Saturday, October 29, 2022

Dramatic Sky, Dramatic Shadows


Just some random photos today, saved up on my iPhone, because you don't want to hear about me sitting at my desk all day yesterday. (And I don't particularly want to write about that!)

First, looking up at the new apartment buildings rising near the Thameslink rail lines. I always like the contrast between a brightly lit foreground and a dark sky.


Who's this guy?!


Yesterday I mentioned saving the chrysanthemums from someone's trash bag. Here are more discarded flowers that probably had more life in them -- some purple gladiolas. I didn't rescue them, though. Except by taking a picture, which is a sort of visual rescue, I suppose.


Remember how I recently mentioned the persistence of trash bags on the pavement outside apartment buildings? Well, this is one of our problem areas. As you can see, Olga is very interested. She loves a good trash bag.


The same street on a dark, wet morning. No trash bags but lots of dramatic shadows.


This is the lost & found in the Middle School where I work. What is up with kids and their water bottles? Why can't they hang onto them? From past experience I'm guessing most of these will wind up being donated or recycled.


This house is under renovation on the next street over. I was surprised how thoroughly it's been gutted -- you can see all the way through and out the back wall!


And finally, a graceful vapor trail in the sky on my walk home from work. Happy Saturday, everyone!

27 comments:

  1. Yesterday was a perfect day for vapour trails. During the afternoon dog walk I could see at least 3 " live" ones, and plenty more that were fading away. It is astonishing how many planes there are up there that we don't normally see.

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  2. I really dislike seeing bags of rubbish chucked into back lanes in England. I suppose most are cleared away appropriately but sometimes there are piles that have clearly been there a long time.

    I think my sister and her wife have that many water bottles in their home. I was gobsmacked. I have one cheap commercial water bottle that I fill with tap water or gin and I keep it for about four months.

    I was reliably informed by a US blogger from the past who firmly stated that these con trails are government sprays to make the population more acquiescent.

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  3. I like the dark wet morning photo. I like stormy skies too. The water bottle situation seems to be way out of hand.

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  4. "You don't want to hear about me sitting at my desk all day yesterday..." How very presumptuous! What could be more fascinating than a detailed account of a typical day in the life of a school librarian? I would especially enjoy tales of encounters with The Overdues.

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  5. Beautiful photo. I immediately fantasize about having that house to renovate. I'm a glutton for punishment. As for “Who's this guy?”: Is that a test or are you, too, wondering?

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  6. Have you no racoons in London? Here is you left a bag of trash out like that overnight, it would be gutted and pilfered by raccoons by morning.

    My two girls have gone through a couple water bottles each but not from losing them but by dropping them. Gradually we have learned what to look for to withstand drops and not break and the current ones are well into their third year of life I think. Perhaps some of those have been dropped and now leak which is why they were left behind.

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  7. Now I want to see that house when it's fully renovated.
    And I thought the idea of store-bought water bottles was to reduce the use of plastics and throw-aways and yet here were throwing them away! Oy!

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  8. After using the same water bottle, originally the one the water came in, I was persuaded to spring for a better one, and now have a stainless steel one, impervious to any amount of dropping.

    I do like the drama of bright foreground and dark skies.

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  9. I love the dark sky over the construction. All dogs find garbage fascinating. That's a lot of water bottles! I guess the kids find them expendable.

    Love,
    Janie

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  10. As an aside to Andrew- I have a cousin who is firmly convinced that vapor trails are proof of the government's use of chemicals to keep us all too doped up to see what they're really doing.
    I do not understand the water bottle situation. August and Levon each have one and they bring them home every day. They are tiny children. What a waste of resources those things have become!
    Nice photos, Steve. Shadows and light.

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    Replies
    1. We have those people in our family too, Ms m. If London winds up with a bear problem, it will be due to the careless rubbish handling.

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  11. A nice variety of photos, Steve. Couldn't the students label their water bottles so the school could return lost ones? Seems like an easy fix.

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  12. Nice collection of random photos. I'm surprised by the number of water bottles that are left behind and the many bags of garbage left on the sidewalk. Love that dark morning walk.

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  13. Olga looks quite dramatic in that darker street photo. It seems as if she's the star of her own crime drama.

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  14. Vapor trails = conspiracy nutcases!
    That nonsense has been going around for years!

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  15. Maybe you need to walk around with a sharpie and whenever you see a student with a water bottle, make them write their name on it. Problem solved. Fun photos as always.

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  16. Yes.... who is he and why is he flipping us off??

    I often carry insulated cups with me (and usually keep track of them pretty well), but never thought about kids having them at school. Back in my day, it would have been against the rules since I'm SURE there would have been plenty of bottles/cups that contained more than water!

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  17. WAPO did an article about rats in DC. Trash bags on the street are a major attractant for them. How are the rats in London? Are there many? I love the first photo, Tucson has skies like that, they are very dramatic.

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  18. I'm still missing one of my water bottles but it didn't make it to London. I don't know why I leave them places. Probably because I talk too much and get distracted.

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  19. I wonder how many millions that house cost to buy and how many millions more it's costing to renovate it. It does look like a very nice house.
    There are some very nice water bottles in that lost and found collection.
    I can't imagine throwing out flowers that still look that good.

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  20. I've been thinking about contrails ever since I commented here earlier. Wiki has a good article on them:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrail

    Near the top, you can click on "Chemtrail conspiracy theory", to read about that craziness. Even though they pinpoint it to a USAF report in the 90s, I have memories of older folks questioning contrails when I was a child. I always figured it was because they didn't understand the science behind jets and the atmosphere, but maybe they were just "cold war paranoid"!

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  21. Perhaps that guy was a "finger Friday" participant. Olga does look like a film noir starlet in that early morning photo!
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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  22. You'd think the kids would put their names on their bottles.

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  23. Some of those water bottles look expensive. More money than sense?
    I am another who awaits the continuing observation of the renovations in that lovely old building.
    The chem trails obviously only work on the gullible who think they are being controlled. Wait ...

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  24. Frances: They're very visible in that clear blue sky, aren't they?

    Andrew: A water bottle full of gin! I love it! Maybe THAT's what I need to get through a workday.

    River: The rain does make the pavement shine in a photogenic way.

    YP: Well, stick around, because despite my best efforts to be interesting I imagine I'll be talking about overdues before too long.

    Mitchell: Oh, I'm wondering too! I have no idea who it is, or why he's flipping us off.

    Ed: We don't have raccoons, but we have foxes, which do the same thing.

    Bob: I KNOW! I used to line them up on a shelf in the library below a sign saying, "Water bottles are only environmentally sustainable if you don't lose them!"

    Boud: A lot of those that the kids have lost are stainless steel. They can't be cheap!

    Janie: Dogs can't turn off their inner scavenger!

    Ms Moon: I don't get why people need water bottles at all. When I was in school we just went to a water fountain. Is that not possible anymore?

    Ellen D: I will never understand why kids (or parents) don't label their stuff. I am always so happy when I find something lost and it has a name in it.

    Robin: The dark mornings are an interesting time for photography. I really should bring my good camera rather than my phone.

    Colette: Ha! It is very noir.

    Debby: I doubt we'll have bears, but we certainly have rats.

    Marcia: Yeah, I've heard about "chemtrails" for ages. I don't get that kind of paranoia.

    Ellen: Ha! That's not a bad idea, although I imagine some kids would object to writing on their stuff.

    Kelly: Well, you can't help but wonder whether kids slip "ingredients" into their water now! Thanks for the chemtrails info. It's all so insane.

    Allison: Yeah, we have plenty of rats here. I've seen them in our garden and on the streets. To some degree they're just part of urban life, but you're right that better attention to the garbage would help.

    Margaret: I think that's exactly what happens. I find a lot of them on my desk when someone walks away after checking out a book and chatting with me.

    Sharon: Yeah, that house has got to cost a pretty penny. I would love to know what they're doing to it. It will be interesting to see the finished product.

    Barbara: "Finger Friday"? Is that a thing? I'll have to look that up.

    Pixie: You would think! And on their jackets, and their books, and...

    Merlot: Ha! Maybe the chemtrails are RESPONSIBLE for the paranoia! Is it the chicken or the egg?

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  25. I love how you "see." Slices of life -- forgotten bottles, discarded blooms, dramatic skies. That trash is disturbing, though at least in bags (till vermin get at it.) Love the night street,too.

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  26. The Over The Shoulder Signal Of ," Oh Come On Human !"

    Cheers

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