Santa is Tired Already

Today I had to go the shopping centre "across town" for an item I could not buy in the city centre. (A spare filter for a specific device.) After I had got my main errand over with, I also went for a bit of a stroll in one of the enclosed shopping malls. I didn't buy anything, but I snapped a few photos of their Christmas decorations...

Santa's sleigh was parked in the middle of the complex, but Santa himself and his reindeer were nowhere to be seen...  Perhaps gone shopping??

Oops, there's Rudolph - looking a bit lost ... Did he come down the chimney on his own?!

And here's Santa, snoring away on a bed in the next room... Shopping can be exhausting!

As I had nothing heavy to carry, I walked all the way back home. Good weather for it in that there was no icy wind blowing - but it was a very grey day, so the only photo I took was this one (below) of a mural that really stands out all the better on just such a day as this: overcast, all the leaves gone from the trees, and the river still like a mirror...

In case anyone is wondering, the "device" is an air purifier I bought back in spring; which proved helpful for my asthma, especially during the worst allergy season. (It has a very quiet night mode, which means I can have it turned on in my bedroom during the night without being disturbed by it. And yet at the same time it also serves a bit like a fan.)

Yesterday it started beeping, though - which is its way to say "My filter is worn out!"

Old filter, new filter

Christmas is Coming

 

The Christmas Tree in the main square has been put in place. It's huge - perhaps to make up for some other places in town getting less decorations this year, due to municipal cutdowns (according to the local newspaper).

 I was glad to see the usual decorations put up on the bridges to/from the town park, though.

The river was still like a mirror.

Below: Image turned around,
and "lomo-ish" filter applied

 Linking to Weeekend Street/Reflections

Eye to Eye

 

My appointment with the optician on Tuesday had a different outcome than I expected. What I had taken for a slight change in astigmatism in one eye turned out to be a cataract (which had not crossed my mind). So instead of new glasses (just now), the next step is a referral from the optician to an eye doctor for more testing. A bit further down the line probably surgery. (No point yet in guessing when.)

On the whole, my eyesight (with glasses) is still quite adequate - I've just been feeling lately that my eyes seem to get tired a bit more quickly (especially from reading etc).

"Science has not yet mastered prophecy.
We predict too much for the next year
and yet far too little for the next 10."
- Neil Armstrong -

(Images by AI)

Lights in the Dark

 

Out for a short walk around 4 pm today (just after sunset, but the sky overcast) I noticed that they had put the Christmas lights up in the playground park.

 

 
A bit earlier in the afternoon, between turns to the laundry room, I had also fetched my own little tree from my basement storage room and put that up on my balcony. 

I'll probably keep it "off" most of the time until December; but I know from experience that it's best to put it up on a dry day with neither rain nor snow going on. We've not had snow yet - but actually, when I was out on my after-sunset walk a bit later, there were a few tiny white grains in the air... So probably just as well that I grabbed the opportunity.

Some of the branches on my little tree do not light up any more, but enough of them still do. And unlit, in the daylight, the bulbs look like little white berries, so it still serves as a winter decoration on the otherwise very empty balcony.  

It's All in the Details...

Since I bought the new phone back in spring, I haven't been using my separate camera as much. Yesterday I brought the Sony on my walk, though, and one thing i'ts definitely better at is zooming. I would not have been able to zoom in the fruit on this (crab-) apple tree with the phone...

 

 

 
Framing skies is another thing the Sony camera is better at.

Today both cameras got to take a rest, as I had a haircut appointment, and did not have time to stop for photos on my walk into town.

My fringe is shorter and the rest of my hair alas also a bit thinner - but on the whole, not a bad effort from AI to illustrate my visit to the hairdresser. (At least this time more flattering than weird!) :-)

On my way back home, I popped in to book an appointment with my optician; and got a time for that tomorrow. I have a feeling that at least one eye has changed a bit since my last checkup a couple of years ago. My eyes seem to be getting more tired lately from reading and "screen time". And as that is rather a big chunk of my life, if new glasses can help, it may be worth it... (I did not stay to try out frames today, though, but will await the result of the eye examination.)