Autumn leaves

At the zoo

Someone told me it’s all happening . . .

. . . at the zoo . . .

. . . I do believe it . . .

. . . I do believe it’s true . . .

The Wednesday Westie

Relaxed-but-still-watchful edition.

Hoboken Saturday Night

Pretty extraordinary fireworks over the Hudson River for the Fourth of July. And because prime viewing areas were right next to the Hoboken train station, getting in and out to see the show was largely hassle-free.

 There was a bit of a jam as thousands of people unfamiliar with train schedules jammed the station once the fireworks were done. NJ Transit could have done a better job there.

On board the Suffern train, riding it to Secaucus Junction, we found ourselves next to a family of Monty Python buffs, which made for an appropriately surrealistic close to the night’s fun.

My mind is elsewhere

And so am I, for the remainder of the weekend.

Painted Lady Day

The Painted Lady butterflies left home Sunday morning. “Home” in this case being a collapsible cylinder of mesh, with a floor of plastic and a cap of clear plastic up top. A butterfly breeder. 

We gave it to the Hellspawn for Christmas and mailed the order for the caterpillars sometime in January. Several weeks ago the caterpillars arrived in a plastic cup with tiny airholes. It was pre-loaded with nasty looking caterpillar food. The caterpillars must have liked it just fine, because after a few weeks they climbed to the top of the cup and turned into dangling chrysalides. We gently removed the cap, gingerly pushed a couple of paper clips through the airholes, and carefully mounted the cap on the side of the breeder.

A few days ago, the butterflies started popping out of their sheaths and flexing their wings. We plied them with orange slices and roses drizzled with sugar water, but it was clear we couldn’t keep them too long. So, Sunday morning we set the breeder in the backyard, unzipped the top and waited for the butterflies to emerge.

Here’s the first one to bid aideu, pausing on one of the laurels before setting off to make its way in the world.

Ghost of a doorway

Around the corner from the Hoboken train station.

Sandy Hook sunset

With the haze dispersing while the sun came down, I could have shot ten images a minute and had a completely different range of opalescent colors.

This is shot on the western edge of the Hook, around Spermacetti Cove.

Winter morning

Funny to think this is what my street looked like only a week ago.