Sunday, August 13, 2006

More pictures from the Audubon Festival


Teresa showed a kestrel, one of our native falcons. It's been declining in numbers in recent years, no one knows why for sure. This one has been injured and can't be reintroduced to the wild, so it's used for educational programs.

This red-tailed hawk lost an eye (as is demonstrated here) so it can't hunt - they depend on binocular vision to capture their prey.

I was in charge of the arts and crafts booth - we made little rock gardens out of tuna cans.

He was a visitor to my booth, but didn't participate.

I just like taking pictures of her (one of my daughter's friends - they've known each other since they were newborns together!) because she's so beautiful. She lives at the Audubon center, where her dad works.

Ted Gilman is an amazing naturalist. Here he is helping people sort through a pail full of forest soil to find all the little critters living there.

This goose is from New Zealand. I don't exactly know why she was here, but if you can read the sign behind her (it says, "Can you guess what I eat?") you can see that she's helping teach kids about how different bill shapes tell you what a bird eats.

Joseph used to work for Audubon. Now he makes incredible traditional dyed eggs and teaches about bird ecology in a local school.

Here he's showing my daughter all about eggs. You can see some of his creations in the tank behind him.

There was a biodiesel fuel display...

Lively entertainment by Pat and Dave...

A solar panel display - these toy boats are solar powered...

I'm not sure why freeze-dried ice cream for dogs is environmental, but these folks had a booth today!

Baby goats are always popular!

The Connecticut DEP brought a bear pelt and lots of information on what to do if you see one in your yard (make a lot of noise to chase it away!)

A show about birds for kids...

And a lovely Great Spangled Frittilary butterfly -perched on the purple coneflowers.

Lots of people took the opportunity to wander the trails at the Center - it was a perfect day for it.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Music Mountain


This band played mellow jazzy tunes.

I think he was enjoying the sounds!


Joseph Fire Crow was selling his CD.


My friends from LOCOS did a few numbers.


They were quite curious, but didn't want to come in to the concert hall, I guess!


Checking out the lineup for the day


Hanging out on the lawn...


Catching some rays...


Or reading the paper... it was a perfect day for all of it.


The concert attracted a nice crowd.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Evening at Tri-Arts


It's in a converted barn...


The friendly ticket-pick-up lady...


I went to see "Kellie Johnson, One Night Only!" - she's a well-known performer from New York City, who did a revue of Broadway songs...


The current mainstage show playing is Will Rogers' Follies.


I amused myself at intermission taking pictures in the dark!


(Because obviously they wouldn't let me take pictures inside the theatre!)


One more of these..


Then, walking home, a few more nighttime shots - this one, of the clock tower with clouds lit up in the moonlight...


And this one - the church, lit from the ground - I thought about photoshopping the shot to show myself in a little more flattering light...but I decided to stick with honest photojournalism!

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Civics lesson!


Click on this picture and you'll see the whole ballot - only two races to vote on today.


It wasn't too crowded at 9:20am


First they check your ID and make sure you live in town and are registered as a Democrat. The gentleman on the right, when he saw my last name said, "oh, I've been meaning to ask you a question if you came in today," and asked if I knew a woman who had the same last name, who lived in Sharon in the '40's. I didn't - I'm sure she's not related!


Then you see the registrat, who explains the ballot to you - it's the same as on the sign outside.


Waiting my turn to go in the booth...


My turn now! I always forget to move the red lever to the right, which closes the curtain and resets the ballot levers. The kind lady reminded me.



Done now! Hooray! Stopped to check out the helpful brochures on the way out.



And happily wore my "I voted today!" sticker all day. Where I work, in New York State, they didn't have an election today, so I got some blank stares.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Sharon Craft Fair 2006


It was a gorgeous day -- lots of dogs were out and about.



My neighbor Ro had her sculpture on display



Handmade handbags...



She makes jewelry out of one-of-a-kind beads - the ones on the top right are from Mali and quite old. I bought three pairs of earrings - my only purchase of the day.



These are some kind of rubber - I think they're for knitting needles. I love them!



It's a long day if your mom is into crafts!



I bet these sell well on sunny days!



These were kinda cool too!



I had no idea there were this many flavors of honey!



He comes to all the events around town to demonstrate blacksmithing - he's trying to keep the art alive!



I'm not sure what he was making, though.



Fish ornaments, anyone?



Lovely paintings of local scenes.



This one is begging for a funny caption!



Why's he relaxing while she works the booth?



Nice slogan - my daughter got one of those princess crowns - to add to her vast collection! I don't think that lady was thrilled about my taking her picture (no, I didn't ask!)



My favorite booth of the day!