A Mother's Lament

A Poem by my mother, Alison Boylston Piazza:

A Mother's Lament

Water in puddles and gutters and such
Always appeals to small boys much too much,
But water can lose all its charms, it appears,
When well-mixed with soap and applied to the ears.

Eventide Stroll

A few from a meander around Hough's Pond - and beyond - last night, a beautiful evening at the end of a full and satisfying work day, the woods and marshes resounding with red-winged blackbird song from tree-top to tree-top. The red-winged blackbird is not, however, keen on being photographed, it seems, as every time I moved in for a closer or better angle, he or she was off.

Thursday Morning Drama

State Beach

Red Umbrella

I love a rainy day, and I love living on Main Street where sometimes photos come looking for me rather than the other way around.

Easter Sunrise

A bit of a cliche, I suppose, but I enjoyed myself out there this morning. I barely slept a wink last night, worried about possibly missing what I hoped would be this exact scenario.

From the Phone

Most of the photos I post here I've taken with my fancy-dancy cameras, which involves downloading, processing, and uploading - in general, a lot of futzing around.

And while I do love my real cameras, and the futzing, one of my favorite things I do - for the fun of it as well as for the sheer simplicity and immediacy - is to walk out the door empty handed, devoid of heavy cameras and accoutrements - and snap the random photo with my phone and then post it to Facebook. You know, just to tell my friends and family, "Hey - I'm alive and well."(and yes, there is a small amount of futzing that goes on with the phone photos, thanks to a great editing app I use)

I'm often surprised to find that the photos that come from my phone are as good as - in some cases, better - than the photos that come from my real cameras, so I thought I'd post a few here for the viewing pleasure of my non-FB friends. The beauty of the phone photo, of course, is there's no muss, no fuss, no settings; just pure seeing - light and composition - at its most fundamental level.

Arranged from newest to oldest (warning - some of these images were not taken in Edgartown).



From a quick walk to town today.


A couple of days ago.


What my living room looks like when I'm planning music for church; in this case, planning and organizing for three liturgies: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.


This is the scene that is captivating my two year-old grandson presently. He loves trucks, cranes and such; anything with wheels.


Speaking of whom...


Returning home from New York, from meeting my new-found cousins a couple of weeks ago.


Palm Sunday, Our Lady Star of the Sea.


An old cedar, in the mall in front of Our Lady Star of the Sea.


My friend Gene Clancy, performing with his daughter Rose on fiddle, son John on bass, and brother Pat on piano (the box player's name, I do not know), playing at a special concert in Pawling, New York, celebrating the Clancy brothers' arrival in the US from Ireland fifty years ago.


My cousin Annette's church, Church of the Assumption, in Crestwood, NY.


St. John's RC church in Pawling, NY.


My cousin Grace Marie's husband, Anthony, makes pancakes every Sunday morning. Delicious.


Standing around in Al Noyes' shop, waiting for a small repair, produced this image.


Brunch session at Tommy Doyle's, Harvard Square. My fiddle, my coffee.


On the ferry, ultimately headed to New York.


My life-long friends, Faith and Ed Chase, at home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ed is 93. I've known the Chases since 1960. Dear friends, among the last living connections to my mother.


James' Gate Irish pub, Jamaica Plain.


James' Gate session. Laura, Martin, and Frankie are pictured here. James' Gate is a fantastic Sunday evening session.


Harvard Square


Harvard Square


Harvard Square


Nantucket Sound, from Bend in the Road Beach.


Crucifix


Lagoon Pond


Edgartown Lighthouse


Vineyard Sound. Naushon on the horizon.


Vineyard Haven Harbor


Nantucket Sound, midway between the Vineyard and Woods Hole.


From the vicinity of the seawall in Oak Bluffs.


A gate in the woods on State Road, Tisbury.

Spring Snow

I half thought, as I pulled on my boots this morning, "What new snow photo - after a winter of many snows - could I possibly find out there today?" But I did find a few. I even met the Vineyard Colors guy today. I've seen VC's lovely photos and we've ducked each other's early morning shadow upon occasion, so it was a pleasure to meet him face to face and chat with the fellow (he is half of a husband-wife team).

Ironically, Mr. Colors dresses in all black.

I also wear all black, for a few reasons - among them: as a photographer and a performer, the uniform is black. When I was commuting every week between Edgartown and Brookline, I found it difficult to sync the colors from my two closets. Black is a blank slate and goes with everything, including my surroundings - I'm so in the habit of wearing black that people who wear colors seem a bit garish to me. Wearing black - even jeans and a tee shirt - gives the illusion that I am dressed up, especially if I throw on a string of pearls and a little lipstick. Nothing but black makes laundry day a snap. But the real, and most important reason I wear black almost every day: I never have to spend even one minute wondering what I'm going to put on in the morning - who has time - or the brain power, so early in the morning - to make such decisions? Besides, I amuse myself in thinking that because Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein also wore the same thing every day (also predominantly black, which I only learned later) that I somehow share in their genius.

Oh yeah - I switch to all white in the summer.

Okay, now for today's photos.