Monday, October 31, 2022

52Frames Details Photo Challenge

This weeks’s subject for the 52Frames photo challenge was “details.” It started with a tiny leaf in the neighborhood park that I didn’t think much of until I edited the photo. It ended up being the selection for the week. The perfect symmetry of the gold to garnet spectrum or “color wheel” was very unusual in an autumn leaf. Usually the colors are haphazard and random. There were several other leaves to pick from but this one was unusual looking! Looking upwards towards the sky the dazzling fall colors looked ever so interesting too. One image of the tree trunks and branches had both green and yellow leaves in what looked like a split screen. We went to a plant store to find some violas and pansies for the balcony flower baskets and came across several detailed pumpkins and gourds - perfect for the season, but still not as interesting. Later on in the week we drove in to DC and parked in our old Capitol Hill neighborhood. The Hirshhorn museum building looked very detailed with the fountain drained and the round structure colliding. Then we went to the Sackler museum to visit the Persian treasures. Obviously a lot of those cherieshed items are quite intricate, but I didn’t think would work well for this challenge. There is something about nature vs man made that usually wins out. It was a beautiful week for taking photos and hopefully the image we selected gets some attention! 






















Sunday, October 30, 2022

Sackler Persian Treasures

We haven’t been inside the Sackler museum for quite some time. So last week when we were walking about the Smithsonian gardens we decided to stop in for a visit. We have been there so many times before. The most appealing section is the Iranian treasures. I have had the good fortune of visiting Iran - not once, but twice.  The first time was to meet my husband’s family back in 1996. It was very interesting to say the least and I got to meet my brother and sister in law and their three children, along with a lot of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and friends. We also were hoping to adopt, but unfortunately those plans fell through even though we met a three year old little boy. We retuned to Iran in 2009 with a couple of our American friends. We went on a tour all over the country from one end to another. So when we saw the treasures at the Sackler I am reminded of the treasures we saw at the museums and historical sites all over Iran. Many of the artifacts represent the places we visited. We still keep I touch with our family in Iran and the nieces and nephew are all grown, married, have children and are successful in their careers both inside and outside of the country. It’s been an interesting journey experiencing a different culture and understanding that there is more to life than our little world. Visiting these places reminds us of that. They have been around a lot longer than we have. Perhaps we could learn something from them. 


















Saturday, October 29, 2022

Apple Watch Series 8

I am a gadget lover - ever since I can remember. When the iPad was launched in 2010 I waited eagerly by the window waiting for it to be delivered. Apple products are my dream! We only use iPhones and iPads, and earlier an iPod. But I never got in to the Watch. I didn’t see any need for it. Plus, I wear an Embr wave in my left wrist to manage heat and cold. But the last iteration of the Watch caught my attention for all of the health reasons. I have a strong familial history with cardiac problems and I have been hypertensive for over forty years. Lately it’s also been difficult getting a good night’s sleep. So the idea of monitoring sleep, getting EKG readings, blood oxygen levels and all the monitoring of heart rate variances was appealing. After researching all of the options I decided to get an 8series Watch and it arrived yesterday. Since I have never had a watch I really know nothing about it. So I read up on the set up and basics beforehand. As always the packaging is such a treat and putting the wrist band on the Watch was simple enough. The set up was really easy. I don’t have enough time in the day to discover all of the features. Just selecting the clock face is daunting. So far I really like controlling Apple TV from the Watch, asking Siri questions - primarily for my husband while we are on walks, the hand washing timer, the simplicity of use (although it’s far from second nature), and all of the heart tracking. It knew we were walking this morning and started to monitor everything about the walk. So now I’m wearing the Watch on my left arm and the Embr wave on my right arm. Too bad they couldn’t be combined in to one. The Embr wave is great at night when I’m restless and need to “cool down.” I’ve always loved data and trends having worked in critical care units and eventually managing productivity and efficiency using data and charts. It will be interesting to see the trends in my health. Hopefully we won’t need it for emergencies and falls but it has the capability of tracking that too and getting resources to you. One can only imagine what the future holds. 


















Friday, October 28, 2022

Winter Pansies and Violas in the Balcony Baskets

It’s the time of year when the flower baskets on the balcony need updating. The summer annuals were looking a bit worn, overgrown, and tired. The only plants that will remain in the baskets are the spikes and the ivy. Hopefully the spikes will survive the winter. So we drove over to American Plant earlier in the week to pick up an assortment of winter pansies and violas. The amount of flowers we need is minimal compared to the huge garden we used to have in the Midwest and even for the patio garden we had on Capitol Hill. All we have now is a very small balcony and the flower baskets with coco liners are strapped to the back of the seats. The flowers will continue to face outward until winter arrives. Then the Christmas branches and greens will be added and the flowers turned towards us so we can enjoy the arrangements from our living room. It’s getting more difficult to bend and move about since my knees aren’t what they used to be! And this time I didn’t need to replace the plastic in the coco liners because they were leaking a bit too much in the spring. So I removed all of the annuals and decided how to arrange the colors and started planting. It’s amazing how just a small amount of live plants and flowers makes everything look so much nicer - and so much neater. The backdrop of the fall colors in the park made the flowers even prettier. It’s hard to believe another season has come and gone. My husband was just saying how glad he is that we live in Virginia where there are actually four seasons. 






















Thursday, October 27, 2022

Hirshhorn Visit

It was quite breezy this morning and we hadn’t been away from home this week for a morning walk. We were hanging around the neighborhood park all week due to the cloudy, foggy, and rainy conditions. It was a brilliant blue sky today so we decided to take a ride in to town. We parked in our old Capitol Hill neighborhood and walked towards the house office buildings, through the botanical gardens, past the American Indian Museum, the Air and Space Museum and in to the Hirshhorn Museum. It was too late to get tickets for the exhibit, so we went in just to see what was new - and were rather disappointed. The entire second floor was under construction for a new exhibit or two. A lot of what was on the third floor didn’t seem like anything new - but it wasn’t very impressive either. I can’t remember any one thing that really was to our taste. Maybe that’s why we always prefer the National gallery of Art that has something for everyone. I’m certainly not an art expert of any kind but really don’t get a lot of what’s in there! Luckily we always have a lot of opportunities to visit and see the changing exhibits - as long as you don’t need a pass to get it in. On the lower level there is the gift shop and on this day there were activities for the kids. We are always happy to check things out - but this time we left is a bit underwhelmed.