Celebration!

Yesterday was my birthday. I took off from work and my sweet husband and I made a great day of it! Above are delectable desserts from Café de la Paris.

We ate lunch there. He had pesto and mozzarella Panini accompanied by home-style chips.

I had asparagus and tomato quiche with salad.

We couldn’t resist their outstanding chocolate mousse. It’s so popular they put it in “to go” dishes during the lunch hour, because people who work downtown often pop by and grab dessert or a baguette.

During the afternoon, we went to the Idaho Botanical Gardens. It was lovely weather and the gardens were gorgeous. I’ll post photos of the gardens in the next few days.

And we had sushi for dinner…

with glasses of plum wine.

Bon appetit!

Some feline friends

Some cats in the n’hood like to come out and greet us as we walk by.
This is Mallas, who prances as she walks, waving her tail like a tall flag. Contrary to her name, she does not bring bad luck. She’s a botanist, likes to roll amid grass and flowers.


And this is Gizmo, who leaps tall fences in a single bound as he explores the neighboring yards. He usually gallops to us, then immediately drops into a “shoulder roll”. He enjoys “assisting” people in their yards, and tries to slip inside doors so he can “check out” your house.

There is something about the presence of a cat...that seems to take the bite out of being alone.
~ Louis Camuti

“Photo” poetry

Poetry is a rich, full-bodied whistle, cracked ice crunching in pails, the night that numbs the leaf, the duel of two nightingales, the sweet pea that has run wild, Creation's tears in shoulder blades.
~ Boris Pasternak


I like the imagining of “the sweet pea that has run wild.” If left untamed, they do spread amazingly fast, curling their little tendrils around everything. And soon, pink blossoms appear in the most unexpected places. Often like bits of phrases, words that warm your tongue like a good wine.

Just ducky

At first, I thought there were just leaves and detritus in the pool. Then, I saw movement. And out of the shadows on the far bank came a mother and her ducklings, taking a swim, hunting for goodies.

After a bit of hunting, she led them back to the far bank, away from all of us watching from the bridge.

And now, a little humor for your day:

Q: What do you get if you cross a duck with fireworks?
A: A firequacker

Q: What's another name for a clever duck?
A: A wise quacker

Q: What do you call it when it rains chickens and ducks?
A: Foul (fowl) weather.

Wonder and possibility

Since I didn’t have an appropriate photo for the 4th, I’m borrowing one taken from the Spacecraft Hubble of these nebulae.

I love space photos. While looking through them I feel such a sense of awe at these creations. And although we’re only a tiny part of the universe, we ARE part of these creations. I admire those who designed and built Hubble, which has brought us so many wonders of the universe.

Happy July 4th weekend – let’s set our sites on possibility…

From whirled to world

In a neighbor’s yard. They have a lot of cool whirligigs as well as many marvelous flowers.

There’s also a famous dance club in London called Whirl-Y-Gig which sounds like a lot of fun.

From their website:

Whirl-y-Gig embodies the spirit of community in a carnival atmosphere. Bathed in rainbow rippling lights and wrapped in exotic décor, it is a festival of delights for people of all ages and places.

Have any of you ever been to this club? What did you think?

Sign of the times?

As seen in a window of a nearby building.

What do you think?


According to Oscar Wilde:

Popularity is the crown of laurel which the world puts on bad art. Whatever is popular is wrong.

But he also said:

Popularity is the one insult I have never suffered.


Here’s Mark Twain’s take:

Everybody's private motto: It's better to be popular than right.

But Twain also says this:

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.


Winston Churchill’s is thought provoking:

Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right, than to be responsible and wrong.


And Ralph Waldo Emerson:

What your heart thinks is great, is great. The soul's emphasis is always right.

Fish, anyone?

They greet you at the entrance of the MK Nature Center...



And check you out while you check them out.


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.
~Henry David Thoreau

[Note: fishing is prohibited at the Nature Center, but it is allowed in the Boise River, which is just across the way.]

Green unfurling

I’m joining the City Daily Photo bloggers in support of those in Iran seeking freedom of speech and self-determination.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Budding thoughts

This will bloom into a Peace rose.


Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.
~William Shakespeare, from Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare’s park

Within the grounds of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival theater (see Sunday’s post about the play) is a wonderful park.


It’s located on the outskirts of Boise near the Boise River.


The light wasn’t great for photos that day; it was cloudy and even rained on us during the performance. But they give you a glimpse of this lovely area.

Entrepreneurial spirit

You know it’s summer when you hear the music from Scary Larry’s ice cream truck echoing through the n’hood, and when you see lemonade stands appearing on street corners.

I like how the “special” for today is painted rocks. The small ones must be more special than the large ones…

What is what? Who is who?

What’s this?

A new form of interior design?
An ad for a shutter company?
Another new restaurant (with patio seating)?




It’s the set for The Comedy of Errors, which we saw tonight at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival.

The play revolves around two sets of identical twins who were separated at birth due to a shipwreck. In one set, both were named Antipholus, and the other set, both were named Dromio. In both cases, Dromio is the servant to Antipholus. Confusion reigns when one Antipholus-Dromio pair comes to the city where the other pair lives, and neither pair knows the other is there.

A brilliant move by director Charles Fee was to set the play in a Rio de Janeiro/Carnival atmosphere, complete with Carnival and Brazilian music, partying, dancing, bright costumes -- and masks. With masks, who knows who is who? A delicious way of playing with identity, reality, fantasy, and sanity.

Perfect for a Sunday night...


There’s none but witches do inhabit here,
And therefore ’tis high time that I were hence…
~ Antipholus of Syracuse, The Comedy of Errors, William Shakespeare

Methinks you are my glass, and not my brother.
I see by you I am a sweet-faced youth…
~Dromio, The Comedy of Errors, William Shakespeare

Composition of light

I love the way light looks through these leaves.

Don’t know what kind of tree this is, but there are several throughout the neighborhood. The leaves remain red to burgundy all summer and fall. I wonder how that affects photosynthesis for those trees?

“Photosynthesis” comes from German, photosynthese: “photo” = light and “synthese" = synthesis. “Photo” is originally Greek for “light.” “Synthesis” in Latin means “collection”, and in Greek, “composition.” Which results in “light composition” or “light collection.”

Think of the chemical reactions taking place in the cells of the leaves on a tree as they process the energy from sunlight. If we could see it happening, it would truly be a “collection of light.”

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Words are the leaves of the tree of language, of which, if some fall away, a new succession takes their place.
~ French proverb

Shadow web

I can imagine this as an artwork done in ink on a type of rice paper. Or perhaps with black glossy paint, drizzled in places, a la J. Pollock.

What would a good title be?

Nearly sunset

Light often transforms ordinary into enchanting.

What's in a name...

Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland' was created near Lyon, France in the 1930s. When it became evident that the Nazis would soon invade France, cuttings of the rose were sent to rose growers in several countries, including the U.S.

The flower first debuted at a U.S. exhibition in 1945 on the same day that Berlin fell to the Allies. Due to this momentous event, it was officially named the Peace rose. Later that year, Peace roses were given to the delegations attending the first meeting of the United Nations. A note was attached to each rose that said:
"We hope the 'Peace' rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace".

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What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet...

~William Shakespeare, from Romeo & Juliet

Butterfly

A bit of beauty to start a new week…

A day at the races

What’s all the excitement?

It’s this.

Across the street from the office where I work, is a bar which has a large parking lot. (I work for a small non-profit. We have to go where there’s affordable office space…)

Yesterday, a truck pulling a huge trailer drove into the parking lot and unloaded this car. It immediately became a big attraction. Someone started the car and revved the motor a few times to show it off. A couple of women got inside and had their photos taken as they took turns sitting in the driver’s seat. (I had a great view of all this from my office window.)

I don’t know why it stopped there, but since this was an unusual occurrence, and luck is part of racing (as well as skill), I decided to buy a lottery ticket.

Maybe by applying weird logic, I’ll actually win something.

Wish me (good) luck :>)

Suspended

No, they're not ours. Caught this scene during an evening walk.

Dreams of water

This is what I need today; a gentle rushing stream. Water. Something to quench the thirst of a long week.

Katie’s blog post was a postcard of Venice -- which isn't by a rushing stream, but is an amazing city on water. And that led me to look up Venice on the web, then daydream of riding along the city on a vaporetto, eating some Venetian pizza, taking photos of the sights, watching the sun set over the water….

Maybe I’ll buy a lottery ticket tomorrow :>)

More city views

A variety of roof lines in downtown Boise.

The horse (in the first picture) prances atop the historic Pioneer Building.

And here’s our little bit of Paris (I love their chocolate mousse!) They used to have a replica of the Eiffel Tower out front, but it's been moved to create more outdoor seating. I heard an ad today saying they have updated their menu. So, we'll need to go on a "research" trip in the near future :>)

We are water

It’s true. The human body is made up of about 65% water.


And we certainly are drawn to water. Look at the number of people who live on the coastlines, or near large lakes. There’s something about the rhythms and sounds of water that entrances us – and then there’s swimming, boating, skiing, and simply playing in it.

This was taken at the MK Nature Center, where the MK engineers created running streams and pools for wildlife. And for people, too, who like to stand on the bridges and watch the water flow past.

We’re lucky in the U.S to have clean drinking water. I came across Charity:Water, which is a non-profit organization that works to bring safe, clean drinking water to people in developing countries. According to their site, over 1 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water. They have a lot of good information about water management, needs and usage worldwide, and the projects they are working on.

Makes me stop and consider when I wash my hands, fill a glass of water from the kitchen faucet, and hear the “hissing of summer lawns” during our evening walks.


Water is life's mater and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.
--Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

Through Anne's eyes

A statue of Anne Frank, from the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial in Boise.


A group of people began planning the memorial in 1995 after an international exhibit about Anne Frank came through Boise (which was attended by thousands of people).


The memorial includes panels of quotes from people all over the world.



This was an important step for Idaho after having a reputation for harboring certain hate groups.

Hopefully Idaho will continue on the road of tolerance and acceptance.


http://www.idaho-humanrights.org/Memorial/memorial.html

River highlights

The Boise River is running fast and high right now from snow melt and because they have released water from Lucky Peak Reservoir.

In mid-summer, many people tube down the river. Perfect on those days when it’s hovering near 100 degrees.

But yesterday four 20-somethings tried to raft the river (going against public safety warnings) and they ended up on a little island clinging to tree branches with their raft wrecked and submerged. Fortunately, they weren’t hurt. But it took a couple of emergency crews to get to them.

So for now, it’s enough (for most people) to sit on the bank and watch how light plays across the water.

Great Blue into the blue

As we came down the path at the nature center, we saw a guy with a camera with a big zoom lens aiming toward the sky. And there was a heron, posing and strutting.

It graciously allowed me a couple of photos...




Then, launched into flight.

Merci, Great Blue.

Leaf glow

I love how sunlight glows through leaves, flower petals, water. A bit of natural magic to lighten the day.

Fowl wisdom

During a walk we came upon this house, and wondered: What’s with the pole?


It’s an owl perch.


For a fake owl.

Apparently fake owls can sometimes keep birds from nesting in certain places. You can see the problem (in the first picture). This house has the perfect nesting place -- with the (unprotected) front door directly below.

According to the New York Times, Con Edison tried placing a fake owl by an electric transformer platform in Queens to keep parakeets from building nests there. The owl, which they named Hootie, makes hooting sounds, and has worked well enough in scaring birds away that they are going to install more Hooties. But the owls need batteries to keep hooting. To solve the battery problem, they plan to modify the Hooties by running a low-voltage electrical line to each of them.

It’s important that the owls keep hooting. Because if they don’t, birds get wise to them, as another NY Times story pointed out. In this case, some building managers in Manhattan were using fake owls (that didn’t hoot) to scare away pigeons. It worked for a while, but eventually the pigeons figured it out and even perched atop the fake owls. So now they reposition the owls every three months to try and confuse the birds. (I wonder if they’ve tried a “Hootie”?)

As per the NY Times:
Perhaps the moral [of the story] was best expressed by a spokesman for the utility, John Geoghegan: “You can fool some of the pigeons some of the time, but not all of the pigeons all of the time.”