listening for sleigh bells

Red and green for Christmas--who doesn't love to see them getting along so nicely? Above is a painting made by Karl Larsson of his daughter decorating their tree. I see her red stockings, red stripes in her apron, cap and shawl as well as a few ornaments. A quietly festive scene.

Called Out in the Snow by Mela Koehler who was part of the The Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshop) in the early 20th century. I love the lines and movement especially from the floating scarf and ribbons, not to mention the bright red gloves and the big red bow in the girl's braid. A happy scene.

I don't know who made this bucolic scene but it has hung in my kitchen for a long time. The lambs near the fire always make me smile as does the white cat sleeping in the window. Then there's the red stockings, towel and fire's glow. A warm scene.

More red creativity @ Ruby Tuesday.

summer sees red

I saw red all weekend in the Lake Superior Northshore woods where the leaves have barely started to turn. Rose hips and berries look ripe and ready to sustain the forest diners too. See more autumnal reds  @ RubyTuesday.                       


But even alone it was beautiful and he fed the fire to cut the night chill. There it is again, he thought, that late summer chill to the air, the smell of fall.
from Gary Paulsen's novel Hatchet.                              

weekend stones in my pocket

the moment I caught sight of the first gloriously blue morning glory to bloom 

and
the lovely black obelisk for this plant to wind itself around, given to me by a neighbor on the move who had no room to grow things anymore, finding a sunny spot on my 'new' deck

today's smooth stone
the memory of our recent trip to Winnipeg, seeing our friends' car a block away from our hotel, their arms waving out of the windows, and honking their horn in greeting

A scene from the St. Paul farmers market where horses are clopping relays from distant parking lots to the market proper. I never know quite how to feel when I see horses in the city on pavement, in the heat. The market was colorful with rhubarb, radishes, annuals and brown eggs. And red abounds the town.

See more red at Mary's meme, Ruby Tuesday.

answer thee me

These summer flowers were blooming in the flowerboxes of my Winnipeg friends' downtown loft. The geraniums she planted were supposed to be bright red but came out the pink and salmon you see here. A metaphor for life perhaps? See more red or sem-reds at Mary's meme.

Answer July—
Where is the Bee—
Where is the Blush—
Where is the Hay?

Ah, said July—
Where is the Seed—
Where is the Bud—
Where is the May—
Answer Thee—Me—

  Emily Dickinson, Answer July 

form follows function

Observe the official Minnesota winter grill: a fresh wreath entwined with an electrical cord to plug in an engine heater. Festive yet functional. Today's temp w/wind chill has been around -14 degrees. As I post it is -1. The old timers say this is much like the way winters used to be up north. . .

These are two pics I took before the town of White Bear Lake morphed into Siberia. Tis the season for red, including noses! Lots more @ Mary's meme, Ruby Tuesday.

'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'

See more beautiful red at Mary's meme:

sweet prophecy of welcome

Just when I think I have a grip on summer trying to slip through my fingers, what should appear but one true red sweet pea. These are the variety, 'Erica's Favorite' which I try to grow each year in Dr. Erica's honor. This summer they have outdone themselves! Of course I am never able to quite capture this red but it makes me smile anyway. Sweet peas are my connection to my Italian heritage and in particular my dad who loved them. He didn't always love me but we could agree on our affection for their fragrance and unique blooms. So I tip my trowel to sweet peas and Today's Flowers where you can drink in fragrant flowers from all over the world.

Happy Monday!

"The Sweet Pea has a keel that was meant to seek all shores;

it has wings that were meant to fly across all continents;

it has a standard which is friendly to all nations;

and it has a fragrance like the universal gospel,

yea, a sweet prophecy of welcome everywhere that has been abundantly fulfilled"

- Rev. W. T. Hutchins 1900 (At the Sweet Pea Bi-centenary Celebration)

. . .with a cherry on top

On the 4th of July I took a stroll through my neighborhood before the humidity became unbearable and on my way home I saw this tree in a neighbor's front yard fairly exploding with cherries. They were perfect, totally suitable for a magazine spread. More importantly, how have they managed to keep the deer away?!

See more wonders of nature in red at Mary's meme, Ruby Tuesday.

Ely: que quam chep**

**in Chippewa [Objibwa] means "land of the berries"
When we visit the Iron Range in northeast Minnesota we stay in Ely where this mural was painted on an old building on a side street. It honors the iron ore miners from the four mines in that area. Taken from the sidewalk across the street, a shadow ironically is cast on the faces of the miners' families. The miner's hat is typically red as is the ore found in this area. Ely, which sits at the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Region, has been hard hit by our economic decline; last trip there we found several more empty buildings.
See more red at Mary's meme Ruby Tuesday.

“A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me. I'm afraid of widths.” Stephen Wright

This is the front of the D'Angelo Law Library where I worked at the University of Chicago. The whole window cleaning process amazed me and made me grateful for a desk job.

See more red buckets at Mary the Teach's great meme, Ruby Tuesday.

So, I just flew in from D.C. and boy are my arms tired. [Sorry!] Last week I was there to be with Erica as she and her fellow med students all over the U.S. celebrated Match Day. She found out she matched as an emergency medicine resident at Drexel in Philadelphia for the next three years. Much celebrating ensued. Washington was awakening to spring after that brutal winter and the cherry blossoms were j.u.s.t. starting to open when I waved goodbye. More photos of them to come, but here are some random D.C. reds--including my toes and lucky shoes I wore. See more sublime to possibly silly reds at Mary's meme, Ruby Tuesday.

note to self: always buy nice shoes

Talk about red! This is a photo of my dad's brother Fred and his family Mickey, Rickie, Ronnie and Aunt Frances circa 1954. Check out her wonderful shoes! Uncle Fred, now pushing 90, has walked every day to and from his own business, and lived in the same red brick house since the 1950's.

[photo courtesy Idaho Signs]

Visit Mary the Teach to see more RED treasures at Ruby Tuesday.

'Please won't you be my neighbor?'

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood when I trudged through the snow to see what I could see. On this tree was the only color I'd seen for blocks. The berry clusters reminded me of parachutes dropping bundles on some blockaded town. . . in the Twilight Zone.

This neighbor has this Swiss flag up all year but now it seems especially fitting for the Olympic extravaganza.

Poor guy can't seem to take his chunks of coal eyes off the door with the snappy red wreath leftover from the holidays. [And yes, I meant to fill up 90% of the photo with a blank wall!]

Visit Mary, our intrepid hostess, for more jewels for Ruby Tuesday.

'God save Elizabeth'

While the earth sleeps, a bit of the cheerful color red can be seen if one really pays attention. These are random shots in my home at Christmas, around the bend and on a small, local lake in my neighborhood. In the photo below, in the upper left corner you can see a small hockey rink with lawn chairs for the 'audience' that has been cleared on the lake.

Visit Mary the Teach's meme, Ruby Tuesday for more glimpses of red.

The rose is red, the leaves are green, God save Elizabeth, our noble queen. Anonymous
Lines written by a Westminster schoolboy in the margin of his copy of Julius Caesar. Quoted in P W Hasler (ed) The House of Commons,1558^1603 (vol.1), p.474.