Marilyn gave me her small Leica as a Christmas gift, but not before her getting a small pocketbook camera for herself. Is it a bit early? Absolutely. She never waits for the holiday.
The Episcopal rectory on the Common.
She knew I wanted it and now, I have it. Thus armed with a camera in my bag, I went to the grocery store because after three days of being locked inside with snow blocking our driveway … and with a couple of hundred feet of downhill driveway (you could use it as the Bunny Slope), you cannot get out of here without a plow first clearing it.
Unitarian Church (empty) on the Common.
Meanwhile, not only were we running short of food (though we have enough dog food, birdseed, soup, and bread to keep us going for a while), we were almost out of half-and-half. What, no coffee? Oh NO!
1888 Library across the Common
Marilyn was also running out of some prescriptions and they do not deliver in this town. They don’t deliver anything. Contain your shock: they don’t even deliver pizza. Our salvation is frozen pizza which, coincidentally fits into our small counter oven.
1770 Quaker Meetinghouse
And, since I had that little Leica packed in my bag, I took pictures. It turns out she was right. If you have a camera, you just never know when a picture might turn up. There are more to come.
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Categories: #Photography, Architecture, Blackstone Valley, Cameras, Christmas, Garry Armstrong, snow, Uxbridge, Weather, Winter
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
It’s snowing out here as well. The Utah ski resorts are rejoicing, people like myself? We’re cursing. Today is mild (thank God) because like Marilyn, I have prescriptions that I have to go pick up. No delivery of drugs ’round here. I don’t mind days like today, it’s just a gentle misty like snow, but yesterday? No snow, but a lot of fog. Fog, to me, is far more dangerous than snow because how the hell does one SEE? I have those glasses with the special lenses that help, but geez. I had to go out yesterday and today am paying the toll for all the stress. I’m glad you have a nifty new camera to take your wonderful photos with. You have an ‘eye’ sir, just like your lovely lady wife! Thanks for sharing some with me! 🙂
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We’ve got a couple of feet!
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We have that too, but it hasn’t snowed hard since Thanksgiving, so it’s on the lawns and bushes and trees We do have a lot of ice. And idiots who can’t drive in the snow, but insist on barreling down the road at 85+ mph. We had something like 264 accidents over the weekend and four fatalities, one of them right here in Brigham. People are nuts. Stay warm and dry and out of the weather dear. I’d really miss the squirrel and bird updates! 🙂
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People driving 4X4s don’t seem to understand that ICE doesn’t CARE how many wheels are pushing or pulling the car. Ice takes no prisoners.
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Melanie, thank you for the kind words. We have a lot of Currier and Ives scenes here just begging to be shot.
I understand your pain truly, not just empty words. I’ve been doing shovelling, clearing off our jeep (harder than it looks –and the law is cracking down if you drive with snow faling off car roof). Yesterday, I had several layers on, including the silk long johns. Wore my knee high fitefighters’ boots. With all that protection, I was still cold and sore after all my efforts. After finishing up, I came in looking like and FEELING like “The Thing”. My Body is still sore today. YEESH — my nose is like a non stop water duct.
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Yikes! It sounds rather like it’s time for some orange juice and TLC in front of the TV with dogs toasting on your lap! Take care Garry!
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The man was FROZEN. Solidly frozen. We aren’t the kids we used to be.
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Garry, it is too soon for this. If it ends early, I will forgive the weather Gods.
Leslie
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We hope, but not holding my breath!
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me too…. 😦
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Leslie, just another reminder of why I detest this season. One of my TV news colleagues (now doing radio) reminded me we are fortunate to no longer have to stand in the cold, freezing the family jewels while offering those boring reports. For that, I am grateful.
I look at the current crop of TV newsies and smile at their efforts:
1- measuring the snow depth wth a ruler.
2- climbing atop a snow bank with theatrical grunts.
3-harrasing people with stoopid questions, “How do you feel about this weather?”
As for the weather Gods, I have a permanent challenge. Main street at high noon. Come ready to meet your maker, Pilgrims.
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chuckle…. 🙂
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Wonderful snow photos!
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He’s got a very good eye:-)
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Thanks, Becky! Props to the Leica. It tells me to have a steady hand and it’ll do everything else. Yesterday, it was hard to maintain a steady hand but I obeyed the Leica.
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Bunny slope…..I’m still laughing about that. Great photos, though, Garry.
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Thank you, Lois. That Damn bunny slope. I was dragging our garbage can up the driveway last night. Already burned to a crisp, it felt like a ton of bricks being pulled a long mile. I looked across the street and my neighbor smiled and pointed — his SON was dragging THEIR garbage can.
Now, if I could just teach Duke to do the job. But I’m afraid he’d knock it over, eat the garbage and he plastic can.
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I think I remember you or Marilyn mentioning that camera and how much you liked it. So you got it in the end :-). David used to say you should always carry a camera too. I know a lot of people use their phones for photos on the run these days. I do too but while it takes a decent photo I don’t like it. It won’t turn on when I want it to and then takes stupid photos of the ground or my foot when I don’t want it too. Give me a real camera any day!
There are some things you just can’t run out of, medications obviously, but also milk, coffee and for me bread and butter/margarine. I get crabby when I can’t have my toast.
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It is a great little camera with a fast lens. It isn’t as long as other pocket cameras — just 7X — but it take really excellent pictures. It’s very small, too. Not light — weighs almost a pound — but physically small. And it made him happy. In fact, it made me happy to give it to him.
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Tas, so far – so good with the Leica. It really takes wonderful pictures. Having it with me almost me feel obligated to take pics when the scenes warrant attention.
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Then it is well worth having.
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wow that’s a lot of snow, and winter has only just started. Just loving what you have captured whilst out sorting the essentials.
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In theory, this could be our ONLY snow of the year. It might melt and we could be dry or just rainy until summer. It has happened. We have the kind of weather where EVERYTHING has happened at least twice. New England has really dreadful weather — but the loss of Autumn is depressing. it was our ONLY decent season.
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Seasons are changing and not for the better 😦
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I know it’s hard to live with so much snow and no delivery service (ha ha) but it sure makes for absolutely stunning photos! Once in my life I thought we would move to a colder, rural part of the US and I saw ‘scenic’ villages like this galore. I was madly in love with it all and had already chosen a few pretty houses, with huge porches of course, a few trees in front and only a ‘quiet’ street running along – and then it came to nothing and I think, in the end, for the best! But your post made for a few lovely, charming memories. Thank You.
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it does make great pictures, at least until the snow gets all black and muddy. We’ll have a lot of melting next week — assuming we don’t get MORE snow.
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Betcha Donzo has bigger, bigglier, biggest in history — snowstorms around his Florida spa & play house.
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That beats the brushfire and snow in Santa Barbara last week!
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Being a rich bandito has its rewards.
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Chiquita, tenga usted una bodge?
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Kiki, glad you enjoyed the pics.
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Isn’t it fun to have a camera always available!
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It does make ones bag a bit heavyish 🙂
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I’d be wary if the photographer came shooting in the restroom….
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I know she mentioned she had one, but I never saw it. So what model is it?
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it’s one of the “C” models — I think version 120, but since Garry has it, I’d have to look at it to get the numbers. I miss it already. I got it on clearance (they stopped making it), but even so, it cost more than either of my OM-Ds.
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I’m sure Garry would be more than happy to lend it to you on occasion. BTW, his compositional eye has improved amazingly. I know, he claims he knows little about what he is doing. Don’t listen to him.
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He always knew. He admits that. He had to know to get the video for work.
What he doesn’t know is software and processing. That’s my department. I’ve never entirely conveyed to him what software actually IS or how to get the camera to do what he wants. In other words, how the CAMERA works. He is technically a nonstarter.
That little Leica is really perfect for him with easy to understand instructions. It talks to him. He must have it set on Auto or iAuto because it never talked to me! It has a really excellent and FAST (f2.0) 7X Leica lens. It’s small but heavy — about a pound packed into a small package. It has taken him a while to figure out how to get a balanced picture in terms of light and texture.
He takes very different pictures than I do. He’s always looking for movement and action. If he wants a longer lens, he’ll have to go back to the bigger 300, but he was never interested in distance shooting. I shoot birds, so my pictures tend to be long and tight, but he’s more of a street shooter.
He sees things I entirely miss.
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You mean “Straight Shooter” right?
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Thanks, Ben.
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