In the Dust -

Once the dust settles what remains?

Everything.

I've been-

Dreaming of the beach, every day lately.

The automobile, perhaps a danger to many.  But oh, such a temptation for the rest of us and well worth any risk, of expanding your horizons.  

On going to the beach-

Keeping in mind, not just what to bring, but which folks you don't dare leave behind.

"Don't speak with your banking friends, or your Chamber of Commerce friends, but specialize on the gasoline station men, the small restaurant keeper, and farmers you meet by the wayside." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Yes, if you do it outdoors, locked within a concrete existence or the confides of nature, treasure those moments.

Tennis anyone, maybe so.

The sound of music and that fluttery feel beneath my boots.  Yes!

"Past years seem safe ones, vanquished ones, while the future lives in a cloud, formidable from a distance." - Beryl Markham

The story of my life, for now.

The gang is still all here.  As always the sound of laughter, source of information/Intel and occasional tears, through our Sepia years, makes our days delightful.

Each of our postings, reveal one or more events at a time, gifting us with memories best remembered.  Looking back keeps yesterday, pleasantly rolling before us, one reflection at a time.

Sepia Saturday has a unique way of keeping our memories and past,
in our thoughts.

"The past is never where you think you left it." -  Katherine Ann Porter
Linking of course too
SEPIA SATURDAY



"A life has to move or it stagnates, even this life I think.  Every tomorrow ought not to resemble every yesterday."  - Beryl Markham

Ride Along - Good Fences

Good morning all!  Hop inside my vehicle and join me for a rummaging journey together.

GOOD FENCES

"My favorite words are possibilities, opportunities and curiosity.  I think if you are curious,  you create opportunities, and then if you open the doors, (or gates) you create possibilities. 

-Mario Testino

Let's go.

First we pass a line of posts without fencing, perhaps someday they'll finish it.

It's a short drive.  


Here's our turn.

Oops, the gate is closed.  Can anyone read the sign?

Moving in just a bit closer.

The sign inside the truck reads, Smile for the camera.

View to our left.  

Ah, there's that other old truck, that occasionally blocks the entrance.

It's a bit snowed in.  

We'll have to return once spring arrives or at least above zero temperatures.

First time ever that I've seen the gate closed and locked,

during regular business hours.

Thanks for swinging by, enjoy all the other Good Fence postings here.

Oddly Artsy

Greetings from the eccentrically dramatic, highly entertaining quirks of everyday artsy-ho-hum-life, right here in Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs.

Yep.  The art world.

Discovery is part of the journey.

WHEN STAYING ALIVE IS NOT ENOUGH

Creating

Art

invigorates

the

Soul

Other artists

often stir our quiet minds with

their untamed imaginations!

which instinctively stimulates our own inventive process.

Never discard any notion of use!

It's all good.

Revive-reuse.

CONSTANTLY BEING imaginatively-
 ART AWARE-
IMPERATIVE

So find those rusty corners within your own circle of the salvage trade, or discarded scrap.

They seem to be vogue these days.

When a place is called, City Salvage, don't be fooled into thinking garbage, or debris only.

For instance this City Salvage is anything but.  Try an architecturally focused antique shop, see here.

Why stop with one eye bulging incredible, and artsy oddity when
Doug Padilla's Studio is waiting too?


Our world is/can/should/is always a magical place.

Waiting for us.

Artist-block syndrome got you down- hear what Dougie Padilla has to say.
 Padilla speaks about walking between two worlds and We can change the world here.

Thanks for stopping by, just keep your brain cells burning and enjoy every second along your journey.

Unsilent Day

True visions, from around my world of photography.  Just know many were taken in the warm distance, beyond yesterday.

UNSILENT DAYS

Speak

A short lesson in cheeks.

Cheeky indeed.

Kissable Cheeks.

Furry Cheek.

Iron Cheeks.

"There's more to life than cheek bones." - Kate Winslet

"Let age, not envy, draw wrinkles on thy cheeks." -  Thomas Browne

I'm all cheeky every time my faithful friend

runs smoothly!  (it's 12 years old here) longest running mower I've ever owned, so far as yet.

Notice, if lawn tractors have cheeks- they'd be Shiny Orange!

Explosive nylon cheeks.

You see, "My cheeks explode when I smile.  That's why I have to look so nonplussed." -  Rufus Wainwright

"I love foods that start in my cheeks and then vibrate up." - Jill Scott

Speaking of up, you've never seen a bald egg person before?

Yep, "For me, hair is an accoutrement.  Hair is jewelry. It's an accessory." - Jill Scott

Especially for Egg people.

Well that's a wrap inside my Cheek-neighborhood.  Thank you for sharing your time here, now scramble on, keeping your sunny side up to all!  Oh my yoke is running away.  Ha! Ha! You'd be hard boiled to stop me from cracking egg jokes! 

Okay, the egg jokes stop here.

The Mag - Giggles Of Course

From the archives of- I hope you understand this.

"I don't trust anyone who doesn't laugh."

Maya Angelou 

THE MAG

"Everything is backwards now, like out there is the true world, and in here is the dream."

Jake Sully

Image for Magpie tales.

PALAIS de FOLIES
Just for fun


Mark my words
One Fine Day
and another Skyfall away
the Academy Awards 
will feel the earth move
and then
you'll see 
 hold your breath and count to ten
when
the 88th Academy Awards
in all its Glory
 as Empire 
will Strike Back many chords
live from Jurassic Park.
So, "Forget about it" Hollywood-
Jurassic Park
is way better 
to honor that shady-Grey flick
you know will see Oscar
next year
while live streaming
and tweeting on the twitter
we'll all
 be over 
this year's tighty-whities
after all
chains and whips and sex stunts
so vivid this Mama refuses to ever go see it.
Snap away 
all you want daughter
 Dakota, some of us may 
be Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
seeking thrills by day
on rides 
 like Alice in Wonderland Coaster
or better
 a Dark Knight Coaster
always runs daily
from Independence Day.
Just remember
you never have to see
what you don't want to see.

Speaking of seeing-
Bring on those tasty stunts
or rather
 planned ambush attack 
fade in Jack Black
Ooh La-la
fade out Jack Black
 by that old Cinderella shoe
(you really had to see)
it all truly makes our
La La La La 
Lipstick lovely
day, Ooh La-la
scrumptiously 
delicious!
See you next year
Old Academy
award of merit, Oscar.
Or, shall we say uncle,
Oscar?


Note:  All joking aside, last evening's 87th Academy Awards show was by far a pleasing performance.  It had me glued (phone free) all night.  Except, for puppy potty breaks.  The first time in years I didn't feel the biting urge to write the Academy, or swear I'd never watch it again.  Major bonus, no repulsing fashion errors either.  A worthy moving pictures presentation.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday -

Hello and welcome to another Scavenger Hunt Sunday

MAKES ME HAPPY

To be styling!  Happy as can be.

HIDDEN

Stranger on the bench, hidden.

"Not a visible enthusiasm but a hidden one, 
an excitement burning with a cold flame." - Patrick Suskind

ONE

"We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are."

 - Max de Pree

MODERN

DESSERT

"Time goes by fast, and people go
in and out of your life so quickly,
so you should never miss the
opportunity to tell these people
how much they mean to you."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson


It's true, and that includes every single one of you that wanders by here.

Getaways, Lake Wales, and Rolling Up, Really

Greetings from the deep freeze of Minnesota.  

Of course I know this photo isn't from my world.  It seems Mexico and Florida are the major escapes this February, for many fleeing from our frozen tundra of an existence.

Don't worry, I'm still here.

But a girl can dream right?  

The photo below is my sister-in-law and nephew on his short leave, and it happens to be the last time I flew to Florida. 

It was in November!  Look Ma no coats, gloves, boots or socks!

You probably guessed by my title that this next photo is also from Florida.  It's my, just visiting Florida via the Web.

Welcome to Lake Wales, Florida.

Historic Bok Tower
The 205-foot-neo-Gothic and art deco Singing Tower carillon described here.


Why post about Lake Wales?

My belief, When you need a vacation, but can't take one,
 the next best thing to being there is
visiting by way of YouTube and other Web sources.


You should remember by now, I'm a fan of any and all abandoned things, and Lake Wales has a stately old grand hotel in refurbishing stages and one very unusual phenomenon.

First, did someone mention hotel?
The Dixie Walesbilt Hotel, is a historic hotel in Lake Wales, Florida.  See photo below.

The Dixie Walesbilt Hotel aka Hotel Grand

Checking out that site shows all the dirty little secrets involved in this major process.

Now for the unusual.

Does gravity or an old feud with alligators have anything to do with this mysterious phenomenon?


Don't laugh, watch this video for yourself, and see that vehicles do roll backwards up hill while in neutral. 

Welcome to Spook Hill, nestled within Lake Wales, Florida.
You can take a 7 minute tour of Lake Wales here.
and another "It's the simple things in life" so worth doing.

I've had castles, greenery and abandoned places worthy of rebirth on my mind lately.  Of course once you have castles and abandoned buildings in your thoughts, the next logical thing is, unusual, or off the beaten path kind of places.

I know we'd have much more to discuss if we were in England, or Wales, when castles come to mind, but most of us aren't that lucky.

So, I hope you enjoyed this place, not too many miles from my front door, okay 1,550 miles to be exact.  Maybe you've been to Lake Wales, but if not you just may want to see it for yourself.


The next video is especially for skeptics.
The truth about this unusual phenomenon may be solved in this video at Spook Hill in Maryland.  

In the Wind - Good Fences

What's that flying in the wind?

"Always try to keep a patch of sky above your life." - Marcel Proust

No matter how fierce the wind blows.
Or how hard it bites against our face, with -25 wind chills, this week.

GOOD FENCES

This something seems to be hanging on a rope.

Could it be a message on a rope?

Wait for it, here it comes again.

I just had to hang such a sweet Valentine from our 5 year old grand-delight-daughter, Lyra.

She made it just for us.

The giving of love is our truest gift.

"Let us be grateful to the people that make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - Marcel Proust

The Mag - On Being Incautious, or Not

" I must make clear that I do not belong to that weird group of people  who travel to remote places, survive the bacteria, and then publish books to convince the incautious to follow in their footsteps." - Isabel Allende

A secret is never kept outside of one's whisper. 

THE MAG

"Write what should not be forgotten." - Isabel Allende

Shh!

Keep to yourself what should not be told. - me


 INCAUTIOUSLY or NOT
My Magpie told through secrets 
from around our world.
Guess I, can't keep a secret.


The wing slap heard around the world.

To be or not to be 
attacked by a Chupacabra halfway around the world?
Or not?

Yes, it's to be
there's a very lovely-famous Batkid due in our world.


Oh crumb, I'm so over this rumor/secret that was to be
and cornered the market all over the world.
Groves of women cried their eyes out that it was to be.

Yet for me
I'd really rather be whirled 
out of this world
by reading anything the Government deems classified in our world
or by knowing the real dirty little sticky secret 
behind no gum ever being 
sold in any Disney parks around the world.

Doesn't that sound juicy to you too?

White - Thematic Photographic

Colors shine for themselves.

WHITE

THEMATIC PHOTOGRAPHIC

Wikipedia describes the color white as having five basic colors often associated with it-  cream, eggshell, ivory, Navajo white, and vanilla.  But then there's the lighting of a room where the shade of white enters, color number 6 and don't forget that lighting can cause a pure white to be perceived as off white, making that 7!

Cloudy white.

The afternoon sunlight causing white to shine a bluish shade of white. 

Shades of white on my drive home last night.

        From my passenger window, pulled over and not driving.    

Still pulled over.  My side view.

           

         From my front yard.
No real bright sunlight, yet a bluish shade of white.



From this morning, what's mostly white is actually in truth, grey.

The shade of white is the purest light to my eyes.

                   WHITE- The color of milk or fresh snow due to the reflection of most wavelengths of visible light, the opposite of black.

Experts estimate that we can distinguish perhaps as many as 10 million colors.