August 26, 2016 by Marilyn Armstrong - 13 Comments

BLACKSTONE CANAL’S GEARS – CEE’S ODDBALL PHOTO CHALLENGE

CEE’S ODDBALL PHOTO CHALLENGE

We moved here in 2000. That’s 16 years ago this summer. It was probably the following summer that I really began exploring the valley with my camera … and discovered the canal and its locks.

The spillway where the water divides. The river is to the right and the canal, straight ahead.

Spillway where the river divides. The river goes right, the canal, straight.

The Blackstone Canal was built in the mid 1800s and was used by barges for just about a decade before being replaced by trains. The canal still winds its way along the river. Sometimes, it is the river. Other places, it splits off and runs alongside it. Uxbridge is one of the places where it separates. It’s also one of the places which has locks to raise and lower water levels. Rather like an elevator for boats and barges.

The gears used to operate the locks at Uxbridge remain. Big, iron, and until recently, maintained in working order. For the past few years, no one has bothered to care for them. Probably a budgetary decision, but it’s a pity. How much did it cost to annually clean and oil the mechanisms? I’m sure it couldn’t be so much money the town can’t sustain the expense.

Meanwhile, I’m still trying to get good pictures of the gears. These are the best (and most recent) photographs. I’m not entirely happy with them, but they’re the best I’ve done to date.

Who’d have thought that so many years later, I’d still be hoping to get my first really good shots of the locks? If these don’t qualify as oddballs, I don’t know what does.

July 2, 2016 by Marilyn Armstrong - 10 Comments

IN OPPOSITION …

PHOTO CHALLENGE | OPPOSITES

Water against rock … factory against nature … wires against sky. Opposites? Yes, but inevitably, partners in an ever-changing world.

And on an entirely different note …

In this election year, everyone is against and opposite everyone else. A nation ready to implode on itself.

I participate in WordPress’ Weekly Photo Challenge 2016

June 7, 2016 by Marilyn Armstrong - 22 Comments

WITH RELENTLESS EFFICIENCY

After a lot of whining and complaining, I settled down. I filled out the ridiculous amount of paperwork, reconstructed as much of my medical history as I could — anything more than 5 years ago, is more than a little vague — and of course, my list of medications. I got my son to witness my permission to hunt down my records (good luck with that), and signed a new health proxy (everyone should have one — and I do mean absolutely everyone). Then, papers in hand, we drove over to the new doctor’s office — a mere one town over!

I turned them over along with the appropriate Medicare insurance information and went home to notify Blue Cross Blue Shield that I’m changing doctors. They actually didn’t care because I have a PPO and don’t require a listed primary care doctor. I can go to any doctor that takes BCBS payments … which is nearly every doctor in the region except the group to which my current doctor is migrating.

I explained that I needed an appointment with the new guy because I was going to need new prescriptions at the end of this month. Somehow, she found an appointment. Which conflicted with the dental appointment and the finishing up of my crown. So I took the doctor appointment, moved the dentist to the following day, leaving one day before the cardiologist appointment … and the almost immediate arrival of a houseful of out-of-town visitors. June and July have filled up.

Summer always fills up quickly. I’m sure you’ve noticed. The weather turns warm and suddenly, you’re booking stuff for next September. It’s because winter is brutal. You can’t count on anything in the winter. Nature might just decide to throw a blizzard on the day you plan to visit those friends in Vermont. Instead, no one is going anywhere for a few days at least.

It’s amazing how we manage to not see people we really want to see because when we are free, they are not. Everyone is busy seeing the people they need to see while they can … and before you know it, another year slips away.

I haven’t found the cure for not enough time. I’ve been looking for something to do about this my whole life. I thought, after retirement, we’d have all the time in the world. In a sense, we do … but we live in New England. Winter is at best a wild card. You can plan, but you can’t be sure it will really happen, which means we really only have half the year to do stuff . There’s always more stuff to do than time.

I’m working on this. I suspect I’ll always be working on it forever.

April 23, 2016 by Marilyn Armstrong - 23 Comments

THE CHANGING SEASONS: APRIL 2016 – NOT QUITE SPRUNG

I thought I’d add a few pictures to this because this month, after a warm and springlike March, April commenced with two quite substantial snows. It killed the daffodils — I’m hoping not forever, but they just died under the snow. Surprisingly, the forsythia continued to bloom while covered with snow.

Both pictures were taken on April 3rd, but it snowed again on the 8th. I was just too tired of snow pictures by then to bother to shoot anything. I think in heavy snow regions, we do get weary of the white stuff. By the time April rolls around, we want some color, not more whiteness.

It’s beginning to green. Here and there. A few blossoms on shrubs and trees. The green shoots of flowers that will bloom soon. One single bright yellow tulip.

Usually we don’t see full leaf on the trees until mid-May, but I think it’ll be early this year.

Dam on the Mumford

Nothing was blooming by the dam, but the trees have that fuzzy look that means impending green. And there’s plenty of water this spring. After five years of drought, it’s a joy to see the river full and hear the rushing of the water.

Everything is poised for spring, but it has not quite sprung.

This is the dam over the Mumford in the middle of town. You’ve seen it before. The white building on the left is a liquor store now, but was a small mill in its former life.

And then, there’s our garden. The daffodils died during the second April snow, but the forsythia remained undaunted. The day lilies are coming up with a fury. The violets are blooming.

It’s Earth Day today. My garden is ready to celebrate.

What’s this «Changing Seasons» blogging challenge?

Some words from Cardinal Guzman

«The Changing Seasons 2016» is a blogging challenge with two versions: the original (V1) which is purely photographic and the new version (V2) where you can allow yourself to be more artistic and post a painting, a recipe, a digital manipulation, or simply just one photo that you think represents the month. Anyone with a blog can join this challenge and it’ll run throughout 2016. It doesn’t matter if you couldn’t join the first month(s), late-comers are welcomed. These are the rules, but they’re not written in stone – you can always improvise, mix & match to suit your own liking:

These are the rules for Version 1 (The Changing Seasons V1):

Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons
Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery.
Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.

These are the rules for Version 2 (The Changing Seasons V2):

Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons
Each month, post one photo (recipe, painting, drawing, whatever) that represents your interpretation of the month.
Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!

April 11, 2016 by Marilyn Armstrong - 19 Comments

DAY SIX – THE SEVEN DAY NATURE CHALLENGE

I feel honored to be chosen by Cee Neuner to participate in the Seven Day Nature Challenge.

The challenge asks I post one photo per day for a week. The subject can be anything, as long as it comes from the natural world. About 90% of my work is landscape or wildlife photography. I do side trips to architecture and portraits –and I’m always trying to get a good picture of my dogs — but overall, there’s more of Autumn, the Blackstone River, water fowl, Arizona, and sunrise and sunset.

On this sixth day of the challenge is going down the river. My river, the Blackstone and it’s tributary, the Mumford River, both of which flow through Uxbridge.

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Cee and I are acquainted with most of the same groups of photo bloggers and pretty much anyone I can think to nominate has already been nominated. If by some quirk of luck, you have been overlooked, please participate. Consider yourself nominated and chosen! Especially if these are the kind of pictures you usually post, it’s no stretch to just post them as part of the challenge.

Come one, come all!

April 8, 2016 by Marilyn Armstrong - 11 Comments

DAY THREE – THE SEVEN DAY NATURE CHALLENGE

I feel honored to be chosen by Cee Neuner to participate in the Seven Day Nature Challenge.

The challenge calls for posting one photo a day for seven days. The subject can be anything from the natural world. Today, I thought I’d stay close to home. Show you some pictures of the Blackstone River. It’s the main river in this watershed valley.

Forty-eight miles of river from where it begins in the Worcester hills to its outlet in Narragansett Bay near Providence, Rhode Island. Along its course, it drops 450 feet and generates a lot of power. Mills and factories used to crowd the banks of the Blackstone.

This is where the American Industrial Revolution began, but it also caused horrible pollution. Pollution which is lingers yet. Better than it was, but not gone. There are always people who refuse to believe it’s a bad idea to dump waste into your drinking water. It’s a level of stupidity I have trouble comprehending.

But I digress.

THE BLACKSTONE RIVER

These were all taken in March in Whitinsville, the next town west of us along Route 122. The swans and seagulls were having a party and they let us take the pictures.

Cee and I are acquainted with most of the same groups of photo bloggers and pretty much anyone I can think to nominate has already been nominated. If by some quirk of luck, you have been overlooked, PLEASE participate. Consider yourself nominated and chosen! Especially if these are the kind of pictures you usually post, it’s no stretch to just post them as part of the challenge. Come one, come all!

March 9, 2016 by Marilyn Armstrong - 25 Comments

SWANS AGAIN

Garry and I aren’t at our best. I’m coughing. He’s all stuffy. Neither of us can hear. The problem is worse for him since he has hearing problems anyway. A cold makes everything much worse.

Even so, there didn’t seem any reason why we couldn’t take advantage of the lovely spring weather and take a few pictures. We had to stop at the grocery store anyhow …

Garry’s Gallery

The original destination was Manchaug. To check out the falls. As we were passing the river and Whitins Pond, I saw the flash of white and I knew the swans were back. I have not seen a single swan since 2014. I don’t know which hit them harder — the brutal winter or the drought which reduced the rivers and ponds to mud flats.

Marilyn’s Gallery

There’s water now. Not as much as there ought to be, but the waterways don’t recover from five years of drought in a season. There was also a lot of trash in the river.

People! Stop throwing garbage in your water supply. Are you stupid? If you pollute your water, you will have nothing to drink. This is a water shed.

Garry took a few pictures. I took some more. The swans were not only obliging, they obviously expected a payoff for posing. Sadly, we were unprepared.

I must remember to bring a few treats for the birds. They expect them.

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Garry’s Gallery

Marilyn’s Gallery

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