I made sure I went out to the river and got the sunset on Sunday. Now that we are back on standard time, it will be dark before I leave the office during the week.
Category: Ducks
Ducks in a Row
After I dropped Laurie off to sing in the choir at the early service, I went over to UNM and photographed the ducks and the architecture. The clouds were building up over the Sandias on my way home, so I stopped at the jetti sculpture on Coors and got the shots of the Sandias, clouds and sculpture.
France Day 30 Last Day In Paris
We spent our last day in Paris getting ready to leave — checking in for the flight, cleaning the apartment, preparing food and packing. We went out for a walk in the Tuileries got our last look at the Louvre in the late afternoon sunlight, and I took random photos in the Tuileries and on the street walking back to the apartment. We are leaving for the airport at 6:30 this morning.
France Day 23 Hittin’ you with my best shot!
We got into the Louvre when it opened, rushed to the Mona Lisa and there were only about 50 or so people crowded in front of her, making it easy to get up to the rope to get the closest view possible. The Mona Lisa is the perfect portrait of the perfect model in the perfect pose. She is like a self portrait of how everyone would like to see themselves, and the reflections in the multiple layers of glass protecting the Mona Lisa adds to the sense of the portrait as a reflection of our own portraits.
After three hours in the Louvre we had browsed the entire Italian and Spanish painters wing and then went through the exhibit on Egyptian art and culture. In the Spanish sections, there was a small exhibit of plates by Goya, where I got the photo of the woman looking out the window that almost matched Goya’s woman on a horse.
One thing really nice about our apartment being so close to the Louvre is that we go back to the apartment and fix lunch before we go out again. Laurie made crepes for lunch that were wonderful, and then we strolled through the Tuileries on our way to the Musée l’Orangerie where they have expressionist paintings by Cézanne, Renior, Monet, Picaso, Rousseau, etc. Along the way we saw goats mowing a moat, a teenage bird bigger than its mother still asking her to feed it, duckings napping, flowers starting to bloom, iris and a few roses.
Little Drops of Rain
I spent most of the day putting together my presentation on Troubadour poetry and music for French 385: Travels in Provence. It rained most of the day, and during a break in the weather I went out and photographed the storm passing over the Sandias. On my way out to the river, I noticed there were still a few drops of rain the wind had not blown off a rose bush — it reminded me of Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You”, which has a verse that begins “Little drops of rain…” I had been reading medieval poetry all day and started thinking that “Thank You” could be modern Troubadour poetry.
Troubadours originally wrote their poetry in Occitan, the language of Provence, France, also called Provançal. I don’t understand Occitan, so I’ve been reading the poetry translated into English by William and Frances Paden in their book Troubadour Poems from the South of France. Women Troubadours where called trobairitz, and the most famous trobairitz is La Comtessa de Dia. After reading many troubadour poems, La Comtessa de Dia is one of my favorites. Here is one of her poems named Estat ai en greu cossirier / I have been in heavy grief circa 1169:
I have been in heavy grief
for a knight who once was mine,
And I want it to be forever known
That I loved him too much,
I see now that I’m betrayed
For not giving him my love
Bemused, I lie in bed awake;
Bemused, I dress and pass the day.
If only I could hold him
Naked in my arms one night!
He would feel ecstatic
Were I to be his pillow.
Since I desire him more
Than Floris did Blanchefleur,
I give him my heart and my love,
My wit, my eyes, for as long as I live.
Splendid lover, charming and good,
When shall I hold you in my power?
If only I could lie with you one night
And give you a loving kiss!
Know that I’d like
To hold you as my husband,
As long as you’d promise
To do what I desired.
Here are the lyrics to Robert Plan’s Thank You, 1969:
If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.
When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me.
Kind woman, I give you my all, Kind woman, nothing more.
Little drops of rain whisper of the pain, tears of loves lost in the days gone by.
My love is strong, with you there is no wrong,
together we shall go until we die. My, my, my.
An inspiration is what you are to me, inspiration, look… see.
And so today, my world it smiles, your hand in mine, we walk the miles,
Thanks to you it will be done, for you to me are the only one.
Happiness, no more be sad, happiness….I’m glad.
If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.
When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me.
Moon on the Rise
I went out to get the moonrise this afternoon. The clouds covered the moon when it first came over the mountain, but then as it rose behind the clouds it afforded nice photo ops. The geese and cranes are still hanging around, and the crows were thick at times, which reminded me of the movie “The Birds.”
Heron, Hawk & Cranes
I went out about 30 minutes before sunset to photograph the Sandias when they turned pink, and ended up getting bird photos along the way. The Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese where still hanging out in the apple orchard with light streaking across them from the low sun. When I got out to the river, a Great Blue Heron was wading around feeding, until it noticed me and flew off. I figured I wouldn’t see it again, but when I focused on the large bird coming toward me (figuring it would be a Sandhill Crane) it turned out to be the heron. The Heron noticed me about the time I got it in focus and it banked left and started hightailing it south, offering me a shot of it in profile, then it turned eastward to circle back out of range of my lens.
A group of ducks where floating down the Rio Grande, diving under the water and popping their heads up several yards down current from where they dived. When they came up from their third dive, they saw me on the bank and took off, leaving little splashes behind them. Just before the sun went down, a hawk flew over at high speed, but I managed to get a fairly clear shot of it. I got my photos of the dark pink Sandias, and as I was walking back to the house, a large group of geese took flight from the apple orchard, heading to the river — they reminded of bats flying out of a cave at sunset.
Crane Dance
We had cloud cover most of the day, but no precipitation. I went out on the river an hour before sunset and got the cranes flying in for the night. They often dance around after they land. I don’t know if the duck was stretching, dancing or saw something threatening, but he was putting on a show, also.
The Birds
Crows swarming over the Rio Grande and bosque this afternoon reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds.” A pair of Sandhill Cranes were trying to land on the river, but they were having a hard time making their way through the swarm of crows. They tried flying through the crows two or three times before the crows thinned out enough for them to land. Each attempt they would start down, zig zag a few times, pull back up and circle around before making another attempt. On one of their circles they got close enough for me to get a clear shot of them above the crows. A flotilla of geese were leisurely floating down the Rio Grand to where they spend the night about a quarter mile from where I was standing. When they saw me on the bank they turned into the current and started treading water, staying in the same spot for some time while they discussed among themselves whether or not is was safe to float on by me. They finally decided to stay in the water and continued on their way, hugging the far bank as they floated past me. A couple of ducks floated down after the geese, but they decided it wasn’t safe to float on by me and took flight.
Off Center & Not Even 