(The Making of ) the Annual Holiday Photo

After setting up the camera, Dad (my nephew Joseph)

runs to take his place in the crowd shot.

This year, it numbered about twenty-eight people

who had gathered for a Thanksgiving meal

at a sister-in-law's barn.

This began as a casual idea by my

sis-in-law Fran for a photo Christmas card, 

so long ago I don't remember the first one. 

Everyone, from adults, to children, 

to various fur persons,

puts on a silly Christmas hat, chosen 

from a large collection of chapeaus 

and headbands. The picture above shows

some of my grandnieces

(Audrey, Maggie, and Savannah) choosing

their headgear while, below,

the wife of another nephew washes frosting

and crumbs from her daughter's face.

Another grandniece, Tallulah, at age four

shows a creative fashion sense, selecting two

pieces of headgear for her photo,

a Santa hat topped by glittery garland

pom-poms. It made her resemble

a sort of Yuletide version of a Skye Terrier,

one of which recently won Best-In-Show

at the National Dog Show.

Dessert

I've been wanting a bit of dessert for days.

Did I want the coconut cake from Cafe Patachou

or did I want to go up to The Flying Cupcake for, 

well, cupcakes? Instead, I went to the 

Frona Mae Dessert Cafe

on East Washington Street, right between a bar 

and an art gallery. A group of people sat at the front

table, bathed in the late afternoon sunlight

pouring through the window.

The building, gutted and restored

to create this space, reminded me of all the 

stories I've read about artists sitting 

in Parisian cafes discussing the latest 

in avant-garde art or sharing their 

poetry over tiny cups of espresso.

I had a bowl of Graeter's black cherry 

chocolate chip ice cream. 

Gawd, I'm a sucker for that stuff.

Even among all the pies and cakes, the ice

cream sang a siren's song.

Teaspoon by teaspoon, I luxuriated

in my little fantasy of being

in a French cafe, wiling away a bit 

of the afternoon as poets

and writers argued some philosophical

point, and imagined great art

hung in the gallery next door. *Sigh.*

I Just Liked It ...

Ready, Not Ready

We returned to the Natatorium competition pool

for practice last week. I was happy to be

back in "good water" that was cool and calm,

meant for swimmers.

"Meant for swimmers" is the operative term

here, because the Nat is a world class facility.

I walked in last night to see not only kids from a couple

of high schools practicing, but black-clad

members of a production crew hanging

steel framework for lighting and camera equipment.

This equipment will be used in about

a month's time, when the meet between teams

from the USA and Europe will be telecast by the

NBC Sports Network, December 11 and 12.

Called the Mutual of Omaha "Duel in the Pool," 

the meet will bring together top swimmers 

from both the USA and Europe in the eighth renewal 

of an event that has always provided 

top-flight competition.

(Buy tickets and attend; it is an exciting,

invigorating occasion.)

Meanwhile, following the behest of our coaches,

the masters swimmers, most of whom are old enough

to be the parents of the likes of Ryan Lochte,

Missy Franklin, and Michael Phelps,

swam their workouts beneath the rigging,

as slim and fast in our minds, if not in fact,

as our elite chlorinated comrades

Kale Forest, *Aerial* View

In a small garden just outside Eskenazi Health,

there's a small stand of kale.

I suppose it is used by the little deli 

next door to make salads for their customers.

Try as I might, I just can't bring myself

to tolerate any but the most occasional serving

of the stuff; chopped up and combined

with cabbage, kale provides color and fibre

for what otherwise would be slaw.

Yuch, bleh, and good riddance.

Hard Edge and Fuzzy

The primary colors are represented here, as well as

hard edge and fuzzy styles of painting.

I paused for a bit to enjoy the beautiful weather

during my walk to swim practice,

looking back to see the way Nature had

composed the yellow and red leaves of the trees

against the man-made (woman-designed)

contemporary stripes of the Eskenazi exterior.

One of my favorite things to see is the way sunlight

can reflect off the sides of trees, causing the light to bounce

and define the lines of the trunks and limbs.

No matter how I've tried, I don't seem to be able

to show that luminescence in my pictures.

So it has to remain a secret treasure, one enjoyed 

by my eyes alone and cherished in my mind.

Flying Off the Shelves

The problem in our country is not with books being banned,

but with people no longer reading.

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture.

Just get people to stop reading them.

The above quote is on the website of a blog-pal,

Dive of Small Glass Planet. The words were spoken by

the author of one of my favorite books, whose name

I won't reveal, out of deference to Dive's quiz.

  The installation in the main entry of the IMA,

Richard Wentworth's False Ceiling,

seems to pair perfectly with two bookcases

from The Public Collection.

While the installation is in place, the IMA

is requesting that visitors submit a guess estimating

the number of books used to create the display.

Each month, an entry will be selected 

to receive either a Dual/Family Membership 

or a $75 Museum gift card.

Just past Wentworth's installation, 

there are two additional bookcases from 

The Public Collection series. 

The one in the middle picture, called PlayStation,

is by LaShawnda Crowe Storm, and

 provides children with an irresistible invitation 

to read and play. The area in the IMA

has been made into a comfortable gathering 

place for children and other living things,

with couches, chairs and carpets where visitors 

may relax and enjoy the books and passers-by.

Adults will be fascinated by the wooden

"refrigerator" provided by Tom Torluemke.

Of course, its called Cool Books - Food for Thought.

Big and Little

Hosta grow in the shade of fir trees 

on the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

As the hosta turn yellow and translucent 

in the autumn light, they support a fallen sprig, 

one that had earlier given them shade

from the summer heat.

Layers

Workers are painstakingly restoring/renovating/repairing 

the exteriors of the pillars of the old 

Indiana National Bank building. I think the

current bank tenant is Planters, but the names have

changed so much over the years, I lose track.

Anyway ... the pillars used to be sheathed in white

marble, sheets of which have, over the years,

 loosened and fallen off. There are sheets that have

been strapped into place and, boy, are they ugly:

not only are the straps unsightly, but the grain

of the sheets are at right angles to the vertical pattern

of the other sheets of marble. I wince

every time I look at them.

So now, the entire surface is being redone.

The many layers of waterproofing and added

structure for hanging the new "marble"

sheathing can be seen in the photos.

I hope the changes stick.

The Trees Know

So far this fall, our weather has been milder

 than in recent years. That is such a blessing. 

Last winter was prolonged and miserable,

with temperatures plummeting in early autumn 

and not rising until late spring.

Even so, the trees know it's time for 

their torpor; leaves are falling like rain. 

These ginkos have created a golden carpet 

at the entrance to the Massachusetts Avenue 

shopping area, just off downtown Indy.

Missed It. Dammit.

All month, I'd been stalking my neighbors' front yard, 

eager to see what they might install as 

their Halloween yard decor.

All month I was disappointed because no magic

transformations had appeared. 

Well, a new deck had been added to the back 

of the house, so I figured their attentions

had been applied there instead.

Wrong!

This morning I left to walk to the store to find 

that this scene had been created.

I wish I could have seen it last night, 

lit in all its macabre glory.

In addition to the skeleton driving the old car,

there is a skeleton cat on the window, 

a giant-ass spider perched on the corner of the porch, 

and, just possibly, a yucky effigy of our

state's narrow-minded governor being squished 

under the car. Bwa-ha-ha-hah!

On the other side of the front yard, they had parked 

one of their cars. Since it is just the right

shade of "Exorcist" green, it fit the theme.

I wondered what role it played Halloween night

and was sorry I missed whatever

drama it had been assigned. 

Theme Day: Ephemeral

My entry into this month's theme day

is just about as fleeting as the diamonds

that appeared on the fall leaves.

The colors on the trees this autumn

have been more bright and beautiful than

in the recent past, making them

another treasure to be hoarded in the mind

for future enjoyment, as color

to be remembered through the coming

gray of winter.