This little gem from Grand Central Station popped up while perusing pictures recently. It reminded me of a grand time in New York City several years ago.
Oh, how I long to go back! Actually, I long to go almost anywhere but I’ll have to settle for memories right now.
I have some thoughts on a few day trips and maybe some long weekends for the spring. Adventures will continue to be hampered this year but I’m sure I can manage to do some safe exploring anyway.
Can we talk about how Bernie Sanders has become internet gold this week?
In case you missed it, a photographer captured this basic image of Bernie at the inauguration. It was cold and Bernie had come prepared to stay warm in a heavy coat and handmade mittens that were a gift from a New Jersey school teacher.
He looks crabby here but the photographer says he really just looked cold. He also stood out, appearing surprisingly casual and comfortable in a sea of more formally dressed attendees.
Nonetheless, the internet got ahold of the image and generated something completely unexpected. He has been photoshopped into every imaginable scenario from sea to shining sea. He’s been spotted at Niagara Falls, at the the Grand Canton and at the Rutherford B. Hayes historic site here in Ohio. The pop culture references have been fabulous as he’s popped up in everything from Mayberry to a Bob Ross painting with his “happy little mittens.”
Even local businesses like antique stores and book shops have their own version of the Bernie.
Joann Fabrics had a fabulous take on it too as they hock their supplies to those wishing to make their own mittens.
But none are as perfect as this Big Bang Theory reference.
It’s funny. Right?
But it’s more than just funny pictures on the internet.
Hear me out.
My Facebook feed is packed with a bizarre combination of people who believe a vast array fact and fiction. From the left to the far right, I can point to people who don’t agree on even the most basic concepts like who won the election and whether the insurrectionists are heroes or criminals.
But they’re all sharing the Bernie memes!
The Bernie meme has become some kind of weird unifier.
And why not? We all have that cranky grandpa or uncle who wears his thirty year old jacket and looks cranky everywhere he goes.
We all know a Bernie!!!
(I hope you read that in a Bernie yell!)
And we can all get behind the silliness because we just need something to make us laugh.
Scout even got in on the action.
Who knew that we just needed a practical New Englander to don some homemade mittens and slump on a metal folding chair to curb the feuds as we all giggle over the ridiculous?
And it is ridiculous but that’s what makes it fun.
In case you’re interested, Bernie is selling a commemorative sweatshirt and all the proceeds will benefit Vermont Meals On Wheels, an excellent cause. Click here to see that or to order.
If you have ever traveled State Route 278 from Nelsonville to Lake Hope State Park you have likely noticed some interesting brick ruins on the outskirts of Nelsonville.
They’re what’s left of the city’s once booming brick manufacturing industry.
With its large clay deposits, this area was ideal for making the untold number of bricks needed to build new structures and streets in southern Ohio. In fact, there once were five companies that did just that in Nelsonville.
One of them even won first prize at the World’s Fair in St. Louis in 1904.
The traditional beehive kiln seen in these pictures is part of the Nelsonville Brick Plant – now a park.
There are a lot of bricks inside and around the area.
If you look down along Ohio’s older streets and sidewalks, you might see a Nelsonville brick – marked with their name or a star design. If you’re lucky, you might find one in an antique store or junk shop too.
Some people look for pretty flowers and beautiful works of art. I seek out the side door with its exposed brick, hand painted advertising and weird shadows playing off the fire escape.
Here’s one of many weirdo things I photographed with my phone in downtown Denver last year. I need to go through my camera pictures because there are some good ones to share but I just haven’t gotten around it. Perhaps this No Spend Month will provide time to do this.
Meanwhile, isn’t this an interesting building?
It’s the Barteldes Seed Lofts and Condos. I couldn’t resist looking up their website which provided far more historic perspective than I expected. In fact, their home page explains that the five story building was constructed at the turn of the 20th century to support 600 pounds of seed per square foot, a necessity for this wholesale facility.
It was transformed into office and residential loft space in 1987.
It’s high end and there are no vacancies so I guess I won’t be moving in anytime soon. It’s just as well. Even at 600 pounds per square foot, the building might not support my book and LP collections!
The proximity to Union Station would make getting around easy but the closeness to Tattered Cover Book Store wouldn’t help with the book collecting problem! These are two of my favorites stops in this neighborhood so I hope you will read these stories too.
We have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Desert sunrise, Arches National Park, 2018
A coworker asked last week how I’m doing. How am I coping with the isolation of working from home?
I talked a minute about some logistical challenges and said “but I’m fine.”
And then I giggled and admitted I may not really be fine.
The other day, I heard Scout scooting something across a hard surface in another room.
Then came the inevitable crash. This is common as be loves knocking things down just to watch them fall.
It’s a hobby, really.
When I went to investigate, Scout was already fleeing the scene of the crime. I tend to talk to him like he’s a person so I asked what he had done.
He murmured a two syllable noise that I swear sounded like the word “nothing.”
We have reached a proverbial crossroads. Either my cat has super powers and can speak or I have lost my mind.
Also, if he can speak, he’s a liar!