More Art-chitecture
The stairway leading from the lobby of the Hotel Indigo in downtown Atlanta to the mezzanine is a wonderful design that is as functional as it is beautiful. There are some nice uses of photography throughout the hotel and we found the accommodations to be very comfortable. The staff at the front desk were some of the best we've ever encountered and equally engaging. It's definitely a place we will return to.
The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!
While the world has focused its attention on multiple issues from what’s happening on the Korean peninsula, Stormy Daniels, the Bill Cosby trial, the volatility of the stock market, sports playoffs, and what’s happening in Washington D.C., a seismic change that will effect all our lives has occurred in the fast food industry with all most no fanfare at all.
You missed it, too, didn’t you? What if I give you a hint? It happened at Pizza Hut. Was it a new sauce? Nope. More pepperoni? Wrong again. Faster delivery? Not exactly. Gluten free options? Possible, but that’s not the real news. Still stumped?
The fine folks at Pizza Hut have done something that Albert Einstein, nor anyone at MIT, Cal Poly, nor any think tank has been able to accomplish previously. They have altered the space/time continuum by creating longer hours. You don’t have to believe me. Read the sign.
Why all the top scientific publications and major news networks have overlooked this is beyond me. The implications for hourly workers are longer days for less money. Why aren’t the unions taking to the streets in protest? When a mechanic tells you your car will be ready in an hour does that mean the time period we have grown up with or one of the “new longer hours”? (Which no one has bothered to let us know how long they will be.) How much are things going to slow down?
Since the hour is still being used as a key measure of time and we’re being told those hours will be longer, what will the impact be on minutes and seconds? What’s going to happen to hour-long TV programs, specifically 60 Minutes? Will we need new watches and calendars? How will this impact the transportation industry? Will some states and countries be allowed to remain on current time or will there be a universal conversion effort to adopt the new longer hours?
I’m all for progress, but also quick to call out a bad idea and this is a horrible one. I beseech everyone who reads this to get on social media, mobilize their neighborhoods, march on their local Pizza Hut and sit in there until we have an agreement to repeal the new longer hours. The 60-minute hour worked just fine for our forefathers and will be just as good for our great-great grandchildren.
Getting The Shot
For many years, I thought being a National Geographic photographer would be a dream job. Travel to exotic locations, experience new cultures, and create incredible photos of volcanoes, eclipses, animals, nature, and people. It was much later that I learned that a substantial percentage of their photographers sacrificed family life to record these breathtaking images. I have to admit I was not prepared to suffer that much for my art.
Still, the yearning to get "the shot" continued, so I had to figure out a way to create a great picture when the circumstances were less than ideal. You know, when the private jet is in the shop and you can't fly to the Arctic Circle to catch that Northern lights or when the meteor shower is at 3 A.M. and you've been up since 11 P.M. trying to get the baby back to sleep. My solution...create your own. This "solar eclipse" in the photo above is actually a hallway light in the movie theater closest to our home. Monica's round make-up mirror is also a great substitute for a solar eclipse. A quick shot with the cell phone, a bit of post processing, and you have a reasonable facsimile of the event without all the tiresome planning and waiting for just the right moment. This way, being a photographer isn't all that hard or that time consuming. So, if you'll excuse me, there are some really funny new cat videos on YouTube that I want to watch.
It's Hard to Improve Nature's Designs
On a bright, cool, and breezy November day in New Mexico I came upon these milkweed pods alongside the road. The pods had split and the tightly packed seeds were waiting for their silky tails to catch a wind gust and be carried to who knows where for a potential new lease on life. I don't know what the odds of a seed landing in a place where it can grow into a healthy plant, but I'm thinking they are pretty long in such a harsh, dry, environment.
The milkweed pods are a marvel of compression and timed release. Bearded irises are similar in that way and watching the blooms emerge from the iris flames provides an equal level of amazement for me. We could probably learn a thing or two about packing from nature.
The Beauty of Oxidation
While passing through Carrizozo, New Mexico I saw this relic of a Studebaker truck parked near a garage. Restoration by its owner appeared to have stopped a few years back for reasons unknown and since then the New Mexico climate has been customizing the vehicle over time as only it can.
The Middle of Nowhere
Chances are pretty good that you've never been to Chloride, New Mexico, but if you have, the route took you through Cuchillo. I don't know if Cuchillo was ever a booming community, but there's not much happening there now. Still, this abandoned church against a beautiful New Mexico sky made the long drive on a serpentine road more than worth it.
The Patience of the Fisherman
My brother-in-law, Robert, lives to fish and has a keen interest in stocks. After being around him for a few years, it is hard for me to discern which brings him greater joy; reeling in a big catch on the water or one in the stock market. Whether on the bank, wading in the water, or on a boat, Robert is a study in patience and economy of motion. If he comes home empty handed, it has still been a good day fishing.
While at the Bosque del Apache last November with friends Geraint and Pam Smith, we spotted this blue heron that Geraint nicknamed Hank. I don't know if Hank plays the stock market, but he shares a number of fishing attributes with Robert: patience, stillness, persistence, and economy of motion. While Robert lives to fish, Hank fishes to live. He doesn't have the option of going to a restaurant if he doesn't catch anything. Maybe that's why he's so good.
I've never heard Robert talk about catching anything that was too big to handle, but we did see Hank spear one that appeared to be on the upper limits of what his gullet could handle. He spent quite a bit of time repeatedly smacking it against the bank and using his bill to tenderize it. This too, was an exercise in patience and persistence that Hank had done many times before. Like a skilled chef, he sensed the precise moment the dish was ready and swallowed it whole.
As good as Robert is, I have to give Hank the edge when it comes to fishing. I always enjoy watching a skilled professional work.
Hung Out To Dry
I'm engaged in a long-distance love affair and my wife approves. Before your imagination engages in too much speculation about the nature of our marriage, I encourage you to "pump the brakes." My love affair is with New Mexico and it has existed since my first visit back in the early 1960's. I'm sure my love of native American art has something to do with it as does my interest in the history of the western U.S., but it runs deeper than that.
There is a quality to the light in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah that I have not found in any other place and it is magical. Since artists have been coming here for decades to work in the presence of this special light, my observation is less than groundbreaking. Still, each visit leaves me awestruck. Hearing the local meteorologist talk about "visibility of 70 miles" always brings a smile to my face. I don't recall hearing that in Florida.
Then there are the things I just don't see anywhere else like the scene above. I got off the Interstate to explore a bit of the countryside and found this outside San Acacia. The juxtaposition of the hanging chiles and laundry was too good to pass. Look closely and you'll find a pair of "tighty whities" among the tube socks.
I'm going back to New Mexico at the end of April and am taking my brother-in-law. I hope Marilyn is as understanding as Monica if he falls in love with the place like I have.
Decorating Tips From Not Martha Stewart
You can always use an extra set of hands at outdoor gatherings. This idea takes care of that and adds a bit of design zing to that log outbuilding in your backyard. While good for any season, it's at its best during chilly weather when piping hot beverages will kill any germs that may have accumulated in the cups over the summer. No washing means you can spend more time with your guests!
You Are Me and I Am You
I have been blessed to be able to travel to many countries, learn about different cultures, and meet fascinating people who, I'm reasonably sure, have impacted my life more than I have theirs. Haiti is one of the places I've returned to several times and today I'm as conflicted about that country as I was before I left on my first visit there. First, let me say that whatever opinions you have about Haiti can be easily supported if you spend a bit of time there.
If you're expecting to find rampant poverty, overcrowding, a bloated bureaucracy, pushy people, and chaotic traffic patterns, you can see all that without getting off airport property. Take any of the bumpy roads and you will see overwhelming evidence of what nearly a century of a government's failure to take care of its people looks like. Of course, you may have trouble discerning that from the failed efforts of numerous aid and charitable organizations. Throw a rock in any direction and you will likely hit promises unkept and potential unrealized. Disasters are attracted to Haiti like tornadoes to a trailer park and destitution sticks on the country like a bad tattoo. Only a small portion of the population has access to things we take for granted: clean water, dependable electricity, quality healthcare, and readily available transportation.
If you can suspend your judgment about all those things and get to a different perspective, other views are possible. You will find people hard at work each day to make ends meet. Folks doing all they can to overcome their circumstances and refusing to give in. I stand amazed at the depth and breadth of the faith of many of the people I've met there when my eyes and my experiences tell me there is absolutely no evidence for their hopefulness. Like our kids in the U.S., Haitian children dream of being doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, firemen, and super heroes. Who am I to say that it is not possible?
I do not have any glib answers to solve any of Haiti's problems. At the same time, I cannot pretend the country does not exist or that things there will improve if left alone.
