Pensacola Photo Blog

Gotcha!

2011-12-18T16:13:00.005-06:00

It was a year ago today we brought home our very own bunner boy, Keating. For regular readers of this blog you know it was a long and winding road that brought him to us and I want to share how Special K, as he is sometimes known, celebrated his Gotcha! Day with his new toy, "The Buntunnel". A short piece of tubing DH brought home and which just happens to fit perfectly into the front opening of the Hayven, more and longer runs just like it will be available starting this evening when DH completes delivery of them from some silly job site or other useless place he seems to prefer over time spent with His Oneness. Seriously, I'm going to have to talk to that man!

I have never seen Keating more excited or in tune with anything else we've submitted for his approval. And he does not disapprove - unless I fail to place treats at the opening at regular intervals. And then, well, it's a stampede followed by a retreat in reverse which is totally cool. Below, he's polishing off a dried cherry.

So, party on Mr Bunnyman and Happy Bunniversary!

Barbara Crafton Sunday

2011-11-12T22:00:00.002-06:00

Today's homily is from Barbara Crafton. I love how it speaks to me in these troubled times, telling me I'll always be more than what my circumstances happen to be at any given moment.

Frozen By Fear

For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.
-- Matthew 25:29

This is not a description of God's unfairness.. It is not a description of what ought to be. It's a description of what is -- those who have more multiply their wealth much more easily than do those in the grip of poverty. Poor people have a hard time with risk: they live in an all-or-nothing world that little resembles the cushioned reality of those with more money. Reverses of fortune will come to everyone, but they will not be fatal to everyone. A rich entrepreneur may lose a larger amount in a risky endeavor gone bad, but the smaller amount a poor one loses may be all there is.

So grow while you can. Risk whenever you can bring yourself to do so. Be bold, even when everything in you trembles with fear at your own boldness. Commit to growing, for if you do not, you will surely shrink.

Misfortune makes us fear more misfortune. Instinctively, we contract. In every arena of human experience, the same: unlucky in love, we refuse to love again, and doom ourselves to a life of loneliness. Unemployed and unrewarded in the search for work, we yield to our discouragement and stop looking. Unable to control our eating, our drinking, our gambling, our shopping -- we give up, turning our fate over to the demon of addiction who desires our death. Unable to endure our physical pain, we refuse the therapy that will help to vanquish it. It's no use, we tell ourselves bitterly, and this feels like common sense.

This is not sin. It is just the way we are. It's just our weakness -- fear guts us. Boldness is in short supply when we've been hollowed out by brutal history, whether by our own hand or another's. A power greater than our own is needed when we can't seem to do anything but curl up in a ball and wait for the end, and the courage needed to call on that power is huge.

It is a courage beyond us. We're fresh out of courage. But we're not out of desperation -- we have plenty of that. I've come to the end of my rope, we say. I am powerless. But if there is Anyone out there, come into me now. Stiffen me so I can stand again. Help me take the first step into my new life when the old one lies in shards around my feet.

My own lack of courage does not determine the sum of courage in the universe. Some of humanity's greatest achievements arose from the ashes of defeat. God enters human history, powerful but silent, almost invisible -- we look up in the darkness and see a glimmer of light.

Copyright © 2011 Barbara Crafton

And from my pal Carri Ann:

Seeing Double*

2011-11-10T12:50:00.003-06:00

Why just one bunner when you can have two

greeting you when you arrive home (not my front porch, but...),

blooming in all seasons...

even earning their keep?
I'm beginning to think there's just no reason at all.

*This post is brought to you by Special K (Keating) who was recently neutered - just in case we wanted to see real live double buns on a regular basis.

Although, I'm pretty sure he'll be the judge of that...

Footprints In The Sand

2011-10-01T18:27:00.003-05:00

We had lunch at Felix's Fish Camp Grill today. After I finished my meal I walked around to explore their amazing complex of ancient doors and shutters and found an outdoor bar downstairs - open only at night? - with a sand floor covered in footprints.

The sand on the side of the bar closest to the mud flats of Mobile Bay? A virtual highway of coon paw prints.

They must come out after closing time to scavenge - or maybe they're just dancing along with everyone else.

Sky Watch Friday: Juvenile Osprey - Mom, Is That You?

2011-09-29T07:05:00.002-05:00

Late Monday afternoon, under a clear blue sky out at Ft Pickens on Pensacola Beach, this medium-sized little bear was cheeping away while I was shooting with my telephoto from a fair distance. I'm wondering if the object the arrow is pointing to is Mom? As plaintive as Baby Osprey's calls were, someone was expected - and it wasn't me. The damaged trees are from Hurricane Ivan that blew through 7 years ago this month.

Fly here to join in this week's Sky Watch Friday.

An Afternoon At Ft Pickens: Aperture Setting

2011-09-26T19:18:00.002-05:00

(Click to enlarge)

Woosh!

Do You Know This Dog?

2011-09-21T12:15:00.006-05:00

This is my new pal, Mr Dog. We recently became acquainted because he's living on the porch of an un-rented home in my neighborhood and he sometimes roams so I've had a few close encounters with him. Don't get me wrong, he hasn't done anything wrong, it's just that a few years ago this happened to Ranger when a stray pit bull got a hold of him.

The image is from a scanned document so, not that clear.

Ever since then I've had a primal fear of roaming dogs of any sort but I want to overcome that because I care about animals - we rescued Ranger from starving to death in a culvert in Alabama - and I want to do more than write checks to rescue groups who do everything they can to prevent stray animals from being put down. So for the last two days I've been leaving food and water for Mr Dog but have been unable to approach him directly, just from my car which is how I got this picture. He looks well cared for and has a collar but I can't tell if he has tags and I think that the two of us meeting in fear might create a long-lasting negative experience for both of us so I've been posting on Craigslist, Facebook, Pet Come Home, and Pensacola Hotel For Dogs And Cats. I've only had one response so far and it was for a lost dachshund. I am feeling less afraid the more I interact with him but based on my reaction when Ranger and I encountered him by accident this morning, I still have a long way to go. My biggest fear by far, though, is that Animal Control will get to him before his owner does. We're printing flyers today and putting them up around the neighborhood. And praying. Let me know if you think you know who he might belong to, I want nothing more than to see him get home to his owner.

Foody Friday: Orange

2011-08-04T18:55:00.002-05:00

Non-gluten sweet potato cookies.

Shinseiki pear preserves

Homegrown cantaloupe

Monday Bunday: Caption This

2011-07-31T15:52:00.003-05:00

The Caterpillar Farm: Part Three: Black Swallowtail Rises

2011-07-27T12:52:00.006-05:00

Bonus: Can you spot the two perfect hearts?

We had another release last night. I didn't find him until very late, after midnight, just as I was going to bed and I wasn't thinking clearly so I'm glad I have some video of the event so I can reinterpret his behavior. I thought he was weak and couldn't fly properly but he was just disoriented by the clear plastic and it was too slippery for him to climb the walls. Mr Swallowtail didn't have any problem with my hand and was actually extremely friendly, in fact, on the first release attempt he flew back to me and then zoomed back inside and disappeared. I was pretty frantic for a while until I found him on top of my china closet. He flew aimlessly for a bit but finally accepted my finger again and I think he might have stayed indefinitely but I was sleepy so out he went and this time, Mr Butters was gone.

Seen from above.

Through the side of the terrarium.

I transferred him into this one because his original digs were icky from all the frass (caterpillar poo).

Just lovely to hold, he seemed very aware of his surroundings.

Check out the Life Cycle of the Black Swallowtail Butterfly here.

Monday Bunday: Buntockular: A Week Of Firsts

2011-07-24T23:34:00.003-05:00

There's nothing remarkable about this photo, except it's the very first time I've seen Keating in a frog pose so for me it's pretty special. Also this week was another first, he chinned some twigs stuck along the border of our south side vegetable plot. Yep, our first chinning as well. All in all, a pretty big week here in Bunloafia. I guess it's the little things that count.

I think he was pretty blissed out from munching his willow tunnel.

You can't see his head because it was torqued aaaaaaaall the way over trying to reach that sweet spot...

Friday Flower: Purple: Passion Flower Vine

2011-07-23T15:09:00.005-05:00

Bonus! After bfarr's comment I went looking for recipes and found these:

Maypops Squash

4 cups maypops, halved
3/4 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick, halved 1 whole clove
2-1/2 cups water
1/4 cup lemon juice
Combine the maypops, sugar, cinnamon stick, clove, and water and bring to a boil. simmer gently for 5 minutes. Put through a strainer, pressing fruit to extract all the juice. Add the lemon juice, and chill well before serving. Makes 4 servings.

Maypops Jelly

2 cups ripe maypops, sliced
1 cup water 2-1/2 cups sugar
1-3/4 ounces pectin
Combine the Maypops and water, and boil gently for 5 minutes. Then strain, discarding the pulp. Combine the liquid and sugar and bring to full rolling boil. Add pectin, and again bring to rolling boil. Remove from heat, pour into hot, sterilized jars, and seal. Makes 2-1/2 pints.

Rain

2011-07-22T10:49:00.004-05:00

We've had a drought this year but now the rains have finally arrived.

I've really missed my ginger lilies, elephant ears, and banana trees leafing out in all their green goodness.
They always tell when me when it's summer time.

Monday Bunday: Undercarriage

2011-07-18T17:39:00.003-05:00

It isn't often you get to see a bunneh's belleh.
Snorgglicious!

Doofy Dog Sunday

2011-07-16T23:11:00.004-05:00

This is from our early evening 4th of July walk at Marcus Bayou and Ranger was mos def feeling the heat. He has a severe allergic reaction to even a single flea and, tragically, we've decided to groom him ourselves now so his brittle fur looks as though it's been run over by a very small, dull, and wobbly lawn mower. Ranger isn't all that thrilled about this latest development but he doesn't seem to mind too much unless we touch his front legs which are very sensitive. I will get better at it, he just has to hang in there a little longer. I hope.

The Caterpillar Farm: Part Deux: Black Swallowtail Begins

2011-07-14T19:49:00.002-05:00

One of the things I've learned about raising butters is that when they get ready to find that perfect spot to pupate they like to wander off so it's best to keep a lid on things. This one transformed itself on the outside of the terrarium

and escaped into the dining room.

DH found her when he was spraying down the roof of the house on a hot day.

Another one was never found and I have to think one of our four legged residents may have had a snack - although, they are not supposed to be tasty at all.

I wonder if you can send out a "Butterfly Alert" à la Batman?
And what would they do when they arrive? Maybe wrap their delicate wings around your shoulders?

We carefully captured her and then...

Free, free at last! It happened very quickly and she seemed to disappear into thin air. Quite exhilarating.

Grillin'

2011-07-12T19:15:00.000-05:00

Summer = it's time to grill - provided you don't buy free range charcoal which is so big and chunky you have to break it up first with a sledge hammer to get it to fit into your little grill. But, once the hired help/husband has done that it's time to break out the olive oil, salt, pepper, and Tony Chachere and get serious about roasted veggies.

We grilled homegrown:

figs topped with feta cheese and wrapped in our fresh basil leaves
summer squash
cucumbers
baby bell peppers
baby butternut squash

Store bought comestibles:

Applegate andouille sausage
red onions

My favorites:

grilled figs with feta, consider the basil optional - amazingly tasty
cucumbers - divine
summer squash - divine
baby butternut squash - scrumptious

Another night: tomatoes, cucumbers, and baby eggplant, maybe more andouille sausage. I might need rehab before it's all over.

Dear Prudence Sunday

2011-07-09T15:34:00.003-05:00

Chinese proverb: Society prepares the crime, the criminal commits it.

Lately it seems that the news has been awash with incidents of extreme sexual misconduct: Anthony Weiner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Casey Anthony, Dominique Strauss-Kahn,. Or is it - extreme? I don't think they did anything unusual so much as they just got caught. And then we judged them and weighed the evidence and adjudicated as we saw fit, then maybe we were outraged when the verdict didn't go our way or the story didn't just go away. I know I did, and was.

What fascinates me in particular is the idea that the accuser has to be, STILL, in this day and age, the political, intellectual, and moral better, the victim. Prostitution? There was talk of money to be made? Comes from a third world background where sex is a commonly traded survival commodity? Being the Casey Anthony of Hotel Sofitel? Tsk tsk. I'm guessing college educated financiers and their ilk never behave beneath their station or profit from our perception of their inherent respectability in a way that might have them behave in reprehensible ways behind closed doors. Personally, I believe inequality will always be with us so let's focus on the real issue here: misuse of power. I think we can all agree that Casey Anthony and her family misused their power and that Arnold and other powerful men are capable of objectifying and victimizing women and they often do. After all, why else be powerful? What else is there to be gained?

For me the primary issue, the gain here, is force. Rape. Abuse. Murder. Lies. I'm willing to bet some good money that on any given day people with real power say and do things that us ordinary folk would find mind crushingly revolting but these mongers are usually well dressed and well spoken and they don't make their living cleaning toilets for crying out loud. Still, on one particular day, for whatever reason, one of them might underestimate their intended victim and then they, and we, find out just how inflated their self-importance really is. Feeling duped and perhaps somewhat duplicitous if we're really being honest with ourselves, we seek justice/revenge.

Luckily, the justice system found Casey Anthony innocent. Not because she actually is but because the even hand of the law requires not a show of force but proof beyond a reasonable doubt and the prosecution didn't do that. Maybe the Strauss-Kahn incident can turn out differently so let's give it some time, let everyone have a field day with it until the legal system finds out whether it has the stomach for it and will allow jurisprudence to step in. But then, I imagine the jury's verdict will mostly matter because we'll want it to turn out the way we predicted.

The Caterpillar Farm: Part One: The Fennel Perch

2011-07-06T15:07:00.003-05:00

One of the vegetables I planted this year was fennel, the host plant for Black Swallowtail Butterflies. I became absloutely giddy when I saw my first female arrive to lay her eggs, tiny golden specks on the lacy stalks...

and since then I've had varying degrees of success at raising the larvae as I've studied and learned from their behavior.

I'll be sharing my observations on how to foster and release them over several posts...

but for now, enjoy caterpillars in their First Instar Stage. In this particular scheme I inverted a glass florist's frog and pushed the stems of the fennel through. I works really well, easy to replenish with fennel and water...

while they're munching away, encased in terrariums in my dining room, getting ready to pupate and then fly away.

Ranger ♥'s The 4th of July

2011-07-05T15:37:00.003-05:00

Ranger loves to bark at fireworks, if we didn't keep him on his leash I truly believe he would try to eat them...

ARF!

Around The Garden, After The Rain

2011-07-01T21:17:00.004-05:00

Overall,
the yard isn't that pretty,
the drought has taken it's toll,

but there are places for rabbits to scamper,

there is food to be harvested,

and there is beauty -
despite it all.

Bon Appétit!

2011-05-11T12:31:00.000-05:00

I usually repost my banners at the bottom of a relevant post but today I'm just going to repost the past few and while I retain the copyright feel free to click on them to enlarge and download them for your own personal use

Bon appétit!

Monday Bunday: A Mother's Day

2011-05-09T13:24:00.009-05:00

I woke up on Mother's Day to find a beauteous magnolia blossom, the only strawberry in the garden, and a hand written note from DH. When DB came over he gave me a card and a Midnight Milkyway and let me cook for him. To be fair, he trimmed the green beans and sliced the summer squash, unfairly he tried to eat the Milkyway but I'm happy to say that it's still on the kitchen counter. Of course I let him have an extra slice of brownie pie to compensate for his loss. DH grilled the flank steak and the chicken and the entire collaberative meal was excellent, my company engaging. I have to say that all in all it was about as perfect a Mother's Day as I've ever had.

As for the magnolia, it slowly closed up over the course the day and then slowly reopened for business as usual this morning.

This is it's current state, big and beautiful and yet, so fragile.

Who ate the strawberry?

PS This is an add-on to the post: I almost forgot, this was the big gift...handmade. I love it.

The Weekend In Black & White: The Easter Lily That Wouldn't Bloom

2011-05-06T14:13:00.002-05:00

Is this:

An angelic moment in the garden here at Piazza Uccello...

or a scene from The Day of the Triffids ?

You decide.

See all the other Monochrome Maniacs here.

Sepia Scenes: Hummingbird Chimes

2011-05-04T20:10:00.007-05:00

This once belonged to my late mother in law and I have hung it on the back porch so I can hear it all during my day as I go in and out of the house.
I like the gentle sound of the chiming, very sweet.

Visit Sepia Scenes here, hosted by Mary T.

The Repurpose Driven Life

2011-05-03T13:55:00.003-05:00

Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I'm a dedicated DIY'er. So when I decided to go looking for landscaping ideas after an appointment in the East Hill district, my ears pricked up and my radar was on full alert when I saw that the residents had put out scads of paint cans and gardening toss-offs along with a melange of perfectly cured junk. It was sitting on the right-of-way in front of their homes, all part of a program I later found out is called STEP, but right then a program of my own began to form: I'm driving the pickup. I like freebies. A good neighborhood = worthy castoffs. Maybe an involuntary Squee! has escaped my lips but I vow to only get things I ~~want~~ need. The name for this: The Repurpose Driven Life and I am a charter member.

I began by acquiring some very nice lattice pieces, then ~~some~~ a lot of pots for flowers, vegetable gardening and seedlings, followed by several perfectly good soaker hoses and a Rubber Maid cart that needed and got a minor repair on a wheel.

Eventually, I got some really good, flat out "stuff." I've been wanting a swinging baby gate for the Bunny Man's room and this one is in pristine condition. Also, this squat little carrier is perfect for transporting him to and from the vet because it keeps him from bouncing around and getting hurt if I have to brake hard, neatly solving a special challenge for us indentured bunneh servants.

I confess to you now, I made two trips. But that's only because I have a pressure washer and I know how to use it. Or maybe I have ORD (Obsessive Repurposing Disorder)? Either way, I saved all of it from going straight to the landfill so in the end no harm, no foul. I do take requests.

POV Sunday

2011-05-01T16:37:00.005-05:00

Someone can take away your dignity, your car, maybe your pain, certainly your trash, but what they can never take away is your point of view. In this post there are several: the blogger's, dear reader's, a married couple together and individually, a fugitive, police officers, EMT's, a K-9 dog, a helicopter pilot, one or two dispatchers I would imagine and, finally, some concerned family members. And they all came together one night last week for less than an hour. This isn't about saying what you would you do, it's about what you do when life just happens.

A woman knocks on our front door in the early evening and a three-way conversation ensues. It's still light out. I observe her while we all stand on our front porch and I can see she is in some sort of quiet distress as she uses our phone to call and then wait on a Yellow Cab. She has no purse or backpack, just the clothes she's wearing and she stands with her back against the wall. I go back inside to finish fixing supper and to think but my husband waits with her which makes me increasingly uncomfortable. Before too long he tells me a helicopter is flying overhead and a K-9 dog is searching the woods behind our home. I go back outside to find our quiet corner of the world is slowly morphing into an Op Center. Our visitor is in plain sight but time passes and confusion and uncertainty increases as more vehicles, people, and police cars gather on our street. An ambulance arrives. There's a lot of activity going on but nothing is happening. It's dark now and family members are with her. Eventually, she is definitely the focus of everyone's attention at which point she becomes distraught but isn't arrested or detained - not that we saw. We watch for a time and eventually the crowd dissipates. Before we head inside her family thanks us, but for what we don't know.

(click to enlarge)

I can tell you that I heard her first name and figured out her last name and managed to find some mug shots of her online but none, so far, for this moment in her life. How you can search for someone when she's in your line of sight I can't say. Whatever she did to bring so much attention to herself, I'm sure some people pay publicists good money for that.

Deep Thoughts With Keating: Dishing About The Royal Wedding

2011-04-28T17:54:00.004-05:00

Hi, Keating here with a few words about the Royal Wedding. As you know, tomorrow is the big day when Kate and Bill jump the carrot and then bump noses and groom each others' ears as a married couple. I simply adore the elegance and panache of English period dramas and I'm sure this will be no exception, in fact I expect it to exceed my expectations on a massive scale. Since I'll be up at 6:00 AM anyway I am full on anticipating seeing all the greenery, the antique floor-level chewing stations at Windsor Castle, and their first binky together. Hot cross buns are, of course, much later in the day and will prolly be a special, private moment so we'll all just have to think of England at that hour, as I'm sure they will be doing.

Actually, I just wanted an excuse to show you my eyelashes.

~~Kate~~ Catherine, eat your heart out.

A Room With A View

2011-04-27T21:53:00.007-05:00

Just a few weeks ago this corner of our yard was filled with 6 or 7 compost bins, an abandoned bathtub*, concrete blocks, tiles, bricks, landscaping cloth, a utility trailer, and other assorted detritus. As of today it has been raked clean, bordered with cast iron plants, has a slab of decking waiting to be repaired and perfectly positioned, and, luckily for me, an Adirondack swing DH just finished building that will be hung from the branch of a live oak tree. This area is actually dark and shady for most of the day but here it's lit up with the ozone lighting, smell, and ambiance from the massive tornadoes that passed just to the north of us today. It looks out from the northwest across all of Piazza Uccello and after I transplant lots of our wild violets, put in flagstone, build trellises to hide the ugliness of the west side fence, add maybe some wisteria then, then, I'll spend a lot of time there just a'swingin'.

Easter Bunday

2011-04-23T19:21:00.004-05:00

In this part of the world Easter falls on the first Sunday on or after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. This is actually the short and easy formula, Christianity's history of the Easter Season being far more complex, but it suffices to say that this ever-changing date from year to year reflects in part its pagan and agrarian roots and I'm fine with that as well as the attending secular rabbitty idolatry. I see no need to reinvent the wheel when the human mind - given some intelligent direction - does such a fine job of processing archetypes to gain deeper understanding about the human condition. The Christian faith could do much worse and I appreciate it all the more for remaining true to its cultural roots.

As a practicing Christian my love of Jesus is deep and abiding and the church where I worship nourishes me in ways that I can't experience elsewhere but I often find my religion troubling and it sometimes shames me that it's the source of hatred and violence. A few months ago I took up housekeeping with a handsome rabbit I've named Keating (after Fr Thomas Keating) and in doing so I made a commitment to calmness, quiet, and respect for his non-predatory behavior, so very different from the behavior of our cat or dog. An abandoned Easter bunny when first we met nearly two years ago I've come to suspect his sedate, professorial demeanor has cancelled out any bad feelings he had about being forced to live a feral existence for all those months when no one was allowed to rescue him. Lucky for me he's here now and for forever and I find him to be wise, always tender and forgiving, and very patient while teaching me the meaning of Easter every single day.

Whatever your beliefs we hope this Easter Bunday brings you some peace, a thought to forgiveness, and, especially, to healing renewal.
And Keating sends you his very best schnozzle bumpies. And his delicate whisker kisses. Yeah.

Springy

2011-04-21T22:42:00.001-05:00

(banner drop)

Take A Walk On The Wet Side

2011-04-19T21:17:00.002-05:00

We have a cat water vampire. Be it shower drippage, rain puddles, garden hose windfalls, watering cans he can stick his whole head into, indoor fountains, the rabbit's water dish, the dog's water dish, our drinking glasses, just any moving or still water source other than his own water dish, Sweet William Grey will be there. Today he visited the vet to get his teeth cleaned which meant he couldn't have anything to eat or drink after 10:00 PM last night. He came home late this afternoon and headed straight for the nearest H2O source: the misting hose that runs along the top of the vegetable plots.

I think he quite liked it.

Shadow Shot Sunday #147: Shelter Sunday

2011-03-13T10:30:00.004-05:00

We are thinking about and praying for all of Japan today, as we will be doing for many days to come.

After The Storm

2011-03-09T22:22:00.000-06:00

We had a major storm move through today.

The neighbor's pear tree, towering and in full bloom, sweetly dropped it's petals all over our bamboo.

Our pear tree, even after several years, is still a juvenile. Maybe it needs some B vitamins?

The First Signs Of Spring(ing)

2011-03-06T13:46:00.007-06:00

Greetings from The South! We wanted to let y'all know that Spring is on it's way (and yes, that's a trio of newly laid Bluebird eggs) so hang in there.

Francis Keating McTousle the Episcobun

gives a demonstration of Spring's restorative powers.

Hallelujah Chorus Sunday

2010-12-25T19:44:00.004-06:00

(Be sure and turn up the volume!)

We hope you had a good one, Merry Christmas everyone!
(I scored this from Jan of Murrieta 365 fame. Thanks, Jan!)

Sometimes You Don't Know What You've Got 'Til It's Gone

2010-10-06T14:42:00.015-05:00

They paved paradise
And put up an overpass...

(looking to the southwest, the Sauce graffito is back and to the left)

My Theme Day posting alluded to these murals and I wish the photographs were better but I only had a short amount of time to shoot and didn't check my ISO setting, it should have been higher. C'est la vie.

The primary importance of these columns is that they're part of the destruction of the Tremé neighborhood in New Orleans. Volumes could be and have been written about the unique status of the Tremé neighborhood and how it eventually helped to create and shape jazz culture. Today, it's once vibrant business district is in ruins.

In the 1950's and 1960's large sections were razed and in the 1970's I-10 was routed through it echoing the senseless urbanization of African American communities begun by Robert Moses in New York City in the 1930's. One of the most important figures in modern American history, his influence has reached far and wide and has been felt in virtually every significant urban culture on earth.

I think it's interesting to note that what graffiti is present - you can see it in the lower left hand corner of the banner - doesn't intrude into the mural, it stops just short of it. This community, in an incredibly run-down condition from what we saw during our drive, needs this beauty. Bloom where you're planted?

View Larger Map
You can click on the upper right hand corner, the radio button is mostly hidden, to get rid of the directions bubble. I think we were further to the northeast along I-10 than the red flag indicates.

For The Beauty Of The Earth: Green Sunday

2010-10-02T18:00:00.005-05:00

Theme Day: Graffiti

2010-10-01T11:38:00.006-05:00

This photograph was taken this summer in New Orleans and I thought it was perfect for theme day for two reasons:

across the street from this abandoned building, painted just so this tag would stand out, are a dozen or so fabulous murals completely untouched by graffiti (more on that later) and...
in a city known for its delectable cuisine someone chose "Sauce" as their tag. I'm living vicariously here...

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Sky Watch Friday: Big Lagoon State Park

2010-09-30T14:32:00.007-05:00

From the archives, taken nearly two years ago.

Fly here to join in this week's Sky Watch Friday.

JDR, Sr, 1926-2010, Sunday

2010-09-25T17:08:00.012-05:00

Giant Swallowtail

2010-09-23T18:30:00.010-05:00

Thirst

2010-09-20T12:15:00.033-05:00

We need rain, and lots of it, but not just because of the prolonged heat. I'm drawing some broad conclusions here but it's been my observation that during times of drought I can water my garden all I want but it's mostly for show: I'll see some growth but it's all mean and stingy and colicky and then the rain commences and the garden comes to life. More than that, it grows by leaps and bounds like it's playing catch-up. So what was missing I wondered: fertilizer? classical music? having my local county extension agent over for a pep talk?

Since I started dabbling in fermented foods like homemade sauerkraut and hearth baked bread I've learned that in order for the good and necessary bacteria to fully deliver on their promise of providing the best tasting and healthiest foods (as well as saving me time and effort by reducing the number of failed attempts) I have to use filtered water that has removed the bacteria killing chlorine. Taking that idea out into the great outdoors and if you believe what *Bonnie Bassler has to say - and I do - you might conclude - as I have - that water from my kitchen tap, shower head, and my sprinkler kills the bacteria that helps my bread rise, my body properly function, and my garden grow the way it was intended to grow.

So where my garden is concerned I'm thinking that if I can't have rain I would settle for good well water or an inline water filter and furthermore, I now think of fertilizer, while being very beneficial, as overrated. Maybe good composted soil with all it's beneficial bacteria, watered au naturel is more critical? Fertilizer as addendum, so to speak. So until I get that well - not likely - or get the filter - very likely - I'll pray for rain and then let Nature do what She does best and then sit back and look at all that good green stuff.

Update: Jean mentioned using a water collection system and I agree. Here's one I'm familiar with:

Kinda cute but I want something less obvious for a front of the house. I guess we'll grow a vine there.

*I first saw this video on my blogging buddy Ilex's Homesteading In A Condo blog, a compendium of smart organic gardening practices and of food preparation using fermentation.

The Force Of Love Sunday: In Memory Of Someone Who Has Passed

2010-09-18T18:00:00.025-05:00

Explication of an Imaginary Text

by James Galvin

Salt is pity, brooms are fury,

The waterclock stands for primordial harmony.

The spruce forest, which is said to be

Like a cathedral

Indicates proliferation of desire.

The real meaning of the beginning

Will not become clear until later, if ever.

Things no longer being what they were,

Artifice poses as process,

The voice is tinged with melancholy.

The teacup, the brass knuckles, and the pearl-handled razor

Resist interpretation

As if to say

That half the wind is in the mind

And half in the mind of the wind.

Speaking through the character

Who comes to faith on his deathbed,

The author makes apology

For saying things he didn’t mean.

Little girl-cousins with ribbons in their hair

Confuse him with their names and are carried away

By laughter. Thus,

The force of love comes from belief,

Hate is from lack of doubt.

Paradox by paradox the narrative proceeds

Until half the stars are absolute tears.

The other half are mirrors.

Shadow Shot Sunday: Lantana

2010-09-17T18:00:00.014-05:00

Check out all of this week's shadowy goodness at Hey Harriet and meet Tracy, the host of Shadow Shot Sunday.

Breaking News From The Garden

2010-09-16T16:10:00.001-05:00

This just in...

there's some curling

unfurling

spinning

and spurting goin' on.

All photographed this past Tuesday.

Little Bird In A Big Tree

2010-09-15T16:20:00.001-05:00

This hummer landed just as I finished adjusting my focus on the butterfly milkweeds that came into bloom this past week. Most visitors feed there during the middle and brightest time of the day, not the best hours for photography, especially with my only "so-so" zoom lens, but I thought I would give it a go. I don't know if she's a ruby throated hummingbird, maybe a black chinned? When I look at her dark feets and the dark underside of her tail feathers in the last frame I'm reminded of a black footed ferret.

She got spooked and flew off into a nearby live oak and didn't come back while I was working so I felt terribly lucky to have gotten these.

The Daintiness Of Butterflies

2010-09-14T13:26:00.009-05:00

A sulfur butterfly laying her eggs on a cassia alba plant.

S'More Thoughts On Banana Trees

2010-09-12T18:00:00.010-05:00

Cavendish

This is the most popular dessert banana in the world and they grow in my yard because they came with my home; I have blogged about them many times, as recently as last week. Since I moved them to their present location they've happily multiplied and though I'm still in the early stages of developing my banana franchise, I think we're on track for a big banana payload. My neighbor's tree is in a dismal location under a live oak where it has managed to produce some fruit without any care at all. Barring a big freeze and perhaps in spite of one, we stand a good chance of having some ripe bananas on the table some time next year. Let's just say that all paws are crossed.

(a real banana boat)

Red Variegated Leaf

I saw these everywhere I went when I was in New Orleans this summer: this miniature is from the courtyard at my hotel

and these were near Magazine St.

Red Abyssinians maybe? Sumatrans? I don't know their names or if they even bear fruit but since I prefer small red bananas to everyday yellows I'm going to have to look into it. I bet I would be happy to have one no matter what they did.

Ae Ae

If I was really serious about growing banana trees I would gladly settle for one of these beauties. Go ahead and click, this is one link you won't regret. And note that the fruit is beautifully variegated as well. Pups are priced at around $200.00 and move steeply upwards with only a 50% chance of a survival rate. I'm seriously thinking about saving up for one, when it comes to banana trees I think I'd rather live dangerously.

Teresa Lewis Sunday

2010-09-11T18:00:00.003-05:00

Jesus ministered to the poor, the sick, and the disenfranchised. As a Christian I believe that we will and should be judged as individuals and as a society by the way we have treated those who are least able to defend themselves, especially in the ways that we dispense justice and mercy to men, women, and children who have violated another's human rights and don't fully understand their actions because of their own severe mental limitations.

Teresa Lewis is scheduled to die by lethal injection on September 23, 2010, and while there are irrefutable facts in this case - by her own admission she was involved in the grisly murder of her husband and stepson - it is also irrefutable that Teresa Lewis is poor, uneducated, and has an IQ of approximately 70.

Teresa Lewis

(I looked for but could not find a copyright for this photo.
It is not mine.)

The actual murderers, who singled her out because they knew she could be easily manipulated in an insurance fraud scheme, received life sentences as part of their plea bargain, and after the trial bragged about how they had duped her. According to an article in the Huffington Post:

"Three different forensic psychology experts (emphasis is mine) also testified that Lewis had "dependent personality disorder," making it difficult for her to carry out functions as simple as making a grocery list without the support of another person."

I can't imagine the number of indignities Teresa Lewis has suffered over her lifetime and all the people who committed them with impunity.

Despite her obvious limitations she was repeatedly described as a "mastermind" during her trial and by the judge at her sentencing. By all objective accounts this is pure fantasy. It seems to me and many others that Teresa Lewis is being severely punished because she didn't have the presence of mind to consult a lawyer and broker a plea bargain before speaking to investigators and now she has been singled out for a singularly cruel punishment by the State of Virginia, death by lethal injection and we, her supporters, want her sentence commuted to life in prison. It is important to note that she has displayed exemplary behavior during the 7 years that she has been incarcerated. Lynn Litchfield, her chaplain up until last year, speaks movingly about her in this video. Teresa Lewis owned up to her crime from the beginning and has rehabilitated herself through faith. She is known for her calming presence on her cell block and she has also shown deep remorse through the work that she has done with Litchfield.

You can read about her for yourself. Some articles paint her as a one dimensional murderer and some delve more deeply into the details of her case. If you feel moved to do so please contact Governor McDonnell of Virginia via this link which provides information you can put in an email asking that he commute her sentence to life in prison. He was Virginia's Attorney General at the time she was prosecuted so a commutation of her death sentence doesn't seem very likely. The last time the state of Virginia executed a woman was nearly a century ago. Why, everyone wants to know, start again.

Sky Watch Friday: The Drive Home On I-10

2010-09-09T11:40:00.005-05:00

Fly here to join in this week's Sky Watch Friday.

Banana Trees

2010-09-06T22:55:00.036-05:00

Last year I transplanted all of the Cavendish banana trees that were growing beside our back deck to a spot by the backyard fence. They flourished in their new digs but winter brought more than one hard freeze and they were hard hit.

(refresh the page if you want to watch again but get a big white and green arrow)

They've came back bigger and lusher than I ever expected and it's been a fascinating to watch their rapid growth, I think they must be nearing 20'. I spent part of Labor Day afternoon lying under them channeling my son; when he was small he would point out preying mantis eggs, tadpoles, all kinds of things that I couldn't see from my adult height and it was always a gentle reminder that children have their own particular point of view. I assumed I would learn something new about life at Piazza Uccello by lowering my stature as it were and I wasn't disappointed. Right away I started hearing the sound of some small but persistent insects that sounded like miniature crickets (or frogs). The microphone on my Canon S5 IS is sensitive so it sounds like I'm on the side of the road but I was actually a good 250' away.

Some paper wasps were cooling their wee nursery in the fold of one of the leaves.

Later in the day, as I was wrapping up making photographs of the trees, I received a visitor with a decidedly different perspective. One of the reasons he's called Sweet William Grey is he always wants to be where we are. He's 17 years old, has a bad eye, has been living with a health problem for the last eight years, and he's my bud. Just listen to that purring, he wants so much to be petted.

Slide Show: Hotel Le Cirque At Lee Circle, New Orleans

2010-09-05T18:00:00.004-05:00

This would be better had I used a tripod but it was done on-the-fly one night while DH gassed up his work vehicle. The hotel's website shows a completely different light show so I imagine there's a rotating program; in this one some of the color changes are subtle but change they do. The first set of images was made from the upper level of the Robert E Lee Memorial and the second set was made more even with street level, back towards the nearby Exxon gas station. You can orient yourself here at this new map website I found. The backdrop for this shoot was both white and black homeless men spending the night on the upper steps of the memorial while General Lee gazed out at the night sky.

Faith & Doubt Sunday

2010-09-04T18:00:00.003-05:00

Here I Am, Lord

by Michael Chitwood

The ribbed black of the umbrella

is an argument for the existence of God,

that little shelter

we carry with us

and may forget

beside a chair

in a committee meeting

we did not especially want to attend.

What a beautiful word, umbrella.

A shade to be opened.

Like a bat’s wing, scalloped.

It shivers.

A drum head

beaten by the silver sticks

of rain

and I do not have mine

and so the rain showers me.

PPB On The Road: New Orleans: VooDoo Pt 2

2010-09-04T16:07:00.000-05:00

I ate at VooDoo BBQ on St Charles Ave twice and the first time I had the BBQ, straight up. The different meats I tried were superb but the sauces, not so much. I tried them again a few days later and was very impressed: Jamaican jerk, gris gris greens, corn pudding, and toast.

My buddy Albertina accompanied me that day but later lost her life to Red Stripe.

R.I.P. Albertina.

I also did some people watching, some surreptitiously and some, not so much.

He was not thrilled and came over to my table and interrogated me.

I admit it, I dissembled, a bit.

Theme Day: Open Air Market: It's What's For Supper

2010-08-31T15:52:00.015-05:00

I'm certain that this theme day will bring stunning images of delectable foodstuffs, exotic vegetables and fruits, hand-made one of a kind items, flowers so remarkable they will make you swoon, and glimpses into intoxicating foreign cultures. But here at Piazza Uccello what's for supper is me. Earlier today I pulled cypress vine out of a stand of Butterfly Milkweed and another flower whose name I've long forgotten and was rewarded by a shower of nasty, biting ants. If I decide to root around in places I haven't touched all summer I'll be looking for brown widow spiders and other creepy crawlies and near dusk the mosquitoes and no-see-ums will come out. There's no doubt about it, I'm a veritable, movable, open air feast. (click to enlarge the flower and you'll see the ants.)

This showed up after four days of continuous rain. I like to think of them as my soil aerators.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

PPB On The Road: New Orleans: VooDoo Pt 1

2010-08-30T18:00:00.006-05:00

I'm not going to try to explain voodoo, let's just say that it's a staple of New Orleans tourism.

In the French Quarter you can visit Marie Laveau's...

or The Right Reverend Zombie's...

or you can step in here on Canal St as you're leaving...it's all voodoo, all the time, 25/8.

Hear My Witness Sunday

2010-08-27T18:00:00.004-05:00

One of the most important experiences of spiritual formation is telling your story - your spiritual autobiography - in a covenant group. Allowing people to bear witness to your journey is a great gift to them and in return they offer up support, prayers, and understanding for every part of you. That kind of acceptance can heal you in a way nothing else can.

Mondo Bizarro is a group of artists who have created "Hear My Witness" as a way of reshaping the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans through the stories its residents have to tell. Mondo Bizarro's interactive website has a map with links to YouTube videos of residents telling their stories about life, past, and present in what some consider to be the most dangerous neighborhood in New Orleans.

Today is the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and physically, Central City sits on the highest ground New Orleans has to offer.

MPPB On The Road: New Orleans: The French Quarter In Yellow

2010-08-26T18:00:00.018-05:00

Luckily I didn't see the "No Photography" sign until after I caught this two-hat mashup near the French Market, some of them had wire inserts and all of them were machine sewn to create the asymmetry. Loved them but $80.00+.

Put that hat with a tutu and anime. It says "No Photos" again but that doesn't apply on the street. Some places like Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo (not pictured) don't like it at all so wait until night to photograph the exterior. They still might go ballistic but the outside of the shop is pretty cool at night.

Finish up with a ride through the Vieux Carré under a bright yellow carriage top.

I turned a critical eye to the carriage mules (which you've seen previously) and they looked neither happy or unhappy while appearing to be well cared for. That's important and I hope it's true. (I'm coming back to say since publishing this post that this is actually a third mash-up: horse and donkey.)

Plop Plop Snip Snip

2010-08-24T17:45:00.006-05:00

I'm a big fan of the point of diminishing returns, I've made some of my best decisions there and today's PDRD (point of diminishing returns decision) was no exception. What's important to note here is that going green has its limits even if my assistant, the lovely Signorina Alamoro Verde, disagrees. I understand that green as she is she's unable to be objective but decisions, they have to be made.

It all started when we opened shop this morning and, as is her custom, she plopped onto my left shoulder. "Buongiorno!" I cried in greeting. But Signorina Alamoro Verde was all business, setting out on her usual walk-through, making sure everything was as it should be. Then, and only then, was she interested in the project at hand. I admit, I didn't hire her for her conversational skills. She is simply, after all, the loveliest shade of green.

It so happens I had reached a PDRD the previous evening when I stripped the covering on one of my dining room chair seats. It turned out that it was made up of three layers of bad decisions nestled on a bed of kapok that atomized into the surrounding air the instant that I tried to remove it. After a shower and ten minutes of vacuuming I decided this was an outdoor project. Definitely.

So today I set out thinking I would go outside, strip each chair seat, and begin anew with foam and new fabric stapled onto the old board. This way I wouldn't have to cut a new one AND could claim points for recycling. Signorina Alamoro Verde nodded gravely as I explained my plan and donned my dust mask. I began by chiseling loose about 4,000,000 staples and brads along the sides and then cutting through all three layers of the fabric in a cross pattern so I could pull each section off individually along with the 12,000,000 corner staples and brads. Poof! Kapok everywhere. (Did I mention that Signorina Alamoro Verde didn't stick around for this part of the job?) Still, I persevered - and then, I reached the PDR.

There was plenty of plywood in the garage I reasoned and I'm no stranger to power tools. And I don't ever recall thinking I could breathe in sawdust or feel indecently contaminated by it. Into the trash bin the chair seat went. Luckily I have last night's work for a template. As for Signorina Alamoro Verde, live with it she will have to.

Mosaic Monday: Homemade Breads

2010-08-22T19:45:00.000-05:00

From top left clockwise:

grape and raisin pizza
hearth bread cooling
hearth bread wooing
whole wheat sandwich bread

Thanks to Miss Mary, who lives in the Little Red House, today is Mosaic Monday.

Knock on her door and take a tour of her amazing home.

Coliseum Square Park Sunday

2010-08-21T14:34:00.010-05:00

(More effective when enlarged, this isn't my best lens.)

Names We Sing in Sleep & Anger

by Amaud Jamaul Johnson

Like fishermen at dusk, the soldiers returned

from war with stories slumped over their shoulders;

their fingers firm at the knot, the netting, thick

and tangled with the names of the dead.

None could explain how the flood of life all around

them escaped like water from between cupped hands,

how the bodies of men they loved began to crust

the earth like salt, how destruction danced slapdash

and unashamed everywhere, and still they survived.

When I came home from college proud, my educated

mouth agape, a tackle box of words, slick and glossy

and I saw the names of my friends, the young men

I fought with, learned to drink with, and left behind

Lil’ Rocc, Pumpkin, Ulysses, Junebug, Aghoster

names spray-painted throughout our neighborhood

in memoriam, I couldn’t understand how a god

could make one life possible and strip the world

clean of so many, or how, like high-watermarks

the dead remind the living of the coming of storms.

New Orleans Food and Eateries: Pizza Pies Pt 2: The Louisiana Pizza Kitchen

2010-08-18T17:30:00.005-05:00

Tucked in the bend in the road where St Charles Ave turns and leaves the levee along the Mississippi River, morphing into S Carrollton Ave (I'm waxing poetic here), is the Louisiana Pizza Kitchen. There's actually more than one in the city but I think they're all independent establishments. We were so in love with the trolley that we spent a lot of our time cruising St Charles Ave on the Green Line looking for places to eat and that's how we found this one.

View Larger Map

There's really no way to get around the indulgence issue with pizza

but I liked that it was baked in a hearth oven and made the way I've learned to make pizza crusts at home: a mixture of bread flour, water, salt, a little olive oil, a little sweetener, and yeast given time to ferment and rise, then shaped by hand. I'm not much of a meat eater but we wanted to try the andouille sausage add-on to the pepperoni. To reduce the guilt factor there was a salad...

enjoyed by one and all...while the LSU tiger kept a close watch on things.

(banner drop)

If you're in New Orleans and crave pizza, trolley on over.

New Orleans Food and Eateries: Pizza Pies Pt 1: Slice Pizzeria

2010-08-16T18:00:00.017-05:00

I had the good fortune to stay in New Orleans for a week and a half because DH had a big job there. This meant that every night we got to eat somewhere new - carpe per diem! - but sometimes, after a day of working outdoors - in Nawlins - in July - DH was understandably ~~tired~~ wasted. So one evening we walked a short way up the street from our hotel and ate at Slice Pizzeria where I had a Chimay in its eponymous glass - a nice touch.

There were the usual suspects for condiments,

we split a salad,

I photographed single slices and pizza pans while we waited for our pie, (banner drop)

and then we were served a pretty good pizza.

Possibly due to the heat we didn't order many toppings so it proved a little bland, but I did appreciate the crust, not greasy, good and chewy. It was a comfy spot to land, not expensive, and the leftovers filled out my lunch the next day. It was our next to least exciting meal there, an upscale Mexican restaurant, can't recall the name, also nearby, got that award.
Next, Pizza Pies Pt 2: The Louisiana Pizza Kitchen.

Two comment inspired bonus photos:

Star Wars alien about to speak.

What DH builds these days, on the corner of Tulane and Loyola, taken with his cell phone. I believe this shows our son up at the top. Yes, New Orleans is rebuilding, slowly but surely.

"My Song Is Love Unknown" Sunday

2010-08-14T22:00:00.003-05:00

Good morning.

(Zion Lutheran Church on St Charles Ave in New Orleans)

It sometimes happens that God intervenes and you find you don't have the wherewithal to sing, worship, or even to pray. Eventually you ask your faith community to step in and carry your burden for a while, until you're healed and can accept your brokenness. From Unapologetically Episcopalian (a Facebook link):

Samuel Crossman-1664

My church family has saved me from myself more times than I can count.
Without their love and prayers I would be lost to myself so I'm sending out this post to all of them.

Out With The Old And Wonky, In With The Corrugated Painted In Warm Pastels: Doors On Magazine St Down In The Lower Garden District

2010-08-13T17:35:00.006-05:00

While I was off catching up on things, creating ever more chaos and confusion in my life (read: blew out my foot), I did a lot of thinking about blogging and it kept coming back to me that I naturally prefer a more narrative style for my posts. This involves editing several photographs instead of just the one as well as coming up on the accompanying text. It's fairly labor intensive, more like three posts in one, so I've decided to make some changes to the Pensacola Daily Photo Blog.

Firstly, I no longer promise to post daily so, secondly, the blog has a new name. Like the new Fforde Ffiesta, it's kind of a big deal, and something I was considering long before my hiatus but just couldn't commit to. I felt I was wimping out until Pasadena Adjacent, who is plenty smart about these things, gave me a nudge and I decided to make the switch. Thirdly, I plan on taking it a little further by using a different format, something I've wanted to do for donkeys ages, but haven't yet found that perfect template. Actually, Seaside Sharon has the one I want but I don't want to look like a ninny so I'm going to keep looking around for, well, you know. It may involve jumping to Wordpress but I haven't gotten there yet, and anyway, first things first.

I don't know how the Mother Blog will view this, but I hope she'll keep me on. If not, well, I really don't want to think about that just yet so I won't.

Banner Drop

Four Months Away Is Too Long: New Orleans Food and Eateries: Sucré

2010-08-12T18:00:00.001-05:00

I thought I would celebrate my return to blogging by featuring Sucré, a "Sweet Boutique" I found down in the Garden District on Magazine St during my recent stay in New Orleans.

These are the kinds of sweets that you remember long after you've ravished them for the simple reason that they strike a perfect balance between fabulous visual details, ingenious construction, and imparting a subtle sweetness that doesn't leave you with a cloying, sugary aftertaste - they're like a fine wine or liqueur.

I brought money and left breathless after a sampler: "The Tiffany" and two macarons, lemon and hazelnut.

And here's a free bonus, they don't mind if you take some photographs.

Banner Drop

New Orleans Food and Eateries: Mandina's

2010-08-11T10:43:00.010-05:00

Whenever I go to Mandina's on Canal St, the only things I ever order off the menu are...

the Shrimp Remoulade for an appetizer...

the Trout Meuniere for my main course...

and the atmosphere.

Bonus links:
Mandina's after Katrina, she's standing very near where we were seated.

Banner drop:

The Attack Of The Pollen "Thingys"

2010-04-12T18:50:00.004-05:00

'K, so maybe one of my projects isn't what you think it is. Maybe I have "extenuating circumstances". Maybe I parked my car in the driveway and three days later I had this much pollen from my live oak trees on it. Maybe my seasonal allergies are on steroids.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Violets

2010-04-11T00:17:00.006-05:00

I missed photographing white violets. I never noticed them before and didn't realize they had a shorter flowering period so hope to do better next year. And I haven't been posting or commenting as I'm so far behind on several projects that I'm coming up on my backside. I'll be back to regular blogging and visits with everyone soon. So, hope you're all having a splendid spring/fall. Cheers!

Easter Sunday

2010-04-03T21:30:00.003-05:00

These are the Easter lilies on the front porch of The Little Brown House, set there to commemorate the resurrection of Christ...

because today is Easter in the Episcopal Church USA, a member of the Anglican Communion. We are liturgists, congregants who invest in religious ceremony as a statement of our faith. Far from being empty rote words and actions, they bring us closer to Christ, especially on this holiest of days. However you spend today, I hope you find peace and renewal.

Photo By Tash

2010-04-02T21:56:00.005-05:00

Tash, over at Palos Verdes Daily Photo, won my book giveaway and look what I got in return!!!

This is a postcard made from cypress wood that I framed.

Yeah, she knows all about my house rabbit fetish.

Ain't blogging grand?!

The Next Time I Photomerge Sherry's Lunchbox In Milton...

2010-04-01T22:40:00.009-05:00

I'll make sure I shoot every morsel.

It looks to me like someone took a couple of big bites.

I don't think these photos are as vivid as they are in my picture editor, Picasa. Wassup, Google, maybe some of your pixels turned in early tonight?

Christ Church Parlor...

2010-03-31T20:00:00.002-05:00

is a place that's near and dear to my heart. It's where we hold our Prayer Shawl Ministry gatherings, conduct Centering Prayer, and where I have taken part in so many activities that have blessed me in countless ways.

Thanks to the superb fund raising efforts of the ECW (Episcopal Church Women) at our church it is about to receive a long overdue remodeling effort. I'll miss the old parlor but I'm looking forward to the new one, dedicated to and renamed in honor of Doris Gaines who recently passed away. I spent two years in EFM (Education For Ministry) with Doris and came to admire her in so many ways so I'm very happy to see this sea change in her honor. I don't know what the parlor will look like when completed but I know many of the women involved in planning the renovation and I know Doris would approve.

A Rose Is A Rose

2010-03-30T21:59:00.004-05:00

I have these in my kitchen window. They're luscious.

Ouch!: Turkey Vulture Redux

2010-03-29T22:24:00.004-05:00

Maybe this is where turkey vultures go when they die?

I won't publish who this was for, suffice to say that it wasn't me. I've long since sailed over the half-century meridian.

Pryor's Beauty Shop

2010-03-28T23:00:00.001-05:00

Mother Mary Triptych Sunday

2010-03-27T20:00:00.006-05:00

Ozone Pizza

2010-03-26T20:00:00.003-05:00

In Celebration Of The Equinox, Scenes From A Gardening Center

2010-03-25T19:30:00.000-05:00

Sky Watch Friday: At Sunrise Starlings Take Over Whopper World And Each And Every One Of Them Wants It Their Way

2010-03-24T20:00:00.008-05:00

Fly here to join in this week's Sky Watch Friday.

Is This Completely Necessary?

2010-03-23T19:00:00.000-05:00

So, what do the others with you do to pass the time while you're photographing everything in sight?

The Road to Eloe: Pt 5: Tuesday 180°: "The End"

2010-03-22T19:00:00.003-05:00

Today's post is an alternate version of my Friday 180° posts - the day I offer two opposing photographs - as the first photo for today is actually yesterday's last photo, the iconic symbol of rural life: roadkill. The turkey vulture in question was huge and yucky but it's upper wing was making figure eights in the wind so I thought it might take flight at any moment. I had to stop and take a look but it was a goner. I think it collided with something big like an 18 wheeler since there wasn't any sign of a smaller vehicle braking or leaving the road and I think it would have if it had hit a bird that large.

By that time the sun was bright, not the best time of day to get decent photographs, and I decided to head home. Driving along near a gas station at the north end of Milton I discovered this: a contingent of vultures clustered by a drainage pond surrounded by a chain link fence. I don't know exactly how many there were but they were gathered in a tight scrum and appeared to be warming themselves. I tried to find higher footing but in the end had to shoot through the fence if I wanted to get any kind of a shot.

The closer I positioned myself the more agitated they became and several of them took flight, circling round and round the pond. Pretty smart if you ask me. They may have acted instinctively but they knew I couldn't get in and most of them stayed inside the boundary of the fence.

I took hundreds of photographs of them in flight and then decided that it had been a long morning and it was time for a well-deserved nap.

(This travelogue has been brought to you by our sponsors, The Itty Bitty Burrito Committee and The Pixie Horse Herd, seen just before the sighting of the Flight Of The Turkey Vultures.)

The Road to Eloe: Pt 4: Imagine That

2010-03-21T16:05:00.014-05:00

To be honest, if there's a community near Jay like the one that Toni Morrison described in "Tar Baby", I would be very much surprised to see it but she gets kudos for creating it. I don't think there's anything more difficult than imagining what could be and then acting on it to bring it to life. And I wasn't exactly a stranger to the area.

Years ago I worked on a survey crew for a major paper company so there was a time when I was exceedingly familiar with the very rural north end of both Santa Rosa and Escambia Counties. In fact, some of the work we did is part of what you see on the maps everyone takes for granted. So take THAT Google Maps! (You didn't think they went tramping about with machetes wearing gaiters and wading in the water did you?). But I digress.

Even after the sun had climbed in the sky, shining brightly, it was still freezing cold so I didn't get out and explore as much as I would have liked to but reconnoitering by car I found farms typical of the area and a variety of farm related businesses, a mix of the old...

and the new...

the bucolic...

and...

The Road to Eloe: Pt 3: The Ice Field Formeth

2010-03-20T18:47:00.012-05:00

Although I'm not any kind of a morning person, the next day I was up at 4:30 AM to make it to the blueberry farm by sunrise.

I headed east along I-10 and saw the sun begin to rise as I drove across my beloved Escambia Bay Bridge (I worship it)...

to this sign from a billion starlings in downtown Milton on Hwy 90 that told me where to turn north...

to the frozen blueberry field as the sun broke...

which later became a blazing ice field in the full light of day.

(These last two are worth enlarging to see the water arcing through the air.)

We'll see more of this field during Monochrome May.

The Road to Eloe: Pt 2: Sunriset At The Blueberry Farm

2010-03-19T10:46:00.009-05:00

Although it was close to sunset the day I visited some property we have in Milton I decided to at least begin my search for Eloe so I drove north towards Jay, traveling through the countryside. I was definitely enjoying the change of scenery when I came upon the blueberry farm.

I was well aware that the temperature was rapidly dropping when I was photographing the cotton field and by the time I got to the rows of blueberry bushes it was so intensely cool that my hands were freezing. Still, I couldn't stop photographing the blooms, they were so beautiful.

I warmed up in my van a few times but didn't want to miss the opportunity and kept getting back out to take more photographs. Finally, as it became too dark to continue I saw a couple, who turned out to be the owners, cross the highway. After we greeted one another they told me that I should come back in the morning to see the blueberry bushes encased in ice from the sprinklers they were preparing to turn on. The water would freeze and protect the early blooms from that night's frost and I was definitely intrigued.

The Road To Eloe: Pt 1: Sunset On King Cotton

2010-03-18T20:32:00.012-05:00

Some years ago, as I sat in the factual town of Milton, FL, reading Toni Morrison's "Tar Baby" I was fascinated to realize that I was also sitting just a few miles south of the fictional town she wrote about in the novel, Eloe, FL.

Since then I've often wondered if there was any connection between the location of Eloe - which would lie northeast of Pensacola - and the unusual name of the main character, Pecola, in Morrison's first novel "The Bluest Eye".

I've never read anything about Morrison having a connection to NW Florida and I'm probably over-reaching but late one afternoon I set out to find Eloe by driving north out of Milton - which is alluded to but not named in the book - towards Jay, FL, the most likely model for Eloe.

What you see here is what I saw as I began the journey.

Renaissance Faire #3: You've Got Chain Mail

2010-03-17T20:45:00.006-05:00

If you've ever made jump rings for jewelry then you already know how to make chain mail. Sort of.

It's bling for your inner medieval. Making the rings themselves is simple; you wrap a mandrel/rod with the wire and saw down the middle, the rings slide off and then the fun begins.

It's what all the best dressed warmongers wore. Thinking about making chain mail convinces me that life at one time, well, no wonder there were so many church festivals. Who makes it now?

One of my favorite movies is "The Kingdom of Heaven" where all the chain mail was made in China from plastic - still, they weighed 40 pounds apiece. These are all metal and very substantial. Now we have lawyers.

Renaissance Faire #2: The Fairy Queens

2010-03-16T18:00:00.003-05:00

I love her ears, I really do.
The detail in this teenage girl's outfit left me breathless and is worth looking at in the enlargement.

I imagine her boots giving her a boost as she leaps upward and then flits away into the sunset at the end of the day's events.

In case you're wondering, the biohazard sticker was what we all got at the front gate in case we needed to leave to go to the car and come back. I think somebody got a deal on eBay!

Renaissance Faire #1: One Hundred Strangers #19: Buzz & Co

2010-03-13T16:26:00.009-06:00

Ren Faire is always full of unusual sightings, for Pensacola anyway, and once I got inside the gate Buzz and his friend were the first thing that greeted me.

There as one of the Faire goers, Buzz opted for a full-on snake bolo instead of snakeskin boots to complete his look.

Well, I think that about wraps it up.

We're Going Into The Shop

2010-03-09T18:42:00.002-06:00

I wanted to finish my travelogue first, but this old 'puter is having problems so it's going into the shop. We'll see you when we get back!

Town Square, Monroeville, Alabama

2010-03-08T20:24:00.013-06:00

So, this is the part of my trip where I get a little melodramatic.

It's been a while since I read "To Kill A Mockingbird" but I thought that somehow the scene of the trial had to have some footing in this restored courthouse which sits in the middle of the town square.

I arrived after along day, near sunset, and found myself looking at it from across the street for a little while, not sure what to think or do. Some part of me felt that this was important, to visit the fictional home of the fictional Atticus Finch, everyone's real-life hero. Finally, I crossed the street and walked round and round it, looking at the building, the camellias...

and the shops that bordered it.

Until, finally, I found what I was looking for, even though I didn't know it was there.

(click to enlarge)

I drove home in the dark on two lane highways that weren't lit by anything but the sunset and that was a perfect and unexpected end to an amazing day:

The Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum

First United Methodist Church of Montgomery, Alabama

Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts
The Hank Williams Museum and Georgiana, Alabama
Alabama State Highway 84 rustic buildings
Monroeville, Alabama

Broke Down Palace #2 At Sunset

2010-03-07T20:01:00.004-06:00

El Beth El Sunday

2010-03-06T19:35:00.000-06:00

I put the landscape view of The Gates Of Zion in the banner; these, I cropped for detail.

I love seeing these self-styled churches/temples, they're so unpretentious and in-your-face.

Broke Down Palace #1

2010-03-05T19:44:00.003-06:00

Small Town USA - Leaving Georgiana

2010-03-04T18:00:00.002-06:00

If there's one thing that I left Georgiana, Alabama, knowing it's that I had completely forgotten what life was like before Walmart and fast food, or any kind of franchise for that matter. People in Georgiana aren't having it, maybe not by choice, but maybe then, maybe they don't mind either.

Under an overcast winter sky it wasn't a pretty town, the buildings are a little run down but it's clean and it has a train yard in the middle of all that and even better, what's left of the Ga-Ana Theatre, opened in 1930. It looked to me that life in small town Alabama was alive and near well. And here's a souvenir picture postcard to take home with you.

From here we're headed for Monroeville, Alabama and the monument to Atticus Finch, with stops along the way. Woooo-woo!! Aaaaall aboard!!!