Geraniums

Weekend's almost here. Time to sit back and enjoy…

It's been a looong day...

...and this says it all...

Cumulus rising

Remember lying on your back and watching cloud shapes as a kid? (Or as an adult…)

So, what does this cloud look like to you?

On the road?

Here’s a way to travel inside a fish that would make Jonah envious. And you can even bring your music with you. (In case it’s not obvious, the eye of the fish is over the front tire; the tail is spread off the back; CDs are the scales)

I think this is another creation of a local inventor/artist who lives in the n’hood. In the past, he’s made:

giant people

crocodile with moving jaws

reindeer that fly

a flying tie machine

Some, like the croc and the people, have been used in parades and rallies, and are worn or created around a bicycle.

It's interesting to go by his house; you never know what you'll see in the front yard.

A swing for the beat

Maybe someday we’ll meet
on blue dolphin street…

(Sorry --
I didn’t see any green dolphins,
so blue will have to do)

Seafood bisque, anyone?

After Katiefornia’s blog posts of crazy lobster postcards, I couldn’t resist posting this, which I came across during a walk in the n'hood.

Ruthless beauty

These are not honeysuckle, like I first thought, but creeping trumpet vine. Their scent is sweet like honeysuckle and they attract hummingbirds. They can also easily grow out of control.

According to Wikipedia: “Trumpet vine grows well on arbors, fences, telephone poles, and trees, although it may dismember them in the process. Ruthless pruning is recommended.”

Seems like good advice -- sometimes a little "ruthless pruning" is just what we need to do...

Peacock blues

While at a park, we saw this handsome guy. He wasn’t showing off his gorgeous fan; instead he was strolling about to see if any picnickers would, by chance, drop some food. As you can see, he’s eyeing us to see if there might be any tasty morsels. But we were having dessert (tiramisu and fudge brownie), so he had to go without.
Poor blue…

This sums it up…

We saw this as we were leaving the Curb Cup scene on Sunday. Maybe meditating on this will turn the rest of my week into ommmmmm instead of arrrggghhhh.

More Boise Curb Cup…

According to the Idaho Statesman, over 10,000 people attended the Curb Cup yesterday!
Here are a few more photos (as promised in yesterday's post). In the photo above, mimes taking pictures of people taking pictures. (Or maybe they were just miming all the photographers...)

These guys combined plastic cups, drums, and a table top (as well as many other things) to create fantastic rhythms.

Cool bluegrass/folk sounds.

A dance/comedy/burlesque/theater-of-the-absurd performance.

Hot hip hop.

I hope they do the Curb Cup again next year -- it was a creative blast!

Boise Curb Cup

We attended an extraordinary, new event downtown today called Curb Cup: The great street circus of creativity. It featured 130 street performers who did a wide variety of acts, including dance, magic tricks, different “flavors” of music, stand-up comedy, juggling, yo yo tricks, clown follies, live graffiti, jump rope drills, martial arts, hula hoops, and more.

Each spectator received three “voter tokens”, to put into the bucket of their favorite acts. At the end of the two-hour extravaganza, the tokens were counted and the performers with the most tokens won cash prizes. The grand winner got not only cash, but the Curb Cup trophy, which was created by a local artist. (I'll have to give you results tomorrow).



More people came out than expected; it was literally a “sea” of people, and hard to get from place to place. But this crowd was mellow and courteous to one another.

It was a lot of fun! I’ll post a few more shots tomorrow.

http://boisecurbcup.com/

Thinking ahead…

...for the weekend.

As the old song says: “And you know two heads are better than one.”

Interpretations

Sometimes it’s refreshing…


to look at a scene…


from different “perspectives.”

Stripes of sun

...on another summer morning.

Slices of sun

...on summer morning.

Looking through

A glimpse through a window can open your imagination.

Riverside view

Fun with fish

Reflections on a Saturday…

Microcosm

If you stepped into this pool, would you glide into an alternate world? Travel through time?

Could this be another Looking Glass, looking for another Alice?

Just imagine...

Pisces

I especially like the electric one.

Cloud glow

Caught this shot last week during a break from the rain. It reminds me a bit of clouds in scenes painted by Frederic Church.

Along with creating exquisite paintings, Church built a magnificent villa, Olana, in the Hudson Valley. A work of art on all levels.

[Thanks to N, who introduced me to Frederic Church's work -- xxoo]

After the rain

Hard to equal the beauty of a rose.

Elephant Head Amaranth

According to a gardening site, this plant is so named because it “evokes images of elephants' trunks reaching to the sky”.

I can see it – but I have to say it evokes other images for me, too…

Tile art

We came across this mosaic project in a sort of scrubby side yard between houses during a walk. I wonder if it’s a work in progress, and what it will become?

Speaking of tile art, we got a great book through the library about historic Portuguese azueljos, titled “Portuguese Decorative Tiles: Azulejos”. The patterns are incredible, and we were also fascinated by the surreal quality to some of the scenes depicted.
Examples: A tableau of cats being taught to sing, and being “treated” by monkeys (there are vials of potions, surgical tools in the scene). A trompe l’oeil of fish hanging on coat hooks in a kitchen. An unusual depiction of the death of Dido (with a bonfire and a rainbow). Human bodies transforming into vases. Life-sized figures of guards in a hallway or entrance. And many allegorical, religious, historic, and mythological tableaus.

This website about Portuguese azulejos is excellent; like a book online.

And there’s always Wikipedia.

Double take

Another "set" of windows from the same church in last night’s post.

There is no phrase without a double meaning.
-African proverb

Of another era

These windows are part of a building constructed in 1911. It used to be a church. Now, it’s being repaired and restored, and will eventually become home for a children’s arts center.

More photos will follow…

Points of view

Several angles in this photo – like good conversation.


A single conversation across the table with a wise person is worth a month's study of books.
~ Chinese proverb

It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much.
~ Yogi Berra

Bountiful harvest?

Flowering crab apple tree. The blossoms are lovely in spring, but the little apples -- although pretty in this photo -- are so sour they are usually only used in jelly or preserves [Around here, they often end up on sidewalks and lawns, rather than in jelly jars]. I couldn’t find how they got the name of “crab apples,” but their Latin name is malus.

May your Monday be blessed with lovely blossoms, rather than sour fruit.

Rain and imagining

Today was a moody day, a diverse day, with many thunderstorms passing through. Hard rain. The sun popped out from time to time, trying to shine the heat back in. But the air smells wonderfully damp and it’s cool, not beastly hot.

It's the kind of day I’d love to be on a comfy screened in porch with large windows where I could watch the storms come in, hear the rain, and curl up on a rattan sofa with a good book. Maybe a story about ancient secrets, two voices whispering in a corridor, mysterious stairways…

A day in August

Seeing so many of these golden flowers in bloom reminds me that fall is coming soon. The days seem to pass by as quickly as flickering sunlight…


Love is like wildflowers; it's often found in the most unlikely places.
~ Anonymous

You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.
~ Paulo Coelho

Flash of gold

What is it? Will it tell your fortune? Predict the weather? Is it a bird feeder? A new kind of disco ball? The goose’s golden egg?






Rumors keep buzzing…

Local art

“Cleveland as a Pig”, chalk on cement. Artist unknown.


Possible interpretations: Perhaps Cleveland is a spy or a camouflage artist. Maybe he has duel personalities, or is a trickster.

Or maybe he just doesn’t know who he is.

What do you think?


If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?
~ Chuck Palahniuk

Gardening

Many people have planted “boxed” gardens in their front yards this summer.


Looks like the tomatoes are coming along, but the chives?


My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view.
~H. Fred Ale