photography and musings from a Midwesterner
From the monthly archives:
Browning Leaves
Out and about this Labor Day weekend, always seems like this is the last weekend of summer, though the calendar insists otherwise. But studying the prairie signs on this morning’s hike, everything looks very fall-ish. Seeds are turning dark and scattering, the asters are beginning to show purple, berries are ripening, and the leaves are turning a soft shade of brown.
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Garden Marigolds
…sweet and snappy. And filled with pure beauty. And in autumn’s brighter colors, too.
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View of Milwaukee Art Museum from Harbor 550
This lovely brick patio is right on the edge of Lake Michigan. We visited the Harbor 550 on an early morning, but I want to return for an evening visit so I can sit around the brick fireplaces, which are strategically placed along the shoreline, and look out over Lake Michigan and Milwaukee’s lakefront.
Delicious!
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"Biscuit" Amaranth
This ‘Biscuit’ Amaranth was just one of thousands of plants on display at the University of Wisconsin – West Madison Agricultural Research Station as they held their Annual Field Day. Trial fields of annuals, perennials, native grasses, vegetables and fruits were on display. Gardening tips and problem shooting were provided by the Master Gardeners of Dane County.
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The Law Troll of Northwestern University
The older Law School building at Northwestern University’s downtown campus has an interior courtyard, full of benches, flowers, mother ducks and their ducklings in spring, and…the law troll. He’s a charming fellow who greets everyone as they enter the outdoor garden. He has a stern look, but he seems to take a lot of ribbing without moving a muscle. Rather a charming sort in an old fashioned way.
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'The Calling' by sculptor Jeff di Suvero
Another one of my visits to Milwaukee produced some photos of one of the cities’ main and oldest streets, Wisconsin Avenue. This huge sculpture is at the top of the street near Lake Michigan, and across the street from the Milwaukee Art Museum. When it was erected by American sculptor Mark di Suvero in 1982, it overlooked the street and set off a nearby blue building , and of course, complemented the blue/green shadings of Lake Michigan.
Since the addition of the Santiago Calatrava’s addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum in 2001, opponents have occasionally requested that the steel orange sculpture be re-located. Critics claim ‘The Calling’ – which most Milwaukeeans refer to as ‘The Sunburst’ – blocks the view of Calatrava’s movable winged ‘architectural sculpture.’ Some suggest that the industrial sculpture be moved to a sculpture garden on the museum’s site. Others even recommend its movement further east – about 500 feet further east – which would drop it square under the surface of Lake Michigan! Still others advocate leaving it as it is. Here is a view of the entire sculpture and a panoramic view of the sculpture and the downtown buildings overlooking the lake.
Such is the life of a piece of public street art – always up for a strongly contested and opinionated debate. And that is good. People are looking, evaluating, thinking about the art they see in their environment. They are making an effort to decide if they like individual pieces, choosing if what they see they consider art – which is entirely within their rights.
People debating art.Seems like a good thing to me.
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Hill Climber on a Harley
Milwaukee is readying itself for the descent of 500,000 Harly-Davidson bikers, all coming to town this Thursday through Sunday for the company’s 105th Anniversary party. Yes, the city will nearly double in size in a matter of days as half a million Harleys and their riders come together in one big demonstration of enthusiasm/love for the cycle that made Milwaukee famous. (Hmm, that might have been another product’s slogan, but the saying goes for Harleys too.)
This statue of a Hill Rider, modeled after a rider and his competition cycle produced in 1930, stands at the entrance to the new Harley Davidson Museum. An H-D artist and enthusiast, Jeff Decker from Springville, Utah, created the bronze sculpture by welding 200 pieces together. It was unveiled earlier this summer at the Museum located just south of downtown Milwaukee.
If you love bikes, it’s a museum well worth your time.
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Red Dancing Skirt
So you were maybe expecting a lovely dancer, draped dramatically in red. Here she is – a beautiful garden flower posturing in a rather fanciful flare.
Ever had the kind of week you don’t ever want to think about again? A week that evoked a sweep of emotions you’d rather not repeat in this lifetime? A week filled with so many life lessons your brain was ready to explode with all that learning?
And then you turn the proverbial corner, and finally are able to breathe deeply – and move on.
I had that kind of week, and I’m relieved that the challenge – which at first seemed impossible to resolve – did get untangled. And then a little later, when the doorbell rang and I opened the door, the delivery kid handed me a paper package – an unmistakable, kite-shaped package filled with red flowers. And a box of dark chocolates, too.
Sometimes that’s how those kinds of weeks end. If you don’t give up and if you keep on taking that next step, you round that corner, and end up with solutions and flowers and chocolate.
Not that you need to have flowers and chocolate – solving a big problem is more than enough reward.
But, hey, I’m happy to have the flowers and candy, too.
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Balloonflowers
This softly focused flower photo seems to capture the spirit of this flower for me. Soft and beguiling. The balloonflower, named after a balloon because the unopned flower looks like a tiny inflated balloon.
I wrote a poem, kinda clutzy, last summer about this flower.
Flower Balloon
garden plants, tightly closed bud,
blues burst forth, flower as the balloon pops open
hardy
long-lived
dependable
bursting balloons make children cry
and adults scrambling to dry flowing tears
not so in the garden
this flower makes me happy
reminding me of you
hardy
long-lived
dependable
love, too, bursts forth in all its glory.
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Black-Eyed Susans
Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there. ~ Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732
I think Thomas Fuller made a very true observation.
Since it is raining, with some much needed rain, thought I would post some sweet Susans from my backyard garden. A touch of sunshine in these ladies, no matter how inclement the weather.
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