I just about forgot these; they sorta go in between the last two posts. I took my camera out on my Birthday (Surprise, surprise! Like I ever go out without it.) And I went up to pick up my son. I found these in his back yard while I was waiting for him:
They are opening leaves and blossoms of a tree which is locally known as "box elder" … the tree is also called "ash-leaved maple", so it's an Acer, but I can't say any more than that. I was glad to catch them at just this stage, with such nice light.
… and a couple of shots of his street … for those unfamiliar with the American scene, these are typical of older neighbourhoods in the older cities (Yes, I know that "old" means something quite different in Europe … remember, the Europeans have only been here for about 400 years. "Old" to us means about 100 years old, sometimes only 50.)
And a shot of the exterior of his bank:
And then, on the way home through the park, fairly late in the afternoon, a scene that's hard to arrange. Olga has seen one of these, but not all.
I just couldn't resist … maybe it was a birthday present!
Cheers, all …
Well, jus’ damn! I seem to have forgotten these …
26
Apr
der Wandersmann 
irczas
April 26, 2010 at 12:04 pm
It WAS a birthday present!:cheers: Nice photos ! :up:
PainterWoman
April 26, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Oh, and I think the deer were there for your birthday too!
PainterWoman
April 26, 2010 at 1:04 pm
A very nice set of photos dW. Love the older homes with the steps up and the porches….something we don't have here in Arizona. I remember them from long ago back in Indiana. Same with with the basements. Too hard of dirt and too much rock that would have to be blasted for a basement to be dug in Arizona. There is an older area in Phoenix with Craftsman style homes. Many are being renovated and sold for hundreds of thousands….some even a million bucks. I really love that area. The homes are 75 to 100 years old or more. I'm glad they are not being torn down. I was quite young, maybe 3, but basements always scared me. They were dark, smelly and there was always like a roaring sound of the huge ancient furnace. Plus I remember my aunt's cat used to hide in a box attached to the ceiling of the basement right next to the steps down. The darn cat would jump out just when I started to go down the stairs and scare me even more. Needless to say, I didn't go down there much.
derWandersmann
April 26, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Thanks, all.
debplatt
April 26, 2010 at 8:04 pm
What a pleasant birthday (and happy, belated birthday!). Lovely set of photos. Great lighting on the buds. Really liked the composition of the bank shot (heh, heh). And loved seeing the deer grazing. Nice post! :up:
daxonmacs
April 27, 2010 at 7:04 am
Happy belated birthday, from your note I take it that you're not really old yet :pI liked the bank shot best, and the houses, well they are simply adorable. Hard to find around here, wooden houses, that is.
derWandersmann
April 27, 2010 at 10:04 am
It means lovely beer, among other things.
daxonmacs
April 27, 2010 at 10:04 am
I've seen it done on tv, by a crew, they virtually put up a house, quite big, in one single day, the second day, decoration inside and the garden was taken care off, lol.To have a good brick house, it should at least stand raw built open for a year, to all weather conditions. Then the finishing can start. This is how they used to do it, but no more nowadays, all needs to be finished fast for money's sake. The result is that some flaws are overlooked and that the house doesn't breathe to well, resulting in an accumulation of moisture and later mould, which is disastrous, even for concrete.And yes, I'm a Belgian, whatever that may mean.
derWandersmann
April 27, 2010 at 10:04 am
Ah, yes … you're a Belgian, aren't you? This style of building, commonly called "balloon construction", is, I understand, peculiar to the USA. It consists of walls framed in utility framing lumber, usually "2 × 4" (which no longer measures 2" by 4", but we need not go into that). This is all nailed together flat on the ground, the door and window openings included, and raised into a vertical position, usually by the efforts of a few men, and fixed in place, to adjacent walls if they are framed yet, or by a series of temporary supports. When more walls are made, they are nailed to other walls until the ground floor is framed. Then other floors are added similarly. When all the framework is up, sheet goods are applied, forming real walls. Insulation goes in between the inside and outside sheets, decorative exteriors nailed on, plasterboard on the inside, and basically, you're done. For simple buildings, one man can put up a house in a week or so. A crew makes things a lot easier and quicker, unless some fool can't do maths in his head, or measures badly.The advantages are speed and cheapness … but our forests are tending to run out, and folk are trying to come up with alternate methods. These buildings are perhaps 75 – 150 years old (some of them show signs of having been built earlier, and moved to these spots, and placed on top of newly-built first floors.) (Yeah, sometimes they do that. You should see Chicago, where the entire city was built up to a flat grade after the fire of 1871. Hoo, boy!), and were built when our forests were limitless, and would last forever. Yeah, right! Sigh!
daxonmacs
April 27, 2010 at 11:04 am
Oh sure, plenty of that 'round here :DOther lovely "things" as well.
Berith1
April 28, 2010 at 11:04 am
Thanks for sharing these pictures. Beautiful.
derWandersmann
April 28, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Thank you, Unni.
RedFreya
April 28, 2010 at 6:04 pm
I am glad to see that we both think budding trees are good subject for photos. It is the extraordinary shades of green and other colours, that they have.Those deer were certainly a birthday bonus.:up: 🙂
studio41
May 8, 2010 at 2:05 am
belated birthday wishes. the deer's legs and trees seem to compliment one another nicely.
Lilua
May 10, 2010 at 3:05 pm
Happy belated birthday Wandersman, you definitely got your birthday present 🙂 Beautiful pictures, the buds, the deer, the light everything
Olgita
May 27, 2010 at 12:05 am
so nice 🙂 I saw the picture of deer before you posted it in your blog!
derWandersmann
May 27, 2010 at 8:05 am
Yes; I mentioned it in my deathless prose.
mozgnskk
June 10, 2010 at 1:06 pm
super!