Posts Tagged ‘Photos’

Posted on October 19, 2008 - by deCadmus

It’s Getting Scary Out There

The maple trees are throwing off their scarlet leaves much like our old golden retriever shakes off the rain after a walk in the wet. The smoke-tinged breeze has a bite to it that wasn’t there just a week or two ago. It’s the season, all right… but if you hurry there’s still time enough.

Time enough for jumping in piles of fallen leaves, raking them up and running and jumping again. Time enough for getting pumpkins and squash and just-picked apples at the farm stand down the road (and don’t forget to claim your organic, free-range and thoroughly mollycoddled turkey for the upcoming holidays… just a few left don’t you know). Time enough to check your firebox and flue, maybe put a match to the first fire of the season.

Time enough to carve a pumpkin or two or three. Time enough to have a sip of fresh-pressed cider with your  walk in the woods. Time enough to do those things that shouldn’t wait. Time enough… but don’t put it off.

Don’t wait. Not this time.

Now, the best part of pumpkin-carving:

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

• Seeds from one just-carved pumpkin (carving a political message is optional). About two cups.
• 2 Tbls butter. Yes… butter. Butter is better. Butter browns.
• Salt n’ pepper to taste.

Spread seeds from pumpkin in sheet pan, mopping up pumpkin juice and any remaining stringy bits with a kitchen towel. (Paper towels work fine.)

Melt butter and drizzle over seeds. Mix throughly to coat. Sprinkle with salt (I prefer kosher salt) and pepper.

Roast in 350 F. oven for about 15 minutes. Stir. Give ‘em another 5-10 minutes in oven, or until GBD (Golden, Brown and Delicious). Sprinkle with a wee bit more salt just from the oven.

Try not to eat them all at once. Just try.

Posted on October 19, 2008 - by deCadmus

Autumn 2008 Image Gallery

Posted on September 28, 2008 - by deCadmus

Solsticity

If Autumn weren’t so lovely, we’d complain bitterly about her theft of Summer’s golden days.

Her touch is, however, so subtle… and besides, she brings such an endearing dowry — jewel-ripe, gold and ruby apples; crimson sugar maples, drunk on their own sweet sap; the pungent fragrance of woodsmoke and smoldering leaves — it’s easy to forgive Winter’s blushing, youthful bride her trespass.

Which is all a florid way to note that I’ve started posting my Autumn 2008 photos on Flickr.

Posted on August 9, 2008 - by deCadmus

China’s Awe-inspiring Coming Out Party

Congratulations to China, who — despite predictions of epic failure, and regardless of what may happen in the coming days (from heavy smog to heavy-handed tactics with the press) — just schooled the entire world in how to stage an epic spectacle with the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. All kinds of awesome.

More pics at NYTimes.

Update: More stunning photos at the Boston Globe.

Posted on July 7, 2008 - by deCadmus

Everything Old is New Again

In which I take one for the team. Ya know… for the the environment.

Back in the 80s (remember the 80s?) I used to scoot around town on a Honda Elite 250. Why? Well… ’cause it was easy on the pocketbook and got me where I wanted to go.

Fast forward 20 years and I’m scootin’ again. Why? Same reasons, really. Sure, it’s environmentally friendly. But honestly, that’s a bonus. (A good bonus, mind you.) At 60-70 miles a gallon, I’m digging the fact that it costs me less then 15 bucks to fill-up.

And the bit about it being a hoot to ride… well, that’s got nothing to do with it. Nope. Nothing at all.

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Posted on June 23, 2008 - by deCadmus

Happy Birthday, Bro

Lo those many (many!) years ago, Donald Neil was loosed on the world.

(I can’t be certain that’s his coffee cup, however…)

Posted on May 26, 2008 - by deCadmus

On This Memorial Day

It’s odd to feel so self-conscious about flying the flag on a national holiday; to feel conflicted about being genuinely proud — honestly grateful — to be an American, and at the same time saddened and angry about what’s been done in our country’s name. I’m not certain… does that make me a true patriot, or a reluctant one?

I believe that patriotism isn’t a matter of whether or not you fly the stars and stripes, or wear a lapel pin, or place your hand over your heart for the pledge of allegiance or sing along to our national anthem. These are platitudes; they don’t reward the blood of our forefathers, nor honor their sacrifice.

Of course, mine isn’t the first generation so conflicted. Others — far more astute than I — have observed that our nation’s actions aren’t always lined up with our aspirations; that blind patriotism is the worst sort of sedition, a pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy, and the last refuge of scoundrels.

But of all the reflections on patriotism in America, the one I find most compelling — and most true — was penned by the American author to whom I am most indebted, and in whose footsteps I have frequently trod (literally, if not figuratively), the hometown hero of Hannibal, Missouri, Mr. Samuel Clemens:

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”
~ Mark Twain

Words to live by.

Posted on May 25, 2008 - by deCadmus

Memorial Weekend Home & Garden Report

On weekends like this, it’s a good opportunity to take stock, and enjoy life’s simpler pleasures: good company, glorious weather, and a little bit of Kansas City style barbecue. Yeah… in Vermont.

As the old saw goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself. Thus, the Weber shrine… a paean to DIY, high on the hog, good ol’ fashioned pit cookery. Oh, and flowers.

Click the pic for more…

Posted on March 15, 2008 - by deCadmus

Maple Sugaring Time in Vermont

Driving back from Boston yesterday I saw the telltale blooms of steam billowing from hilltop sugar houses… Vermont’s surest sign that we’re at the muddy intersection between a long, snowy winter and spring greening. I suspect I won’t have opportunity to head into the woods this year to revisit some of Vermont’s family-owned sugar shacks, so I’m reprising a visit I made to the Isham family farm and maple sugarhouse… just down the road aways here in Williston.

Maple sugaring is a tradition that has flourished at the Isham family farm for five generations. It’s on the verge of a sixth generation — Mike Isham’s daughter Jennifer may well prove to be the first iPod-wearing sugarer in Vermont — provided the weather holds out. Maple sugaring happens only in the subtle dance between winter and spring, where the cycle of warming days and freezing nights makes the sap run. In the face of global climate change, Vermont’s tradition of sugaring may be in danger.
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Posted on January 6, 2008 - by deCadmus

2007 in Photos

My apologies for doing such a poor job of keeping things up-to-date here. Between the busy holiday season — and some other projects — I’ve been lax in my blogging.

To make amends, let me kick off the new year by filtering through the year just past… at least as seen by the eye of my camera. Here are my favorite photos of 2007. (Click to start the show, then you can navigate forward and back by clicking on the slides.)

Here’s to 2008!