Fall Into Winter in Chestnut Hill

Alan Goes to the Christie's Auction

This Tiffany lamp brought over 1.3 million dollars.

A Christmas Visit to New York

Winter in New York

Lots of slushy ice to walk through and the lights of Times Square burning bright in the dark.

A Visit to the World Trade Center Site, 8 Years After 2001

This is the subway exit at Chambers Street where Cyane came out of the subway just before 10 am on Sept. 11, 2001. She was standing here, looking south when the first tower came down. It was visible, standing right in the center of this empty frame.

Central Park November

Fall in the Pennsylvania Woods

The invasive Burning Bush still has its leaves, above, which are still red. Deer often lead to a lack of understory.

Fall Pictures From Philadelphia

The Head of the Schuylkill Regatta.

After the Fall: Remnants of Urban Philadelpia

This is a very large redevelopment project on the west side of the Penn campus, with center city visible to the east.

Visit to Hollywood Cemetary in Richmond VA

A fresh site with Virginia clay above and Crepe Myrtles with Boxwood below.

Thanksgiving With Family in Richmond

There is hardly space in the house to visit.

On Returning to America After Being Away

There is no way to put it nicely: coming back to American has been hard.
The reduction in blogging reflects that.

The 2009 summer trip through Belgium and France to Switzerland was great.

You can view the best photos on this blog by scrolling down to go back in time. When you get to the end of this month's "chapters," just click on the "Older Posts" button in the lower right to bring up last month's postings. You can go back month by month that way.

Or, you can just click on the month you want at any time from the menu on the right. The summer 2009 trip began in June and ended in September.

Cyane, at least, had been looking forward to returning to the end of the trip, returning to America, and taking care of business. Alan would probably have liked to travel longer.

So, what has been so hard to take, coming back to America?

Well, the level of public discourse and political dialogue, reflected in the first photo, is strident.

Having to drive is a shock. Not only are distances great, public transportation rare, but also one often does not feel safe when not in a car.

Financial anxiety and even outright poverty are rampant.

Exploitation of workers seems the American norm - if one can find a job.

The public world is so often disappointingly ugly.

On the other hand, there are many kind people, who are reflected in other entries here, who create beauty where and when they can.