What cities do you want to visit?
Flying over San Diego, I saw in the distance the Coronado Bridge traversing the San Diego Bay. The sunlight of mid-afternoon shimmered under the arched pathway. I wonder; what was life like for San Diegans, before this bridge was built in 1967? How did they get to the Island of Coronado? ❤️
The Alexander Nevsky Monastery is located in St. Petersburg, Russia. The surrounding grounds contain four sections of cemeteries and is an extensive compound of open spaces with broken crosses, areas with impressive funerary sculptures, a section for academics, writers and intellectuals, and a section for Communists. The monastery is named for the Medieval prince, Alexander Nevsky a Russian hero who lived from 1221 to 1263. Nevsky was canonized a Saint in the Russian Orthodox Church.
Please click on the image to view the gallery.
The date; Monday, June 12, 2017. Place, London. Event; The Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Got there early to get our spot at the gates. Found a square on the pavement to perch ourselves, and peer through the bars. Early, we arrived. We had to stay put and hold on tight or others would come and try to usurp our position. The tourists flocked from all corners of London, to line up at the entrance of the Palace. I chose to allow a few small children to stand in my place. A cumbersome woman barged in, blocking their angled view to the inside. I told her she was taking the children’s space. She left.
The process of the event, from beginning to end, enraptured my spirit; the ongoing arrival of spectators, fueled by a desire to watch the colorful fanfare, the marching and playing of the Palace band. Otherwise, the procedure was quite tiresome and boring, and a bit puzzling that so many would come and stand in the heat and humidity, for what felt like an eternity. Yet, the allure and will to pay respect to the Queen and the Crown, she so regally bears, took precedent. People from around the globe stood and looked on, and when it was all over the multitudes meandered away, as if nothing happened at all. If I never see another changing of the guard, I will not care, as the young girl in the photograph may have felt. Her shirt read, “Don’t Care.”
Why do some places just pop out at me? Can’t be sure, but this is one of them. On a street in North London, I found this incredibly intriguing doorway. It’s so electrical! The name on the entrance called my attention and then I go to looking at the whole scene. The decoration over the top and down the sides is in the shape of coils. Above are seen sharp little spikes. I would call this classically contemporary. Quite benign and unique!
Traveling is an adventure. When you have a destination in mind the getting there can be wrought with interesting sights, such as these urban landscapes. The living spaces stacked upon one another in the apartment building of the Bronx seems an inhumane way of existence. Growing up in a small midwestern town, I was amazed when I went away to college and met people who actually grew up in New York City. Their way of life fascinated me and my social mind wanted to know the ins and outs of their daily lives. The image recalls stories I found in books my mother brought home for me when I was in High School, like “Manchild in a Promised Land,” by Claude Brown. It was about the struggle for one young man trying to make something of himself, amidst the violence and adverse living conditions in Harlem. A fight imposed upon an adolescent like myself, for the simple reason he was black. I admired his persistence and desire to be something other than a casualty in the street. Memories of the past, and experience in the present converge. I was inspired to take these photographs, while our car sped along the interstate on the way to JFK.
When my son was a little boy, I thought I had to teach him how to fish, because every boy needs to know this. I knew nothing about the sport, but I went out anyway, and bought fishing equipment for our next big camping trip. Upon arrival, at dusk, in Maine somewhere, out to the dock we went. With his nifty fishing hat, dungaree vest, and fishing poll in hand, I told him to stand at the end of the dock, and cast the line. The next thing I knew, he had fallen into the lake, not sure how. I hope he learned a lesson, and that this is not the last time, he will ever fish.
The day is waiting! Dawn passed before I awoke, and the sun is getting too bright for comfort. Alas, one mustn’t begrudge the sunshine, though there is nothing like a rainy day to set thoughts in motion.
Having awakened with a clean slate, alongside one of many chores, and things to do, I ask, “Which will prevail? Meandering my way through unprescribed discovery, or following the rule of accomplishment, and purpose?” Balance is the prudent course.
To open the day, here is a poem by a Finnish artist, named Eeva Lisa Manner (1921-1995). The title, “ASSIMILATION”
Assimilation that I have travelled. I will show you a way that I have travelled. If you come If you come back some day searching for me do you see how everything shifts a little every moment and becomes less pretentious and more primitive (like pictures drawn by children or early forms of life: the soul’s alphabet) you will come to a warm region it is soft and hazy but then I will no longer be me, but the forest.
St. Paul’s Cathedral in St. Paul, Minnesota, sits high on a hill, and looms over the city landscape. In the distance, one can see the the State Capital, which is made of a more luminescent white stone.
The Cathedral is on Summit Avenue, the elegant street of St. Paul, where F. Scott Fitzgerald frequented many a home for social occasions. At one address, he apparently wrote his first novel, “This Side of Paradise”. Summit is lined with an array of architectural dreams come true for the wealthy, who moved to St. Paul in the 19th century. Some homes are more elegant in their beauty, than others. Adjacent to the Cathedral is the Mansion of James J. Hill, one of the most powerful men in the country, whose wealth was acquired through the railroad business. He and J.P. Morgan created an empire, and subjugated the worker to such meager wages, that Teddy Roosevelt took the matter into his hands, and shut them down, or so the story goes. Photographs of the Hill Mansion will follow.
Let it be said, however, that Mrs. Hill, an industrious, highly organized housewife, and fervent Catholic, felt right at home with the Cathedral in plain view, sitting outside her front door. True to the Catholic tradition, she and James grew a large family, of ten children, and today, there are still many heirs to the family wealth.
On a personal note, this is the first time I stepped foot into the Cathedral, although, as a child, I remember marveling at it’s grandeur every time our family went into the Twin Cities, to visit Uncle Johnny and Aunt Betty. Until now, it was always a fantasy vision, which took me to fictional places in my mind. It reminded me of a palace, where a wizard would live, and if you ever got the chance to visit, he would give you anything you wanted, and make your dreams come true.
A reading of “The Dubliners” will make you marvel at James Joyce’s poetic prose and caricature of various personages as they roam through the streets of this city. It makes one want to get on a plane and go to Ireland. I downloaded these stories gratis on my iphone with ibooks. Since I always have my phone I am never without a good story to keep me company.
On Tiffany Creek 