Keeping fingers crossed...

Keeping a sharp eye on Hurricane Gustav, which will hit the Gulf Coast Monday morning.

New Orleans has a special place in my heart. Sending prayers, positive thoughts, keeping fingers crossed, maybe invoking protection from the saints -- seems to be all we can do for now.

A house ended...

No, a storm didn’t cause this destruction. This house is being demolished in order to build a new home on the site. Many houses in this part of town date from the 1890s – early 1900s. Many of them were Sears kit homes, bungalow style. The owners of this house originally wanted to add a second story. But after examining the condition of the building, they decided it would be cheaper to demolish and rebuild than to restore.



They have salvaged what they can from the old structure, and say the new house will look very similar to the old, be of the same architectural style. It will be interesting to watch the transformation.

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Old houses mended,
Cost little less than new before they're ended.
~Colley Cibber

School days...

School started today in Boise. I don’t know how old this building is, but I like the “ornamentation” framing the front door.

Soon, the early mornings will bring strains of melodies from the school marching band as they practice the art of marching and playing music, simultaneously.

More coffee, please…

The edge of a petal

Rose petals dropping, one by one -- seems rather poignant, doesn’t it? Marking the end of a good weekend, and coming on the end of summer.

But fall brings such luscious colors and that crisp air. It was over 100 here today. Not being a hot weather kind of person, I’m looking forward to the coolness of autumn.

In accord with roses and gardens, here’s an exquisite book of poetry that came out this summer: Ours: The Gardens of André Le Nôtre, by Cole Swensen. (Le Nôtre was the gardener of King Louis XIV and developed the gardens at Versailles.) Perfect read for an afternoon in a garden.

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It is at the edge of a petal that love waits.
~ William Carlos Williams

Head and hand...

This is in front of one of the houses in the neighborhood. I don’t know who lives here, but the front yard is always interesting. At various times, there have been a mosaic head, a bright purple chair, various banners, metal and wood sculptures. Something always seems to be going on, although we never see anyone when we walk by.



A man is not paid for having a head and hands, but for using them.
-Elbert Hubbard

Un cervo dolce

I happened to catch this mule deer enjoying brunch at the MK Nature Center last weekend. It didn’t seem to mind as I snapped a few photos. Must be used to the Center paparazzi…

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The word "paparazzi" is derived from a character in the Fellini film "La Dolce Vita." The character, a photographer named Paparazzo, reminded Fellini of "a buzzing insect, hovering, darting, stinging."

Fellini's inspiration for the character was the famous Italian "street photographer" Tazio Secchiaroli. Fellini consulted Secchiaroli for research while developing the script for his classic film.
--from Howstuffworks.com

Garden glow

I love how light glows through petals and leaves. And it was a beautiful morning to try and capture it. A treat to be in such an exquisite garden.

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The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses.
~Hanna Rion

I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day.
~F. Frankfort Moore

Drawing conclusions?

Came across this while walking the neighborhood over the weekend. In this part of town, the graffiti is usually limited to a few obscene words here and there in the alleys, and there isn’t much of it. This is different; I wonder what the story is?



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In the dime stores and bus stations, people talk of situations, read books, repeat quotations, draw conclusions on the wall.
-Bob Dylan

Gray hair is God's graffiti.
-Bill Cosby

Some lunkers…

Big fish, aren’t they? They were painted by a group of kids as an educational project at the MK Nature Center. Fun to see the color and design choices of these young artists.

Salmon fillets, anyone?

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I'll love you, dear, I'll love you till China and Africa meet and the river jumps over the mountain and the salmon sing in the street.
-W. H. Auden

Green glow

Lily pads in the sunlight…

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When we recall the past, we usually find that it is the simplest things - not the great occasions - that in retrospect give off the greatest glow of happiness.
~ Bob Hope

Once in a blue moon?

The Blue Moon, in Hyde Park. Packed floor to ceiling with a wide assortment of antiques, including old post cards…

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Remember that the most valuable antiques are dear old friends.
-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

A new discovery...

Here’s some recently discovered sidewalk art. Experts date it from the Jurassic era, but haven’t been able to identify the creature depicted. But they suspect the creatures may have become extinct from the volcanic activity so aptly illustrated.

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Dr. Alan Grant: Oh my God. Do you know what this is? This is a dinosaur egg. The dinosaurs are breeding.

Dr. Ian Malcolm: God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs...
Dr. Ellie Sattler: Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth...

~ from “Jurassic Park”

A little music, please…

Lately I’ve heard some incredible music (on CD since Boise is not a “music mecca”):

The Marcin Wasilewski Trio, January

Bobo Stenson Trio, Cantando

Vince Mendoza, Blauklang

Irma Thomas, Simply Grand

Maria Schneider Orchestra, Sky Blue

All are jazz except for Irma Thomas, the “Soul Queen of New Orleans”, who does it so very well on this CD, accompanied by some of the best blues-jazz pianists around.

Tonight’s photo is in honor of Maria Schneider, who won a Grammy this year for her composition “Cerulean Skies,” which is on Sky Blue. Schneider is an avid birdwatcher and Cerulean Skies is a marvelous, uplifting piece, a “musical poem” of birds migrating to Central Park in the spring.

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A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.
~Leopold Stokowski

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
~Berthold Auerbach

Heading for the finish line

In going with the theme of Katie’s blog and the Olympics, here is another group of swimmers :)

Hopefully none of these is divined to be a Mandarin Duck in the future…

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If you should rear a duck in the heart of the Sahara, no doubt it would swim if you brought it to the Nile.
~Mark Twain

When the earth floods from global warming, the swimmers will rule the world.
~Author Unknown

Another way to swing

A perfect spot to take a break with a book and a cold drink…

I like the linear movement of this photo. A visual poem. A good way to swing into the weekend.

Angel, by Nobody

Sidewalk art I came across during a walk…

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The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone.
~George Elliot

I'm no angel, but I've spread my wings a bit.
~Mae West

Another take on hair care...

Looks like Vince has some competition. Clever name for a salon, don’t you think??

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Life is an endless struggle full of frustrations and challenges -- but eventually you find a hair stylist you like.
~Author Unknown

A hair in the head is worth two in the brush.
~Oliver Herford

An enlightened Cosmos

Sunlight on the Cosmos…

Cosmos bipinnatus, also known as the Mexican Aster.

According to plantanswers: Spanish priests grew cosmos in their mission gardens in Mexico. The evenly placed petals led them to christen the flower "Cosmos," the Greek word for harmony or ordered universe.

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We and the cosmos are one. The cosmos is a vast body, of which we are still parts. The sun is a great heart whose tremors run through our smallest veins. The moon is a great gleaming nerve-centre from which we quiver forever. Who knows the power that Saturn has over us or Venus? But it is a vital power, rippling exquisitely through us all the time…
~ D.H. Lawrence

In a sea of glass

A bench we discovered while walking through downtown Eagle, Idaho.

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A trout in the pot is better than a salmon in the sea.
-Irish proverb

You must lose a fly to catch a trout.
-George Herbert

What's inside?

Filled with treasure? Empty? Or Pandora’s box?

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A box without hinges, key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid.
-J. R.R. Tolkien

If out of all mankind one finds a single friend, he has found something more precious than any treasure, since there is nothing in the world so valuable that it can be compared to a real friend.
-Andreas Capellanus

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow them.
-Louisa May Alcott