Iris

Dogwood Blossom

Waves

Bow wave on the Ryndam Cruise Ship (Holland America)

Snow Angel

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Snow Swimming

Here's a YouTube video on swimming in the snow... (click the Title above)

Well read Hemlocks

Taken with my new camera - Canon EOS Rebel - 250mm zoom from about 100 feet away during a light snow.

The Fitzgerald Gasket Company was where my father - Eddie Ryan, worked for 30 years or so.

Here is something from the Torrington Historical Society about the answer to one of their Facebook Quizes.

First the Quiz Question:

++++++++++
Torrington-made gasket was used in 'The Spirit of St. Louis', the plane in which Charles Lindbergh made his historic first non-stop flight from NYC to Paris in 1927. What was the name of the company who made the gasket?
++++++++++
Answer: The Fitzgerald Mfg Co.
Then, the reply from the THS Librarian:

++++++++++

Ms Ryan,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding the Fitzgerald connection to Lindbergh's historic flight.

The information came from a news article in The Torrington Register, May 26, 1927, page. 5 The article notes that the Wright Aeronautical Corporation of Paterson, NJ, sent a telegram to Fitzgerald Manufacturing Company in Torrington which read in part:

Gaskets furnished by you were used in the Whirlwind engine which

carried Captain Lindbergh to Paris. You have thus taken part in the most

daring and brilliant adventure of our time.

We agree.

Carol Clapp

Librarian

++++++++++
My father was a Tool Designer and Draftsman for Fitzies. Maybe he worked on that gasket design?

+++++
Here's a photo of Elspeth Ryan (grandaughter of Eddie Ryan) at the Air and Space Museum under the Spirit of St. Louis.






These photos are of the Wright production line where the engine was built.

Stating the Obvious...

The entrance to the Old St. Francis cemetery, Torrington, Connecticut.

Yellow

Coreopsis

Spring is coming...

In Memoriam

The town of Marysville, Victoria, Australia was totally destroyed by wild fires in February-2009. Marysville is nestled in mountains of the Yarra Ranges National Park - in between sections of the park. Over 100 people died in this fire - one of many in Victoria and South Australia in 2009. Here are some photos of this lovely mountain town from October-2008.

The motorcyclists here are taking a rest from their harrowing rides through the park. It's a favorite circuit for them, now gone.






Here's a news article from 15-Feb-2009:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/hugs-tears-and-a-bus-back-to-what-remains-of-marysville-20090214-87me.html

sno-home

converted to B&W in iPhoto







Enhanced in iPhoto







Original scan

Mount Royal

Botanical Gardens, Montreal, Canada

Floating Point

Maidstone Lake, Vermont























Log-in












password = handmade

Greeks

... more flowers of The Burren

might be the Mountain Dryad?

Dryas octopetala









in blue - the hare bell?

Campanula Rotundifolia

in yellow - marsh dandelion?

Taraxacum Palustre, who

(Google is great)





peeking out, the Bloody Cranesbill

Geranium Sanguineum










grass in a grike (crevice)

Poulnabrone

5,800 Year old tomb

Used for 600 years from 3800 to 3200 BC

22 bodies counted so far

The Burren, Ireland

Clare Rocks

The Burren in County Clare, Ireland is covered in Limestone

The rain erodes

Cashel Rocks

Old wall on the left, new wall on the right...

...built 1,000 years apart

Rock of Cashel, Tipperary, Ireland














These dry stone walls are all over Western Ireland

They can be taken apart and put back together

Why? I have no idea

Glass

London Eye on Big Ben








Louvre

Spider man

Tate Modern, London








http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Bourgeois

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/arts/design/01bourgeois.html

Pools

Tidal Pool # 1

Bustin's Island Maine













Tidal pool # 2