Photo LinkLove

This morning was pretty nice with a cool breeze and overcast skies. So I headed out to the botanical gardens here in Richmond and took some photos to share with you. While walking around the grounds I ran into another retired guy with a camera who was also admiring the scenery and we chatted for awhile. He told me that he takes a photo each day and sends it out to several hundred folks on his email list.

So now there are several hundred and one eager recipients waiting for the next photo and I will also share the link here when it arrives.

And why not add some music to this post?

“But David the music and the photos are not synchronized! The photos end before the music and then they start over again! “

Well, yes, this is true. But if you notice the words in the songs sometimes repeat as well. There’s often a chorus. And if we like the music generally we are happy to hear it again. I’m optimistic enough to believe you might want to see the photos a few more times before you move on to your next activity.

Also you can click on the thing and stop the photos from whizzing by if you would like to slow things down and hang out with one or two for awhile.

So if you do please click on the music. Then click on the thumbnail for a slide show. And hopefully all will be well.

Play Good Vibrations

botanical garden sept 09

Public art

Inspired by light.

I love it.  And it is happening next September here in Richmond.  You can follow this link to find out how to participate if you are an artist and you find this to be an interesting avenue to follow in your desire to be creative.

http://inlight2009.blogspot.com/

If I can figure out how to fit in believe it when I say. . .

I will be standing on Broad Street all night long one (hopefully) warm stretch in September 2009.

And even if that does not happen what an amazing opportunity to take photos!  It’s going to be real.

Downtown Richmond and Interstate 95

Did I say that I was going to take a blogging vacation? I must have meant that I had taken a vacation because things have just been happening around here lately. It’s all unplanned. This blog is impulse driven and that’s just the way things are going to be. It’s driven by an impulsive person who doesn’t like to be told what to do.

Sadly that person is me. Oh well. But that doesn’t mean I make the decisions around here. Let’s not get those two things confused. For instance we went out yesterday to see a house in the neighborhood that is for sale. It’s a really cool house. It’s actually more like a castle. WB Yeats bought a castle after he settled down with Georgie and that is one of the few things I remember from my college career.

So, of course, I like this house very much. But I do not make the decisions although I would probably buy it on a whim if I did. When you go in the front door there is a circular staircase that takes you up into a very nice room. I wanted to take photos of it for you but you can’t just start broadcasting the interior of someone’s home on the internet. Can you?

I don’t think so. But we enjoyed our visit. This house has been on the market for quite awhile because of all the craziness going on in the housing market. That’s a shame.

I bet I could write a couple of nice poems up there in the top of the turret.

I was hoping to go up to DC next Tuesday and watch the historic events unfold.  But it doesn’t look like I will be able to go.

As I think about it I also wish that Arthur Ashe was still with us.  He was one of the best things to ever come out of Richmond, Virginia.

And he would be there next week feeling great joy I have no doubt.

Actually he probably will be there. He just won’t have to deal with the cold.

I was downtown early this morning taking some photos of the Richmond Marathon participants.

I don’t think that I have ever seen so many skinny people in one place before.  And not just thin but also exhibiting good posture and looking very healthy.  After awhile it made me want to cry a little bit.  Because it raised my faith in humanity.   Here all these people were getting ready to submit their bodies to cruel and unusual punishment.  Perhaps a bit of torture in some cases.

And they seemed pretty cheerful about it.  In fact you could see that they had been doing this to themselves fairly regularly and it really wasn’t such a big deal.

I was very impressed.  Every once in awhile my fellow human beings cheer me up.

This morning was one of those times.   And here are some photos of some of the leaders in the race.  I called my son Zachary after a few hours to see if he was in the neighborhood and wanted to join me.  And in fact he was at a friend’s apartment nearby.  He was planning to make breakfast for a group of sorority girls but managed to fit me in for a little while.

I appreciate it big guy.  So we hung out and I took some photos.   Some of the leaders have some really amazing muscles don’t they?   Congratulations to everyone who participated.  A lot of folks ran the half marathon but they ended up crossing the finish line right next to the ones who ran the full marathon.

Wouldn’t it be cool to run through the finish line and look on the other side of the orange cone to see an  extraordinary  runner from  Kenya  finishing at the same time?   Of course he would have traveled twice as far before getting there.

But it would still be cool.   I may have to start running so I can run side by side with some of the great marathoners next year.  That would be about twelve miles or so in two hours and twenty minutes.  Or about twelve 12 minute miles.

Or I could take some more photos.

Jyocel Basweti, a 22-year-old from Kenya, won the 31st SunTrust Richmond Marathon men’s race this morning with a time of 2:22:22.

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/sports/marathon.html

Click on photo to enlarge