A Morning on the Towpath

Sal and I had a very pleasant morning on the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath with two of our friends.  Sue is preparing for the Long Branch Half Marathon.  She had to run 10 miles this weekend for training purposes, so her husband and I rode our bikes while she ran.  I decided to see if I could figure out a way to attach Sal to my bicycle so I could take her along.  A bungee cord did the trick!  Sal's case rode very securely under the bar of the bike and I was able to unzip the case far enough to take Sal out for photos without removing the case and bungee cord from the bike.  Success!

Sue and Steve with Sal on the Towpath by the Canal.

As we rode, Steve and I came across this friendly volunteer who had set up a tripod with a viewer-thingy attached so that people could see the bald eagles' nest -- and the adult bird taking care of two babies!  Several people were there -- looking through the viewer and watching through their own binoculars.

The park volunteer next to his viewer.  The nest is in a tree pretty much where the viewer is pointing -- a triangular shaped brown thing among the lighter colored tree trunks in the background.

I decided to try to get a picture of Sal by a lock, but after last week's falls during the Lakeview Cemetery trip, I didn't want to put her too close to the edge.  If she fell into a lock, that would be the end of poor Sal!  I tried several things, but wasn't able to get a photo showing that Sal was obviously at a lock.  Here's one unsuccessful attempt.  Sal looks lovely, but you can't really tell she's at a lock.  Since I'm hoping to ride on the Towpath many times in the coming months, I'm sure I'll figure something out by the end of the bike season!  Steve and I ended up riding 15.5 miles today.  I had to stop a few times because this was my first longish ride of the year, but I'm happy to say that at the end of the day I'm not in pain, so I must not be as out of shape as I thought I was while huffing and puffing as we were riding! Sal is in no pain either, since she was safely transported and posed throughout the day!  :)

Sal at Lock 39

A Day Among the Daffodils

My sister and I visited Lakeview Cemetery to take pictures of Sal on the hill of daffodils for which the cemetery is justly renowned.  It is also the resting place of many famous people -- among them President James Garfield.  There are many others, but we didn't have time to visit them on this trip. We did stop at the James A. Garfield Monument for a while, but spent most of our time with the lovely spring flowers.  We will definitely be going back to this amazing cemetery to take lots more photos!

We took some shots of Sal on the windsills at the Garfield Monument.  Unfortunately for Sal, the sills slope slightly (I suppose so rain will run off), and poor Sal took a tumble from one of the sills onto the hard pavement below.  As you can see, it's quite a distance.  Luckily the only damage was a chip on the back corner of her headstock and a little scrape on one of her bottom edges.

Anne taking photos of Sal on a dangerously sloping sill.

The statue of Garfield inside the monument.

After driving around the winding roads in the cemetery, we came upon the daffodil hill and began to take many photos.  I had in mind panoramic pictures of thousands of daffodils, and therefore didn't take many other types of shots.  After seeing my sister's far superior photos later, I was initially depressed by my lesser photography skills, but later realized I'd learned something from this experience, too.  Don't just take the shot you THINK you want -- take lots of shots of all kinds.  It's digital!  No film to develop!  It doesn't cost anything!  You may find that you prefer something you hadn't originally thought of!  (Between us we literally took hundreds of photos, but less is more, so here are just a few.)

One of the wide shots with lots of daffodils.  This was what I was thinking of, so this is what I took.

Anne setting Sal up for more pictures.  We did lots of tiptoeing through the daffodils -- avoiding stepping on them of course!

One of the pictures resulting from that set-up.

Anne's clearly superior photo of Sal. 

Another fantastic photo by my talented sister.

I thought it might be cool to cross the street and get a picture of Sal sitting on one of the amazing monuments that mark many of the graves -- with the field of daffodils behind.  Unfortunately, the angle didn't work and Sal had another misadventure, but all's well that ends well.

Sal was able to comfortably rest on this part of the monument.

On the other side, she posed for this lovely shot by Anne, but the "daffodils in the background" idea didn't work.

Anne and her fabulous camera were ready for another shot when...

Sal plummeted from the monument to the ground below.  I didn't think there would be any action shots of Sal (except for her being played, of course), but I was wrong.  Anne had her camera ready, and captured Sal in mid-air.

Lesson learned from two uke falls in one day:  be extra careful when posing Sal on sloping surfaces that are far from the ground! Perhaps a tiny piece of Sticky Tack should be used in such a case?

And, last but not least, it's Photo Contest time!  Anne and I have had many of these little competitions.  We each take a picture of the same thing and let people vote.  Which picture is better?  So take a look at the two photos below and decide which one you like best.  Of course I can't tell you which one I took and which one Anne took.  Which one is best?  You be the judge.  ;)

Photo One

Photo Two

One Last Day at the Film Fest...

Today was the last day of the 37th Cleveland International Film Festival.  The closing ceremony is always held around the fountain in Tower City and I decided it would be a fun photo opportunity for Sal.  Since there would be so many people there, I thought of doing a "Where's Waldo" sort of thing.  To put the plan into action I asked my friend Heidi to hold Sal up while I stood on the second level and took a picture of the crowd.  The idea was to ask those looking at the blog to see if they could find Sal in the crowd.  After taking the picture, I realized the idea was a dud.  I know where Sal is, and I can't even see her!  Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.   Here's the picture anyway.  :)

I would have needed a panoramic camera to get the whole celebration in the picture, which would have made the almost impossible task of finding Sal even harder! 

I took a couple of other Sal pictures, too, since I brought her along.  Here are today's film-going companions in front of the cool tile mural at the West 65th Street Rapid Transit Station. 

And last but not least, I got a picture of Martin Lund, the director of the delightful children's film Twigson Ties the Knot with Sal!  He came from Norway to attend the festival because two of his films were being shown.  The other one was The Almost Man -- not for kids, but a super film, too.  I think he thought I was a bit of a nut for asking him to pose with the uke, but he was good-natured about it.  (And let's face it, the project is a bit nutty -- but that's okay!)

Very dark photo, I know, but it was taken in the theater and the lights were obviously very low.  Didn't want to impose by asking him to go someplace with better lighting.  He was on the move!

Sal Returns to the Film Festival

In my previous post about the Cleveland International Film Festival, I mentioned that I thought it would be impossible to get a picture of Sal with any "festival luminaries."  The person I most wanted to photograph with Sal was Bill, artistic director of the Festival.  If you wonder why, just watch this Film Festival trailer about him!  He is a busy guy, though, always hurrying from place to place -- usually with a bunch of other people -- so I figured it couldn't happen.  Imagine my surprise when the very next day I saw him walking all by himself!  I took a chance and asked him if he would pose for a picture if I brought Sal to the Festival again.  He graciously said that he would -- if I could catch him -- so yesterday I stuck Sal's case in my bag and brought her along for another amazing day at the Festival.  I saw Bill a few times, but he was very busily rushing about doing his Film Fest thing, and I began to think the picture wasn't going to happen.  But hooray!  As I waited around for my last movie to begin, he came by and the time was right!  I took this picture quickly, not noticing the light fixture right behind Bill's head, so you can see that this blog is not going to be an exhibition of fine photography.  On the bright side, I think these little adventures with Sal are teaching me a lot.  I'm working on absorbing the following:
1. It's not always the product.  Sometimes the process is the important part.
2. Slow down and be more observant.  It only takes a little more time to do a better job.
3. Write things down if you want to give an accurate description later.  Names and details are quickly forgotten in the hurly burly of events.
4. Do things when you have the opportunity.  You might not have another chance.

Sal Goes to the Film Fest

Yesterday I took Sal to the Cleveland International Film Festival.  Held at Tower City, this is an annual opportunity to see an amazing variety of films from around the world.  It's a whirl of activity, as film lovers rush from theater to theater to catch as many films as they can.  Because of the hectic nature of the day, I didn't have the nerve to ask any of the festival luminaries to pose for a picture with Sal, so I went with the next best thing -- a photo of her next to a giant Film Fest stand-up sign.  ;)

Also at Tower City, and all around Cleveland, are 10-foot-tall replicas of Fender Stratocaster guitars. They are the results of Guitar Mania, a community art project that raised funds for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and United Way.  Sal looks small next to any guitar, but next to these she is truly Little Sal! 

Sal Meets an Amazing Musician

Sal and I were fortunate enough to see a performance by the amazing Abdou Mboup at Fairview Park Library.  He played each of the instruments pictured (except for Sal), and brought forth amazing sounds from them all.  He shared some wonderful words of wisdom with the audience -- mostly about sharing what we have with others less fortunate -- and captivated us with his songs and stories.

Abdou Mboup holding his kora (and Sal).

Tying the Knot Exhibit

My mother, sister, Sal and I went to the Western Reserve Historical Society to see Tying the Knot: Cleveland Wedding Fashions, 1830-1980.  In addition to wedding attire we took a look at some of the museum's cars, motorcycles, airplanes -- and also went through the Domare: The Art and History of Italian Stone Carving in Northeast Ohio exhibit. 

A Standard Oil wagon

Little Sal posing with Mr. Franklin

This car was one of our favorites. (And I think a uke would be historically correct with this car.)

My favorite gown was designed by the Titanic villainess Lady Duff Gordon! But maybe she wasn't so bad after all!

Mom holding Sal so she won't slip off this sculpture.  Mom didn't realize she would be seen in the shot!

Maple Madness -- Day Two

On Sunday, March 17th, Sal and I drove to the Rocky River Reservation and took a tour of the sugarbush conducted by a very knowledgeable park staffer.  She explained the whole process of syrup-making -- from tree to finished product -- to a group consisting of mostly families with young children.  I probably looked like quite an oddball as I trailed behind the group taking ukulele pictures.  The tour ended at the evaporator, which in this case is fueled with wood.  The gentleman who was making the syrup explained to me how wood becomes spalted -- very interesting (and icky to think that the markings in the wood are made by fungi).

It was easier to balance the uke without the icy snow on top of the bucket!

Maple Madness Tour -- Day One continued...

After learning how maple syrup is made, we took pix of Little Sal hanging out with some sap buckets on a woodpile in a corner of the cabin.  The evaporator in Burton is not fueled with wood anymore, but the pile was very photogenic.

Then we went outside to take some pictures of Little Sal on top of a sap bucket.  It was hard to get the ukulele to balance there on the slippery wet snow, but we managed to find a way.  Here's an interesting thought contributed by a friend -- this tree is one of Sal's cousins, since the trees are maple and the uke is maple, too.

Maple Madness Tour -- Day One

My sister and I went to Burton with Little Sal on Saturday, March 16th -- a one-stop Maple Madness Tour.

It was very cold and a bit on the wet side, so Sal stayed in her case until we went inside!

We entered the cabin, which was well-stocked with jugs of maple syrup and other goodies.  In the next room we met this gentleman, who explained the process of syrup-making -- and very kindly agreed to pose with Little Sal.  A couple of families came in and the kids took the opportunity to hold Sal. 

Very cute, but I don't think this little person has got the hang of holding a uke quite yet.  ;)