Baltimore Daily Photo

Roofs.. and rooftops

2007-09-25T20:12:00.001-04:00

Just some flat roofs and rooftop decks in Baltimore..

Groundhogs

2007-09-24T11:29:00.001-04:00

Two groundhogs relaxing - maybe Mr. and Ms Whistlepig in their front yard?

Tower Power!

2007-09-23T20:53:00.001-04:00

My favorite skyscraper in town - the Baltimore Trust building. I was fooling around with Picasa, and came up with this Addams family version of it.

Teeny mushrooms

2007-09-21T10:07:00.000-04:00

I came across these guys on a walk through the woods not too long ago. They were growing out of an old log - I was enchanted by their small size - and later, as I looked at the photo on my computer, I noticed that some very small creature had nibbled timidly at a few.

Watercan Alley

2007-09-19T17:27:00.000-04:00

A peek through a tunnel between two houses reveals a green garden hose with a watercan at the end.. The home of an avid gardener, I'd think!

Fluffy Stuff

2007-09-18T20:09:00.001-04:00

Lambs' ear - I always get the urge to pet it when I see it. I've tried growing it, unfortunately it's not too happy in my backyard - so I have no ears of my own to pet.. :(

Here kitty kitty..

2007-09-17T19:03:00.000-04:00

Okay. I'm cheating. This cute lion isn't in Baltimore. He's in Virginia at Montpelier. That's where James Madison used to live, when he was not signing constitutions or presidenting. I just had to throw this pix in here, this lil lion-kitty is just too cute to ignore.

Towers of Baltimore

2007-09-16T00:04:00.001-04:00

In the foreground, the old B&O railway station, now a Sports Legends Museum. In the background, the Bromo-Seltzer tower. The Bromo-Seltzer tower (which is based on the Palazzo Vecchio in Venice) used to have a giant blue Bromo-Selzer bottle rotating on the top of it. Unfortunately the bottle had to be taken down back in 1936 due to structural concerns.

What to do when you are bored..?

2007-09-15T23:47:00.001-04:00

Score! Big fans schlep their scorepads along to write down what happens in the game.. us peanut gallery people schlep the scorepads along to kill time - and to ask the big fan that we accompany once a year to the game lots of dumb questions!

Three fans at a game

2007-09-14T11:02:00.001-04:00

Probably father and sons - and all three followed the game with much interest. The little guy was a sweetheart, lost interest from time to time (happens to me too), but behaved admirably well. I thought it was kind of cute that father and younger son had just been to the barber.

Maryland fare at the game.

2007-09-13T15:31:00.000-04:00

Local food: Crabcakes! along with locally brewed beer - Backfin ale, another reference to crabs. This is the local stuff you'll get at Camden Yards. Lots of local dishes are crab-related, Maryland Crab soup, Soft shell crabs, crabcakes, and then you can of course munch on those crabs in their natural state. In Maryland they're boiled, and served with tons of Old Bay Spice. Don't think you eat them with a fork and a knife - you do get a knife but it will be accompanied by a wooden mallet - perfect to whack the shell with.

Game has begun..

2007-09-11T15:52:00.001-04:00

and there you have'em, standing on the field in their long underwear!

Are they about to play leapfrog?

2007-09-10T19:46:00.001-04:00

Naww.. just standing nice and tidy while the national anthem is being played..

Crowd

2007-09-09T19:30:00.001-04:00

Here's the crowd.. the team colors are orange and black.

Other side of warehouse

2007-09-08T07:53:00.001-04:00

This is what greets you on the other side of the warehouse.. stairs to the left, ballpark to the right, and escalator in the middle! Once you've shown your ticket and have joined the fans on the other side of the fence, you can stroll between the warehouse and the ballpark, where there's food and souvenirs for sale.

B&O Warehouse

2007-09-07T00:10:00.001-04:00

This is the longest brick warehouse on the East Coast, and is been incorporated into Camden Yards. It is 1016 feet long, and was built in 1905.

Welcome to Camden Yards!

2007-09-06T15:58:00.001-04:00

We're going to a baseball game! Many of my friends who have visited from other countries have been curious to see either a baseball or an American football game. Both baseball and American football are unfamiliar to Europeans, and I'd never been to either until I moved over here. Baltimore's baseball stadium, Camden Yards, is actually quite nice, so we're heading over there. Off we go!

Go Ravens!

2007-09-05T23:24:00.002-04:00

This is our football stadium.. viewed from the baseball stadium! Our team is the Ravens, named after Edgar Allan Poe's poem, The Raven ("Once upon a midnight dreary.."). Before the Ravens, the local team was the Colts, but don't say the C-Word in this town, far too loaded with bad memories for many locals. The Colts now play in Indianapolis, but we Baltimoreans (or Baltimorons..) are of course still grumpy at them for leaving - it may have been twenty years ago, but we've got l-o-o-ng memories! ;)

Front and back

2007-09-04T16:10:00.000-04:00

Again, a look at our neighborhood. It is a very urban area. Our "gardens" are usually contained in pots, and the lawnmower was definitely NOT invented by a local resident! There are lots of rooftop decks, and the backside of your average rowhouse looks nothing like the front! (These two shots are of the same block, even though it's hard to tell.)

H. L. Mencken's backyard

2007-09-03T00:58:00.001-04:00

Here's another photo from the backyard of Baltimore's favorite grumpy man. This is a tile that is embedded into a brick wall dividing Mencken's row house from its neighbor. A long brick wall is kind of boring on its own, and Mencken's brick wall was more interesting than most - just like Mencken himself was a very interesting character.

In the pink

2007-09-02T11:53:00.000-04:00

A cheerful looking pink house.

September's Theme

2007-09-01T00:17:00.001-04:00

Streetlight and a speed limit sign, along with an overexposed sign warning those w/o a parking sticker that their car may be towed away if they do not behave! (i.e. park longer than two hours or park during game nights). Parking is tight in my corner of town. I don't even want to think about what it would be like without meter maids and strict rules.
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Forbidden Garden

2007-08-31T00:31:00.001-04:00

An inviting path and a cozy pavillion behind a locked gate.. reminds me of those children's stories involving forbidden gardens - maybe there's secret passageway somewhere and a fairy hiding in the bushes.

Churchtower

2007-08-30T00:11:00.001-04:00

This is the tower of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith. This is a pretty church, whether in daylight or at night. As you can tell, I fiddled with the colors of the picture so that the church and the lit windows are visible. Oh.. and before you get impressed by my knowledge of local church names, I cheated and looked it up on the internet!

Urban Gardening

2007-08-29T00:01:00.001-04:00

I love how the owner of this house has combined various plants to make the steps more beautiful and welcoming.

Vroom!

2007-08-28T12:50:00.001-04:00

My bigger cat looked so hopeful in this box, that I had to take a photo of him. He seems to be waiting for the box to fly off and take him to.. People Food Land, if I had to guess. That would be his version of heaven!

Rowhouse front

2007-08-27T00:09:00.001-04:00

Houses of this type are very common in my neighborhood, though not all of the rowhouses have such a lovely array of flowers in front. If you think the house looks narrow, (it really is just the door and two windows), you're right- though they come even narrower. The reason is, that when these houses were built, taxes were paid according to how wide your house was.

Trash Can??

2007-08-26T12:07:00.001-04:00

Nope, a mailbox! Many of my visitors from overseas think our mailboxes look exactly like trash cans, and have even thought this IS a trash can! What do you think?

Summer's Bounty

2007-08-25T00:01:00.001-04:00

We have been getting a weekly share from a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm. That means that you pay the farm ahead of time for the entire season, and every week you get lovely fresh organic veggies, fruit and herbs to play around in the kitchen with. This was this week's share. There's another broken myth for you - food in America is not only McBurger and Fries! :)

Pick me.. pick me.. pick me..

2007-08-24T00:08:00.001-04:00

Houses are bought and sold relatively frequently in our neighborhood, and the real estate signs are getting more and more elaborate every year. I've been walking past this house regularly, and the sign seems to be getting bigger every day!

Baltimore skyline

2007-08-23T13:09:00.000-04:00

from my roof! :-) Most of the houses in my neighborhood have rooftop decks (coming up in another post!). This is the view from our house. The tallest one on this picture is the Legg Mason Building. Sorry about the weather, I'll post another one when the weather gods are playing nice!

Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia)

2007-08-22T00:11:00.001-04:00

looking worse for the wear, now that summer is about to end.
This is the Maryland state flower. I think our state politicians must be rather bored, since they have also come up with a state crustacean (blue crab), a state fossil and many other state symbols (21 in all) - check the following link, if you're curious to see what they came up with. Maryland State Symbols

Groundhog party

2007-08-21T00:03:00.001-04:00

The Baltimore Zoo has a large groundhog exhibit, which is great fun - they are always busy doing something!

Count none but sunny hours...

2007-08-20T16:09:00.001-04:00

This sundial is from H. L. Mencken's backyard.
Mencken was a famous journalist/writer who lived in Baltimore.
His house is on Union Square, in the western part of town.
Unfortunately it is not in good shape these days and is closed to the public.
I was lucky enough to get to peek into the backyard - and here's one of the photos I took.