Watertown, MA. October, 2016

My friend Donna was closing her garden for the season and arrived at my door with this gift pepper. When I asked her if it was hot, she said, "I think so." Looks dangerous to me. Trick or treat.

Dover, MA. October, 2016

My friends Mike and Brian run a horse farm in nearby Dover, and every season they throw a party in their chock-full greenhouse. It even has a koi pool. A highlight of the evening is always a chance to stroll by the pens to see the horses in residence. Like this one. So big, so gentle-looking.

Watertown, MA. October, 2016

My friend and neighbor, the artist Cat Bennett, currently has a show up at the nearby Arsenal Center for the Arts. Called "How to Be Friends," and featuring the work of Maggie Stern along with Cat's, it does what I love most about art: displays both a serious skill and technique, and also clearly indicates that the artist is having fun. Here, a shelf of small (~3-4" high) decorated busts that Cat has lined up to stare down the viewer.

Watertown, MA. October, 2016

More stars in the autumn garden. This time, the Witch Hazel, which (get it?) I've only seen bloom in late winter, has suddenly sent forth a starburst of flowers, sparkling against the blue morning sky.

Watertown, MA. October, 2016

Don't let the stars get in your eyes.... Suddenly the autumn foliage seems to suggest stardust. I'm not complaining. Here, a chance glance toward the sidewalk surprised with a constellation of fallen leaves.

Istanbul. June, 2007

The Bosphorus as seen from Topkapi Palace. So not only did the sultan and his family get to live in palatial splendor, they also had this beautiful view. Seems unfair.

Istanbul. June, 2007

Long before there was refrigeration, there was pickling. A tradition that continues in earnest to this day. Here, a small sampling of the rich roster of pickles offered at Petek Turşulari, the city's most popular pickle shop.

Üsküdar, Istanbul. June, 2007

Within one of the city's many, many mosques, an illuminated sign indicates the five times this day the faithful are called to prayer. Or is it six this day?

Üsküdar, Istanbul. June, 2007

I love the colors on the outside wall of this mosque on the Asian side of the City of the World's Desire, the only city in the world to straddle two continents.

Cambridge, MA. May, 2008

I sure hope the person buried here was named Joy, because it seems an odd emotion to find expressed within a cemetery. Even the fanciful Mount Auburn Cemetery. (I also like the straightforward demand the tombstone seems to make: "Joy, period!")

Cambridge, MA. May, 2008

It's easy to find "showoff" monuments within the Mount Auburn Cemetery. Sure, there are simple tombstones, too, but you don't have to walk far to come across something like this sphere.

Cambridge, MA. May, 2008

Neo-Egyptian. That's what they call this main gate at the Mount Auburn Cemetery, the first "garden-style" cemetery in America. So many beautiful and touching monuments within. I'll post a few the next couple of days.

Watertown, MA. September, 2016

My friend Donna doesn't like her picture taken. Hence the veil. But I can assure you that it came down mighty quickly when it was time to eat our lunch. As Donna ordered it, "Eggplant Parm, light on the sauce, fries instead of pasta." We also had a standard salad (iceberg lettuce, two grape tomatoes, two olives, blue cheese dressing on the side) to start and tapioca (yes to the whipped cream) to finish. Old-school Italian-American right down to the tablecloth.

Montreal. October, 2007

"Go to the store and pick me up some sausages." Um, you'll need more information than that if you're shopping in a sausage-loving city like Montreal. Here's some of what's on offer within its Atwater Market.

Montreal. October, 2007

One of the pleasures of visiting Montreal at Halloween time is seeing little kids (and sometimes their parents) walking the streets in costumes. The city seems so much less uptight than some of its New England neighbors. Here, "witches' fingers" in a pastry shop within the Atwater Market.

Montreal. October, 2007

Another view of the small Carre Saint-Louis. I love that the neighbors of this residential square take advantage of the peace and quiet it offers. This man reads his newspaper. Others get an over-stuffed sandwich from the Slovenia delicatessen nearby and enjoy it on one of the many shaded benches. Even as the weather turns chilly.

Montreal. October, 2007

This is the time of year that Dr. Blake and I used to regularly go to Montreal. Until we started going on European cruises. This year, we're doing neither. So I'll post some memories of Quebecois trips past. Like this one, taken within the placid Carre Saint-Louis, just steps from the bustling Boulevard St. Laurent.

Montreal. October, 2007

These people are serious about their pâté.

Los Angeles. October, 2007

Don't you love the typeface on this flower shop? And the green horizontal stripe? And the vertical stripes on the awning? And the red wall color? Wouldn't that be enough to persuade you to buy all your flowers here? Let's go in; it's open.

Douglas, MA. July, 2007

I'd come for a pig roast, but it was these cabbages in the garden that caught my eye. (These... and the white ducks with whom I was photographed. See the banner photo at the top of the page.)

Istanbul. June, 2007

This leafy square, not far from the university in Istanbul, is reputedly the oldest, continuous book market in the world. Imagine the people who've passed through it, the books on sale, the languages both printed and heard in conversation.

Cambridge, MA. May, 2008

"Oh, this way, I'll lead you." I love the signs (the names, the typeface, the everything) at the Mount Auburn Cemetery, just a short walk from my house.

Montreal. October, 2007

That time of year. Pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins, seen here at Montreal's Atwater Market.

Watertown, MA. September, 2016

Old-school. I smiled when I entered Greg's dining room for the first time, the checkered tablecloths, the Chianti bottles as decor, snappy waitresses, the mid-day diners who show up regularly for their luncheon specials. Red sauce at its finest.

Los Angeles. October, 2007

Couldn't this be a still from an indie film? It's actually a candid photo I shot on the set of a commercial we were filming for Bose headphones. I especially like the half of an interior of a passenger jet that was recreated in the studio to illustrate how effective Bose noise cancellation was in airplanes.

Ortakoy, Istanbul. June, 2007

Istanbul has weathered military coups before, dating back centuries. Even the name of the capital reflects changing political climates and regimes: Byzantium became Constantinople became Istanbul. The people I met there were among the nicest I've met anywhere. There is a good reason that Middle Eastern hospitality is fabled in legend and in song. I have no idea who these two young men are, but they seem to be enjoying a bit of mid-morning gossip...just as you and I would.

Istanbul. June, 2007

The storied Blue Mosque (aka Sultanahmet Camii) is always filled with tourists. But they're less bothersome if you look up. I love those rings of lights found in just about every mosque. On my last visit, I noticed that the old-fashioned bulbs had sometimes been replaced with energy-efficient fluorescents.

Istanbul. June, 2007

Take the underground passageway beneath the traffic at the end of the Galata Bridge and you'll see this kiosk selling guns and ammunition with the same businesslike professionalism that you'll find at the bakery on one side of it or the electronics store on the other. A little bit shocking to this New Englander, but no one else seemed to bat an eye.

Istanbul. June, 2007

I have been served by this charming waiter every time I've eaten at Çiya, one of my very favorite restaurants in Istanbul. I have no idea what his real name is, but everyone I know calls him John Travolta and he is happy to acknowledge the compliment. Though, to tell the truth, he's much nicer looking than Travolta. Here he's seen serving the puffed bread, just out of the oven, that every diner at Çiya receives.

Edirne, Turkey. June, 2007

The signs posted said no photos allowed. But how could I resist recording this beautiful dome in the Selimiye Mosque, considered the architect Sinan's masterpiece, and the reason I had traveled all the way out here from Istanbul? Sue me.

Edirne, Turkey. June, 2007

Edirne sits at the very western edge of Turkey, right near the borders with Bulgaria and Greece. Here is a look inside the city's "Old Mosque." In Turkey, "old" is relative, but in this case it means early 15th-century. When I walked in, I was greeted by a young man, practicing his English, who welcomed me. Then, taking his leave, he walked up stairs to a pulpit, picked up a microphone, and chanted the verses for this midday moment of prayer (one of five each day) that were broadcast throughout the city.