PC Troubles and A Work In Progress

I am having a bit of trouble with my PC. 

Don't know why I should have problems, but it's definitely 

annoying. I try to be careful to not do anything 

stupid on-line, but who knows?

In the meanwhile, here's a photo of my current painting project.

I am trying to create an impression of what I see

when I look into the Natatorium swimming pool, the way

the shadows of the ripples appear to undulate

on the bottom of the pool, even as those same ripples 

reflect light off the surface of the water.

I anticipate that the outlines on the bands of color

will evolve to blend more into the blue ground.

The Art of Healing

As Eskenazi Health was being constructed and as its shape 

began to emerge, I wondered how the architects 

could possibly make a bunch of stacked boxes look interesting.

I needn't have worried because the designers have,

in essence, created frames for art work. For the main building,

an artist was commissioned who designed a facade

of vertical blue stripes, while another has adorned a second

segment with translucent flanges that reflect and diffuse 

the light as it changes throughout the day.

Yet a third fabricated an enameled steel installation 

for the parking garage that also plays with light and shadow,

changing with the time of day and as drivers pass by.

It is the same inside, where artwork serves to create 

an island of beauty and calm, one where the art of healing 

is practiced for the people of the community.

Sun Wash

For a long while, the colored walls of this car wash 

have attracted me. The place is worn, utilitarian, prosaic, 

faded, even downright ugly, but during the morning,

 the yellow paint gives the bays a golden aura.

I suppose it's an illustration of the saying,

"Like putting lipstick on a pig."

After getting off the bus, I had a few minutes to spare 

before work, so I stopped to take a few pictures.

In the Shadows of Dawn

Early Friday morning, I stood waiting for my bus to work, 

hidden from the cold breezes in the limestone shadow 

of the Federal Court building. I watched the ebb and flow 

of the morning traffic as the cars took their turns 

at the intersection. The bright lights on the vehicles

and the traffic signals provide the only color

against the pavement, gray as people's

moods on a workday.

.

Studies in Cold and Gray

After enjoying a few days wafting with the friendly 

promise of Spring! we were greeted this morning by frigid 

gusts of air thirty degrees colder than they 

were yesterday. Unfortunately, I hadn't worn my warmest

coat, so stood miserably stoic at the bus stop, my nose

warmed by my own breath as it drifted among 

the deep folds of my neck scarf.

Only traces remain of the snow that held us 

in its thrall for weeks, but the island of cold air that 

swept in overnight make it seem as though those

traces of cold have settled permanently 

between my shoulder blades.

I may never stand straight again.

1,001

Not many days ago, the IPALCO building was lit in the shape 

of a pink heart to celebrate Valentine's Day. 

Now, in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day, the building's 

windows show green. I've gotten to enjoy being downtown

during the early morning hours to see the city prepare 

for another day. Below, an insurance company on the northwest

quadrant of the Circle is already lit for work, and

already working if the numbers of lights in office windows

are any indication.

Shoot, this marks post number 1,001 for

Speedway Daily Photo. My camera was already 

on its way to becoming my constant companion 

when I started this blog. Now, leaving it behind when

I leave home is the decision I face, rather than 

whether to take it along.

Waiting for the Bus: At 8 a.m. and at 8 p.m.

Monday morning, I arrived downtown to catch a bus to work. 

 The top photo was taken outside the Federal Court 

Building. I particularly enjoy the way the LED lights 

illuminate the columns of the court building. 

They seem caught in the middle of the complimentary 

scheme of the yellow globe lights and indigo sky.

After swimming at the Natatorium, I walked over

to Eskenazi Health to get the bus home.

At the stop, I looked over my shoulder to see, again,

that blue and yellow had conspired together, 

this time to cast their hues over a composition 

of rectangles and grids.

(Argh! My eyes must be deceiving me! This is my
one thousandth post for SPD!) 

Error No. 666

For days this PC monitor has been lying at the curbside, 

banished to the junk pile. Had it been wandering

the neighborhood with insufficient memory to turn around 

to find its home? By now, its screen has frozen

and its image reduced to perpetual snow.

Then again, maybe it's an NSA mole,

sent to watch the neighborhood activities.  

Thawing

Lying in a puddle of thawing snow, 

this leaf reflected just a bit of the sunlight

that washed through the barren trees.

Blocks for a Granite Quilt

I walked to a nearby business Friday morning 

to take care of a task. Of course, I had my little camera 

in my pocket, hoping to catch an interesting picture, 

something in the way of how we're finally thawing 

out from a hard winter. The exterior walls of Speedway

High School caught my eye. The pattern made from

a patchwork of granite samples and the bare, scraggly tree 

seemed to play nicely in the morning sun. 

On the Fringe

Their heads bowed in assent, on the fringe of 

a new season, these flowers await Spring. 

After a winter that's been more harsh than any 

in recent memory, the world is now matted and gray.

Somewhere below, new grass and flowers prepare to emerge,

to replace and cover the scarred reminders of

the cold and bitter snows.

Sunny Blue

Generally, I use a door into the parking garage on the 

east side of the Natatorium to enter the pool area.

I looked up the other day from between the two buildings 

to see this wedge of sunlit blue sky. 

Icy Foliage

Tuesday evening I happened see a tree, 

one that bore icy foliage.

It was nestled next to the Natatorium

where the melting snow from an overhead

walkway dripped on the tree's branches,

creating a crystal frond that complimented 

the curves of green twigs. 

Finding Myself(ie)

On a sunny afternoon last week, I walked around the Circle 

to enjoy the, for once, reasonable temperatures 

and bright colors. I always like to look at the displays 

of frames at Ossip Optometry and try to find ways to

get a picture of the array of styles offered.

This time, I noticed the inverted/converted 

reflections of the monument in the lenses and 

the glass display shelves.

Long gone are the days when "four eyes" meant

one resigned one's self to glasses that were

about as attractive as the orthopedic shoes

I wore as a child -- brown or black with thick soles. 

Now, if I could only get shoemakers to create 

stylish and pretty pumps for my short, wide feet.

And my "selfie"? I'm that black blob 

at the bottom in the yellow frames.

Convex View: Yellow and White Skewed

Once again, I paused on my way to the coffee shop 

the other night to look at the garage door

 and railings in the Chase Tower. The bright yellow

paint makes the gray asphalt take on a violet

tinge. A compliment to yellow, the violet color

 hovers in the shadows like a veil.

Night Circle

After working my stint at the IHSAA Boys' Swimming 

and Diving Championships, I went to Starbucks 

to pass the time waiting for the bus 

over a chai latte. I really enjoy looking at the

tiny lights wrapped around the trees. They almost seem

to make a repeat design as they arc around

the Circle, offset by the twinkling mosaic of the

office lights in the center building.

Giving Back

Friday evening, I did a stint as an usher at the 

2014 ISHAA Boys' Swimming and Diving Championships 

being held this weekend at the IUPUI Natatorium.

Indy Aquatic Masters sometimes asks its members to give

their time for events like these in order to help

offset the organization's costs, as well as to help support

and promote swimming activities in the community.

I would much preferred to have been swimming. 

Not that I could have in any way kept up with the boys,

but the competition excited me, making standing

around in the aisles a real bore. Even though the finals

will be held Saturday evening, several state records were

broken, both individually and by teams. The best of the night

was also the last event. Chesterton High School boys

set a new state and national record in the 400 meter

freestyle relay, lowering the time from 3 minutes,

1.05 seconds to 2 minutes, 59.36 seconds.