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her in the usa today 7 the world at the moment is divided into those who wear masks and those who do not and those who know what six feet looks like and those who do not i am of the mask wearing and the six feet school i find that most people are sensible and will respect your mask wearing and distance keeping if you encounter a difficult non masker or non distanter don t confront them being challenged is what many of them love so they can make a nuisance of themselves which they can t do if you move swiftly out of the way 8 i like bonfires very much we have cleared a lot of brush and have been having bonfires in our fire pit what a pleasure to see the flames spreading and to hear the crackling of the twigs and leaves just to sit there staring into it better than any tv show first you have to get it going that s quite an art and then feeding it with just the right amount of brush to keep it in check so that it burns nicely but does not set fire to the county borage self seeded from last year s plant in our garden in garrison ny 9 things to look forward to 1 tennis i have been introduced recently to two players both of whom have their own courts 2 borage the beautiful herb with bright star like blue flowers has seeded itself all over the place from last year i had also sowed some borage seeds so we have it everywhere we look it will be pimm s every weekend from the beginning of july onward the leaf has a cucumber scent and flavor a must for pimm s the other essential when making pimm s is to put a lot of gin in it 3 seeing people s fully exposed faces again and taking their picture first and last thought for ever bless thank admire reward applaud and respect doctors nurses and all their medical staff posted by dmitri kasterine no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels borage caroline churchill lost girls masks six feet the splendid and the vile saturday june 27 2020 heidie posner nyc late 1980s neither caroline nor i can be certain how or where we met heide at this time we used to wander about soho looking for faces that appealed to me almost always young and female a number were waitresses heidi could have been a waitress at the time we also have vague memories of her working at martha stewart s as an assistant art director if there were better things to go on to i am sure she went there her strong looks would have prevailed i believe we both liked her and i think she came to see us more than once where are you heidie posted by dmitri kasterine no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest sunday june 21 2020 young couple under a street light outside botanica in red hook brooklyn ny just read two superbly written articles by cath pound published in the culture pages of the bbc website she is a master of brevity and unramblingness the first article is a review of short stories which she recommends for those still with more time than usual for reading the second article is about the painter bonnard i am a photographer who has never really liked color photographs very much especially color portraits after seeing bonnard s work again i shall be sticking to black and white photography https www bbc com culture article 20200612 the best short stories for every taste and mood https www bbc com culture article 20190201 the man who painted moods i realize this photograph of the quite attractive couple i have displayed above has little to do with the text well if you can see a connection let me know but i also thought that between the two they might inspire a short story posted by dmitri kasterine no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels black and white bonnard botanica saturday may 23 2020 work my editing desk garrison ny may 2020 a further thought on what to do when there is nothing to do for those still wondering what to do these days to my mind there has never been a better opportunity for work i don t mean for the poor souls who spend their lives in law or accounting or finance but for those who make films and take photographs paint pictures write books compose music and poetry and perform now we may not be able to perform or create but we can work think plan make notes file research what better chance has there ever been when you cannot now be distracted from your thinking and planning by meeting myrtle for a coffee myrtle was the girl you met last night at a party but there was no party or you just must go to the gym to clear your mind no gyms open or a quick game of backgammon or ping pong with felix across the street because you feel like it both activities banned as players will be closer than the recommended social distance and now it is 12 30 p m so let s call dorothy and suggest a drink or lunch at the local no locals open so there s nothing stopping you from working by the way if you were thinking about doing something other than work forget it shall we say you have thought of learning to play the piano or reading chaucer or attending a zoom class in diversity and inclusion you will either have done these things years ago if you were ever going to do them or they are anyway a complete waste of time and of no benefit or enjoyment to anybody a final thought in 1938 the english critic essayist and journalist cyril connelly wrote a book called enemies of promise when you have worked sit down with this it is a wonderful book part 2 deals with distraction posted by dmitri kasterine no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest talking to people friends at victoria station buffet london 1981 talking to people a very pleasant pastime what to do when there is nothing to do i have like many people shut down there are four people i wanted to photograph but to reduce the chances of infecting or being infected they will keep until the perils have past there is no tennis as west point where i play regularly is closed to visitors until further notice i have done our taxes and polished all my shoes it is too early yet to tackle spring gardening i shall practice the piano more frequently than usual read chekhov s my life for the tenth time and look for other works by him that i have not read i will watch polanski s films make bread more often and sit behind the slit in our castle wall and shoot anybody with my bow and arrow coming up the drive except for the plumber and carpenter who are working on keeping our castle from falling down when i have read all of chekhov i shall order a copy of william boyd s latest novel and a mystery by sarah caudwell from split rock books in cold spring ny for some reason there are a mass of english women who are very good at writing mysteries from dorothy sayers agatha christie and p d james in the early 20th century to a thousand and one others all the way to today s ruth ware who people say is terrific conversation at marlow and sons williamsburg brooklyn ny 2011 caroline and i will not starve nor shall we overspend on take out because i shall be trying new recipes from my favourite cookery books french provincial cooking by elizabeth david great dishes of the world by robert carrier ou est le garlic by len deighton and the new york times 60 minute gourmet by pierre franey if i do not get round to trying more than one or two recipes i shall anyway read the books because they are all written by exceptionally good writers what i will not be doing is twittering or texting because i never have and it drains away from what we should all be doing i like talking to people it is a very good way of passing the time if anybody wants to ring me please do let s hope the warm weather will soon return and we can clear up the winter mess in the garden and spread compost on the soil i dislike walking i say this with due respect to caroline and our dogs who are truly good companions and there is no tennis so i shall welcome the bending and stretching and the toing and froing of gardening copyright dmitri kasterine 2020 all rights reserved published in putnam county news and recorder march 25 2020 posted by dmitri kasterine no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest tuesday may 19 2020 at war with coronavirus we all have a sob story about the damnable virus ripping through the world mine is that one day i was able to photograph people i liked the look of and the next day i could not even see if i liked the look of them because their faces were covered i dig out old stuff and write about the mostly happy memories of my subjects or the time i had with them see my encounter with an enchantingly difficult girl 35 years ago that worked out well in the end in normal times i go out to restaurants to see who s there rather than for the good food found in a very few of them i can get all the food i like at home cooked by me or caroline not that sitting back and enjoying friendly quiet and lightening service in restaurants is not very pleasant when it is done right but not too friendly and how are you today my name is gertrude and i am your waiter for tonight makes me want to get up and leave there and then i walk down main street not for exercise but to scrutinize the people coming in the opposite direction i go into shops seldom to buy anything but to see if there are faces that i want to see can t do anything of this now caroline used to go to things more than i did and has been responsible for finding me some of my favourite subjects book clubs readings painting lessons wine tastings visits to pharmacies and dog food suppliers etc not to mention who and what she finds on i can hardly mention the words i have such an objection to them social media now we come to the question of whether we are at war well yes we are according to those you govern us and those who broadcast the thoughts of those who govern us i was seven when world war ii was declared my mother and i were standing on the tennis court when she told me that there was going to be a war will the soldiers come here i asked not being sure if i meant our soldiers or theirs only ours came and hundreds of them preparing for d day though plenty of enemy airmen came with their stuka dive bombers as we were only 20 miles from london and surrounded by fighter stations sometimes the german bombers dropped their bombs meant for the london docks on us when they could not face the anti aircraft guns that ringed london this is not a doodlebug 1940 to 1942 it was conventional bombs dropping on us then a pause until 1944 when the doodlebugs v1s appeared they just turned up with little warning sometimes being chased by a mosquito spitfire xiv or mustang fighter aircraft these rocket propelled bombs launched from nazi occupied france were timed to cut their engines as they approached the outskirts of london silently gliding to the ground which they hit in a terrifying explosion there was little you could do if one appeared in the sky and its engine cut just watch and hope it would circle away from your area or run like hell to the nearest air raid shelter not a spitfire ace skilled spitfire pilots could upset the giros in the v1s and send them spirelling to the ground by flying alongside them and tipping their wings to be effective the spitfire would have to engage the v1 as it passed over the coast of britain and across the farmland of kent and sussex where it would do least harm when it hit the ground now we have the silent enemy of covid 19 with whom we are at war doing its best to take us by surprise we either take cover or watch and wait for the infection to get someone else but not us we live in a house with a two acre field and woods stretching for several miles in three directions we seldom have to leave this shelter which almost guarantees us safety from infection until the all clear is sounded this is where we stay with our dogs garden books keyboard records food and wine and each other posted by dmitri kasterine no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest friday may 15 2020 helen at lucky strike we ve lost lovely lucky strike a place that meant so much to us in the late 1980s when we lived within walking distance of it from our loft on lafayette street always perfectly cooked steaks and burgers and never not a table filled with people you d want to sit along side exemplary service this is a photograph i took of helen johansson tucked into a far corner of lucky strike in about 1989 at the time she had stopped modelling and was designing jewelry we first met helen when she turned up at the studio for a go see i took a polaroid of her but she looked very tired and nothing came of it one day a few weeks later i spotted a girl sitting on the curb on 4th avenue in front of a table with jewelry laid out on it now there s someone i could photograph i said to caroline and without hesitating asked her if i might take her picture she said yes and turned up at the studio a few days later i have been here before she said you looked at the polaroid you did of me and did not seem interested well today you look different just as you did when i saw you sitting on the curb and i am looking for someone to photograph at lucky strike would you like to do that she said she would she left her telephone number and i said i would ring to make the arrangements this took some doing when i rang her she was either out too busy or said yes and then cancelled after she cancelled the third or fourth time i yelled you will be there at 11 tomorrow or i shall come and drag you out of your apartment all right she said and hung up that girl is driving me crazy i said slamming down the receiver astonishingly she turned up dressed as you see her here and was as good as gold a week or so later she and a friend came to dinner and she gave caroline a piece of her jewelry posted by dmitri kasterine no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest saturday may 9 2020 three glasses i took this photograph at the wedding of the late gerald grosvenor 6th duke of westminster in 1978 i can t be sure but i believe this was his best man my way of doing weddings was to slink about with my leica looking for moments that sent a shiver down my back these moments mostly came from the antics of guests showing exuberance or boredom or anger or intimacy seldom did i get a picture of the bride and groom that moved me we won t see fun and games like this for a while i have not tried a virtual gathering neither have i tried a meeting of friends sitting six feet apart and yelling at each other anyway how do you pass the bottle or tea pot around without breaking the social distancing rule by robot although like many i am missing the company of others i think it better to wait and enjoy the safety of caroline s company the dogs and the garden for the moment the time to pour more than two glasses will return posted by dmitri kasterine no 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