from above

I took my first helicopter ride last week, to hopefully capture what the DNR biologists see when they're working on the winter aerial deer count. I'm not going to lie, there was a little queasiness, but I didn't lose my breakfast, so I consider it a success.

boston, sort of

Lately, I've tended not to shoot much ("much" being a relative term) when I'm on vacation (though some of my friends would disagree), so this weekend my camera spent most of its time in my bag. Here, then, is the story of my weekend, through photos from the plane and portraits of Ross around the city.

I got on an early enough flight out of Cedar Rapids to watch the sun rise from the plane.


A two-hour layover in Chicago gave me time to send postcards and buy a my first book of Sudoku, which I was immediately addicted to and infuriated with.


First order of business, after lunch, was a tour of Harvard, where Ross takes a class (the rest are at BU). I felt smarter, and a little more pretentious, just being on campus.



Those are some snazzy boots, hm? Texas pride, I've found, increases based on the distance one is away from home. This was also about the time Ross realized he had lost his hat. Sadness.


Dinner at a delightful place in the North End, after walking the Freedom Trail and eating some, uh, chowdah.

A gorgeous day Monday was reason enough to walk all 364.4 Smoots (plus an ear) of the Harvard Bridge to Cambridge.


Then I ran from K19 to G17 at O'Hare in about seven minutes to catch my plane to Cedar Rapids, and only made it home about an hour and a half behind schedule (after getting help from an airport maintenance guy with a scraper, a shovel and a good shove out of my plowed-in parking spot).

mercy

I photographed a prayer service last week at Mount Mercy College, held for the victims of the NIU shooting. I got there early and found beautiful light streaming in from the stained glass windows, and hoped for someone to sit in *just* the right spot. It was a small turnout, but I don't think I've heard that kind of quiet in a room in a long time; rarely has the sound of my shutter - or even the squeaking of my wet boots on the floor - seemed so intrusive.

getting out of town

Ahh, three day weekends. I've felt a little off lately, so this is the perfect time for me to get out of town and visit an old friend (Ross) in a new city (Boston). This photo of Ross is from 2005, at my old house in Columbia, on the previously mentioned fabulous front porch. (from the old full frame madness archives.)

welcome home

I finally have a mini-tour of my new house up on facebook... here's a 'before' of the living room.. click here for the afters.

snow hiatus

Sometimes, believe it or not, I get to shed the fleece neck warmer, red boots, scarf, and two pairs of gloves and cover something inside. Recently,

Send off ceremony for a National Guard unit, being deployed to the Sinai Peninsula. It's this mother's first deployment in 15 years.


the Icky (Iowa Cultural Corridor) Awards, complete with red carpet.


Two top-ranked basketball teams -- and this star player fouled out with a few minutes left, and spent it watching his team lose.


.. and a press conference.

it snows in iowa. alot.

A collection of snow-related photos (or, just photos with snow in them) from the past few weeks.. Cedar Rapids has gotten 45 inches of snow this winter, 13 inches more than usual. Coming up this spring: lots and lots of flooding.

First, some weather features from the most recent storm, which dumped 17 inches on the ground in Iowa City.. I was practically giddy at finding these kids having an all-out snowball war along a creek, reminding me of my own childhood winter adventures.

This is the view near our downtown Iowa City office, overlooking the University of Iowa campus.

There's an ice rink at the park in my neighborhood. I had no idea.

The morning after this photo was taken, 12 inches of snow had fallen in Cedar Rapids. That day, I learned the value of all-wheel drive (and of company cars that aren't wimpy in the snow, like my Corolla).

The Tree of Five Seasons, downtown Cedar Rapids. Curious what the fifth season is? So am I.

Unrelated to the weather, but, shot this for a story on the most dilapidated houses in Cedar Rapids a few weeks ago.

Also unrelated to the weather, but I spent a couple hours wandering the UI campus looking for smokers, a harder task than you might imagine. The UI president just passed a resolution banning smoking on campus - everywhere - to take effect July 2009.

snow! ... again.

There was a little nightsider slumber party at my house after a snow storm blew through Cedar Rapids.. we gathered at the kitchen window this morning over cinnamon rolls, celebrating each time a snowplow passed by (followed by a KGAN photographer, who looked truly miserable).



My new (red!) snow boots got nicely broken in today. Next winter purchase: snow tires. (thanks again to the kind neighbors who pushed my car out..)

chicago, pt 2

My old roommate Grace was in Chicago for a business trip, so I drove out for the weekend.. I don't miss college, but I do miss my friends, and wish we lived close enough for more visits (and after our reminiscing, I began to crave an evening with nothing to do but sip sweet tea under the glow of the Christmas lights we had strung across the ceiling of our porch, most certainly the best porch in columbia. ah, memories..)






File this under 'what could have been.' I only managed two frames of this, then realized I might be getting in the way of the actual wedding photographer. In my mind, I can see a beautiful photo. Too bad.