Back in the saddle again
Posted on 28 July 2010 | No responses
I am in the process of moving to a new webhost and updating the blog to the new servers. Will be working on getting my old images online, as well as my personal banner.
Wish me luck! 
Hello world!
Posted on 28 July 2010 | 1 response
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
New day in Houston
Posted on 12 April 2010 | No responses
This was the sunrise seen from our short-term rental unit here in Houston on Sunday, our second day back in the US.
It is also the introduction to two new topics on this blog:
Surprisingly livable Houston:
Houston, Texas, gets short shrift from a lot of people, yet it has a great deal to offer. Without getting too boosterish, I’ll be posting cool, funky, or at least noteworthy events that could only happen here.
Expat Re-entry:
These posts will record the culture shock of returning to the US after 6 years abroad, while the contrast is still fresh in my mind. Tips and tricks for returning expats will also be posted under this category.
Our final sunrise in Rio de Janeiro
Posted on 9 April 2010 | No responses
Tonight we fly out of Rio to our next adventure—in Houston, Texas!
Corcovado in sunshine
Posted on 9 April 2010 | No responses
Corcovado shines in the returning sunlight
After the heavy rains earlier this week, the sunshine yesterday was a welcome relief. Corcovado sparkles with the Jardim d’Alah, the canal and park that separates Ipanema from Leblon, in the foreground.
After the deluge
Posted on 9 April 2010 | No responses
An uprooted ficus tree on Visconde de Albuquerque, Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro was hit by three days of heavy rains and wind this week. Some 200 people lost their lives in the state, most in landslides. The landslides occurred in the mountainside favelas. Earth and rocks, already destabilized by illegal deforestation and unlicensed residential construction, were loosened by the vast amounts of rain and avalanched, burying residents in the debris. Another factor exacerbating street flooding was the high tide entering the canals and canalized rivers that drain the Lagoa and provide sea passage to both sewage and rain run-off and coinciding with the period of heaviest rain.
The tragedy highlights the need for both improvement to civic infrastructure and more importantly, for land reform laws that would make it possible for all of Rio’s residents to lease or purchase housing in the urbanized zones served by public utilities and construction safety codes.
Corcovado on the urban skyline
Posted on 7 April 2010 | No responses
Corcovado on the cluttered skyline of midtown Leblon, Rio de Janeiro
This is our view of Corcovado from our hotel apartment’s varanda (balcony) here in Leblon, shot on 5 April when we moved in for our last few days in Rio de Janeiro. This is a much more normal version of “a window that looks out on Corcovado.”
Easter weekend, Ipanema
Posted on 7 April 2010 | No responses
Ipanema beach near Posto 9, 2 pm on 4 April 2010
Saturday afternoon before Easter, and the beach is hopping near Posto 9, Ipanema. It was sunny, but a bit cooler than it had been earlier in the week. Ipanema was full of tourists, Brazilian and foreign. It was a good thing everyone got their fill of sun, because:
Easter Sunday morning, Ipanema beach at Arpoador, looking west
Easter Sunday dawned with overcast skies. The early strollers and sunworshippers got out as usual, but the tourists were no doubt disappointed.
Last view of "our" Corcovado
Posted on 7 April 2010 | No responses
The last sunrise seen from our Rio apartment
Dawn vista on the last morning in our apartment here in Rio de Janeiro.
We’ve been so very blessed to see this wonderful panorama every morning for 3 years. Our best wishes to the next inhabitants, whoever they may be!
Mais uma contravista / Counterpoint
Posted on 7 April 2010 | No responses
The school controversy continues in Leblon, Rio de Janeiro
This banner was strung up on my old building on Sunday, March 29 (or at least, that’s when I noticed it). The photo was shot on 1 April, after I’d moved out.
The slogan reads, “We will struggle without ceasing,” and was posted by one of the anti-school-expansion faction.