Tag Archives: photography

Harvesting Peony

4 June 2020

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About this time every year, our yard bursts with colors with these big fragrant blooms. These are peonies, and their flowers only last for only two weeks at the most.

Even though it’s not officially summer yet, we are having a “heat wave” for the next several days as Iowa weather is fickly. These flowers wilt fast and they don’t like the heat so we decided to harvest them early. This also provided a photo op.

My wife agreed to be my model for this photoshoot.

We will definitely appreciate their beauty, even for just a few days. I mean the flowers. The model, that’s timeless.

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Bonus: While we were harvesting the peonies and doing the photoshoot, someone else, uninvitedly though definitely welcomed, came in to the scene. Here’s the video:

(*photos and video taken with an iPhone)

Great Expectations

30 May 2020

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Today is a nice day to be out, and I am off on this weekend too. But after two weeks of being in-charge of the ICU and with all the craziness at work we have been dealing with, I’m just too lazy to do anything, except to sit and stare outside. I also would like to write something noteworthy on my blog, but again my mind is too exhausted to be creative.

So instead, I just took a photo of what I am staring at. And just like the book in the photo, it’s mere “Great Expectations.”

(*Great Expectations is a classic novel by Charles Dickens)

A Train Ride to the Alps

20 May 2020

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I know many parts of the world still have travel restrictions currently and some areas are just coming out of lockdown from this COVID-19 pandemic. We don’t know if world travel would ever be the same again, however I just wanted to feature a long overdue post about a trip that we made some time ago. In fact, we made this trip exactly a year past already, in May of 2019.

We rode the Bernina Express. This is touted as one of the most scenic train rides in the world and it runs on the highest railway accross the Alps. We boarded the train at Tirano, Italy and traveled to St. Moritz, Switzerland.

By the way, in this time of pandemic and limited travel, I saw that there are virtual train rides around the world that you can experience (see this link) right now. Bernina Express is one of them.

Tirano, Italy

The Bernina Express travels through the UNESCO World Heritage site via the Rhaetian Railway. When we say World Heritage Site, it is a landmark or area, that is selected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance, and that it is legally protected by international treaties.

And off we go….

The train has comfortable seats and is roomy inside. The glass windows are huge and are up to the ceiling, offering uninterrupted views of the breath-taking landscapes.

We passed through bridges and tunnels, mountains and valleys, towns and even lakes. No underwater tunnel though.

Photo below is the Lago di Poschiavo, a natural lake in the Poschiavo valley near Miralago, Switzerland.

The landscape gradually changed as we went higher and higher in altitude. Not too long from then we were coursing through the Alps. We were on top of the world!

After a little more than 2 hours, we finally arrived at St. Moritz, Switzerland where we boarded off the train. We spent only a shortwhile there, perhaps only to take some photos, and then we headed back to Italy.

This is an instance that the journey is as good, maybe even better, than the destination. A wonderful ride indeed.

St. Moritz, Switzerland

Here’s a short video clip of the train ride as we were navigating through the snow and glaziers that it was like the Polar Express:

From the top of the Swiss Alps,

Pinoy Transplant

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(*photos and video taken with an iPhone)

Tulip Time

6 May 2020

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Every month of May there is a place in Iowa that turns into a tulip town. And even though there’s still a scare of the pandemic, we went to visit the place. Of course we practiced precautionary measures and social distancing while we were out.

As their landmark says, it is “Tulip Time.” There is supposed to be a parade also during this festival that showcase the town’s Dutch heritage, however due to COVID-19, it was cancelled for this year. But we can still admire the tulips.

Also popular in this town is the famed Dutch bakery where the baked goods are as colorful as the tulips. The most sought after item though is the Dutch Letter, an S-shaped pastry that taste so delicious. S stands for Sinterklass, the Dutch Santa Claus.

Dutch Letters

Here are some more photos that does not necessarily feature tulips, nonetheless, they caught my fancy.

From Pella, Iowa,

Pinoytransplant.

(*photos taken with an iPhone)

It is Spring! Not.

17 April 2020

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The temperature in our part of the world is warming up. In fact last week, there’s a couple of days that it felt like summer as we topped 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The leaves and flower buds are appearing. The grass has turned green and growing. Many of our neighbors have already started mowing their lawn. But not us, we’re not that anxious to start mowing.

Just as you thought spring has fully sprung, then we are hit with this……..

Mid-April snow!

The snow did not stopped me from going out for my morning run. It is after all a balmy 32 degree Fahrenheit (0º Celsius), and the ground is not slippery nor icy.

This lonely goose does not seem to mind the snow as well.

This is crazy Iowa weather. People who grew up here told us when we moved here, “if you don’t like the weather, just wait several minutes, it will change.”

(*photos taken with an iPhone)

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Post Note: Below is what the first photo looked like in the afternoon of that same day with all the snow gone. Crazy weather indeed!

Coming to the Dark Side

7 April 2020

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Because of this COVID-19 pandemic, as a defense it is now advised that everybody wears a mask when going out. However, there is a shortage of masks available and other personal protective equiptment in many hospitals. Dark times indeed.

Thus, I’m wearing my own respirator mask to work.

“You are unwise to lower your defenses.” – Darth Vader

(*Warning: not a true protective mask. Rest assured for I am donning an officially prescribed PPE when dealing with patients.)

Sa Ilalim ng Tulay

12 February 2020

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Isang tinadhanang umaga, pahanon ng tag-ginaw,

Sa lugar na kinikilalang lungsod ng nagmamahal,

Ay may isang magsing-irog ang doo’y nagsumpaan,

Na sila ay mag-iibigan anuman ang kapalaran.

Sa kabila ng mundong mabangis, malupit at malamig,

Walang makakahadlang sa kanilang wagas na pag-ibig,

Doon sa may tulay at sa may rumaragasang tubig,

Silay nagpasyang tumalon, upang magtagpo sa langit.

Nguni’t huwag malungkot sa kuwento ng magkasintahan,

At huwag ninyong isiping, sila’y tumalong nagpatiwakal,

Sila lamang ay napalundag dahil puso ay umaapaw,

Sa pag-ibig at galak na hinding-hindi mapupukaw.

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Maligayang Valentine’s po sa lahat ng umiibig.

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(*photo taken during our wedding anniversary trip)

Wild Goose Run

2 February 2020

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January and February are usually the coldest months here in Iowa. It is too cold to run outside, at least for most people. The last time I went out to run was back in December, and it was actually Christmas Day as we had a spring time weather that time.

But today is different. By the way, it is 02 02 2020, how neat is that? Even though it is February, our temperature is above freezing (40º F), which is unusual for this time of year for us.

So I decided to go out for a run.

It is a sunny day and our big pile of snow is starting to melt. It may take several days of “warm” days like this to melt them all down though.

Then I met some flocks of wild geese. They usually fly south for the winter, but I am seeing more and more of them staying here in our place even for the winter months.

These geese are equipt for the cold anyway, as they have down feathers which we even use to insulate our jackets. In fact goose down jackets are one of the warmest jackets you can get and has the advantage of being lightweight. But I know they can be expensive.

Here’s more geese coming for a landing.

There is more cold weather forecasted for this coming week, and we will be back to subfreezing temperature, and more snow as well. But for a day, I enjoyed going outside with the wild geese.

A wild goose chase? Maybe.

my shadow selfie with the geese

(*photos taken with an iPhone)