It’s water under the bridge (s), the water being the Monongahela River. I lost count of the number of bridges we sailed under.
Sunday night.
Rivers of Steel Photo Cruise on the Mon. During the 2 1/2 hour Riverboat Cruise we had rain, clouds, thunder, lightning )where we had to go inside the boat) and then a sliver of sun briefly, ending on clear skies.
I was wondering what I’d post following the dedication post of the Gary and Nancy Tuckfelt Holocaust Sculpture from yesterday. Thank you for the thoughtful comments and for sharing it with those who were unable to attend.
And then the artist Elena Hiatt Houlihan called me Monday night to say she’d taken photographs of Keeping Tabs at night with a borrowed tripod.
She said to me, “You have to see it at night. The light is beautiful.”
I was half asleep-
but after we hung up, I pulled jeans over my pjs, threw on a coat and grabbed a hat. I drove up Beechwood Boulevard to photograph the sculpture even though Elena had already left. It was 10 PM.
My tripod was at school in my classroom so I took up a Swifter with a flat top pole to steady my camera.
No moonlight to help the effort.
As I got out of the car, I saw the light reflecting off the six million pop tabs encased in the glass blocks. All was quiet. It was moving.
I was all alone until a single figure arrived and entered the sculpture for a time.
I tried a number of settings, shutter speeds, aperture and white balance, trying to get the best quality shot I could, given lack of tripod or remote cable. It was in the low 40’s and I was wishing I had my tripod. Night photography takes practice.
This post seems to complete yesterday’s photographic essay. Good idea, Elena.
and then too much light, blown out- but autumn colors in the surrounding trees
My sister went to Governor’s Island (in New York City) today.
Mary sent me some photos from her phone. You know she and I have been to a couple of carousels this year… Jane’s and Coney Island
Looked like a fun blog post in the making! She did just that! Thanks Mary. Her phone isn’t a smart one yet although I think it’s time to upgrade.
Fête Paradiso -Vintage French Carousel and Carnival Rides from the late 19th and early 20th century have been on display every weekend this summer, some to ride, some just to admire.
all en Francais
painted on tin
Thirteen Stars on the Flag
The city skyline as see from Governor’s Island
and there was an art fair going on as well
When I saw this man at work this morning, Rodin’s sculpture of The Thinker came to mind. I had my camera at the ready for the 9th grade orientation. Lucky day!
On this night before a new school year is about to start and the summer vacation and family visits are memories, I was thinking about why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place.
I’m writing and posting these photos to pay tribute to wonderful teachers in my life.
In the 3rd grade I had an excellent teacher Grace Wagner from Dravosburg PA who taught at Winchester- Thurston. I found an alumni listing online Indiana PA Teachers College class of 1920. Unfortunately I can’t find the photo I have of her but plan to unearth it and post someday soon. Who wouldn’t love a teacher who wrote this about their student. I found it tonight in an envelope addressed to my parents, inside a deteriorating leather scrapbook. Isn’t her handwriting beautiful? I am so grateful I discovered this report tonight before school starts. “she is able to put her gifts to good use” she wrote. I feel encouraged once again as I hear her voice as I read the words she wrote in 1960-1961
Miss Wagner marked a 1 ( outstanding) for Play Spirit on the report card. They don’t have that category on report cards anymore.
And here is Winona Stewart from Morris Plains Borough School in New Jersey.
In the sixth grade and also in the 7th and 8th grade I had a most wonderful teacher- Winona Stewart. We had a Roman Banquet and she read The Human Comedy by William Saroyan aloud after lunch, and also The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford. Every week we memorized a poem and recited it- The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth is one I remember well. I took this photo of Mrs. Steward in 1966, the year I graduated from 8th grade. When I lived in Germany and my own kids were young in the early 80’s, I found an address and wrote her a thank you note and told her how I remembered her reading aloud to our class and how she influenced my choice to get a Masters in Reading. She wrote a beautiful note back to me and one of these days I bet I unearth it, too. She collaborated with the next teacher I am going to mention. We did a show called The Curse of Ra as we learned about Egypt making a gold sarcophagus of papier mache and I was a dancing girl. It all seemed so exciting and wonderful and fun!
Mr G. is why I wanted to be an art teacher. I had him in grade school AND High School. I didn’t try to contact him soon enough as he was deceased when I though of it.
Arthur W Guenther. He produced a movie with our 4th grade class called Around the World in 90 Minutes. I was from the Netherlands and we used real wooden shoes in the tulips. I got a bit part in the French segment too, standing by a Kiosk, chatting away. I remember Starr Kenyon went down the slide as if skiing. Titi Moglia wore a kimono and had a fan and there were pink tissue paper cherry blossoms. I wish I could see the movie again.
When I think of all his creativity, I am in awe.
Mr. Guenther danced on Broadway in the show South Pacific with Mary Martin and showed us his scrapbook,
Mr. Guenther helped finish the monochrome portrait of me in 4th period oil painting class. It hangs in my bathroom.
My granddaughter Anna asked this past week, “Why are you all green?: and I started thinking about Mr Guenther and how he inspired me.
And here I am tonight, wondering if I can inspire someone as I start my new classes.
My father, Roy J. Hendricks (b. 1912-d.2002) was a teacher in a one room school in Illinois
My mother Marian VanSickle (b. 1912- d. 2000) was a teacher in a one room school in Illinois That is my mom in the back row on the left.
What teacher inspired you?
I went to a Knit-In this morning.
You might have seen the Knit the Bridge project on or in the news. Start time was at 6AM and was to go to at least 6PM.
I got some coffee and grabbed a chair and a blanket to pad the wooden seat. The group was on the North Side of the Bridge stitching while the teams who were trained ( insurance requirement) donned hard hats and sore fingers, using zip ties and floss like string to attach the pieces.
One hundred twenty more black railing covers were needed (12×75″) to cover the bottom rails in black, too.
It was fun and I met some nice knitters, crocheters and encouragers who came down to check it all out. The organizers headed by Amanda Gross and her team are working long and hard hours to get all the colorful panels installed on the Seventh Street Bridge AKA the Andy Warhol Bridge. I did hear someone say they were feeling a bit frazzled. I can only imagine.
There were boxes of bagels and supportive and interesting conversation as we stitched. A woman next to me, Sue, has made 35 afghans this year for soldiers in Afghanistan. There was a PR team documenting the project on film. They interviewed her and she showed them photos of her work. That’s a lot of stitching.
Then Veronica arrived. Told me she had been crocheting for 80 years. No kidding!! She made two panels for the bridge and lots of railing covers, too. Christina showed me how to double crochet so I could get finished faster. She was patient and a good teacher so I zipped along until I had to leave.
Thanks Leah for inviting me down, getting the word out!
Bringing people together from many communities- the Knit-In in progress on the North Side of the Bridge
the Bridge is closed to traffic except for these riggers arriving.
Sue( sporting her son’s old bicycle shirt) being interviewed by the PR team filming a documentary about the Knit the Bridge project
Installing one of the panels. Note the black railing covers and the zip ties. And the volunteer workers!
When we lived in Germany, we’d get Pussywillow with fuzzy gray shapes along the branch and hang wooden eggs and rabbit ornaments to make an Easter Tree.
Add MediaI’d never seen Black Pussywillows until Wednesday night at my friend J’s home. I was to take a photograph over to her and the evening turned into an impromptu supper. My crazy part is I went over without the picture I was to take. J followed me back to my house after we ate and got the photograph to take back to her own home but she didn’t seem to mind.
A great blog post about this unusual looking plant is here. The Latin name (Salix gracilistylus ‘Melanostachys’)
I can’t remember the name/type of ceramic vase holding the branches. (Taken with the iPhone)
The challenge came out Friday but this day is Saturday night til Sunday night- Easter! Not an ordinary day.
Somewhere I read that alliteration should be avoided.
A rule somewhere. For writing or blogging but I can’t find the source with the rule about not using it, so here is the puppeteer on a break.
The kid on the scooter is looking at the puppeteer as if to ask what time is the next show? Central Park.
Prometheus at Rockefeller Center , Bringing Man the Gift of Fire.
A slice of Pizza on Bleecker Street and Seventh Avenue
And my friend R alerted me – March 30th is National Pencil Day. The date the patent for the pencil with the eraser on the end was granted in the year 1858.
Thank you Hymen Lipman!
I gathered up what pencils I could find and added the new box of Cedar Pointes I had in my computer bag. I love to write in pencil on a yellow legal pad. I’ve never liked mechanical pencils although I know some who swear by them. On March 30th we’re to write with a pencil but that will make blogging a challenge.
Five facts about pencils excerpted from this site
This week’s challenge of free spirit was exactly that- a challenge!
Here’s a gallery of free spirit (to me) as I perused the archives, thinking about the definition.
My interpretations have a wide range of the meaning- including a feral cat, The Angel of the Waters Fountain in Central Park, Andy Warhol, a motorcycle guy choosing to go helmet less- free spirit not limited to flower children dancing at Woodstock or Haight Ashbury. I should have gotten a few of my friends to pose and I don’t have consent to post some shots I already have but I when I think free spirit, they come to mind. Next week is the Art Fair in the Park in Mellon Park Pittsburgh so I’m thinking an opportunity for new images of free spirit.
I found this quote on another blog but when entered this text it says author unknown-
“Free spirits are inclined to explore life and taste new experiences that hold true to the deepest parts of themselves vs. being influenced by what the masses around them are doing. They are often people who think freely and have the courage to hear their own voice and follow their own integrity.”
One of the feral cats we were able to capture, get fixed and inoculated. There are two and we feed them on the back porch. Our neighbor Ann had cats, cats, cats and then moved to a home and then passed away and we inherited the two that called this neighborhood, home.
Concert goers enter the Altar Bar, a repurposed church in the Strip District of Pittsburgh.
Italian Festival in Bloomfield.
Shohei Toyoda performing in Worthington OH
Angel of the Waters Fountain, Bethesda Terrace, Central Park New York City. It was featured in the movie Angels in America. In fact, it’s been featured in many movies.
You might remember this shot from the Andy Warhol Museum as I was leaving at night, the party was just starting.
Photographer friend Joycie in Grand Central Station. 
