Wednesday

Recyclables Day!

It's 34 degrees and melty.

The wind was ferocious, last evening, and - at some point - just enough snow fell to give everything the appearance of having been sprinkled with confectioner's sugar.

• Wednesday: Morning flurries, then decreasing clouds, breezy and cool. High in the low 40s.
• Wednesday Night: Partly to mostly cloudy. Low in the mid 20s.
• Thursday: Becoming mostly cloudy with a chance of snow or rain showers. High: 41, Low: 28

The pond on Sally Road is still frozen over, but .........

"Lake Hanover" is receding and .........

the "snow dump" at Firemen's Field gets smaller every day.


Now, however, all the crud has come to the surface!
It's time for the rakes and the street sweeper.

My friend Margaret Bornick, who lives at a fairly high elevation between Paris Green and Clinton, wrote that: "It's nesting time again. This morning I saw four bluebirds fluttering around one of my boxes, having a spirited dialogue about who is going to live there. :>) Both of my Pileated Woodpeckers visited us Easter morning. One will not come to the hanging crate. He (she) clings to the crab apple tree and watches the other stuff her face. I am putting home-made peanutbutter-raisin blocks in the crate and they are well received by all the free-loaders."

***********

Yesterday I referred to this house on E. Main Sreet, which is now owned by Mr. Wayne Brouillette. When application ws made to the National Register of Historic Places, back in the 1970s, these three buildings were all described as being "fine examples of Federal Style architecture." (I don't completely agree, but wonder if Connie Bocko or Kelly Falk, who have spent some time studying architectural styles in the village, have any thoughts on that?)

***

And while Wayne works on one Main Street building, his brother John (Jack) is making plans to refurbish the front of the "Wheeler Block," restoring at least the first floor facade to its original elegant Italianate style.

Wheeler Block detail.

**************

From this morning's O-D:
NYRI APPLICATION DENIED FOR SECOND TIME

****************

********************

Of interest (perhaps) to people who like to take pictures!

Digital vs. Film?

Yes - there actually IS a "darkroom" here in the House in the Hollow, but - frankly! - I don't remember how to use half the equipment and chemicals to develop a roll of film or expose and fix prints - it's been that long! And why would I want to, anyway? I have a couple of five-year-old Olympus Camedia Digital Zoom cameras that, 'tho less sleek than newer models, suit me just fine.

The subject came up, however, when a friend of mine was told that digital cameras were o.k., but that "real photographers" still used real cameras (35mm) and real film! Well that started it! I don't consider myself a "real" photographer, but I sure know someone who is: his name's Bill Snead, and he's worked for the best of the best, including National Geographic and the Washington Post, and so I wrote to him and said ----- "Well?" and he answered:

"I think the logical question is - what are you going to do with the pictures you're taking and are you worth a damn as a photographer. If your idea of a great photo is a close up of tree bark covered in ice crystals, by all means get a 4 x 5 view camera, put a black hood over your head and make that baby life size. The problem is you still end up with a picture showing a piece of a tree. Good digital cameras have some of the best lenses around. They focus automatically, they have tremendous built in light meters that can be adjusted to suit anyone's eye. The rigs are too big but if you want to sneak around with a digital the Panasonic Lumix DMZ TZ3 with a Leica lens ($279 Costco) is an amazing little pocket camera that I've published photos from. If you shoot my new D300 Nikon (body $1,950) in the RAW mode the sky is the limit for prints. And the photo printer I use in Kansas City says that the tonal range in RAW mode is far greater than film. And you can still get 80 RAW photos on a 4 gigabyte card. When you are using lights on stands with soft boxes or in any form you can use your digital camera as a Polaroid to see instantly where your light is going, who is in the shadows, exposure, color balance the whole works. You cannot, cannot do that with a film camera. The Geographic uses digital and some of the cowards there still shoot slides. I don't know any professional who has gone back to film as an every day medium."

(Thanks, Snead!)

*******************************

I have to agree: it was a great start to the season! And it was also an early start, because it took place in Tokyo, Japan, and began at 6:05 ET, here.

Today's game begins in just a few minutes. Time to wake up, Rob!
(and Mark and Julry and Kathy and Gary and Bill and Sylvia and
Hey, Don - rise and shine!)

*****************

Have another great day, everyone!