Imagine. . .

I saw this, actually very small, peace sign painted on a boulder at the edge of someones property while I was out walking yesterday. It called me from the road I was on and in spite of its size opened up a flood gate of memories of coming of age in the late sixties. While I was taking the photo someone drove by and gave me such a quizzical look asking, 'who has the time to take a picture of a rock anyway?' This little emblem means something different to each person that sees it, but it will always mean imagine to me.
I recently found this Marc Chagall painting at the MIA called 'Poet Dreaming.' So I'm adding this image to today's ABC Wednesday letter 'I' as well.

In his book In Beauty, John O'Donohue shares that "the imagination is capable of kindness that the mind often lacks
because it works naturally from the world of between;
it does not engage things in a cold, clear-cut way
but always searches for the hidden worlds that wait at the edge of things."
—Barbara Biziou

Visit ABC Wednesday hosted by Mrs Nesbitt where the letter 'I' is highlighted. You'll be glad you did. Join in anytime.

Calling all Gypsies!

'By its very nature, “Gypsy” implies
multiculturalism, given the vast
stretches of land the nomadic dwellers
have covered over the last 700 years.'

So, before Johnny Depp was a black-hearted pirate, he was a tormented Gypsy horseman. A further bit of trivia: I became a fan of Sally Potter films several years back after watching her The Man Who Cried, set in World War II Europe. But my interest in the Roma population began when I was a pre-schooler and had a friend named Sonya, the Gypsy girl who visited my grandmother with her colorful family. You can read about Sonya here.

Yesterday I found out about the DROMA Gypsy Festival to be held in New York City starting next week, September 24th through October 3rd. I caught wind of this event--that I won't be even close to attending--in an e-mail update from the group Eastern Blok. I have been following this Chicago 'Baltic fusion' group led by guitar virtuoso Goran Ivanovic--and I can say that because I've heard him play--since I lived in Chicago. They will be playing there! The festival will showcase twenty bands, 7 international, and sounds wonderful.

Today's Flowers: from the prairie

The common name of this wildflower is Touch-me-not or Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Throughout late summer and into fall, I see large stands of them at lake edge and around marshy areas where they nicely border cattails. About the size of a thumbnail and a delightful gold/orange, in a cluster they seem to float above the leaves like small yellow butterflies. Click on the photo to enlarge and you'll see their most endearing qualities: little orange freckles. What could be any prettier than a freckle-faced native flower?

To see more wonderful flower photos, visit Luis Santilli's meme, Today's Flowers. You'll be glad you did and you may even want to join in the fun!

I'm just saying. . .Camera Critters

Where did my summer go?

It was just around here somewhere. . .

Visit Misty Dawn to see more critters--and possibly more existential questions--here at Camera Critters.

SkyWatch Friday...Minnesota backroads

We joined a motorcycle group on a fund-raiser ride last Sunday. It started out raining,cleared but the clouds followed us all afternoon. We rode for over 150 miles on back roads through farm land and into small towns with names like St. Bonafacius, Clearwater, Hanover, Elk River and St. Michael. Enlarging this photo shows the precise rows of golden corn on this farm.

See many more sky views at SkyWatch Friday here. Happy Friday!

Fave Things Thursday with a purple passion!

Never one to just say I like something without having to trace the whole progression through the passion, history (histrionics?) complete with recipes and quotes [the other side of the Libra scales of indecision]. . .sigh. . .but my passion, next to blue, is purple and that it would be food should be no surprise either.
Today's Favorite Things Thursday highlights my love of all things eggplant.
My affair began in adulthood when I finally put things in order about eggplant--its real meaning to me. I spent my first five years living away from my family of origin only to find myself back with them when I started kindergarten. I probably wasn't very happy about this and eventually was bestowed with the nickname mellanzane by my 'new' Italian relatives. What I realized later was they were commenting on my 'long face.' So be it. When I fell in love with cooking--my dad always said 'women are fickle'--I acquired a taste for the delicious variety of this veg. First and foremost was the appealing smooth, shiny shape and gorgeous color. Who could resist?


Eggplant shows up in the cuisine of many cultures. I've made:
ratatouille
caponata
baba ganouch
moussaka &
parmigiana
but my all time favorite way to eat it is to cut in 1 in. slices across, layer the slices on a baking sheet, slather with olive oil, and bake in a hot oven until the skin is crispy and the insides are soft. Set to cool a bit and eat, all in one sitting. This'll turn that frown upside down!

'How can people say they don't eat eggplant when God loves the color and the French love the name? I don't understand.'

Jeff Smith

If an eggplant went to a plant psychologist for some veggio-therapy, it’s unlikely that the managed care company would authorize enough sessions to cure the addled little bugger. It suffers from an identity crisis that is quite, ahem, deep-rooted. Eggplants don’t know what they are, what their name is, or what they do. To begin, eggplants are not vegetables but fruits and to take it one step further, a berry to be exact. . .[read more here!]

I can relate.

Visit Blue and her Favorite Things Thursday for more bloggers' favorite things.

Delicious autumn! ABC Wednesday arrives

We are already one quarter through the alphabet for ABC Wednesday bringing us to the letter 'H'--so I choose harvest to illustrate this letter with some photos I took yesterday at a farmer's market in the town I live in. It assembles every Tuesday and will go until mid-October. We are definitely seeing more fruits of the harvest now and yesterday one of the vendors was even giving everyone a free roasted ear of corn to eat while shopping.

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. George Eliot

Visit Mrs Nesbitt who hosts ABC Wednesday each week. You'll be inspired and may want to join in the fun!