Rule breaker

The theme of this blog is "Observations of the trivial and unnoticed" which of course this photo does not live up to. This picture is taken thousands of times a day by hunderends of tourists. There is not much trivial about it. The photo of course is Independence Hall in Philadelphia PA. It is here that the Declaration of Independence was debated and signed in 1776. So my theme breakage seems pretty trivial compared to the rule breaking done in Philadelphia 236 years ago.

I was in Philadelphia this week for work and was fortunate to have some time to walk around the city a bit. Big cities offer a lot of opportunity for interesting photos, especially observations of the trivial and unnoticed.

Snow boulders

After a storm, and there is a lull, the plows go around and push the snow banks back, making room for the next batch of snow. This conglomerate is at the end of my driveway. The snow is at a consistency that, when the snow is knocked back, it forms a series of snow boulders.

More snow

Looking forward to some spring... but that is still many weeks away. The white stuff stuff keeps piling up.

Snow pole

Our light pole on the front of the house gets a good helping of snow in the early evening. We have had a bit of snow this season but we are finally getting a significant snowfall with about a foot of accumulation.

Rich people get snow too

The wealthy live in big houses, drive luxury cars and make lots of money. Where I live, it does not matter how prosperous you are, you still get the same amount of snow as your less affluent neighbors. In that way snow is very egalitarian.

Of course the wealthy do have the resources to have the driveway plowed and the sidewalks cleared.

Squirrel nests

I sometimes worry about the little animals during the cold winter months, especially during significant snow storms. The chipmunks and mice live in the ground, protected and seemingly warm... but squirrels live in the trees, high-up and seemingly unprotected and cold.

In the photo above you can clearly see at least 3 dark clumps high in the top branches. It is here that the squirrels retreat for protection from storms and frigid temperatures. Mostly the nests are for individuals, but sometimes 2 will share for warmth. Of course in the spring and summer the nests are used to raise the young.

The nests are made of twigs roughly woven together in the crotch of a few branches. Then dry leaves and added and sometimes vines, feathers or moss. Reportedly they are quite robust once complete, but I much prefer my heated and water-proof home.

Path in the woods

This photo reminds me of the famous poem, which ends with...

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference

...The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost

Bokeh

Another shot with my Pentax Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 lens on my Canon XSi Digital SLR. Like a previous post, this photo also demonstrates limited depth-of-field focus, which is often expressed as bokeh.

Bokeh is a term that originated from the Japanese word for "blur" or "haze". The quality of bokeh produced by a particular lens is determined by many things, one of the key elements being the shape of the aperture opening. Serious photographers consider the bokeh characteristics as a key atribute of a quality of a lens.

So anyway, this is a small succulent house plant that sits on the window sill. Once the warm weather returns it will be able to comfortably return to the back porch along with me.