December 6th 2010 thru January 2nd 2011
It was a wonderful Christmas and New Year's Holiday for our family. Lots of family time with good food and fellowship. The weather has been winter like in Buffalo up until New Year's Eve when all the snow began to melt and by the end of the day January 1st, there was green, well greenish, grass with little water ponds throughout the yard. However today it got cold and has been snowing most of the day. This shot was taken in Emery Park just outside the Village of East Aurora. I liked the mix of autumn and winter this scene provided as well as the tad bit of melancholy looking at a snow covered picnic shelter always seems to bring to me.
Best wishes for this new year of 2011 to all.
November 29th thru December 5th, 2010
It seems summer and fall are over. Winter has arrived in Western New York. This shot taken from the sliding glass doors off our kitchen. The picnic table, garden and swimming pool are pretty securely blanketed with the white stuff. On the ride home of December 2nd it took me two and a half hours for a trip that usually takes 40 minutes. I was lucky, some of the folks were stuck on the NYS ThruWay for nearly two days.
November 15th thru November 21st, 2010
Went over to Julie's and Ben's tonight to catch up on chores procedures as I'm watching the ranch when they go out of town. Julie was skinning rabbits while Ben and I did other little chores around the ranch. It has been a pretty nice November so far, when is this all going to catch up with us. Bills 49 Bengals 31, way to go Buffalo.
November 8th thru November 14th, 2010
The first two days of this week were spent in Portland OR and returning to Buffalo from Portland. This photograph was taken from the Burnside Bridge looking toward the east side of the Willamette River which runs through the heart of Portland. My daughter and her family live on the east side. Actually the north east side in the Alberta Arts District. I enjoyed breakfast at Helsers. Wednesday was back to work, with Veterans' Day thrown in there on Thursday. It remains very much fall here in Buffalo. The Bills may win a football game today. How about that? Callie got her second deer with her bow and Ben got his first, buck. Never, when they were children, I would have figured either Ben or Callie as hunters.
November 1st thru November 7th, 2010
I am tardy in making this entry as I was away from my computer from November 4th through the 9th while visiting Chris and Erin (son in law and daughter) and Charlie and Justine ( grandchildren) in Portland, Oregon. It was a wonderful time and was very hard for me to leave. I only get to see them in person about twice a year. Elaine had to teach school so did not have the opportunity to join me on this trip. Additionally, as I have an interest in Early American History, it was an opportunity to visit some of the Lewis and Clark Expedition sights. Astoria, OR is very interesting and the opportunity to visit Fort Clatsop with the grandchildren was a real treat. Believe it or not it rained almost every day however there was probably more time without rain than with. Actually good weather for the trip. It was a wonderful few days. Thanks Erin and Chris
This shot was taken from N Willamette Blvd ( It is pronounced "Willamette", damn it!)
October 25th thru October 31st, 2010
This week the whole world has been kind a topsy turvy. It's a long story. All is eventually well. I'm a tad tired. This shot was taken near the end of a University At Buffalo football game with University of Miami (Ohio). The UB Bulls lost 21-9.
October 18th thru October 24th, 2010
Fall is winding down yet there are almost two months until winter officially begins. The Blue Screen of Death hit my computer last weekend. I have been a PC guy since, I guess, around 1983 when I picked up a Compact Computer for work using Lotus 123 for spreadsheets. I bought an IMAC 27" to replace my dead Toshiba and have been dealing with the transition all this week. Finally got out for a walk in Emery Park this morning. Not a particularly nice day other than the relatively mild temperatures for late October, however the park was peaceful, colorful and smelled of autumn. This scene caught my attention due to the open floor of the forest blanketed with leaves, however when looking closer the old dead tree in the center of the image appeared to have been the home for numerous woodpeckers. Then in the background faintly visible is the profile of a house on the edge of the park. There was way more to this scene than what originally caught my attention. The Bills lost again today. 0-6 for the season. Oh well, next year. All you folks in Portland OR, be on the look out. I plan to be there weekend after next, for five days, visiting my daughter, son in law and grandchildren. If you Portlanders see a strange guy walking around with a Canon 50D on a tripod, say hi, it's only me.
October 4th thru October 10th, 2010
Today is 10/10/10...only happens once every 100 years (same as 01/01/01, 02/02/02, 03/03/03 and etc. up to 12/12/12). And, at that, it only happens one every year of the first twelve years of those 100 years. Kind of interesting when you think about it.
There is an interesting story behind this photograph of the Fisher Price headquarters building here in East Aurora, NY. Yes, East Aurora is the home of Fisher Price Toys. Nearly all of anyone who is "from" here has some connection to Fisher Price. Well, I stopped on the street to capture a shot of the headquarters building on this beautiful Fall morning. I parked my car on the street and had my camera and tripod set up on the sidewalk next to the street (Girard Ave) that runs by the facility. The guard in the shack next to the gate stepped into the doorway of the shack, raised a megaphone to his lips and projected something loud and, from where I was standing, undiscernable. But, I could guess, so this being East Aurora I felt comfortable in leaving my camera and walking toward the guard station. He explained I couldn't take pictures of the building. We discussed the hundreds of folks we have all seen sitting by the foutain taking pictures or positioned on the huge wooden models of toys that are often displayed on the lawn in front of the building. The guard stated that was different in that they were taking pictures of the fountain and of the toys and not the building. So I asked " then, may I move my camera down closer to the fountain to get a better shot of the fountain?" to which he replied,"sure." So here's my shot of the fountain in front of the Fisher Price building on Girard Ave in East Aurora, NY.
September 27th thru October 3rd, 2010
Wow, what a week! A new grandchild entered the world. Elise Marie Jarnot was born on September 28th at 1:54 in the PM weighing in at 7 lbs 15 oz and standing (well not quite standing yet but give her a couple weeks) 21 inches tall. Then on the next day September 29th the first granddaughter, Justine, turned 6 years old.
For pictures of Justine (and Charlie (the first grandchild) and Chris and Erin)...
PRESS HERE
September 20th thru September 26th, 2010
The beginning of Fall, 2010 has arrived. Where or where did the summer go? It has been extremely busy at work, it's a long story into which it is not worth venturing. Suffice it to say, life at Citi is always challenging.
We're waiting for the notice of the arrival of a new grandchild. It was forecast for Friday September 24th, but it proved to be just another forecast missed.
I went to the pond at Knox Field this morning hoping to catch some fog lifting of the water with some good morning sun. Not until I was packed up and leaving did the sun peak out.
Happy Autumn to all.
September 13th thru September 19th, 2010
This was a week where more folks we have worked with for a long time were let go due to the General Electric purchase of Citi's leasing business. The citi divestiture to GE happened actually more than two years ago and we have been working this entire time "transitioning" the systems and ledgers from Citi to GE. This Friday some of the second last group of the Citi folks to be involved were separated. I'm due to be out the door in the last group at the end of October. It is the end of an era at Citi. I believe we will all land on our feet. We've all known about it for two years and have had plenty of time to make plans. Just, for many, it is a tough time to be looking for a new career path.
Step daughter, Erin, had her 30th birthday on the 18th and is due to provide a new grandchild by the 24th of this month (Friday). It is the first for Erin and Andy and they are truely excited. Will keep all informed.
Autumn is near here. No more swimming in the pool, time to close it. Soon snow will be flying.
September 6th thru September 12th, 2010
A good week it was. A four day work week, lots of photography on the off time and time spent with family. This shot was taken at the Buffalo Zoo on a shoot for buffalo.com. I really like the young boy's expression while greeting the bird.