"View from a Nepenthe chair," Big Sur, September 2005

Nepenthe, Big Sur, California

This is one of my absolute favorite photos. I took it on our honeymoon when we stopped at Nepenthe solely because Jack Kerouac wrote about it in Big Sur. In between lunch and dinner, we ordered snacks -- a salad and french fries, I think -- and a little wine and enjoyed the late afternoon light over the cliffs and the Pacific.

From the baths we go to Nepenthe which is a beautiful cliff top restaurant with vast outdoor patio, with excellent food, excellent waiters and management, good drinks, chess tables, chairs and tables to just sit in the sun and look at the grand coast -- Here we all sit at various tables and Cody starts playing chess with everybody will join while he's chomping away at those marvelous hamburgers called Heavenburgers (huge with all the side works) -- Cody doesn't like to just sit around and lightly chat away, he's the kind of guy if he's going to talk he has to do all the talking himself for hours till everything is exhaustedly explained, sans that he just wants to bend over a chessboard and say "He he heh, old Scrooge is saving up a pawn hey? cak! I got ya!"

-- Jack Kerouac, Big Sur

"Low-note row," Indiana, November 2008

Tuba row

I just had to put up something more soothing -- that is, less agitating than yesterday's post.

Life is too short to hate.

"Vengeance, thy color is orange," Indiana, November 2008

Orange tops

My wife loves orange. It's hands-down her favorite color. She owns every type of clothing in one hue or another -- tops, pants, socks, jackets, underwear. Our kitchen is painted orange, as are appliances and other implements. I have no problem with the color, particularly because it's one of two that signifies my favorite baseball team, the Mets.

But seeing it like this, on the helmets of the Syracuse football team, now has me vengeful after the Orange ruined an otherwise perfect winter-like Saturday in northern Indiana.

Had I not been so disgusted, I'm sure I could've gotten some stunning celebration shots after the game, but I was making a hasty retreat from the stands. The shame.

"NYC Marathon, 1st Avenue," November 2006

NYC Marathon series, 1st Avenue

I went back into the archives to find an image that represents this week's theme of "Yes we can!" because I love the phrase and enjoyed the task of finding a picture to represent it. I didn't want to simply go with an American flag or the sign I put up in the front yard during this year's election season. So I think this shot, from the 2006 New York City Marathon, covers it well.

[P.S. -- Thanks for the love!]

"Avenue of Flags, Veterans Day 2008," New Jersey

Avenue of Flags, Veterans Day 2008

Five times a year, volunteers in Clifton, N.J., erect the Avenue of Flags through lanes of the municipal complex. The flags go up around dawn and come down at dusk. I have, on occasion, seen them remain overnight into a second day.

They're quite a sight, these dozens of Stars and Stripes billowing in the breeze of a sunny, blue-sky day. As you walk through them, two sounds drown out any others: The flapping of the nylon in the wind, and the rustle of leaves beneath your feet -- at least on Veterans Day, that is. With the city offices closed, traffic in the complex is light, and the main roads abutting the grounds are far enough away so that the sound of the cars doesn't reach the inner lanes of flags.

"Perfect time of day," New Jersey, October 2008

Perfect time of day

The title and music of this Howie Day song were in my head for this shot, taken at High Point State Park in Sussex County. It's a great driving song that goes best on a warm enough afternoon to have the windows down and the sunroof open. While the lyrics take a more serious tone, I tend to ignore that underlying meaning. It has to be late afternoon, when the light is low and tinted gold or orange. The location can vary -- in the rolling hills, along a beach road, across a flat and straight stretch of highway in the plains. And though I stopped the car and made my way to the shore of this lake, the cool October breeze and mid-autumn light still put this scene into "perfect time of day" territory.

Let your colors collide
The time is so right
I keep running behind
But I know your meaning
You love to fall
The perfect time of day