I am actually back at Merton

The second week of the program started today, but this is the only picture I've taken at the college—the gates to the Fellows Garden on a perfect summer afternoon yesterday.

I have enough pictures from Yorkshire and more recent excursions to go through, and I think I've already photographed every square inch of Merton by now.

English skies

I've always loved the insane variability of English weather. It's raining! Wait, no it's not. Is that the sun? Oops, sorry, no.

I took these two pictures from the same bridge over the Thames just a few minutes apart. Different skies, different moods.

Somebody's watching me

You do sometimes feel like the castle buildings are just always there. Here, behind a group of buildings by the river (under a truly ominous sky) and later that afternoon, behind the fountain commemorating Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, across from the Alexandra Gardens.

Avebury fields forever

Views of the fields around Avebury from the top of the bank—another very good reason to avoid the ditch.

A view from above

I love seeing mountains from the air, and the Andes always seem particularly photogenic. This was taken on the flight between Rio and Santiago.

Sunday bird blogging

Frigate birds reeling through the skies over Rio on Christmas Day.

And no, I didn't get a closer look at them.

Ice ice baby

Looking out over the center of Paradise Bay from a zodiac, you can see all of the ice that we had to sail through. Bumpety-bumpety, scrape, scrape, scrape.

Paradise

More of the stunningly beautiful mountains surrounding Paradise Bay.

Paradise Bay

Whalers called this bay “paradise” because of the many whales they found here, not because they found it particularly heavenly. Maybe they never looked up.

Grytviken

Grytviken was the first place we were able to go ashore, although until the last minute it looked like the winds were going to keep us from landing. The South Georgian government inspector had to clear the ship first, to make sure we didn't have any contaminants (or rodents), and she also checked each of us before we got in the zodiacs—our boots, our jackets, our gear. Did we have any velcro? No? Good.

It was established as a Norwegian whaling station in 1904, and is still described as the largest “settlement” on South Georgia. There's a post office and a museum for the cruise ships that stop there, but they are only open during the summer; the people who work there go back to England in April.

The main reason I really wanted to go there was to visit Shackleton's grave in the small cemetery there, but it was an odd, beautiful place well worth seeing apart from that history.

Saturday reflections

I have no idea what this building in Jeddah is (though I do like the marching camels), but there's the Arabian sky, reflected, so here it is.

Saturday reflections

November skies reflected in the Time Warner Center in Manhattan.

Heading home

 I'm back in San José, and flying home tomorrow.

My driver from Monteverde, who told me to call him Wayne although I suspect that is not his real name, kindly slowed down enough to let me get this shot on the mountain roads. 

Wayne kept us entertained on the three hour drive by identifying every fruit tree between Monteverde and San José, and Costa Rica produces a lot of fruit. We saw lemons, oranges, avocados, mangos, bananas, guavas, passion fruit, dragon fruit, and probably a few others that I'm forgetting.

I do love this country. I want to come back.

Another view of the Cloud Forest

This was taken from the overlook in the Aguti Reserve, where I went for a solo hike this morning. This was my last day in Monteverde, and I had thought about doing another excursion like the birding tour yesterday but decided I don't have the energy for any more touristy stuff.

This reserve adjoins my hotel, and is free for guests, so it's a perfect alternative to guided tours. On Monday I'd only seen one other couple there, and they were arriving as I was leaving, but there were half a dozen families there today. I didn't mind; I mostly had the trails to myself, and the hikers I talked to were friendly and low-key.

I wouldn't mind spending a few more days here. My knees, however, have made it very clear that they are done with these shenanigans and they can't wait to be back on the flat pavements of Manhattan.

Merry Christmas

 I know that for many people it's not going to be the celebration they wanted, almost two years into this damn pandemic, but for me personally, to be here and be well still seems like the best gift I could ask for.

And to be done with school for a few weeks so that today can be spent doing anything I feel like is even better.

Days of Heaven

There's kind of an Andrew Wyeth feel to this landscape that I love. It makes me think of prairies and pioneers, not dunes at the Jersey Shore.

Saturday reflections

A few perfect miniature clouds hovering over Tillson Lake, near where we were staying in Wallkill.

Saturday reflections

 A typical reflected cityscape, made even lovelier by the fact that I am actually out of the city at the moment, for the first time since I went to Quebec for Christmas 2019.

I'm in a lovely AirBnB out in the farmlands of Ulster County. Pictures will follow.

It turns out the city is still here

Being outside, being able to just walk around and look at things, still seems so strange to me. I goggle at the streets and the people and the buildings like a tourist, as though I've never seen New York except in the movies and I'm only here for the day and have to soak in as much as I can.

And I don't seem to remember how to photograph it, but I'm hoping that will come back to me.

Flashback: Iceland

Another picture from Iceland: a road near Thingvellir.

Maybe you have to have grown up out in the Fog Belt of San Francisco to find this an appealing hike, but I do -- I'd love to lace up my hiking shoes and see where this road goes.

Or maybe it would look good to anyone who's been mostly stuck inside for the past two months.