A short, squat ruby

Here's another one from Sharon, Mass. I found this one to be absolutely adorable!

Do you get it? I thought perhaps it was hailing a taxi, but it turns out that this fire hydrant's little flag is so that it can be found in the snow. How innovative! I grew up in Chicago, which gets plenty of snow, but I don't recall ever seeing any of these cuties.


For more reddish images, go check out Ruby Tuesday, graciously hosted by Mary at Work of the Poet. Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Sunset, this afternoon!

Check out the sunset I caught this afternoon as I was leaving work! It was really unbelievable - I'm glad I had my camera so that I could prove it to myself later :)

For more cool sky photography from all over the world, check out Skywatch Friday, that cool-as-anything weekly meme. Happy Skywatching, everyone!

A ruby - I didn't forget!

I found these in Sharon, Massachusetts, a little way into October. Can't you just feel the brisk air? I really have always loved autumn!

As always, feel free to click on either photo, for a closer view. And to see more reddish photography, go check out Ruby Tuesday, graciously hosted by Mary at Work of the Poet. Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Shadows - here's hoping for a bloggy week!

Well, I didn't post much last week. Life is just busy, what can I say? But I'm hoping that this week will be a little livelier. Let's start it off right, with a nice shadow.


I found these fire escapes in Chicago. Suddenly realizing that my kids had never seen anything like them here in the Jerusalem area, I decided to take a photo. And then I noticed the awesome shadows that they were creating, and I took one more :)

I like them a lot!


For more cool shadow photography, go check out Shadow Shot Sunday, hosted at Hey Harriet. You won't be sorry!


Happy shadow hunting, everyone! And have a great week!

Skywatch - this afternoon

Well, I've started working longer days at work. I used to come in from 8-4, and now I'm supposed to come from 8-5. But alas: the sun sets around 4:30, and I keep missing it! So I've been trying *very* hard to come in early, around 7, with the intention of getting out by 4. Needless to say, easier said than done...


And so, today, I was sitting at my desk around 4:20. Suddenly, I got a call from my friend Dena. "I just wanted to tell you," she said, "that there's some crazy sky stuff going on. I thought you'd want to know."


I grabbed my camera and ran out to the parking lot. The view isn't as unobscured as the one from my balcony at home, but still, not bad:

Wow, right? Click on the photo to get an even better view.


What can I say? Thank you, Dena! It's good to have friends, and especially ones who look up :) Here's hoping that I'll get better at scheduling my time, and won't need to employ spies...


For more sky-oriented photography from all over the world, check out Skywatch Friday! There are some amazingly talented photographers who post there - you won't regret the click. 


Happy Skywatching, everyone! Have a great weekend!

European Shadows

On our trip last month, we stopped over in France. We were pretty tired, to say the least, and had just enough time and energy to be bored in the airport, but not quite enough time or energy to go see anything interesting in Paris...


I did find some intriguing shadows while wandering in the walkways between terminals. So here's one of my impressions of France :)

(Do click on the photo to get a better look - it's more impressive that way!)


So all in all, it wasn't a total loss! And let's hear it for France's Charles de Gaulle airport, which is very friendly about giving 10 free minutes of wifi!


I'm posting this to that wonderful meme, Shadow Shot Sunday, graciously hosted at Hey Harriet. I highly recommend you go there right now, to check out lots more interesting shadows from all over! Happy Sunday, everyone!

Autumn Thursday and Skywatch Friday, all in one

There's a meme called Thursday Challenge that is interesting - its theme varies from week to week. My only problem with it is that I never remember to check what the theme is ahead of time. I signed up to get a reminder, but it never worked, and so I haven't participated much over the past year :(


However, last week and this week, I was pleased and surprised to find a reminder email in my inbox! Something apparently clicked behind the scenes, and now I'm in the loop. And wouldn't you know it - this week's theme is Autumn! I've been waiting to post a foliage pic from our trip to the US - what could be a better excuse?

There you have it, folks: Autumn. Isn't it lovely? And since I think that the bright blue sky makes those Autumn colors stand out even more impressively, I'm posting this to Skywatch Friday, too. Go check out both memes, to see what other fun things have been posted! And have a great weekend, all of you!

Ruby Tuesday - some local rubies

Here is the view that greets me each morning, about three minutes into my morning commute. I've been trying to get in to work a little earlier, in order to leave before dark (and not miss any lovely sunsets) and the morning light on these trees is just enchanting.

When you get close up to these intriguing trees, you see that what makes them red is seemingly thousands of tiny Chinese lanterns. They're really lovely!

For more ruby red photography of the week, go check out Ruby Tuesday, graciously hosted by Mary at Work of the Poet. Happy Tuesday, all!

Shadow Shot Sunday - at last

Well, I've been trying to get back into the swing of posting a photo every day or two, and it hasn't been easy. I have lots of photos, just no time to sit still and post them, you understand :)

Anyway, when I caught this out of the corner of my eye at work the other day, I said "Toby, that is the best shadow ever! You are just going to have to make some time for it." And apparently it worked, since here I am:

 This little guy was crawling on the screen on my office window. I am truly honored that he sat still while I fumbled around for my camera. Thanks, guy!

For more cool shadow photography, go right now to Shadow Shot Sunday, that excellent meme hosted at Hey Harriet. Happy Sunday, everyone!

Skywatch from October - here you go!

It's time once again for that always-appropriate meme, Skywatch Friday! 
Looking through my photos from last month, I came across these lovely sunset shots. We were getting ready for our trip at the time I took them, and I truly, completely forgot about them until this moment. I'm so glad I thought to browse through!

Nice, right? They look even better close up - click on them and see for yourselves.


And for more sky-oriented photography, go check out Skywatch Friday, where you'll find great shots from all over the world. Happy Skywatching, everyone!

Goodbye, RivkA

Well, I've been in kind of a slump. We were shocked and saddened to hear this past Friday that our friend from so long ago, RivkA Matitya, had left this world. We used to know RivkA back when we hung out in the Bnei Akiva building in Jerusalem in the early 90's - she was always there in the Yavne Olami office, where she spent so much of her time. She was always a burst of smiles and energy, and we were happy to talk with her, again and again!


Then we lost contact, and when I first heard about the Coffee and Chemo blog, I was sad to realize that it was written by that same sweet friend of ours from way back. Until I started actually reading her blog, and saw that RivkA wasn't in any kind of a slump herself - she was still all smiles and energy, but using it now to live her more adult life with her husband and kids. She was seemingly a whirlwind of energy, running from event to event, loving her family, teaching swimming classes (!) and more. We did get to actually reconnect in person a couple of times, at various happy occasions and at the JBloggers picnic that she organized in Jerusalem, just a little over a year ago. Here's the photo that I have from then - you can see her beaming (as she always has) in the middle:

To give you a small understanding of what she was like, here's part of one of her blog posts from 2007:
~~~
Okay, so here is the deal: I don't want people to look at me with sad, "droopy" eyes.

I don't want people to think of me and feel sad.

I don't want people to see me and feel sorry.

I don't want to be the cause of worry and concern.

I know that when you first hear the news, it's a bit of a shock. So it's okay to be sad in the beginning (I was too). But don't stay there!

You can ask me anything.

I'm totally open.

I don't mind talking about the cancer or what's going on.

Chemo certainly affects the day-to-day of my life, so there's no ignoring it.

But I really don't intend to hang out in some dark, depressing emotional pit.

So here's what I want:

When you think of me, be happy.

When you see me, smile.

Read more: http://coffeeandchemo.blogspot.com/2007/08/no-droopy-eyes-please.html#ixzz14BB0gdA7
~~~


Anyway, it didn't work - we were sad on Friday, and I know I've never cried as much at anyone's funeral as much as I did at hers, on Saturday night. Then Sunday morning came around, and I found this sun rising on the way to work - and somehow couldn't help but think that RivkA had gone from lighting up our world to lighting up the heavens:

And I started to realize that I was doing just the opposite of what she would have done - we're meant to be happy, and take advantage of every good thing that life gives us! If we can all start acting the way she did, the world will quickly become a far better place. So I'm going to try, and I hope you all will too!


In that spirit, here's a fast, funny sign that we found in Sharon, MA just a few weeks ago. I know, those of you from Massachusetts may not find this funny. But some of the rest of us do!

(By the way, as a humorous aside to our Boston trip: my Israeli coworkers are shocked that I [or anyone] can pronounce "Massachusetts." They claim that saying it aloud must be part of the U.S. naturalization test.)


May RivkA's family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem! Shiva information can be found on her blog, Coffee and Chemo.


Please daven (or send happy thoughts) for the memory of RivkA bat Yishaya.