First "Blue Hour" shoot

One of the members of the photo class I have been taking, Fredrick, always has these AWESOME pictures of what he calls the "blue hour", the 1/2 hour before sunrise and the 1/2 hour before sunset. On Saturday he invited the class to meet him downtown by the foot of the Roebling Bridge to photograph the blue hour. We arrived at 6 AM and set up, and for the next hour snapped pictures and watched the sky change. It really is an AMAZING sight to see the sky change the way it does. The only thing was that it was COLDER than all get out and I really wasn't dressed properly (even though I had on long underwear!) I hadn't thought much about my feet (I figured 2 pairs of socks were plenty, but apparently NOT with gymshoes!) and my fingers, despite my fleece gloves, were FROZEN! Of course Fredrick, who is from Sweden, laughed at us and said there is no such thing as "cold weather" rather there are "improperly dressed people", have to remember that for the future! I think I will enjoy the blue hour more come spring and summer.

So, here is the shot I liked the most (of the 143 I took), this is straight out of the camera, not photoshopped or cropped or brightened or anything!

This weather is only fit for polar bears!

Our beautiful Indian summer has come to an end. Yesterday Emily had an appointment at Children's Hospital and we were running ahead of schedule and decided to pop into the zoo, which is just a couple of blocks from the hospital, and see what was going on. It was a balmy 30 degrees during our visit, but one animal decided to put on an amazing show for us, something we have never seen during our numerous visits during the summer...definitely worth the walk in the cold. Here are just a few pictures of our encounter with the polar bear!

He's WALKING!

No I am not referring to Luke, who at 18 months, has well mastered this task, I am talking about GRANT! We went to the orthopaedist and after 5 weeks of absolutely no weight bearing, he was given the OK to start walking on the leg. He chose a bright blue cast (Xavier colors!) and seems to be enjoying his new mobility. He is a little wobbly, but he is so much happier! He has lost all the muscle mass in his calf but hopefully by being able to walk now, he won't lose any more muscle mass in his thigh. He was so anxious, they told him he had to wait an hour after getting the cast on to put weight on the leg, you would have thought he was standing in Time Square on New Year's Eve waiting for the ball to drop the way he kept checking the time!

So now we spend 3 weeks in this walking cast and then we go to a lace up brace and get to start rehabbing the leg! Hopefully he will be back for the majority of the basketball season! You can tell that it is killing him to have to be sitting on the bench when the other boys are practicing. This past weekend he made Jay take him up to the park in the WHEELCHAIR so he could shoot some hoops. Countinued prayer that this heals well is much appreciated!