Stoned Again

Petrified wood

Can't avoid the rocks in this part of the world. It might be a bit weak on the vegetation but the rock-life more than makes up for it. In Arizona the rock seems almost organic and in terms of the petrified wood, some of it was once organic.
We're winding down on our trip here.


Conglomerate

Late Christmas with the Turkeys

A late Christmas post to wish all of you who celebrate this holiday a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. In appreciation of today's post by Australian blogger "Snail" I am sharing an American turkey as her post appreciates the turkeys of Down Under. If you ate goose or turkey tonight, tofurkey or otherwise, I hope your dinner was good and the company cordial. As all good American Jews seem to do, we had Chinese food here in Sedona, Arizona. It was good too.


Turkey footprint. They have big feet.

R & R

I am currently traveling in the southwestern US. The past two days we have spent in Zion National Park. I was here around 4 years ago in the summer. I think despite the cold and snow, the winter has a lot to recommend it. It is amazing to have the feeling of having the park all to oneself. There are other people here of course but there is so much space, quiet and freedom that I feel it is my private park space. What a treat.
I don't have regular control of my internet access so I may not post as much as I'd like but I'll try to post a few pictures and updates of my adventures.

Steele Door

I find the geometry of this image pleasing to my eye. The "Steele" referred to the campaign poster for Kari Steele in the window.

Nutcracker

Well, the show went very well. I haven't had time to process the pictures and of course it was a little hard for me to take pictures of myself on stage. This is just a teaser. Unfortunately it was one of the best pictures my hired photographer (kidding) managed to take.

Doorway and Manger

Here is a Chicago door for while I'm off dancing. The storm we had a few days ago must have blown Mary over as she is leaning on Joseph.

Happy Hannukah

Here are a couple of postcards I made in honor of the holiday.





Not exactly fine art but the sentiment is real. I'm looking forward to lighting the first candle tonight with my family.
I am in the last of three dress rehearsals for tomorrow's and Sunday's Nutcracker performances. This is my third year in a secondary role as an adult party goer. This year I wear an ugly green velvet dress. I'd say the highlight for me is dancing a polka.
Of course, even more important is getting to see my son dance. This year he dances a fairly important role as the Mouse King. Of course, as in most family plays, the evil character, in this case a mouse, is slain at the end.
If all goes well, I'll have a few pictures to post in the next couple of days.

More from Paris

For Wordless Wednesday, the fourth of my ongoing door series. Note that door numbers 22 and 24 are from Paris but number 23 was in Chicago. It wasn't planned that way. The flyer posted on the door refers to a Chat Perdu (lost cat) by name of Chocolat. I hope the owner found him.

Door Number 24

We jump for our 4th door to Paris. Doors in Paris always seem to have an air of mystery. What history and art, what domestic secrets are enclosed within? I've only known a few Parisian families personally and I always felt privileged to be admitted into their homes.

Behind Door #2

For my second door, I present the entrance to the former Foster-Munger Company. From what I could find on the internet (a few old catalogs for sale mostly) Foster-Munger made doors, windows and art glass around the early 1900's. Now the building is occupied by the Fort Pitt Hotel Furniture Liquidators. Imagine furnishing your home in used Ritz-Carlton! If only I had known this when I was furnishing my office, I might not have needed to spend quite so much time in resale shops. I may yet swing by to look for a chair or two.

Doors

Photo Sunday's theme for the day is Door. This inspired me to run a series of my photos of doors over the next few weeks. I have seen many photo books and posters featuring the doors of various cities. These tend to be picturesque or stately doors. I have a few photos of doors of this ilk but have often focused on the run down decaying doors of Chicago and elsewhere. For today, I am publishing a door from an industrial area in Chicago.

Going to Zion

Today's postcard refers to our upcoming family trip to Arizona at the end of the month. We will be experiencing Zion and the Grand Canyon (OK Zion is in Utah) in the winter. Brrr. But beautiful I'm sure.
Happy Postcard Friday.

Deep Thoughts

Sunset in Hawaii

Anyone remember the Saturday Night Live skit of that name?
I went for a walk to the beach today. I'm back in Chicago so this is Lake Michigan not a "real" beach. It still has a lot of the charm of the ocean, minus the salt air. I figured today was one of my last chances to get out there before spring. It was sunny but only in the 40's so I had my doubts about going but it turned out to be a good choice. The lake was calm and the air was well-warmed by the sun. I considered taking my coat off but didn't quite get there.
The beach is very calming to me. It brings back my childhood trips to the beaches near Seattle and I enjoy the chance to be relatively alone and untroubled by other people. No offense "other people" but sometimes solitude in required. For better or for worse, while I walk on the beach I tend to think a lot. I'm not sure why, but I do. Maybe I'm processing the week kind of like a dream does. Maybe it is the relative sensory calm of the waves washing, the quiet breeze and the lack of human chatter. Sometimes this becomes burdensome as I find myself pondering something difficult from my past or present but it seems to be out of my control. The beach just makes me free associate.
Today I wound up thinking for a bit about the philosophical or spiritual questions that come up often in my work and lately in my personal life, namely: why do bad things happen to good people, where is the justice in the world and so on. These questions came up twice just yesterday at work and as my two year old nephew heads into surgery this week for his cancer treatment it comes up in a more personal way too. I don't claim to be in possession of the answers to these questions but I do try to ease the pain of unknowing.
In terms of human caused injustice, my thoughts roamed to the question of good vs. evil. I believe in free will which means to me that as people we need to be free to do ill in order for us to be able to choose to do good.
As I pondered good vs. evil I spied a rock that looked interesting and picked it up. I turned it over and got a message from a most unusual place.



To my eye, this rock has a peace sign on it. I chose to take it as a message. Not directly from G-d or anything like that, but being reminded to be at peace felt pretty special. Take it as you will, but it really happened that way.