India Ink

Corning Glass

I've lived in Rochester for 18 years, yet somehow never visited the famous Corning Museum of Glass in nearby Corning.  During one of my many Rochester-to-Virginia road trips last year,  I finally took a little detour and checked it out. Below, some scenes from the exhibits.

'The Matron' and 'The Shrew'  by Dan Dailey

Peach glass

Candlestick holders

'Venetian Cochlea' by Mark Zirpel

'Woven Heaven, Tangled Earth' by Susan Plum

Untitled (White) by Josiah McElheny

 
Shot #10 - Dancing James by Beverly Semmes

'Atlantica' by Sidney Waught
Mermaid riding on the waves of the Atlantic Ocean

2012: The Year of West Virginia

West Virginia State Capitol building, Charleston, WV

My latest work assignment will be taking me to Charleston, West Virginia, for the next year or so.  I'm especially looking forward to exploring its Appalachian heritage. Though I'm a little intimidated by the knowledge that the European Honey Bee and the timber rattler are the official insect and reptile, respectively, of West Virginia. Wonder if that means I'm not allowed to kill the little buggers, when they attack? (Being highly allergic, I have no doubt the honey bees will find me...)

New Year's Eve Skate

I ushered out 2011 with a few laps around a downtown Rochester ice rink with my friend Mary. It's been about 9 years since I laced up a pair of ice skates. It took me a while to get back in the skating rhythm--but no falls!

Photo credit: Mary Keller

Manhattan Square Park ice rink, Rochester, NY

2011: A Look Back

Washington DC

Appalachia Museum, TN

Shenandoah Valley, VA

Liberty Bell, PA

My 2011 was probably more memorable for the things that didn't happen: no travel abroad, no volcanoes, tsunamis, or military coups (though there was that one itty bitty earthquake); no ringing in the New Year on Times Square. Mostly, I worked, and I drove.  And a few other things:

• Spent 164 days on the road
• Traveled through 12 states (VA, DC, TN, NC, SC, AL, GA, AZ, PA, MA, MD, WV), from the seashore to the desert
• Made 6 Rochester NY to Fairfax VA road trips
• Camped with wild ponies
• Spotted a bear
• New places explored: Virginia Beach, Shenandoah Valley, Appalachia, Pony Island
• Focused on home: paid off my mortgage (yeay!), spent a small fortune on a new furnace and new paint job
• Gained back the 25 pounds I lost in 2010 (boo hoo!)
• Celebrated a Boston birthday
• Dined with the mayor of a small town in Alabama
• Added two more botanical gardens and another butterfly garden to my portfolio
• Added a computer geek to my snowman collection
• Learned some new words: gjetost, spit cup, breakfast bacon, Otakon, bedpan banjo/ukuweewee, perigee super moon

 

Happy 2012 everyone!

Water's Edge, NC

Shackleford Banks, NC

Baltimore, MD

Phoenix, AZ

Happy Holidays 2011

Irondequoit Bay Marine Park, Lake Ontario, Rochester, New York