Swallowtail

The insects were awake today - all of them, even butterflies have emerged, certain that we will get no more winter weather. At 85 degrees, it's hard to believe that it could possibly snow or frost one more time. But the groundhog did tell us otherwise this year.

Birthday Camp

Todd took Amanda camping for her birthday, on the back pasture.

Front yard blooms

A weeping cherry is blooming in front of my dinette set,



and I get to look out at it in the mornings.














A dogwood is blooming along the driveway.


On the side of the house, a tree fell down and broke the fence, but the redbud beyond it, in the coral, is blooming and adds color.




Pansies and violas are springing up all over in the garden.

Road frontage

This is springtime on Little Blue Creek Rd.; our property goes all the way back (in the picture) to where the road and the fence meet.

That purple tree is called Redbud. Not sure why, 'cause it's purple. maybe the buds are red before it blooms.

Coming around the bend

On my way home I couldn't resist this shot of the bend, just above our house. The purple trees are called redbud; in the background are two rows of decorative pear trees lining someone's driveway, almost completely out of the white bloom now, and the light green is poplar. The brown grass in the back is called sage grass, and almost entirely covers the field directly in the background, which is also directly across from our place.

View from the porch

Yesterday we went to a friend of Joan's and had a pontoon ride - twice. The first picture shows the boat and the view from the porch.

The second shows the house from the water.

The third shows Mae and Joan, Joan did most of the jabbering but it was still nice. Notice Mae and surrounding scenery, something you won't see very often, and she wouldn't care to have passed around too much.

Puppies - 6 Weeks Old

The puppies are ready for new homes. They are so cute. I enjoyed them so much, but I don't think Andy or Maggie would like another doggie around.

If you want to see a video (rather long, you can quit when you get bored) just click the puppy photo. The movie will open directly in your browser.

St. Patrick's Day Parade - Erin, TN

Just after 11 a.m. the largest part of the parade reached us. We were at the very end of the parade route; if you look up the hill way in the distance, that street had a procession approaching for over 2 hours.



About an hour later it hadn't diminished and the crowd had grown even larger. This group of Shriners came from Nashville with a large display of motorcycles, a float and about 4 other vehicles.


Finally, without waiting for the end of the parade, we wandered through the carnival section. I couldn't resist a snapshot of this picture; when looking for a restroom, we supposed we would need to follow the signs and climb the wall.

Click to enlarge

Click any of the pictures to get a larger version.

Video Conference with CA

From the classroom in Jamaica, Queens, NY, I was able to talk with students in California. That was fun, since they knew me. They asked me all sorts of questions and also talked with the NY students, who told them about the website they are making called "Social Butterflies."




When I am in CA, the New York students only get to see me on a TV screen; when I was in New York, the Bellflower students got to see what that was like.

Learning about Levels

The kids were learning here about visual levels; how to draw the audience's eye into a scene and how to include all characters in a visual scene through placement. They did very well - the workshop was 2 hours and was a lot of fun.





We also played games as a group, some were very silly games but got the kids used to participating as a group. I played the games along with them.

Ana and Me

This is Ana Maria Andricain, who plays Belle, and sometimes other roles. She has been with the show a long time, and has appeared in Law and Order (filmed in Manhattan at the courthouse) and a few other things, too. She was signing autographs for our kids outside the dance studio after our workshop. (She pronounces her name "ah-na).

Planet Hollywood

The room we ate in was a special room just for schools - there must have been 2000 kids in there eating lunch.

These are photos of our two tables. We had 25 kids and 3 moms, plus me and Neme. I am in the very back of the table talking to a Sikh student about his pasta. The other one shows the table to my right.

Water tanks

This last picture is one of the most amazing; on top of many, many of the buildings here are wooden water tanks - still in use. They are very old and keep the buildings constant in equalized water pressure; these buggers still work and are used daily. They appear throughout the city in various sizes on old buildings.

After the show

I snapped this shot in Time Square just after the show. Today is Wednesday, matinee day, which means that thousands of people come here to see a show at slightly discounted prices.

What I love about this picture is that it shows the traffic and also some of the pedestrians, not to mention all the commercial items crammed in between.

The class

After the two hour workshop we took a class picture; I am on the the far left, Anna is in dead center and the kids (all 25) gather around. our workshop leader has the long red hair in the front.

Anna (Belle)

This is the girl who plays Belle in "Beauty and the Beast" on the Broadway show we saw this afternoon. She was telling us stories that happen that were disastrous and funny - like when she broke here hand playing the Beast.

Workshop

The class at Harry Eichler school took a dance workshop today, this is them performing some of the skits they learned. They were learning about visual levels, vocal intonations and staying in character.

Lady Liberty

Just a lovely view of the lady, from the South Manhattan dock.

The top from the top

The Empire State Building, from the observation deck at 86 stories up. The tower towers over the deck. The history of this building is amazing, not just the construction but even certain events, like the B-52 bomber that crashed into the 79th and 80th stories in 1945.

This building was the first to have over 100 stories - there are 102 stories to the building. Construction for the building began on March 17, 1930.

Also a shot from down the street. It is difficult to get a feel for how tall it really is. It is the tallest building in New York today since the destruction of the World Trade Center building which was built in 1972 and destroyed 2001.

A Lady's Watch

In New York Harbor stands a lady, watching over the destruction and renewal of the World Trade Center, located in the photo directly southwest of the statue.

The Sphere of Hope

As a testimony of American survival, this sphere is being preserved and displayed at Battery Park, just across from Ellis Island.

St. Pauls' Chapel

This is near Liberty St. where the Twin Towers were. They are directly behind this chapel, which was used as a respite and sanctuary during the 9/11 cleanup process. George Washington worshipped here in 1789, and where his innauguration took place.

St. Paul's Chapel is New York City's oldest continuously used public building, built in 1766.

Top of the Apple - Sleepless or not

I never really had a great desire to visit the Empire State Building, but since it came with a tour package I got I decided to go ahead and do it. I am shocked at how awesome it is to see the city from 86 stories up! As far as you can see, Manhattan is almost total buildings. Not all high rises, but there are more than you can count.