Romeo and... Bootz

I found this last month when I had to feature-hunt by foot on a rainy day in while my car was in the shop. It ran big-- the entire length of the cover of the local page. Bootz's owner acted like he knew she was destined for fame. "I've been waiting for you guys to come and put her on the front page," he told me.

Ryan Rheaume talks to his dog, Bootz, outside their home in Penacook on Friday, April 16, 2010. Bootz, an Alaskan Huskie, got her name because all four of her paws are white from the joints down. (Concord Monitor photo/Sarah Beth Glicksteen)

A field

In case you were wondering where helium balloons end up when you let them go, this gorgeous field in Poughkeepsie, Ny., is one destination. Poor Mickey Mouse was far from home.




(Disclosure: My friend found the balloon first, kicked around until he could identify it, and then walked away before I came over and shot the photo. Vignettes occurred naturally in-camera, and I decided to keep them.)

[ALSO: What happens in the meadow at dusk?]

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

I spent the weekend visiting a friend in Poughkeepsie. We spent much of Saturday at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in nearby Pocantico Hills, New York. Neat place.

Sara Worden, a farm apprentice, waters root vegetables in a greenhouse. "Usually I use the irrigation system," she said, "But I wanted to give them a little extra love."

Also, a very large chicken coop.

Babies are cute...

... But lambs are cuter.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Napping

I noticed Art soaking in the sunshine at a rest area as I was driving back to the newsroom after an assignment last week. He'd just delivered his first book to a bookstore downtown, and was bouncing some ideas around for his second. Over the summer he'd taken his Harley, Rosemary, through 35 states, visiting old friends he was excited to have found on facebook. I imagine that his is the last generation to get really excited about reconnecting in this way. I really enjoy staying in touch with old friends, but I can read daily dispatches from their lives online now, and I can't picture myself taking a road trip to catch up. But, maybe I should.

Art Desmarais, of Northwood, relaxes on his Harley, which he named Rosemary, while riding around in the sunshine on Friday. He said he and a friend used to always take in the scenery in this rest area on Dover Street in Epsom. Since his friend passed away, he stops here by himself to reflect every time he passes it on his way home. "You know how tough life is," he said, "It doesn't take much to mess it up." (Concord Monitor Photo/Sarah Beth Glicksteen)