looks at things from a different perspective and sometimes has the best solution. But it's always good to have a friend to rein us in once in a while.

Is it really spring?

Wow, four days of spring in a row. Bear in mind that spring for us is a few consecutive days of sun, at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit and very little wind. It was so warm today, we actually ate lunch outside on the deck for the first time this year. No, our daffodils aren't up yet, and no, they are never really this big, unless of course you're a bug looking up. As nice as it has been though, we still had to pull this image from our stock so we could at least pretend it is spring before the snow returns Thursday.

The colorful fabric of life

Color represents our moods from cool to warm, sad to happy, laid back to full of energy. We move from color to color throughout the day depending on the events that shape us. The transition is not always smooth or well defined but often confusing and blurred. Yet, as we move through each day of our lives, we sense a streak of warmth that overall gives us comfort. For some it might be ice cream, or Starbucks, a book, a special place, a close friend or spouse, or even God himself. Whatever it is, everyone needs a source of comfort to bring them back to reality at the end of each day. Something that helps them bring a sense of warmth and comfort into their life and draw us back from the edges.

The camera can help express these transitions as shown here. The rules say, "Hold the camera steady or use a tripod in low light." I would rather break the rules, leave the tripod home, and move the camera. Just like us, there is so much expression in motion.

New England silhouette

It' s almost spring in New England as daytime temperatures rise above freezing and night temperatures fall below. It's also the time when every maple tree in town is tapped and the iconic metal buckets are hung to catch the sap as it returns to the tree roots each night. In fact, that's about all that happens during the transition from winter to spring in New England, and it doesn't happen very fast.

Under perfect conditions, as much as a quart of sap could flow into a bucket overnight, but typically it is much less. It takes about 40 quarts of sap to produce one quart of maple syrup, so each morning after the sap is collected it must be kept cool to keep it from fermenting. Finally, when there is enough sap, the wood- fired evaporator is lit, and the sap is boiled down until it becomes that sweet maple syrup that we all love.

For most, it's a hobby and like any hobby, the equipment can get pricey and the financial returns are not always rewarding. But the final product is pure "liquid gold" that we ration for a year until the sap runs again.

Yipes, stripes!

Just when everything seems so black & white, someone turns on you. No matter how obvious something may seem to us, someone else will always have a different view. Perhaps it's not the view we envisioned,"butt" at least it's unanimous.

In like a lion . . . sort of

Photographing amusement parks that are "closed for the season" is great fun, especially in the spring as staffs furiously work assembling, painting, and testing everything to get ready for opening day. We found this friendly lion at Quassy Amusement Park in Middlebury, CT, in the off season. He was a gentle soul and much more like the image I would prefer to represent the beginning of March.

Our first on location workshop this year will start "off season" at Lake Compounce in Bristol, CT, March 27, two months before it opens. It should be great fun as we photograph all the brightly painted rides and attractions before the season begins. The second half of the day will be spent photographing inside the New England Carousel Museum. For more information, call or send us an email.