Thursday, July 30, 2026

Relativity


No, not one, but multiple escalators! I'm sure that over time I would begin to make sense of all these, but to someone who hasn't been to Atlanta's airport in years, they were somewhat bewildering. Like, am I any nearer to my destination than when I started? Or am I trapped inside one of M. C. Escher's woodcuts? :-)

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Escalators

 

There sure were a lot of these at Atlanta International Airport.

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Buckle Up

 


Fortunately, the crew didn’t have to buckle up. Pretty smooth ride, this despite my having to drive through rain and even a rainbow (!) to get to the airport.

Monday, July 27, 2026

Boeing 757-200HD

 


My ride from Norfolk to Atlanta was a Boeing 757-200HD.

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Layout


There is a logic to how airports are laid out, I'm sure. But I have yet to entirely understand it, despite having taught logic to undergraduate students. Hmm. For instance, why this HUGE space dedicated to eateries with a little sculpture something-or-other in the middle? The only advantage I can see is that I certainly got my steps in before the flight. Not nearly as many as I got by walking from my plane to my rental car in Atlanta, but a decent number nonetheless. Or maybe the persons responsible were thinking about future expansion. In any case, it's confusing. So maybe I should have consulted this terminal map BEFORE I arrived? 
 

Saturday, July 25, 2026

Flight Crew

 

This photo taken at Norfolk International Airport actually later proved helpful as I was trying to remember where I parked my car, although my original interest was in the flight crew evidently heading off either for a well deserved rest or else heading home.

Friday, July 24, 2026

Parking Garages

 

Well, I'm back, after my brief adventure in Georgia. Actually, though, the fun began in the parking garage at the Norfolk International Airport (ORF) in Norfolk, Virginia. In recent trips, I've taken to photographing where I've parked my car because, anymore, as parking garages have gotten bigger and bigger, I've found it harder and harder to find my car upon my return. 

In this case, the matter was made more difficult by the fact that I'm not yet familiar with ORF, especially since it has expanded over recent years. In fact, as I discovered, it's still in the process of expanding. So I only realized upon my return that there is not just ONE parking garage. There are, in fact, multiple garages! What's more, ALL of them have at least five levels and, guess what, "D" aisles! I happened to have parked in Garage A, nearest the terminal where my plane was parked. But, of course, I went directly to Garage D, which happens to be the farthest from said terminal!

Anyway, my advice to anyone who happens to have accidentally stumbled upon this blog is--if you have a camera--ALWAYS take a picture, because that and other pictures you might take (I had more) may come in particularly handy later. :-) 

Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Packing

 


Spent the better part of yesterday packing for a . . .


lightning-quick flight (Oops! Maybe an unlucky turn of phrase that.) to Georgia today . . .


to attend a coat-and-tie affair on Wednesday.


Always tricky, given that I never travel with anything more than a carryon and maybe, occasionally, a camera bag. Still haven't quite decided about the latter. Just one more complication as I pass through airport security. Still, I might give it a whirl. 

Monday, July 20, 2026

Wandering

 


The trail system in Forest Park, well, let's just say that I've seen systems that were much less confusing. 


A paper map could have helped. Although, I suppose these days a lot of people prefer apps like AllTrails. Not being one of those, I spend a lot of time these days just wondering as I wander. :-)

Sunday, July 19, 2026

Meaning?

 


A house along one of the trails in Forest Park. Interesting display of flags. Meaning?

Saturday, July 18, 2026

Trail Scenes


Spent the better part of a day walking the Forest Park trails in Springfield, Massachusetts. Curious about the name given to the Virginia Creeper (shown below), I looked it up. Wikipedia says, "The name Virginia creeper, referring to both the plant's 'virgin' epithet and to part of its native range in the U.S. state of Virginia, is also used for the whole genus Parthenocissus, as well as for other species within the genus."
 

Thursday, July 16, 2026

Meripilus Giganteus?


I'm awful at correctly identifing various species of mushrooms. That said, my field guide strongly suggests 


that these mushrooms I found in Forest Park are indeed Meripilus Giganteus, more commonly 


known as Black-staining Polypore. It depends on which you trust more as a source, the National Audubon Society or Wikipedia. :-)

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Carl


Meet Carl, who, in my opinion, is a not so miniature Sicilian donkey at the Forest Park zoo.

 

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Monday, July 13, 2026

Common Milkweed

 


Nothing "common" about it as far as I'm concerned. A pretty remarkable plant, all things considered. Especially important to Monarch butterflies, I've read.

Sunday, July 12, 2026

Beavers

 


Kinda makes me wonder what end goal these beavers have in mind for this project. 

Saturday, July 11, 2026

Ticks


As this trail is something of a local secret, I'm keeping the exact location to myself. If that wasn't enough to reduce traffic, I'm thinking this sign might also. In addition to the ticks, there is quite a lot of poison ivy along the trail.

Friday, July 10, 2026

Steamed Milk

 

THE major discovery during my trip--steamed milk in my morning oatmeal at the Tandem Bagel Company. Why, oh why, did it take me so long to discover this fantastic new dimension to my morning ritual?! My great thanks to the manager on duty at Tandem for instructing me on how to do this at home!

Thursday, July 9, 2026

Beds

 


Are you curious about housekeeping details? I am. So when I checked in to my hotel in Massachusetts, one of the first things I did was to see how the bed was made. No fitted sheets here. Just one sheet spread on top of another with a cover nicely tucked. 

One thing I'm always very careful about are feather pillows. Nope! Can't have any. Badly allergic. The hotel here likes to include two feather pillows with two synthetic. But within five minutes of my arrival, the switch to all synthetic occurred. Thankful for that.