O mio babbino caro

Mr. Puccini, thank you for the music, and happy birthday!



O my dear papa
I like him, he is handsome, handsome
I want to go to Porta Rossa
to buy the ring!
Yes, yes, I want to go there!
And if my love were in vain,
I would go to the Ponte Vecchio
and throw myself in the Arno!
I am aching, I am tortured!
Oh God, I'd like to die!
Father, have pity, have pity!
Father, have pity, have pity!

Remembering a Prosperous Time

Even the most decorated house in JP feels the pain of the current economic downturn. This picture was taken this time last year. The house was lit in its full extravagance, costing the owner thousands of dollars in the electricity bill each month. This year, the lights were cut back dramatically. No lights in the yard. House was lit by at most 20% of those bulbs used last year. Thus it doesn't warrant a photo taken by me, who happens to be a very economic photographer.

Danny Boy

Beautiful Irish tone Londonderry Air, with lyrics written by an English lawyer.




Danny Boy - King's Singers

O Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone and all the roses falling
It's you, it's you must go and I must bide

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
For I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so

But when ye come and all the flow'rs are dying
If I am dead, as dead I well may be
Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an Ave there for me

And I shall hear though soft you tread above me
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be
For you will bend and tell me that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me

Birds, Back Yard, Black Friday

Many birds came to my back yard after the heavy morning rain. They were quite noisy, chirping all the time. Here are some of the birds I saw:

A blue jay.

Starlings. Quite gregarious.

A starling.

A robin.

Then all the birds left as suddenly as they came. The back yard turned quiet again, until something strange caught my eye, and I started taking pictures non-stop:
This bird landed in the garden, with its wings spread out, looking quite suspicious. I wonder what he was doing, what he was up to. What I saw and heard next would shock me for a whole afternoon.
It turned out that this bird was a sharp-shinned hawk, and it caught a starling. Since they arrived in the garden, the hawk had been plucking feathers out of the poor starling, which cried every time a feather was plucked. (I'm ignorant about birds. This was identified by our resident bird expert A. Before this, I didn't even know a hawk could look like so innocent and small.)

I thought about weather I should save the poor starling from this cruelty, but then I decided I'd better let Nature run its course. It had been a quite difficult experience, witnessing the killing with my own eyes. I hid safely in my study, while the unfortunate starling was being torn apart little by little. At some point, I coughed, hoping my existence would scare the hawk so he would leave the starling alone. Being a predator, he didn't even care. He knew I was watching, and he looked directly into my lens:

In this picture he looks like a hawk.


Minutes later, he took off, with the starling in tow，只留下一地鸟毛。

Sinterklaas

Last Friday, Dec. 5, was Sinterklaas, a traditional Dutch holiday celebrating the birthday of Saint Nicholas (280-342), patron saint of children. We came back from JC, and were surprised to find personalized gifts on our desks! I got a flower shop, filled with chocolates.

Thank you, Sinterklaas!