Wishes for the new year...

May 2010 bring hope, opportunity, joy, and love to you all.

Goodbye, Tree

We saw this during a walk in the n'hood. There are lots of old trees here, and they become like big familiar friends. You really miss them when they're gone.

Hopefully these folks will plant a new tree in 2010, perhaps as one their New Year resolutions...

All together now

This reminds me of those paper cutout dolls. Or a "people connected around the world" design. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were more positive and peaceful connections between people around the world in 2010?


One can still hope...

A little magic is welcome

...especially this time of year.

Have warm and happy holidays.

Ornamentation

Even a bare tree can become festive.

The Starburst

And one more just for the ride...

Some real swingers

More carnival rides...step right up!

Tea time?

While shopping downtown this weekend, we came across a carnival...

On a cold December morning

with a crisp crescent moon

In the pink

Twilight sky not that long ago, before the snow and rain came.

Let there be lights

It's been dark and stormy all day, so here are a few festive lights to brighten things up.




As seen from a drive-through of the Country Club Plaza , Kansas City on one of the busiest nights of the year.

Dawn

Another workday begins in the City of Trees.

Projecting the Guggenheim

Since it was a snowy day out, we decided to try a little indoor construction project.


Yes, we had two pieces left over. They left out two we needed and gave us two that didn't fit. But we persevered; sometimes you can get things to work even if you don't have all the pieces.


Here's the Guggenheim at night, perhaps during the opening for the retrospective of Vasily Kandinsky.


And here's the museum celebrating the holidays with a giant evergreen from Vermont. Amazing what they can do with plant hybridization these days...

http://www.guggenheim.org/

Ice & a good samaritan

About 20 degrees colder than usual for Boise during the winter. Right now, it's 13, which is better than the 1degree temp we had this morning, but still too cold! But I see on the national weather map that a front is headed our way which is supposed to warm things up.

According to the local paper, a man who came upon two large dogs struggling in a pond tied a rope around his waist, and while his friend held on, waded in the frigid water and rescued them. The dogs had gotten loose from their homes and apparently broken through the ice while walking across the pond. Help had been called for and as soon as officials arrived, the man got into a car and left. The dogs were treated at the local Humane Society for hypothermia, and are now back with their owners. The man did not leave his name.

Ruminating on weather

The arboretum near Overland Park, KS the last week of November -- when it was 62 degrees and a beautiful day for sitting in the sun by the lake after wandering around the trails.


It's nice to remember that unusually warm fall day, since it's currently only 11 degrees F here in Boise and 8 degrees in KC.

Yesterday morning, when it was around 2 degrees, a 10 year old boy was found with his tongue stuck to a metal pole. A woman driving by noticed him standing there alone and figured out what had happened. She called 911 and some friendly firemen with cups of hot water came to free him. He had been walking to school with friends......you can figure out the rest of the story.

Ah, c'est la vie, especially when it comes to le temps.

Coming in for a landing?

Here is another sight we came upon during our trip while visiting an arboretum.

Why be limited to hopping and swimming?

Good day for snow people

Here's a happy snow family celebrating the first major snow of the year in the City of Trees.

Currently, it's 2 degrees F outside with tomorrow's high being about 20 -- the snow is forecast to stick around all week.

Not the Nutcracker...

...but perfect for the season: A Pantry Ballet (for Jacques Offenbach) by Joseph Cornell. Wouldn't you rather dance with a lobster than a Sugar Plum Fairy??

Artful experience -- 2

Interior shots of the Bloch addition of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.



I love interplay of the levels...


and the light.

Artful experience

Along with having a great Thanksgiving dinner with my family, we also went to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.


The museum first opened in 1933. A crowd of 8,000 waited in line to see this new building and its treasures of art.


Badminton, anyone? "Shuttlecock," by Claes Oldenburg on the front lawn.


A new addition, the Bloch Building, opened in 2007. Designed by Steven Holl Architects, the structure is made of glass "lenses" which glow in the light. This is the intersection between old and new.

I'll post photos tomorrow of the interior of the Bloch Building with its amazing light.

Another perspective

We flew to the Midwest for Thanksgiving. Here's a "quilt" of fields with a winding lake. I wonder if it's a river that has been dammed?



Setting the table Thanksgiving morning.



We did more than eat during our trip. I'll share more photos with you tomorrow.

Over the river

and through the woods...

Have a happy Thanksgiving week!

Turn here?

A mystery photo. I can't remember taking this, nor do I know where this is.

But it can be inspiring to have some mysteries in our lives.

Creativity often consists of merely turning up what is already there. Did you know that right and left shoes were thought up only a little more than a century ago?
~ Bernice Fitz-Gibbon

Passage

Looking down the alley.

We build too many walls and not enough bridges.
~ Isaac Newton

The air was soft, the stars so fine, the promise of every cobbled alley so great that I thought I was in a dream.
~ Jack Kerouac

One red leaf

The one red leaf, the last of its clan, / That dances as often as dance it can, / Hanging so light, and hanging so high, / On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Being that it's almost the end of November, the red leaf has come down to earth with all the other leaves, and will soon become mulch. And soon we'll be in winter and the bright lights of the holidays.

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.
~ Henry David Thoreau

Watch out!

Don't say you haven't been warned about those dangerous "sprinker" heads...

It's all in how you look at it

In the news today, I came across an article about a hotel in Nantes, France which offers people the unique opportunity of living like a hamster. At Hamster Villa, you eat hamster grain, run in a hamster wheel, and sleep in hamster haystacks. I wonder if you are contained in a hamster cage during your stay?

Then I saw an article about a company that is making fragrances using the DNA code of famous dead people. Their perfumes include "Marilyn" (Marilyn Monroe), "IQ" (Albert Einstein), "M" (Michael Jackson), "Blue Suede" (Elvis), and "Entrance" (Joan Crawford).

So, here it is, not even Thanksgiving and I've given you 2 holiday gift ideas for that hard-to-buy-for person!

And what does my photo have to do with all this? Just another reflection of the world around us...

Trio + one

Late day light brings a special beauty to the ordinary.

Window shopping

A new card shop downtown that has many fun and enticing things.

If you look closely, you'll see a photo of the Eiffel Tower which, I learned tonight, is celebrating 120 years. For some great photos of the Eiffel Tower sparkling with colored lights, and other excellent scenes of Paris, check this out.

Coming soon to a theater near you

While walking downtown this weekend, we happened upon a film shoot . The story features these three characters, who were running through the alleyways of downtown Boise. (In this photo, they stopped for a moment to graciously allow photographs -- and to wait for the stoplight to change). Are they seeking the Holy Grail? Running from something? Running to something?

Will we ever find out? Or will we always be Puzzled Bystanders?

Veterans Day

In honor of Veteran's Day, some businesses offered special discounts to military personnel and veterans.

In honor of all those who have served our country. In remembrance for those who lost their lives.