Life is Beautiful, Live it the fullest
from the Boston Public Garden
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Happy New Year!
Wishing you all, A Blessedly Beautiful New Year! Peace, Health and Prosperity! (what else do we really want? … ok, good food!) M&A |
Our Other New Year greetings:
One more from the Boston Public Garden:
Earlier in the Fall, we joined friends for a Dim Sum lunch in Boston’s Chinatown. After a belt-loosening fiesta, we ambled through the Boston Commons and Public Garden for nature’s Fall color show.
There I took pics of their kids, the eminently cuddly Sahana and her adorable brother Suneel. Over the holidays, Sahana showed me with great pride, her newly painted toe-nails and secretly whispered in my ear: “I love you!” I want two, just like her!
Suneel has a knack for stumping us with a question for everything. For eg. when noticing the signs, “Stop on Red!” he asks why there are no signs which read, “Go on Green?” He is a riot, and leaves his school teachers and even his karate instructor scratching their heads. When Suneel is asked to do a side kick, he retorts, “Why should I kick on the side, there is no one there!” Thankfully during our Dim Sum lunch, we were able to satisfy some of his queries.
Continue reading “Sahana & Suneel in the Boston Public Garden”
(click for larger image)
It was a crisp, sunny Fall afternoon in Boston. With friends we enjoyed Dim Sum in Chinatown, and ambled through the Public Garden – an oasis of serenity amidst an urban entangle. Shot pics of our friend’s kids and a couple of the landscape. You like?
Another from the Public Garden. Very different compositions and I had a difficult time deciding which to lead with. Which would you have picked to lead? and why? Look carefully and read below.
What this (second) pic says to me:
At first glance it appears like two images grafted together. The upper half is busy and brighter; the lower half, more monotone, darker and separated from the upper by a slash of bright light. Like a dagger slashing the canvas! Rrrrriiippp!
Start from the bottom. The here and now! Dried leaves crumbling; soon to be reduced to dust. Life! Some may spy the bright reds evoking beauty and romance. Boring, monotonous and tedious! They are in the shade. Notice how this foreground is bounded by the barren tree trunk on the left and the equally dark evergreen on the right; like gatekeepers of the shade!
The grass is actually very green. Grass, a metaphor for perennial life draws me, pulls me, UP and UP! Like a glowing runway guiding me past these hulking ogres to a brighter forward. There in the distant, young trees are bathed in a divinely golden glow. Peer closely and you may see frolicking kids. Can you hear their giggle as they weave around trees. I see a few doing cartwheels and girls playing phugdi. In that golden quadrant (yes, it is only a tiny sliver of ethereal glow), spring flowers eternal, you hear birds singing on golden boughs and lovers napping in each others arms. Life! Always moving forward and UP!
Look at the picture again and tell me what YOU heard. 🙂
A previous post on Fall in the Boston Public Garden.
Last Fall, our friend H asked me to shoot pics of her kids for their holiday greeting. Katrina is such a delight; ever since she was a toddler, every time she saw me she’d run over screaming “alun! alun! alun!” and give me a big hug. And Brandon is such a champ! No doubt I eagerly agreed. We walked over to my favorite place – The Boston Public Garden. It turned out to be a dreary day. While the rains stopped just in time, we missed the golden burst of magnolias, cherry and chestnut trees you see in this post. However, the radiant kids lit up the garden with their own light and color! Here are a few from that day. Enjoy!
Dahlings on the mother duck! Make Way for Ducklings is a bronze sculpture by Nancy Schoen, memorializing Robert McKloskey’s picture book.
Continue reading “Make Way for Katrina and Brandon!”
In Nov, my friend from the kickboxing class quit work to have her baby. I saw her last week, a proud mommy of a beautiful baby boy. I took this pic in the Public Gardens, with the cherry blossoms in the background!
O, don't pinch those cheeks too hard. 😉
Cherry Blossoms in the Boston Public Garden; click image for larger version
This is a variant of the cherry tree and the Japanese call it kanzan yaezakura. Here it is called the double-blossomed cherry. While the common cherry flower has only five petals, these have more than 20.
Previous pics from the Boston Public Garden:
click image for larger version
On Friday, I stopped by the Boston Public Garden. Blooming cherry trees, and sprouting willows, chestnuts and maples left me breathless. Like if I stepped into a magical world. Spring leaves are lighter and so much more enjoyable than the dark greens of late summer. The SwanBoats paddle tourists around the gardens and are a historic feature of the Gardens since 1877. On the right, notice the Park Rangers patrol the garden on horseback!
Previous pics from the Boston Public Garden:
Nikon FM3a; 50/1.8; 100 ISO Reala
Wishing you a Wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!
Travel safely!
About three weeks ago, coming in to work early after meeting my college roommate for breakfast, I cut across the Boston Public Garden. It was one of those magical Fall Days. The rains over the previous days had downed a few leaves. Now the sun shone brightly and each tree was aglow with a million yellow-red-gold lights. I felt I had stepped into a dreamy impressionist painting!
Fortunately I had carried my Nikon with the 50mm/1.8 lens to shoot a few pics of my friend's son. The park is only a 10 min walk from my office and occasionally when I am stressed, I bring my reading here and sit on one of the benches on the right. But I have never seen it this heavenly! Beyond the gates, urban chaos reigns!
For Bostonians: on the right and parallel to the path is Beacon St with the “Cheers” bar behind the 4th or 5th bench. I am standing near the Charles St entrance.
Previous pics from the Boston Public Garden:
Arun Shanbhag 