And Effing Pigs Shall Fly...

This sign was seen a few weeks ago at about 5:30 a.m. 

at the intersection of 10th and Tibbs. 

Yep, $0.00 except for the final nine-tenths of a cent, 

which means ten gallons would still cost 9 cents.

See? Even something that looks free, isn't.

And why do they have that nine-tenths of a cent on there, anyway?

  

Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder

A woman in the area grows castor plants in her yard. 

They are the only ones I've seen in the area. 

While not your usual pretty flower, their coloring and shapes are interesting. Other than the plant itself and the woman who grows it, 

nothing seems to like them as they are toxic. 

The plants in her yard have been up to ten feet tall. 

However, I don't think she planted them this year 

because their usual patch is empty, with only a couple small volunteers.

And here is a whole crowd of little purple guys, 

jubilantly showing their faces to the sun. 

They form an entire border edging one back yard. 

Colors In Season

Yeah, yeah, I know the seasons are beginning to change. 

The leaves on the trees have wilted, if not actually fallen. 

They're beginning to show color and, while it can be beautiful, 

it also serves as an alarm, a warning of the colder times to come.

I try to tell myself, as I do every year, that each season 

has its own beauties, its own colors. I try to convince myself of that, 

even as the bone-chilling cold creeps ever closer. 

For now, though, I will enjoy the these berries, 

which contrast so beautifully with their leaves,

camouflaging the winter lurking just behind.

Art Where You Find It

There are still a few days left of summer, but leaves have started to fall. 

Some do not seem to want to and like this leaf, float suspended between the tree and the ground, held aloft by the magic of one strand of a spider's silk. 

Between them, the man who used his saw to cut the cement and the one who filled it in, they could not have composed a more perfect balance of line and shades of gray if they had tried.

And here, Nature has left an impression on the sidewalk, 

staining it with the color of a leaf from a tulip tree.

Turtles!

While walking through the White River State Park the other morning, 

I stopped to look over the old Washington Street bridge hoping to see turtles. Rather, a turtle. I'd have been happy to see just one.

The morning was warm and I thought I might catch one basking on the driftwood

I was rewarded with the sight of about a dozen, going about their turtle business --basking on an old log, searching for food, swimming just below the water's surface in quest of some goal known to them alone, or just drifting with the slow current of the river. 

I must have seen a dozen of them, with great unseen numbers of them lurking amid the driftwood, underwater, out of sight. My camera was stretched to its capabilities to get a few decent pictures. I was very happy.

Victory Flys Home

Victory was returned to the Circle on Labor Day weekend and placed in the Northwest Quadrant.
Ready for her close-up, a lot of visitors took the only opportunity they might have to see her
on the ground for another 100-150 years. 

I journeyed downtown early last Tuesday morning, the day after Labor Day, to see Victory being restored to her perch atop the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument, but high winds and rain caused the work to be delayed. The manager said that the lift itself would not take long, but the statue and the steel frame supporting her had only about four inches of clearance allowing her to be dropped down into the workers' scaffolding and onto the armature and bolts that would secure her. The crane operator needed for the wind speed to be 20 miles per hour or less in order to safely return the statue to her home. However, every time I'd looked at the anemometer on the top of the crane's boom, it was spinning at a good clip and never abated long enough to allow the task to be done. 

Workmen in a cherry-picker crane preparing to install braided nylon
rope to allow the crane to lift Victory's steel cage, without damaging the statue.

The lift had been re-scheduled for 8 a.m. this past Monday and, as I turned the corner at Meridian to head for the Circle it was about 10 minutes before 8, I figured I had time to make it. I looked up towards the Monument and  -- there she was! -- drawn up by the crane to the very tip of its boom. Victory had begun her return to her home thirty minutes ahead of schedule and was poised above the scaffolding in preparation for placement on her base. While I was disappointed, I knew that someone would surely post video on YouTube I could see later. They did and you can view it below.

Workmen work to guide Victory into place as the crane
slowly lowers the statue into the scaffolding

I did stay to take pictures of my own and watched as Victory was gradually lowered into place. That process took about an hour as the workmen carefully aligned her with the sixteen bolts that had been installed to attach her to the base. That done, they will further secure her with over 100 additional bolts to the armature/column protruding from the Monument. 

When the statue originally was created 118 years ago, the technology was not available to install her in one piece. Instead, workmen used horse-drawn pulleys to haul Victory in over forty pieces to the top of the Monument. Welding processes were just in their infancy and the technology was not available for use, particularly for bronze. Consequently, the pieces were assembled on top of the Monument using a series of metal pins which were hammered into holes in the statue, hooked over to grip from inside to secure the elements. Over time, the holes became corroded and allowed water to seep inside the statue.

The problem was found in 2009 during other restoration work on the Monument and Victory was removed in April 2011 to a nearby airplane hanger where she was cleaned, most of the holes filled and sealed. She was then reassembled and welded together. Her torch has been gilded with 23-carat gold and, it is agreed, she is beautiful.

Now that she has been returned, portions of her exterior will be replaced and welded in place. She will then be smoothed, patinaed and polished with wax. The scaffolding will be removed and Victory, her make-over complete, should resume vigil over the city in a couple weeks, her golden torch shining in the sun.

   

Another Textured Tuesday: On Limestone & Vine

I started early enough there was still dew on the plants and flowers.
Even the humble kale looked to be dressed in sequins. Unfortunately,
it just didn't show in the pictures.

This morning, I took my little camera for another long walk, this time along the western section of the Canal Walk from the State Office Building to the  NCAA Headquarters building and into White River State Park along the Riverwalk behind the Indianapolis Zoo.

Yep, here I am at the corner of Limestone & Vine, where the canal turns south
to run along between the Indiana State Museum and the  NCAA Headquarters.

 I made another right turn where the Canal turned towards an expanse of lawn, then fed back into the White River. Beginning with the old Washington Street Bridge, which is now a sculpture park, Riverwalk follows the river behind the Indianapolis Zoo. Walled in with massive blocks of rough-hewn limestone, it reveals numerous small beauties and surprises and is a popular place for joggers and casual walkers.

A self-portrait in shadows and granite.

Looking south beneath the Old Washington Street Bridge at other bridges
which also span the White River on the west side of downtown Indianapolis.

And now we enter the shade and beauty of the River Walk which stretches behind the Indianapolis Zoo. Office workers, athletes and firefighters assigned to a near-by station are among the many people who enjoy the trail.

Yes, there are many "pretty weemin," but
I prefer the sight and scent of the species above. Oooh.

A limestone "rose" hidden among its massive brethren.

The crooked little tree and giant limestone blocks
play off and accent each other, adding to the beauty of each.

The path doesn't end at the Zoo's boundary at White River Drive, but continues along that drive and, depending on the direction you choose, will take you north -- to the Indianapolis Museum of Art and northward beyond the county lines -- or back downtown. Here, I turned around to walk the other side of the Canal, where there are additional treats to be seen, which I will show another time as they deserve their own little show.

Jogger passing under the Promenade
outside the ISM Administrative Offices

And I will end with a picture of a couple of the many turtles I saw in the driftwood caught under the piers of the bridge. They were happily swimming, drifting and basking on logs in the river. Just as the turtles extended their necks to look around them, my little camera strove mightily to help me with these pictures, exhausting itself soon after.