We still haven’t had any snow worth mentioning — I haven’t had to break out the shovel yet. But it’s definitely winter!

It’s not really winter — the weather is mild, and we haven’t had any real snow here yet other than one surprise snowstorm in October when the leaves were still on the trees. (But even that was only an inch or so where I live.)

I don’t really like having to deal with the snow. I hate dressing for it, I hate shoveling it and I hate driving through it, but I do like taking photographs of it. The weather we’ve had so far this winter has just left us with something that’s not even winter. It’s no season at all: no light, no color, no flowers, no plants, no snow. Nothing.

Newbury, Massachusetts

Atomic Cafe
265 Cabot Street
Beverly, Massachusetts

I don’t really believe in the Golden Rule. I don’t think we should treat others the way we want to be treated, I think we should treat others the way they want to be treated. This is much more difficult, because it requires us to carefully observe others and try to see things from their point of view.

One of the things I like about having pets is that it’s clear that they’re different from us, and have different interests and needs. Right now, I’m living with two dogs, and they’re not only differerent from me, they’re different from each other. Nina, who is my dog, loves the snow and wants roll around in it, run around in circles scattering it around, loves to dig in it. Toby, my daughter’s dog who is spending a few months with me, dislikes the cold and hates snow, and never wants to leave the house if there’s snow on the ground. His point of view in undoubtably affected by his size — he’s a tiny thing with short little legs, so even a few inches of snow is overwhelming to him.

But today the three of us went for a walk that was perfect for all three of us. The weather was mild and the sidewalks were clear, which was good for Toby; there was still a lot of snow piled next to the sidewalk, which Nina enjoyed; and we took a route with a lot of stone walls, which I like to photograph. (At one point, Toby decided he’d had enough and stuck a pose of passive resistance, but after I picked him up and carried him for a few minutes, he was willing to continue walking.)

I was on my way home from work yesterday when I distracted by the amazing pinkish sky to my left. Between the trees, I caught sight of the fiery ball of the setting sun low on the horizon. It looked nearby, and I felt like I could catch it. So I turned the car around, took the road to Beverly Airport, parked the car, and rushed outside where the bright ball of the sun appeared to be balancing on the horizon across the field. I quickly shot the picture above through the chainlink fence as I rushed over, hoping to shoot over or through the fence and get the picture I wanted, but the sun sank below the horizon way too fast.

This picture for me is all about the one that got away, but I’m not too unhappy about it. I chased after a beautiful sunset, and I caught it. I have the image in my mind, even though I wasn’t quite fast enough to catch it with my camera!

When I was a child, I was fascinated by ghosts signs, faded signs painted on the sides of old brick buildings. There were a lot of them in Worcester, my hometown, advertising soap and soda and such, or identifying long-gone businesses. I especially liked the ones that included prices (you could get a lot for 5¢ in the old days) or short phone numbers like “Park 175.”

These signs were discarded. They became obsolete, but no one cared enough to paint over them. They were just left to fade away, but they survived, messages from the past, clues to everyday life in days gone by.

Day 16: January 16, 2010

I love neon signs that have big round letter O’s.

Bowl-O-Mat
100 River Street
Beverly, Massachusetts

Day 15: January 15, 2010

This diner was manufactured by Jerry O’Mahony, Inc. of Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1949. It was originally Michel’s Diner and later Chick’s Roast Beef. It’s tucked tightly into a wedge-shaped lot on Main Street in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

The exterior is pretty good shape and looks original, but the interior (and of course the menu) has been altered.

Day 14: January 14, 2010
Irving’s Toy & Card Shop
71 Harvard Street
Brookline, Massachusetts

I love this local landmark, a tiny building tucked in between two much-larger buildings. This old-fashioned store and its elderly owner Mrs. Ethel Weiss is featured in the Beacon Street Girls children’s books.

According to a 1993 article in the Hartford Courant, this is the site of the candy store where the young John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his brother Joseph stole a pair of "Groucho Marx-like false glasses, nose and moustache."