First Week in April

4/1 AM Mother Nature's Practical Joke
The weather played a great April Fools' joke. Last night, the ground was covered with white and it was wintry cold. This morning - all gone- completely replaced by yellow grass and the smell of growing things in the air. A miracle and a very nice prank by Mother Nature.
4/1 PM Wild Guessing
Ringing on the bus on the way to NY. It was really hard to tell when the sun was setting. First of all it drifted around the bus windows as we turned this way and that. Once we finally settled in a direction, we were going north so it was just about impossible to see the sun as it was almost directly behind the bus. So I just kept an eye out. Northern New Jersey has many hills so the sun would dip behind then appear again. I guessed and rang right before route 287 meets 78. My phone was dead as well so I didn’t know exactly what time it was either. However, according to the map, I figure I was near Clinton, NJ. The sunset for that area was predicted at 7:23, and we arrived in NY about 35 minutes later. So maybe that was a very good guess. There is a certain quality to the light that I am learning to observe. It’s brief and immediately followed by a quick fade out.
 
4/2 AM Brooklyn

Since I am a bit behind in editing and posting the movies, I decided to take a still photo of this morning’s offering. So here I am out front by the trash.


4/2 PM Ringing on the Runway

We were almost an hour late taking off from JFK which was bad for our travel time, but good for knowing when the sun was going down. Since we were on the runway, there was also no question about the time or place. The only sun to be seen however, was reflected in the terminal window. So when it was time, I asked the man sitting by the window in our row if he would mind filming and ringing bells. He said OK as long as it wasn’t too loud.


4/3/PM False Hope

Our neighbor was watering his lawn and came over while I was ringing the bell. I thought maybe he wanted to ring, too. But he just wanted to know about New York. He is going to visit his nephew next week and wanted directions from JFK airport to the upper west side. That other water sound you hear is the fish tank.


4/4 PM Neighbor from 2 doors down

As we were walking down the street towards the corner, we ran into one of our neighbors getting into his car. He was happy to join the ringing. Those cowbells have a nice sound and are plenty loud for small bells.


4/5 AM Another Puzzle

I didn’t realize what I was looking at when I turned the corner. I still don’t. It sure looks like the sun on the horizon, but there is no horizon there. Unless it’s a tricky perspective because of the bump in the road. There are buildings and hills between that corner and the horizon. Any ideas?


4/7 AM Morning Walkers

This is the view from the end of the block that doesn’t have the streetcar. This is a familiar view and since the sun is rising further to the North, it’s more colorful than the view from the other end of the block. When I got back home, I noticed someone was walking up the street behind me. I wonder if this time is a regular part of her routine and if she will be there tomorrow.

Bob's Ship's Bell

I have a new routine for just ringing around the neighborhood when I’m by myself and don’t want to go anywhere. Ever since I realized that the sound of even the pretty loud bells don’t carry very far I ring the ship’s bell more often. That bell belonged to my friend Bob who passed a few months ago. I like the sound of that bell and ringing it reminds me of Bob. So my routine with that bell is to ring it as I pass each doorway. If I walk a steady pace, the ringing is also regular and it sounds good. Very relaxing and a good way to close the day.

Olympic torch here today

This morning I decided to ring the ship’s bell. It’s louder than the bells I usually ring at sunrise. As the Olympic torch is due to pass down the Embarcadero later in the day, I wanted to start the day with my own voice raised. I live in a predominantly Chinese neighborhood and while I don’t want to antagonize my neighbors, I wanted to make more noise than usual. As it turned out, the bell wasn’t all that loud. The really big bell is in the back of my car which is in the repair shop. Hauling around big bells is having an adverse effect on the suspension- not mention the corrosion from the East Coast salty winters. Listen to my walk to the corner and back