Mr. Magoo, alive and well

You just never know who you will run into at a flea market. We found Mr. Magoo Saturday. We just went from character to character photographing everyone that looked interesting. Some people think it requires some strong anatomical parts to do this kind of work, but in general people are really receptive to it as long as it's done in good fun. Most ask if we are from a newspaper or "sumthin," but once we tell them we're just having fun, they're ok with it.

We know there are a lot of celebrities hiding in the hills of northwestern Connecticut, we just didn't expect to find this one at the flea market. But then, where else would he be?

The great all-American flea market

There's nothing like the great all-American flea market on a Saturday morning. It's a time when a lot of country characters (aka rednecks in some areas of the country) come out of the woods to sell anything from old benches to old wrenches. It's not what one would expect to see in Woodbury, Connecticut, the antique capital of New England, but it has been happening every week for more than twenty years.

All week Woodbury is full of New York designers shopping for antiques for their upscale Manhattan clients and dealers clamber to get their attention, to somehow get them to lay out thousands of dollars for a rare chair, lamp or mirror. But Saturdays are reserved for browsing and bartering among the field of vendors for an equally precious chair, lamp or mirror. Maybe it's not as grandiose or valuable, but it sure is a lot more fun.

Turkey dinner

The way I feel tonight, I think I ate the whole thing. Who knows how big this turkey really was, but I think I ate it all today. It was a great turkey. We cooked it all night, it was really moist and the meat was falling off the bones. So why not eat the whole thing.

Oh wait, maybe it was the apple-cranberry crumb pie, my absolute favorite. Now I remember why it's so important to eat dessert first. After all isn't life all about priorities.

Ronald McDonald

Ya' know it's one thing to see someone dressed up as Ronald McDonald in an ad on television, or some poor fast food employee on a street corner who drew the short straw, but what about a couple of hundred people with no shame dressed in gold and red walking down Broadway Thanksgiving Day underneath a bloated Ronald McDonald. Perhaps they have no choice because they are tied to big Mac and can't get away, or is big Mac tied to them so he doesn't get away.

There is a bright side to this nonsense in that Europe has gone so green that Ronald McDonald has traded in his traditional red for green. Yes, Europe has gone so green that it has switched the all too familiar red for hunter green. Some people will do anything to get into a parade, but as for walking beneath a red or green Big Mac tethered to his feet or body? Well it's all for fun and it really is an honor to walk in the annual Macy's Day Parade.

Macy's Parade

Where else could you see a sixty foot gas filled green frog floating above the street but in New York City on Thanksgiving Day.

Yes, it's time for the annual Macy's Parade, the official Christmas season kickoff. It's the "beginning" of Christmas shopping and of course the day before black Friday. Hundreds of thousands of people come to Manhattan every year for the parade, jamming all the cross streets one block on either side of the parade route. At noon, they all descend on the stores, some to look, a lot to just play, and a few to even buy.

So if you missed the giant Kermit last year, be in Manhattan Thursday morning and join the crowd as they wait for Kermit and his many minion handlers to float down Broadway once again.

Extreme multitasking

It's one thing to talk on the phone while we're doing some other mindless task, or for some talking on the phone is a mindless task, depending on who is on the other end. But how about a "four-fer." This guy could do it all -- eat, drink, talk and walk at the same time. For some walking and chewing gum is a challenge, but not this guy. I just hope he doesn't sneeze.

Do you really believe your eyes?

So, is it concave or convex? Is it a hole or a post? Stare at it for a while and watch it change. Our eyes don't deceive us but our mind has certain preconceived notions about how something should appear and we have to wait for it to kick in gear before we see it change. It's a visual paradigm shift where we normally see or think about something one way and then we shift and see or think about it from a different perspective.

Whether it's an idea or an object, take time to look at it from every side. Yes, step outside the box and look at it with an open mind. Don't be afraid to shift your paradigm from a hole to a post.

The white house

It's one thing to photograph a cool old house but sometimes we have to change its appearance to communicate a message, and that's where Lois comes in. Take out the color of the house and bring in the color of the door and window with a Conte crayon, define the other edges with a pencil, and suddenly we are drawn to the plain door and shuttered window of an otherwise stark dwelling.

The white clapboard siding, tin roof, and funneled downspout add to its simplicity, while the starkness adds to its mystery. I have a feeling this will be the story of many houses in New England this winter as the cold weather sets in and people stay in.

Unlike many, however, we won't let ourselves get trapped inside. We are ready for the snow and will be out shooting every day in order to capture the full beauty of winter. The challenge is to find the color of winter so often characterized as stark and white, yes, much like the house. In the meantime we will enjoy the autumn transition.

Fall 'n apple

Ok, so it's time for me and my fellow "fallen apple" bloggers to get current before the ice and snow hit. Fall has come and gone in Connecticut. October was a blur, a blur of color that is, and now, Thanksgiving is only a week away. We began our fall foliage shoots this year in the north and through the month, moved south as the leaves changed. It was a great year for gold, but then the rains hit and everything fell and turned brown.

We found a new state park, Haystack Mountain, in the north and Weir Farm, a nature preserve for artists in the southwestern part of the state. Haystack Mountain is not a big park but it is beautiful. We could drive most of the way up the mountain and then the peak was only a short hike through the woods. The woods were so striking, we never made it to the top. (Imagine that!!)

During the warm months, the meadows and gardens at Weir Farm are full of artists with easels and oils who painstakingly take an eternity to capture a scene. Personally, I prefer the photography route. It only takes a fraction of a second to capture the same image, and Lois can turn it into a digital painting in the comfort of the studio.