The Snow is Snowing...

...And The Mister, the dog, and I are weathering the storm rather nicely. For once the Experts Meteorological if anything underestimated the extent of colorful weather in store for us, so our decision to treat this Sunday as a sort of belated holiday turns out to have been an extremely sensible one. Yay, us.

Fast Away...

Another one, already. Where, as the song says, has the time all gone to?

Cities of the Living and the Dead

At some point it stops being travel and starts being just living...

Hey, Old Friend...

It can be a tricky thing to revisit an old haunt, but sometimes it works out.

Hundred-Gated Thebes

Just a quick note from a little trip-within-the-trip.

Une Feuille Morte

Behold: the exception that proves the rule...

Saturday Gallimaufry

I'm retreating ever further from what passes for the real world - with very good reason, given its state, if you ask me - and finding ever more consolation in taking pictures that keep my mind off the headlines. Herewith, a late-summer iris from August, recalled today, which has seemed like our first real day of Autumn.

Blossoms, Dearie

So I've been taking pictures of flowers lately, and I've decided to inflict them on you. No special reason, really, but looking at things like this have been one of my ways of coping with mad times, and I thought you might like them, too.

By the Sea, By the Sea...

So we ran away, for just a little while...

Random Notes for a Summer Sunday

- For whatever reason, even though this year's roses are ragged and untidy, it's turning out to be quite a season for hydrangeas. They're a flower that always amuses me, for one immediately thinks of Miss Ciccone's vocal dislike of them. For me, as well, that then makes me think of Mother Muscato, as it turns out to be one of the vanishingly few things I think those two women would have had in common. She thought hydrangeas, for reasons unknown, to be terribly common; I'm quite sure that the annual success of our neighbor Miss Lowrie's compared to her own had nothing at all to do with it.

No Cure Like Travel

Well, I've been a bad travelogue-er, I know, but what with one thing and another, I've been rather on the go. And, given all that's going on in the world, I'm afraid I've had something of the grim expression of this lovely Matisse lady I ran into last weekend.

A Timely Admonition

Apologies from your none-too-faithful correspondent...

One More View

Just in case I've left the impression that I don't really approve of anything in Our Nation's Capital, herewith a prospect of Mr. Lincoln's Memorial. It's a bit of all right, if you ask me.

A Walk in the Park

My summer commute is turning out to be rather pleasant. I start the morning - albeit at a truly ungodly hour - strolling down Our Little Condo's driveway, where one day recently I ran into this unexpected neighbor. She really oughtn't be there, for the area bordering the building is less a real forest than a narrow copse, but she seems to have set up housekeeping there, complete with a fawn who's just off camera.

City by the Bay

Except for the hills, it turns out that what San Francisco reminds me of is Alexandria (the real one, not the DC suburb, of course). Both are cities profoundly shaped by water; both feature scads of fabulous Beaux Arts architecture (although San Francisco's are in rather better shape on the whole) juxtaposed with a dizzying array of other styles; and both seem to feature a disproportionate number of deeply attractive - and an equal number of deeply outlandish - people.

Trip Report: Old Familiar Faces

We're home. The dogs, relieved and more than a little vengeful, have been fetched from their pricey hostelry, I've been back to the office, and today I'm taking advantage of a post-flight sore throat to stay home and try to get rested and organized.*

Evening in One City, Morning in Another

On our last evening in Cairo, we went downtown.

I Go Out Walking

The City Victorious continues to surprise. One joy of this trip is that, for the first time - since the Mister is busy off with matters familial - I'm having time to explore our neighborhood.

Café au Nil

Well, we made it here in one piece, and with the jetlag wearing off, I'm almost starting to feel human again.

So This Happened

One year ago today, this, O Best Beloveds, was my view.  It had not been a good day, and there was worse to come. But, as dear Mr. Savage has so eloquently and consistently reminded us: it gets better.