Category Archives: Photos

262→Husband Journey: Taking Leave

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

  I plucked the last rose from the garden and decided to follow its stages from beginning to end. Then I asked? When does anything begin to be beautiful? Does beauty end? Does the aging process negate beauty? Does the life cycle we witness of flowers mirror our lives: do we come back? So much for polemics. Here’s what I saw. This hybrid rose had been choking from old Irises, weeds and garden clutter. Once removed, I found a new shoot and then the bud. What is living does not want to die. This rose changes color during its stages. … Continue reading →

2d. Garden: Flowers, Bugs & Butterflies, 2020: Transformation to Butterfly

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

And then one day, and sometimes for many days, you find a treasure, usually in the morning; sometimes several treasures. One day 4 pupae eclosed.   So far this season: We were able to raise and release 20 butterflies of about 23 since June. One little caterpillar just couldn’t make it. Two pupae remained behind and never “eclosed.” Here is a compendium of moments   Let’s go to the movies. The mother butterfly looks for a place to lay her eggs. Once she lays them, on parsley or dill, that is what they will eat. No mixing and matching. I … Continue reading →

2c. Garden: Flowers, Bugs & Butterflies, 2020: Pupae to Transformation

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

At this stage, the caterpillar would begin the next cycle on an outdoor plant. It would be prey to birds and insects and would be subject to the weather. Many do not make it to the next cycle. Some don’t even make it under our protection, but so far this season, we have made a heroic effort. We constructed a “tree”: We put twigs in a flower pot and place the caterpillar that is ready to begin its transformation here. They wander around the pot and the twigs, sometimes for hours until they find their final resting place as a … Continue reading →

2a. Garden: Flowers, Bugs & Butterflies, 2020: Eggs to Pillars

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

This is how it begins: a black Eastern Swallowtail butterfly somehow finds you. If you have dill or parsley growing, you become its best friend.             The eggs are laid on the tiny leaves. If laid on parsley, after the eggs hatches, the young caterpillar will only eat parsley. If on dill, the same. Mama knows best. That is the first lesson.                   And on the plant on which it’s been placed, the young caterpillar will begin its eating frenzy.               … Continue reading →

Nurture Nature: The Butterfly Project 2019: Transformation

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

  At this point, there were seven pupae in the little tree we constructed and about a week went by. Then, one morning, this happened:   This was our first “baby.” We weren’t sure how to proceed: we ended up waiting a day to release it, it might have been the weather. The wings have to dry; this guy was ready to go and was very active. We gave it sugar water but it didn’t drink. And then the time came for the ceremony. The shortened version. It was very touching to let it go. We had done our job. … Continue reading →

Nurture Nature: The Butterfly Project 2019: Part 2: Fat “Cats …”

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

What you witnessed in the previous blog post was the hatching of little egg gems and the morphing into tiny barely visible creatures, which, when fed well, grew and grew into chubby green multi-legged hungry guys, with black, white and yellow markings. In short, it was amazing. Life is a series of transitions and growth: Caterpillars are programmed to transition and they adapt to each stage so well, relying on innate messages to move on with their lives. We watched this occur with eight caterpillars. The eighth one was rescued after we explained to our neighbor that it was a … Continue reading →

Nurture Nature: The Butterfly Project 2019: part 1: Tiny Pearls …

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

  This bright green and black fellow was noticed as we were about to pick parsley. A few years ago my over-the-fence-neighbor was lingering over his parsley and espied one of these guys, plucked it from its grasp on the little leaves, declared it a plague and dashed it to the ground. I thought it was the precursor to a monarch butterfly and my heart was crushed. My son and I did some research and learned that this was indeed going to be a butterfly: a black swallowtail. The research began and there was a lot to learn. Step-by-step we … Continue reading →

Nurture Nature: iPhone Photography Series: Sheldon and Swirl, The Snail Project

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

When you come fact-to-face with nature you are changed.   We didn’t go away this year for the first time. Just not able for health reasons to deal with a vacation. So what does one do? Look for an adventure. You saw my green beetle portraits, now you can visit with Sheldon and Swirl who have been living in their glass condos since June when I discovered them while gardening. I come across snails now and then but never thought to have them as guests. They are brown-lipped garden snails. They can live three to five years. iPhone XS/max Moment … Continue reading →

How to Deal With Anxiety

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

  Be creative. This is a compilation of photographs taken with the iPhone XSmax, edited on iPhone, many with the slow shutter app. I take most of my city photos from a car, passenger side. My photography group workshop this month was BLUR. The above photo originally looked like this:                                 Click box icon in video to see full screen. The slideshow was created via Keynote on the Mac.  

Continue reading →

On Yo-Yos and Rollercoasters

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

    This is about my Caramel, the last kitty, the mama. I call her my spirit-guide. The kitty who brought her two litters to my door and to my neighbor’s door in 2004. I took her in in 2005 with two of her boys. My neighbor took one from the first litter and one from the same as mine. She hasn’t been well for months and every issue has been addressed with hopes of keeping her around as long as possible, in good health. She has been in and out of the emergency hospital and has been at our … Continue reading →

The Kitty Tale

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

I realized I never gave you closure on the sick kitty. To refresh your memory, in December there were subtle signs that something was wrong, the vet couldn’t find anything but I could hear something in Caramel’s throat. We ended up in an emergency animal hospital five days later on New Year’s Day. It appeared to be a bad cold. They did a fortune’s worth of testing. No diagnosis. Another five days went by and the cat was obviously ill. Finally a call from the vet at the emergency hospital indicating there was a huge cyst in Caramel’s throat and … Continue reading →

NYC Photo Journal: The New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx, NY: Orchid Show

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

THE ORCHID SHOW: SINGAPORE   I visit the orchid show annually, each year the theme varies; this year was “Singapore.” It was a cool, wet day, probably a good day for a visit, mitigating the crowds. I felt that in the past the exhibits were more abundant, somehow fuller, not that this one wasn’t filled with beautiful orchids, but it was somehow different even though the set up was the same. At any rate, there was a lot to enjoy. What I learned: some orchids have faces. Look for them. Here’s what mattered: not all orchids steal a show. Photography … Continue reading →

A Little Saturday Night Fun in the Nabe

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

Dinner at Magna: I always feel like I am at my favorite little ristorante in Florence in 1976. Always a great meal. Unfortunately it was interrupted by the need to feed the parking meter and not myself. That’s OK, I don’t have to cook tonight. The portions are more than generous. Taking this straight from a Facebook post: Flushing Town Hall. Flushing, Queens, NY April 6, 2010 Super, fun evening as always. Been coming here forever, getting so popular you can barely find a seat. Taken, edited, constructed on iPXS max at the BACK of the venue! Sound is pretty … Continue reading →

A Visit to The New-York Historical Society Brings Me Back to the 1960s

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

Visiting day, on the banks of The Hudson River, the early 1960s, St. George’s Camp. I am on the lower right   A visit to The New-York Historical Society brought back some very specific thoughts and memories. When I attended camp I never realized the history of the river where my camp was located. I had vague knowledge of the Indians who had lived on the shores centuries ago: I found a piece of a jaw on the shore replete with a molar. We would find fossil arrow heads. Small bones. The counselors would take them. There was life here, … Continue reading →

146. Mother-Daughter Journey: Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?”

Cerebral Jukebox Magazine Posted on by

  The phone rang on Saturday at 5:07 am; it was my mother. I was fearing the feared-call. My mother never calls that early. She said she felt odd: She went on and on. She bumped her toe. Not sure if she fell and hit her head. She didn’t sleep. She hasn’t slept well since I bought her new bedding, she is too hot. Maybe she should have the aide put the old bedding back on the bed? Her hammer toe. She was ready to have the man upstairs take her. Should she go to the hospital? And I said: … Continue reading →