Flag flying, a photo by Michael Tinkler on Flickr.

My view at graduation – the longer I’m here the closer to the front I sit!

Robing, a photo by Michael Tinkler on Flickr.

Tina is blowing a coach’s whistle – LOUDLY – to get us in order.

Chairs for Graduation – Friday, a photo by Michael Tinkler on Flickr.

The weather is kind of overcast today, but no rain predicted for tomorrow!

Real Alcazar, Sevilla, a photo by Michael Tinkler on Flickr.

I was especially taken with the realization than in the midst of these abstract shapes of mudejar quadrilobes were lions and castles – and that shield. Leon, Castile – and what? But still, Peter the Cruel (r 1334-1369) wanted ALL his subjects to understand his palace facade.

Allergens aloft, a photo by Michael Tinkler on Flickr.

Every bit of Upstate New York is in bloom this week – I can tell because every open space in my head is full of mucous and phlegm.

Approaching the Plaza Mayor, Madrid, a photo by Michael Tinkler on Flickr.

The early 17th Century Plaza Mayor in Madrid is really something – quite austere buildings around a huge open square. What surprised me was the approaches – you always enter through a thickness of buildings from another street, and often at something other than perpendicular to the interior geometry. Interesting!

Signs of Spring – Gerber Daisy Edition, a photo by Michael Tinkler on Flickr.

My first gerbera of the year – I’ll keep them down here for awhile until it’s consistently warm enough to move them up to the balcony. I still love a reddish flower in this cobalt pot.

Columbus monument, Madrid, a photo by Michael Tinkler on Flickr.

I was not expecting an 1885 Gothic Revival monument to Columbus, but there in the Plaza de Colón he was. Like a lot of Madrid, it looks scrubbed within an inch of its life.