Birds of paradise

I think that the bird of paradise flower is well named.   

In 1969 I began studying at Northern Michigan University. I lived in Hunt Hall, one of its many dorms. I had a roommate and two suitemates.  Our room contained a set of bunk beds, a desk and chair for each of us, and a closet along the entrance from the hallway. We shared a bathroom with the two guys who lived in the next room.  Space was limited, but we didn't feel constrained. There was actually so much more to our residence than where we slept.  

Hunt Hall had a lobby, generally with a worker on duty behind the desk. It had comfortable  sofas and chairs available in a common area and mailboxes for the students.  In the basement were ping-pong tables and plenty of room for events. At the center of the quad of dorms was the cafeteria that provided most of our meals.

Hunt Hall was just one of a number of buildings that housed students.  I lived on the second of three floors. I quickly became familiar with my building and soon began exploring the other dorms as I met people in classes and we visited one another's rooms.

I loved living there. Once I had paid the tuition and room charges, my place on campus was assured for the year.  Most of my society was made up of people of roughly my own age. There were concerts, football and basketball games to attend, a library, a swimming pool, and a host of other activities available. I felt at home anywhere on campus. 

N.M.U. was like a refuge from the real world in some ways. Viet Nam was going on and other young people I knew were already out in the mainstream, earning a living as best they could.  My life by comparison was safe, ordered, and definitely pleasant. The four years I spent there were wonderful. I enjoyed learning. My major was biology. 

Now, just over 50 years later, I began living at Waitakere Gardens. Jeanne and I live in the Atrium, one of its many buildings. Our apartment is small, but we've come to realize that it is every bit as big at it needs to be. We have a kitchen, our living room, our bedroom, bathroom and even a balcony. Closets are sufficient. And there is so much more to our residence than just our apartment.  

Our lobby downstairs is always staffed in case we have questions or an emergency. There are comfortable sofas and chairs in the common areas and the mailboxes are nearby. At one end of the Atrium, our cafe stands ready to provide whatever meals we order. (And they deliver; at no charge.)  

We think that our Atrium is the best building to live in of all those that make up the Retirement Village. We live on the second of three floors. We are exploring the other buildings as we meet other folks and visit one another's apartments.  

We are enjoying life here. We have paid in full for our apartment and have the right to live here for the rest of our lives.  Most of our society is made up of people of roughly our own age. We attend concerts, movies, and sporting events. We have a library, a swimming pool and other activities available to us.  

Waitakere Gardens feels like a kind of refuge from the world. Our working lives are behind us and receding further each day. We are in a gated community that provides a high level of comfort, culture and security. Our monthly bills are automatically paid. We have access to a van service. 

I still enjoy learning. My range of interests has expanded.   

I have come to realize that our lives here in many ways mirror my life in Hunt Hall.  Just like my dorm room was then, our apartment here and now is but one component of our actual home. 

But there is one big difference between my dorm room so long ago and our apartment. Jeanne and I are together here. Life is good. 

We once thought we might become 'snowbirds' in our retirement, and divide our time each year between Michigan and some southern state. Instead, here we are living year round on our south sea island.  We've become 'birds of paradise' instead. Go figure.   🐦🐦    -djf

Puttin' on the Ritz

The Youtube link below will take you to something interesting. It is the original 1930 Irving Berlin masterpiece, Puttin' on the Ritz. As I strolled around Auckland this morning, taking pictures and my time, I happened to think of it. This painting may have been responsible. Don't ask me why.  (As usual, you can clic back to the photos while listening, and I suggest you do.) 

There seem to be hundreds of versions of this song available if you wanted to hear newer renditions. Even Bertie Wooster (fictional character) did one; well, sort of.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seB5BYvkMXk

I hope you enjoyed it.         -djf

Pictures at the speed of sight.

Just a passing glance as I was leaving the lobby, and my attention was drawn skyward. 

Wow. There it is. Go after it! 

                                       --come on, it's getting away....

(Our balcony has the red dot above it.)  

A good start but can I catch it?  

 Getting closer....

Ah, nuts!  

   

My tether to the earth is way too short. I'll keep tugging at it though.  Maybe next time.     -djf 

Walkin'

 

It was the best of songs, it was the worst of songs.

Ever since I first heard it, I loved the idea of Patsy Cline's song, Walkin' after Midnight. Notice that I said, idea.  That's because, try as I might, I never could really enjoy the song. It was too twangy for my taste and Patsy, well, she was just too 1950's. (I didn't hear it until long after it came out in 1957. I don't remember exactly when I heard it, but I definitely wasn't into Country Music at the time.) However, the song stayed filed away in the back of my brain and the hope that it would one day be redone, and in a format palatable to me, remained alive. Many times, when I would myself go out walking at night, the song would pop into my head and with regret, I would push it back into its drawer.  

Well, it finally happened. I went out for a walk recently around Waitakere Gardens at night and as usual, I thought of Patsy very briefly and sighed. 

When I got back to our apartment however, I started doing some research and got excited. I found two versions of the song, and what do you know?  I finally enjoyed Walking after Midnight. In fact, I loved it.  First by Madeleine Peyroux and then by the Cowboy Junkies.  

Both songs are a bit longer than Patsy's original. I've included them here because I write this post for myself as well as all of you and I wanted to have them. Whether you get through both songs entirely is entirely up to you.  (I think Madeleine's is amazing) 

I've linked them each on a separate page so you can click back to look at my pictures while listening.

These pictures were not taken as I walked after midnight. It was after dinner though. About 7:30 when I started clicking. 

(We generally shut down rather early here at W.G. Our recent 'casino night' was an exception. That party was epic and went on until nearly 9:30 p.m! Yes, no exageration.)   

Have a listen. Take a look.  

(I leave looking up Patsy's original version to you, if you want to compare it to these.) 

Oh, and if you like, you can sing along using my alternate lyrics that you'll find below the links. It works best with Madeleine's version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4jSeQhokc0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg6Uw2cGhQE

🎵 

"I go out walkin', after dinner, out in the hallways, just like I like to do, I'm always walkin,' after dinner, lovin' the view.

I walk a mile, around the hallways, well that's just my way, of gettin' exercise. I'm always walkin,' after dinner, lovin' the view.  

I stop to take a likely photo, 

Clickin' away with gusto, 

"This looks pretty good to me."

As I turn back to my Roomie,

Night lights winkin' to me. 

Dimmer now but I can see. 

I go out walkin,' after dinner, out in the hallways, just thinkin' you may be, somewhere a-walkin, after dinner, lovin' Your view." 🎵 

Here are the views I mentioned.  Enjoy. 

I don't know about you, but I believe in additional dimensions that are just as real as our own. 

This shot is probably just a reflection superimposed on another, but who knows, maybe it's more than that?  

This is one of our gardens, the one at the end of the Atrium, looking toward the potting shed below and the swimming pool above.

Same garden, but looking the other way. The long plastic covered structure is the hydroponic lettuce 'farm.'  

The Atrium stands out like a lighthouse and is visible from all over town.  

Summer is fading, but the flowers still look great.  Flowers thrive all year long here so we'll see what the gardening crew has up its sleeve, or in its pots, for us this winter.  

From the circle drive.  

The African Garden.  

So, what did you think?  The organ (who knew?) and the sax worked so well together on Madeleine's. And I liked the way on the Cowboy Junkies song, that the singer's voice 'eased' into the song like it was just another instrument coming in. Her voice only slowly became the foreground sound.  

Madeleine's song had a tempo that would allow me to walk in rhythm to it along our halls or on the street. I liked that. To appreciate the Cowboy Junkies fully, I need to be in my recliner, late at night, (at least 10 p.m.) with a glass of bourbon in my hand.  

Thank you sincerely, Patsy Cline, for singing this song. You did it first. You did it your way. I still have problems with it but you provided the foundation on which the others built. Good job. -djf

Whirlpool as art

 

The swimming pool is quiet.  A single whirlpool dimples the surface above the drain. Somewhere, the filtered water is returned to the pool, and unseen currents cause the whirlpool to constantly shift its position, ever so slightly.  Sometimes it all but disappears, but then re-establishes itself in a new place.  

The camera can stop time. It sees light, reflections, and movements in a different way than we do, recording the way it sees our world for us to admire.  I thought when I took these shots that my pictures would look like what I was seeing. They came out very differently.  Very interesting.  

Once, several months ago, as our family ate dinner, Arram started a discussion by saying that he would like to see colors that no one else had ever seen before.  We talked about wavelengths of light, the visible, infrared, and ultraviolet and so on. It was fun. I like these pictures because they let me see in a different way too.   

I took some of these photos when the sky was blue and the others later on an overcast afternoon. In one, inverted trees are reflected. 

Take a look.

I like this one especially. Let's look at it even closer. I like it because I'm amazed that we can see this pattern that existed only for some tiny portion of a second.  (shutter speed was 1/80th of a second) 

When I take a picture of the moon, the camera simply enhances my normal perception. These pictures are different, they show a different way of perceiving. In very short bits of time. 

This close-up got me to thinking. Is the distance between the outer portion of the top, rather diffuse gray ring, and the outer edge of the bottom, narrow black ring, the distance between the top of the whirlpool and bottom, or is it twice the distance because of the reflection?  

I have been watching some Youtube videos about black holes. This reminds me of some of the animations of them that were produced.  What fun.     

Oh, and by the way, this whirlpool is rotating counter-clockwise.    

Now I'm really thinking....Which direction do black holes spin? Could they actually spin in all three dimensions with the singularity at the center of what would be, over time, a sphere of whirlpools?  hmmm.  Or would they simply spin 90 degrees to the galactic plane? 

And that makes me wonder about which way spiral galaxies spin? Astronomers must have been keeping track. I think I might try to find out.  -djf