Monday, March 17, 2014

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.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

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.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

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.


Friday, March 14, 2014

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.
.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

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.


Wednesday, March 12, 2014

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.


Tuesday, March 11, 2014

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 
BuildingI 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!) 


Monday, March 10, 2014

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.  


Sunday, March 9, 2014

Thawing


Lying in a puddle of thawing snow, 
this leaf reflected just a bit of the sunlight
that washed through the barren trees.

Saturday, March 8, 2014

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. 


Friday, March 7, 2014

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.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

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. 

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

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. 


Tuesday, March 4, 2014

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.


Monday, March 3, 2014

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.


Sunday, March 2, 2014

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.

Saturday, March 1, 2014

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.