Tree Climbing Cat

Fishin!

They're small, but he caught 'em all by himself.

Sloop Clearwater

The Hudson River Sloop Clearwater tied up at Beacon Harbor.

Symmetrophobia

Beef kidney - yet another weird pattern that wigs me out.

Certain patterns in nature weird me out. I recently learned that this is called "symmetrophobia". I first noticed that regular patterns in nature bothered me as a kid whenever I saw a honeycomb or a magnification of an insect's compound eye. One day as a bag boy in a local grocery store as a teenager something came down the conveyor that freaked me out. I picked up the item, noticed what it looked like, and dropped it. "What the hell is that?!" I asked. The customer responded, "Tripe!". I refused to touch it again. I made the man bag it himself. He laughed.

The article I reference indicates that I:

may become anxious in any situation that is symmetrical and may actively rearrange [my] home and work environment so that they are asymmetrical. In extreme cases, [I] may completely withdraw from society as [I] become completely unable to function in a symmetrical world.

and furthermore:

All phobias are the result of a real-life traumatic incident in an individual’s life. Thereafter, that traumatic experience is automatically and consistently associated with symmetry.

but I ain't buying it. I just get weirded out by the stuff.

Great Blue Heron - Wappinger Creek, Yesterday Afternoon

Memorial Day

We got things together in time to invite a few people at the last minute for a Memorial Day cookout.

Before people arrived we had to prep food and grills. I took a small bench I made and converted it to something useful for barbecuing.

The marble top allows us to use the extra, little grill to do things like roasting peppers or small batches of shrimp, while larger animals can be done on the bigger grill.

Counterclockwise around the table from lower left you see our guests, Capt. Robert, Loredana, Mike (Cara's boyfriend), Cara, Finn, Lasse, and Jennifer.

Jennifer serves up Tuscan style chicken, which is spatchcocked and grilled under a brick.

Capt. Robert and Loredana.

Loredana.

Lasse.