Friday, March 21, 2008

Naked branches


Trees meet sky
London, ON, March 2008 [Click to embiggen]

The scene: a bitterly cold, brilliantly sunny late afternoon. I've dropped my daughter off at a program and have returned to the parking lot. I hear the wind rustling through the trees, so I look up and feel very small in the process. The little voice in my left ear concludes that the resulting motion means I won't be getting any sharp pictures today. But that's why fast shutter speeds were invented, counters my right-eared voice.

The right side wins out. These branches will be full of leaves before long, and when they do they'll be telling a different story. Maybe I'll reshoot them at that time, but for now I can't take my eyes off the yellowish light painting the bare branches against an impossibly blue sky.

Your turn: This was one of the last pictures I shot before the calendar turned from winter to spring. How did you mark the changing of the season?

One more thing: Earlier this week, I was interviewed by Jonathan Montpetit of the Canadian Press for a piece on the declining fortunes of land line telephones. The piece published March 19th under the headline, Quebec study offers snapshot of rapid decline of the land-line telephone. It was also picked up in a bunch of interesting places, including the CBC, CTV, the Kingston Whig-Standard, the Calgary Sun and the Peterborough Examiner. Here's what I said:
Analysts see a trend sustained by a demographic shift hardly unique to the province.

"As Generation Y increases its influence on the market these numbers will only continue to grow," said Carmi Levy, a technology analyst with AR Communications.

"The understanding of what phone service is is very different among the generation that has grown up among the Internet."

[Snip]

Relatively small upstarts like U.S.-based Vonage Holdings are targeting consumers with offerings - from phone-number guarantees to responsive customer service - that the giants have difficulty matching.

"Their biggest challenge is inertia," Levy said of Bell and Telus. "They're so big and so entrenched that they can't move fast enough to bring innovative new technologies to market before smaller, more agile competitors."

12 comments:

Chrissea said...

I'm first! Carmi - I love to visit you, your photo's are always Perfect! Can't wait to see the spring buds, they are starting to bloom here in Virginia already... We've got dogwoods and pears in bloom.

b13 said...

Walkability... how long I can take walking in parks and such.

Winter : a little bit
Wing: a bit
Spring : a bit more
Sprummer : the most
Summer : A bit less
Sall : the most also
Fall : a bit more again
Finter : a bit

And the cycle is complete...

Anonymous said...

Gee we're just about to head into Autumn down here, and believe me I went a pulled out the doona brrrrr.

Just dropping in an easter egg too.

Carli N. Wendell said...

I marked the beginning of the season by whining, "It's spring. Why is it 21 freaking degrees out?"

Jennifer said...

Denying that it was infact spring, since it was snowing like crazy here! NO blue skies for us!

Jean-Luc Picard said...

With the brighter weather and sunshine, I know spring is around.

Michele sent me.

Anonymous said...

Hi Carmi! Thanks for dropping by...I love bare branches, I think I photograph bare branches more than anything else! Great photo! I have been enjoying watching all that is blooming right now. I'm ready for a new season :)

Anonymous said...

I still prefer the landline phone. Better voice quality and connectivity. If it dies out, it would indeed be a sad event.

So where are you going"

You know who sent me here!

Anonymous said...

It's raining blossoms here ...or in Roanoke where I was on Thursday. Up in the mountains we just have buds.

Makes me wonder if land phones will be obsolete someday. Have you looked into the safety of cell phone us (long conversations and high use)?

I'm a Michele meet and greetnick.

Beverly said...

I love that photo. Living in Florida, one doesn't see many bare trees. I do have one in my front yard that, when the weather gets too cold, the leaves get burned and fall off.

I have been somewhat fascinated by the bare branches here in Virginia, especially against the blue sky as you have posted. I've taken several photos like yours.

Each day I've gone out in my son's front yard where there is a maple tree, looking for signs of leaves, and they're coming, slowly but surely.

The rest of the trees around are waking up. No wonder one looks so forward to spring, after winter.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Lovely picture Carmi...As Always!

I hope the land line remains around as long as I am alive....I just find it easier---THOUGH, it really has gotten expensive...! I have a "new" cell phone (I've had it a year) because AT&T told me my old one was no longer supported by the new networks, etc....I find it very difficult to use and therefore it sits in a drawer and is not even charged up....! I know it is the wave of the future in every way...But, I guess I am feeling my age a bit in terms of the 'learning curve'....I'm thrilled I can maneuvar around the Internet and the computer as much as I can. This NEW phone can't be THAT Hard??? Oh Dear.

Rainbow dreams said...

lovely photo Carmi - as the seasons change so does my footwear...and the number of socks I wear! I don't like wearing socks, or shoes for that matter if I don't have to :)