The Beauty is in the Details

 
For today, forget the devilish details and share in the beautiful ones. Two are from Saturday and two from today just on a walk out back.

Saturday morning was chilly, and many puddles had an icy crust, almost growing crystals



These are angel wings, I think. No, really, I think they are angel wing fungus, Pleurotus porrigens. They seemed to want to fly away with that log.



The curl of a thread pulling away from the leaf of a Yucca can never decide which direction it should travel.



And this stump always fascinates me. How long ago must the tree have been damaged to develop that ingrown curl of outer bark?



Tomorrow is a work day as well as election day. I'm tired, and I know what to do about that!

	See Ice on the Pine
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Squares

 
I'll start with squares, but this is a warning for purists. It degenerates into rectangles, but my rationale is they have square corners.

Out walking today to check on things for Get Off The Couch, and I just liked the patterns in these.

First, I found a yard where pallets of bricks had been stored, now all weathered.


Then I saw a square window with colored glass panes.


I knew this building with the lovely herringbone brick pattern was on my route, so I snapped one square picture of it.


On the way back, passing by the long closed Thompson Cabinet Factory, even the painted out windows appealed to me.



The last shot stretches the theme a little bit, but I love all the angles, and I love how this building has been re-purposed. This is the old Atkinson Tool Box building. There's a good chance that if you have an old metal tool box it was made here. Now it's a nice apartment building. Those square additions, placed on the diagonals up the sides, were added, and it changes the look from old factory to visually interesting.



Tonight is work. Chilling out this evening, doing computer stuff.

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Beauty and the Beach

 
There were so many wonderful details on the Ludington State Park beach yesterday, I couldn't stop taking pictures! I think these are the best. They really don't need explanation. My favorite is last. It's a closeup of one of the little "rock comets."

	See A Walk at Summit Beach
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Philadelphia Flower Show 2013- London Industrial

 
This display won the overall award for best major landscape display. I liked it a lot, but I wish there would have been more interpretation. I don't know if it's supposed to look like some particular place, or is just trying to build on the idea of an industrial area being overtaken by plants.



It was set up like a studio/workroom, and inside were lots of plants with interesting shapes that offset the shapes of the furniture and decor.



In an ironic twist, there was a drawing of a tree on one wall, as if someone were designing a new project. I like how it complements the carved door panel.



Outside the walls of the studio the daffodils were echoed in metal and surrounded by brown grasses.


Lots of daffodil echoes here! The award particularly noted the good combination of manufactured with natural items.

	See Bonsai
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Polka Dots and Stripes 3

 
Not much going on here today. I was working at the computer most of the day. Yesterday was Josh's birthday, but since we were doing 50 mph winds I didn't go out. Today, I took a little bit of cake over to him.



He wasn't home, but I anticipated that and had it in a box I could leave on his porch. Also, his cake had coconut on it, but I made ours polka dotted.

The sun came out and made some nice striped shadows.



Nothing spectacular, but that's ok!

	See Polka Dots and Stripes 2
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An Exercise at Pratt Lake

 
Today, after attending church with Bruce & Linda, I headed for...

and stopped on the way so Maggie and I could stretch our legs at Pratt Lake. I chose this place because it was there. No other reason. It was a damp, gray morning, and nothing seemed to be very interesting.



But apart from the physical exercise of taking a [very] short walk, I set myself to another exercise, as in practice session, of looking for some beauty in this rather drab-looking place.

You'll have to decide if I succeeded.













... and where was I on my way to? I'm there now. Don't you wish you knew? Come back tomorrow to find out.

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Polka Dots and Stripes 2

 
I was out doing assignments today, and had writers' group tonight. Busy day.

One project I've been working at for a bit is getting all my previous blog posts printed and into a notebook, so all those memories aren't lost if something happens to the on-line versions. Big job. But I'm making progress.

One thing that has been impressed on me even more strongly is how much I appreciate all your comments. It took several months of blogging here at MQD before people began coming by and getting acquainted. Feedback makes it so much more fun!

I think, beginning in December I'll get back to rewarding the top commenters. With Entrecard and Adgetize gone the number of comments has dropped dramatically. I get that... no hard feelings. But I'm thinking I might reward the top five each month with a larger ad.

Anyway... one of my early posts was Polka Dots and Stripes. Not sure if that was on my mind today, or if these images were simply there waiting for me to collect.



OK, so it was just one big polka dot this time.



Plenty of stripes, though!

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A Shell Game

 
Too hot to care about much. And it's the week of the paper route for me again. I promise to keep looking for good things. And you won't know if I'm cheerful or not. The internet is really good for some things.

I like things that look like other things. Here's an example.



It's just a plain old bridge abutment, but with greenery giving definition to the cracks and some extra bushes for seaweed, it looks like a scallop shell at the bottom of a clear sea.

That's all for today.

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Wood on Water

Today was gray; I did almost nothing and I have a stiff neck. So I bring you some assorted images from earlier in the week that I just like. Two are on the Little Manistee River, and the bleached root was on the Pere Marquette.

	See Color or No Color?
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