Random Stuff…

Since it is Random {5} Friday, I thought I would share some pics of some random graffiti I took in Northampton last week.

Sort of a kind of natural graffiti.

1)  I happen to like graffiti, even though I know it is technically vandalism.  It is an interesting way for people to express themselves.  Certain places like alleyways seem to actually benefit from graffiti making them kind of rustic art galleries.

2)  I went to the movies three times within the past week and a half.  I think that’s a record for me.  Greg, Evan and I saw 42, which is the movie about Jackie Robinson for those of you who don’t know baseball.  I recommend it to those who like baseball and those who don’t.  It’s an uplifting human story.  Then, Carrie, Evan and I went to see the movie event of Star Trek:  The Next Generation.  It was the combination of two Star Trek: TNG episodes when Captain Picard becomes a Borg.  It’s great to see on the big screen!  And last night, the three of us returned to see the nationwide simulcast of Wait, Wait..Don’t Tell me!   This is one of my favorite NPR shows and the podcasts of it save me on long plane rides.  It was fun to see in person with Steve Martin as the guest.  Now we have to remortgage the house to pay for all that popcorn…

3)  Spring is out in full force here and has been for more than a week.  But we had few April showers.  Regardless, we have many May flowers.

4)  We are leaving for two weeks in Norway in just over a month.  I am beginning to panic.

5)  Greg and I went out yesterday and bought a Buddha to put in the bird bath I bought last week.  Seems the birds won’t use a bird bath that is too deep.  We are hoping the birds will perch on the Buddha.  Buddha seems pretty comfortable with the idea of it.

LINKING TO A RURAL JOURNAL'S RANDOM 5 FRIDAY!

A fine dusting...

I had to get up literally at the crack of dawn this morning to make my way into Worcester for a physical therapy session.  I would have loved to stay in bed for an hour or two more but as the sun was coming up, I saw that the little bit of snow that we got yesterday was hanging onto the shrubs and trees in a most attractive way.  So I decided to take my camera along with me.

As I passed our neighbor's house, I noticed a lone turkey making his way through the woods.  Lucky him for surviving Thanksgiving.  Of course, he probably knows that as long as he sticks around in the neighborhood, he will be safe.

On the way home from physical therapy, I decided to drive around a little to  check out some of our local places where I thought the snow might be nice and I came across this little bridge that someone decided to use as a message board to remind us that all we need is love.

I am a real sucker for that copper color of an old leftover oak leaf against the white.

So I moseyed on home.  I still wish I could have stayed in bed for another hour or two this morning, but if I had to get up, at least I got to enjoy the beauty of the fine dusting of snow that we got yesterday.  As I was enjoying my first cup of coffee finally, I took a glimpse out the window and saw this fine specimen posing so nicely.  

I hope you all had a good morning, too.

Floating Down the Danube, Part 2…

Evan and I got on the train in Budapest and about three blissful hours later, we were in Vienna.  You gotta love those European trains!  We checked into our hotel room and cast about for what to do first.  Well, we loved the boat rides in Budapest so much we took the same one twice.  So why not take one in Vienna?

Seems I should have done more homework on Vienna.  Here are a couple of things I didn’t know when we got there that I know now.  Vienna is on the (not so blue) Danube River but it is not oriented to the river like Budapest is.  I’m not sure why, but in Vienna the Danube seems like an afterthought.  Another thing about Vienna that I didn’t know is that it has got to rank up there on the list of the most graffitied cities in the world.  Along the waterfront, the graffiti is nothing short of spectacular.  We learned later that it is not illegal for taggers to tag along the river and so with no holds barred, the river walls are colorful, exciting examples of Street Art.  That is the subject of the blog today.  Later, I will show you the Vienna that I thought I was going to see.

One of the interesting things about travel is meeting people.  On our boat ride in Vienna, we happened upon the delightful Jennifer from near Melbourne, Australia.  Jennifer was taking a seven week trip through Europe at her own pace going where she wanted when she wanted.  Boy, I admire that!  We yakked the whole way up and down the Danube.    Here’s a photo of Jennifer with our waiter who was from South Africa.   Lying in bed this morning, I was thinking that I would like to calculate the number of miles we all had to travel to get to that place at that time, but I’m afraid my math skills are lacking.  But I think it ends up being quite a lot.

By the way, I don't know what's up with  blogger but these white lines seem to be  a permanent fixture on my page.  I am not sure how to turn them black.  And the fonts and spacing seem to have lives of their own all of a sudden.  Oh, well...