Musings

For an unknown reason, I decided to take an exercise selfie with my handkerchief mask. I am NOT adept at selfie-taking. I tried several backgrounds and camera angles.

I found a nice dark tree, then I realized I was hearing an angry or upset bird overhead. I looked around. Upset. I moved on…looks like landscaping straw is the principal nest ingredient.

Several ways to read this…all positive.

I am astounded by this peach. Not much size (like a golf ball plus), but look, it’s blushing.

Built environment still life with plants.

Posted at 7:18 PM | Comments Off on Perils of selfie-taking, no. 47

Unexpected rather non-standard architecture can mean expensive corporate headquarters (Apple “spaceship”) or or or, in this case: a museum. Down in Tacoma, this one.

A glass museum, and under this cone is a large glassblower workshop. We watched three guys create a wine decanter. This fellow did the most advanced stuff, or most complicated work, the body and the fused whole. Two other guys did important pieces, the neck and the handle, created separately. Fascinating.

Of course, the museum had many gorgeous pieces in the galleries, and fun offerings in the gift shop. This is one of the most compelling, with a mirror behind it, just stunning. So complex.

After, we drove north, making the five mile loop (on Five Mile Road) through Point Defiance Park. Highly recommended, especially near sunset. Much like if you go to Marquette, you should also visit Presque Isle Park.

Posted at 12:19 AM | Comments Off on Museum dos

We got to the park and right away spotted this dudette/dude “pecking” along, searching for food, I thought…”looking for a lost contact,” the Guru said knowingly.

Muscovy duck view of a cactus on a monumental planter dating back to an exposition, I think in 1895.

Duck view, if in flight. I was atop the (six-story?) parking garage that drew all kinds of flack when it was proposed, under construction, and first built. Now, as promised, you pretty much can’t see it, even now when the leaves are off. And nobody complains that the parking pressure on the neighborhoods nearby dropped…for a time, although plenty of visitors still cruise the nearby streets for a free spot. C’est la vie. Or is it c’est la view?

Posted at 6:57 PM | Comments Off on Perspective(s)

Lotsa columns.

Half-columns.

No columns at all.

Water feature.

Humorous addition: Dolly and RGB prayer candles.

Posted at 6:49 PM | Comments Off on Architectural columns

I’ve been a bit antsy for several days to get out of town, that is: OTP—outside the perimeter. No rain today, so we scooted. And headed to Russell Cave, owned by these United States, up in far northeast Alabama. This is the view from the cave, used by way-back peoples. Today it was a bit damp, and the creek below had water, but was not in flood.

We took what I thought was a short nature trail; I had it wrong. We went up and up, switchback after switchback. I kept thinking, “I’m glad it’s not wetter; this moss must get slippery!”

With the leaves off, we had some views of Doran’s Cove, the valley below.

And, as we left the cove, we saw a flock of wild turkeys. They were jumpy and headed for the woods when we stopped…only a few stragglers left. Pretty birds, these gals.

Physiographically, this area is Ridge-and-Valley. Here we are heading up the west flank of Lookout Mountain, working our way back toward the ATL. Sun’s out!

The Guru mentioned how great the light angle was, so we headed over to that big mound site just outside Cartersville on the bank of the Etowah (clue there!). The Guru was right; the light was fantastic, and there was some wind, but Droney got the shots. And video (not posted). That line of trees between the plowed field and the grass around the mounds is in a massive ditch—defensive, plus where the fill to build the mounds came from, no?

Posted at 9:32 PM | Comments Off on OTP Saturday

I have tried to embrace the wide-angle mode…mostly I don’t really like the results. This one I do like, however.

And the other side of the same building, albeit from farther away. And not ultra-wide; see, less distortion.

Oh, and a daisy. An overwintering daisy. Sooo weather-tolerant, this kind. Also, not ultra.

Posted at 8:25 PM | 1 Comment »

The former Masquerade club opened in the former DuPre Excelsior Mill (opened 1911) decades ago, and stayed groovy there for 27 years before mixed-use gremlins got the property. That transition has been underway for a while. The other day that rehab project…uhm, fell apart. haha Ooopsy.

Here’s part of a mural on the wall under the bridge between the old Masquerade and the new Kroger.

And this is a reflection on a glass wall bordering a terrace above the Kroger. Not sure why the plastic grass.

From the other end of the terrace, we could see through the legs supporting perhaps six stories of—not sure…office space? apartments? to…Ponce and beyond.

As we returned to the house, I heard sandhills above. Yay! Probably followed a different flyway than those we saw in Texas and New Mexico.

Posted at 6:20 PM | Comments Off on Urban edits

These photos all are of places within a 15-minute walk of the state capitol building. Scout’s honor: 15-minutes.

I find this scruffy house on a double lot oddly eye-catching.

Near as I can tell, this construction is most commonly called a walk-through gate in these parts. This short section of road can’t be driven on, but foot traffic and bicycles can make it through. These are the most heavy-duty walk-through gates I’ve seen.

On another path, I found this foot bridge over a channelized drainage. In case you decide to spend time here, find reading material in this little free library.

Not many steps later I found this undeveloped land signed “Private Property,” although I think my mapping apps show it as a park. Again: this is within a 15-minute walk of the state capitol.

A windmill survives in two parts in this parking lot for rental units. Looks beheaded now.

I came out this alley and proceeded through the “Begin One Way” signs straight ahead. Yup, the right-of-way narrows, as you might expect. Note that is is a sandy gravel road, with surviving ice blobs and muddy spots even today.

As I walked along, I was passed by a Ford Focus, then this fancy Porsche. Someone in an expensive car visiting or living in a house on a dirt road less than a ten-minute walk from the state capitol. The Porsche is waiting for a gap in the traffic on the Old Santa Fé trail…a main drag, no?

Not sure what to make of these observations, but I note that the civic-ceremonial zone here in New Mexico’s political center gives way to residential buildings quite quickly—within two blocks—and that residential zone may not have fancy capital improvements 😀.

Posted at 9:55 PM | Comments Off on Passageways in perspective

Fascinated by the “regular” mailbox cemented into the stucco “adobe” wall.

Sidewalk luck.

Where’s…oh, you get it.

Note tabby and horno. And pig toy/sculpture, lower left. That’s the most accoutrement-ed horno I’ve ever noticed/seen.

The Guru took Droney for a quick flight. That curved wall building is the capitol (behind the dark red-brown roof).

We took a short drive south to Lamy.

Amtrak stops here, and it’s the closest stop to Santa Fé, if I have it right. We were lucky to be there when the train stopped…and left maybe five minutes later.

Abandoned? parked caboose. Unnecessary in the digital world.

Glass insulators are still in use in these parts in some rural lines. The Guru says these are for telephone/communications not electricity. The pairs are a clue.

We walked to dinner, which means after sunset (before 5pm), and after the cold is setting in. Brr. But, we’re tough. After dark means opportunities for computational photography—yay!

Posted at 8:59 PM | Comments Off on Nearby(ish) and varied

Gallery doorway. Sign is at opposite end of building; building faces Old Santa Fé Trail, with a narrow sidewalk between the curb and property wall.

Main, front entrance to the NM capitol. Strange choice to have single row of trees that visually block the doors; usually there are two rows flanking the view.

Arched doorway of the NM history library, built, as you can read, as a public library—which is now across the street.

Arch over base of walkway up Marcy Hill.

Fence-gate near the rear of St Francis Cathedral.

Filled in doorway in wall next to Santa Fé River. The paint I think is to obscure graffiti.

Rarely used gateway.

Utility gateway.

Eroding spooky cranium topping a gatepost. [I thought this might be a head-newel, but newels are only by staircases, if I have it right.]

Posted at 10:38 PM | Comments Off on Doors and gateways