Astronomy Tuesday

Because galaxies always make me happy, here's M106, dancing in a colorful spiral.

Image Credit: Phil Keyser

Sunday bird blogging

I've often admitted my very unfashionable love of house sparrows; I see them hopping along the sidewalks of New York every day and they never fail to make me smile.

But it's impossible not to admire this pretty bird, and how her feathers complement the colors of the wood she sits on.

Saturday reflections

For sheer glee in creating over the top reflective surfaces, the Qajar dynasty in Iran had no equals.

This room is in the Narenjestan Palace in Shiraz.

Urban poetry

Furniture for sale in Shiraz, Iran.

Random things I saw in Savannah

A church sign, an old Kress department store that's been converted to condos, and a few more of the wonderful mossy trees.

Astronomy Tuesday

Bleak and blue -- the InSight lander took this picture of the Martian sunset in April.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Sunday bird blogging

A boat-tailed grackle on Pinckney Island, and the last of that set of photos.

Because Iran has been in the news (as usual, not for any good reason) I've been looking through photos and have found quite a few I never processed. So there may be some more Iran pictures in the next couple of weeks, before I leave for the first of two planned trips to Canada this summer.

Saturday reflections

A panorama of the West Side on an almost-summer day, as reflected in the glass walls of the Javits convention center.

Urban poetry

When you're definitely not in New York anymore -- sign outside a museum in Savannah.

More cemetery pictures

Haunted Savannah

The Colonial Park cemetery in Savannah was active from 1750 to about 1850, so I was surprised that it seemed so empty, with relatively few headstones scattered over the lawns between the family vaults.

At least part of the land covers a mass grave of 700 victims of a yellow fever epidemic, and many of the headstones were dug up and defaced by Sherman's troops when he took the city in 1864. So the visible headstones do not really bear any relation to the number of people buried there.

It is supposed to be haunted. Of course.

River Street

A few more pictures from Savannah.

The promenade along the river is at a much lower elevation than the surrounding streets and you have to go down one of a series of very steep, slippery staircases to get to it. The former cotton warehouses have been converted into stores and bars and restaurants, and there are stalls selling t-shirts and jewelry and a variety of bourbon and/or peach flavored snacks. It was so crowded I didn't find it very enjoyable and I quickly retreated to the leafy streets above.

Because there's such a difference in elevation, the backs of these buildings are accessed by wooden bridges from Bay Street to the upper stories.