Blog Archives
College of Architecture
The college of architecture and urban planning at the University of Michigan is housed in this old building. And, at the end of the building are apartments; anyone who’s ever gone to architecture school will appreciate the genius behind THAT idea.
(Oldest architecture school joke in history: This building doesn’t even NEED light switches: the lights are always on because on one ever leaves.) (I never said architects were funny.)
Ann Arbor, Michigan
photographed 4.20.2013
A serpent and some flowers
A detail of the door pull on the Schoenhofen mausoleum at Graceland Cemetery. The structure is “inspired” by Egyptian design: it’s a pyramid.
Wikipedia reports that it is one of the most-photographed mausoleums at Graceland. Had I known that when I was there, I wouldn't have taken any pictures: I am a little bit cranky* that way.
But, since I DID photograph it, and got this relatively creepy shot of a serpent and some flowers, it seemed only right to share it.
Schoenhofen tomb
Graceland Cemetery
Chicago, Illinois
photographed 4.16.2013
*Maybe more than a "little bit cranky," to be fair.
Patched arrow still points
My guess is that a lot of drivers (going fast, maybe, or driving at night, or texting) missed the left-to-right dogleg turn on Sharon Hollow Road, right there at the cemetery, and that it happened so often that a warning arrow was installed.
No one wanted to fill up the cemetery with bad drivers.
Sharon Hollow Cemetery
near Manchester, Michigan
photographed 4.19.2013
A cemetery haiku, written from the flight path
She lifts her hand-less
arm as jets circle to land:
O’Hare is nearby.
An update, provided by another blogger, in response to the information that O’Hare International Airport was named for a man who “became the Navy’s first flying ace when he single-handedly attacked a formation”:
Single handed ace
O’Hare appreciates her
One armed salute
Graceland Cemetery
Chicago, Illinois
photographed 4.16.2013
Flowers, wind, and sleeplessness
My mom filled up the flower beds in the back yard with irises; there were the usual colors, like yellow or purple, but there were also exotic ones, like black. Or the white variety that had blooms as big as a softball. I loved those flowers.
But they weren’t a match for the kind of wind we have in west Texas, and often their fragile petals would be bruised or torn by the wind. On nights when the wind blew, I’d lie awake, feeling sad for the way I knew the flowers would look in the morning.
I have a few irises now, dug from my mom’s yard. The big white ones started blooming the other day, the day the temperatures were over 90°F. Last night, the wind blew all night, and this morning’s temperature was almost down to freezing.
Also, last night, I was awake almost all night, unable to sleep from some vague worry that I couldn’t quite define. It wasn’t until I was driving to work this morning that I thought about my mom’s irises and my youthful, sleepless nights. And understood why I was awake last night.
Lubbock, Texas
photographed 3.24.2012
