Listen To Your Eyes

There is a mural on the side of an optometrist's office in Kenosha that I found interesting.  I get the imagery of the eyes, but not so much the quote "Listen to Your Eyes".

Listen to your heart, listen to your body, those make sense to me for some reason, but not listen to your eyes.  Maybe because listening involves the sense of hearing and of course eyes use a different sense entirely.  Your heart doesn't use one of the five senses so you can pick any one you like and apply it.  Listen with your heart, see with your heart, feel with your heart.  Of course all are assuming the heart as an organ of emotion.

It's not like most people's eyes are telling them much of great import.  On the contrary, often anything serious that can go wrong with the eyes is usually pretty advanced before people "see" the signs.  Glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and other serious conditions start out pretty silent, which is why regular eye exams are important.  That dreaded yearly "puff of air" could save your eyesight.  I think the message would be better off addressing that.  Protect your eyes for they are precious.  There is much to see in this world, don't let something preventable interfere with the simple joy of seeing it all, from the red rock in Moab to the smile of a child.  Like Drew Barrymore's smile in "E.T."

While all the "eyes" in the mural were ones I recognized, I thought E.T.'s inclusion was pretty funny.  The one that jumped out at me right away was Frida Kahlo, and of course the Afghan girl from the 1985 National Geographic cover photo.  If you don't know her story, click the link, sign in to NG and read it.  It's as compelling as her eyes.

 If you don't know Frida's story, shame on you, at least check out Selma Hayak's protrayal in the movie "Frida".  If you click on the link and read, make sure to check out the "selected artwork" link as well.  Her work makes sense if you know her story.

Of course those two women are a good argument for preserving your eyesight.  If you lose your vision how could you enjoy National Geographic's most compelling photos or Frida's most intriguing self-portraits?  My favorite?  "The Two Fridas", followed closely by "The Dream".  As I've mentioned before I'm not much into paintings, but hers draw me in.

I just found out while looking for Frida exhibits that an exhibit of her photography is on display in Nevada.  If you're in the area check it out for me!

I talk too much sometimes.  Especially when I get stuck indoors in the winter, too much time to ponder. Others who link up to Monday Mural will not yammer on quite so much so check them out.

What would you miss seeing if you lost your vision?

Grand Tetons Flashback - Jackson Sights

Last night when I left work at 7:30 the wind was roaring and the temperature readout on my dashboard read -2 degrees.  I don't even want to know what the wind chill was, and for some reason I wore a skirt to work!  I know it's colder everywhere this past week across our country, but holy moly, enough's enough already.  Thirty degrees below normal for four out of the last six days is a little insane and it's been snowing and blowing too.

Now, to be fair, it's been even colder this past week in Jackson, Wyoming.   Luckily when we visited Jackson on our big fall trip in September 2009 the weather was beautiful.  Not familiar with Jackson and the Grand Tetons area?  Here's a  map before I knock your socks off with my photos.



Ready? Hang onto your socks!

When we left Yellowstone and drove to the Tetons the mountains took my breath away.  The picture above was just shot on the fly from the side of the road in the middle of the day.  I don't think it's possible to get a bad shot in The Tetons.

The Tetons are interesting in that they are a younger fault block mountain range.  I think it looks pretty good for being 9 million years old myself.  They are still rising, averaging 1 foot every 100-400 years.

When I took that shot we were on our way to Jackson to get some groceries and make a stop at the National Wildlife Art Museum.  I'm not the biggest fan of paintings so the stuff on the inside wasn't as cool to me as the massive sculptures outside.  Those I could have looked at every day.  Some day I'll go back and photograph them in better light.

As we were leaving the museum I noticed a forest fire across the valley.  Just a small one, nothing like what seems to be happening across the west the last couple of years so it was probably a planned burn.  The smoke made for an interesting shot.

Jackson Hole contains more mudslides and landslides than almost any other part of the Rocky Mountain Region.  All that dynamic energy in the earth makes for a beautiful landscape.  Just outside of the downtown area is this gorgeous view.  The arches made up of antlers that other people stop to take pictures of are neat, but I'll take Mother Nature's ever changing canvas over man's creations any day!

We were only in the Tetons for a few days, the shortest part of our trip, but we still packed a lot of adventure into a short amount of time. More posts on our Wyoming leg of the big 2009 trip throughout the winter!

Kenosha County Courthouse - Prevent The Wrong

I thought I'd start off with a neat postcard image I found on http://courthousehistory.com

This is how the courthouse looked on the foggy day I stopped in. Across the top of the building the carved words read "Erected by the People of Kenosha County to the Cause of Just and Capable Government".  It's a big building; Kenosha is the fourth largest city in Wisconsin, dontcha know.

Constructed of gray Indiana limestone in 1925, the three-story courthouse has a raised basement on a pedestal and the first floor is divided from the upper floors by a cornice that runs the length of the building. The second and third stories are recessed behind a colonnade of 18 free-standing colossal Ionic columns.

Behind the courthouse is the three-story jail of the same material as the courthouse and connected to it by an underground passage. When I entered the main lobby the first thing I noticed was the abundance of natural light due to the glass ceiling, and the layers of painted ornamentation at every level.

The mural at the top of the Grand Stairway is titled "In Memoriam".  It looks like it needs some restoration work done, its very dark and hard to make out the details.  The figure represents the State in mourning for her dead, other figures are wounded soldiers and orphans.  The figure on the extreme right represents the Red Cross with a dead child on her lap.  The mural was painted by William De Leftwich-Dodge.

In the Grand Stairway the iron balustrade is treated with polychrome inlaid with gold-leaf and Botticino marble is used extensively throughout the building.

Just inside the entrance on either side on the second floor are murals over the court doors.  I somehow deleted the first one which is titled "Uphold the Right". The one below is titled "Prevent the Wrong" and its images represent "Mercy" and "Force".

There are apparently murals in the court rooms as well, but I was not allowed to enter and photograph any of the rooms.  I was also instructed not to get people in my photos for privacy reasons.  There was a lot going on in the corridors and of course I got a lot of looks with my camera.  I made sure to keep my nose out of everyone's business and keep my eyes focused upward to alleviate any concerns about my presence.  Usually when I go into the courthouses they are not so busy.  

Another cool historical photo of  Dedication Day below.  History is neat!  I got it from University of Wisconsin Digital Collections website, along with most of the information in this post. Modern day internet access is pretty neat too. We lived in Kenosha for 6 years, about a mile from the courthouse, and in the county for the last 9 years.  It's been fun to go back to places I barely glanced at before and try to see them with new eyes.  Check out your local history and see what you've been missing as you walk by familiar places.

Kenosha Post Office Mural

Somehow Kenosha got onto my list of Post Office locations for New Deal murals.  Looking back to my online resource I see Kenosha is not listed so I don't know how it happened.  

Kenosha's Post Office does, however, have a mural, just not a New Deal one.

Just not the same, is it?  Oh, well, that'll teach me to double check my information before hitting the road.  Double checking saved me some trouble when we were down in Tennessee.  The mural that is normally in Newport is on loan to the Daughters of the Revolution museum.  Don't forget to see the other murals at Mural Monday.

Well, heading to downtown Kenosha wasn't a wasted trip.  I had Christmas cards to mail, and the County Courthouse was just across the street so I walked over to see the reported mural there.  Check back tomorrow for the photos!

Wintry Wisconsin Wackiness

Was I a little too obvious?  Yes, I am a fan of alliteration.  I'm currently re-watching the Harry Potter movies and I can't help but think of alliteration when it comes to J.K. Rowling.  She's a little better at it than I am.

Bill commented that he wanted some pictures of our bad weather weekend here so I'm obliging.  You'd think that people would know how to drive on snowy roads around here.  All the drivers in the above picture were under 25, and out of their cars standing in the middle of the road on their cell phones.  None of them were wearing coats on this day when the wind chill is 12 degrees Farenheit and one was wearing shorts.  Honestly, I'm starting to think we're breeding them stupid out here on purpose.

Wayne took me out this morning for his "usual" drive to check on the progress of the ice on Lake Elizabeth. He can't wait to get his shack out on the lake for some ice fishing.  He grabbed a coffee at the gas station, I grabbed my camera and we hopped into the truck for a leisurely wintry drive.

There were a few brave souls out on the ice but it's not thick enough to drive on yet.

Most of the other drivers were going too fast for conditions, we saw a lot of sliding around.  Where are they off too in such a hurry on a late Sunday morning?

We stopped at the Christmas tree farm on our way home for a quick look-see.  Our pre-lit tree is on the fritz and I don't want to buy a cheap artificial tree because they treat most of them with lead.  Yuck!  All the trees I've seen at Target, Home Depot and other places were made in China which means toxic.  But live trees are coated in pollen and mold, not to mention too big for our small living room.  We're going back to the tree farm with measurements tomorrow, and if we go with a real tree we'll hit it with the leaf blower and gently wipe it down with a damp cloth to remove most of the allergens before I decorate it.  If it won't work our current tree will have three electrical cords to keep all sections lit.

I know I've said this before, but it sucks being picky.  Facts about toxins and allergens and anything else, really, are comforting but sometimes make my life complicated.  It's worth it to breathe comfortably and not have itchy eyes and headaches though!

Well, I have a belly full of ham, gouda and pear sandwich and I think I'll pop "The Goblet of Fire" into the DVD player until I decide it's time to hit the driveway with the shovel.  Maybe it's time to bring my frog in out of the garden.  He's got a shovel, maybe I'll put him to work instead.  Now, where's my magic wand?

Kenosha By Fog

I knew I wanted to track down the Post Office mural in Kenosha (that's a whole other story, I'll get to it on Monday) so I had my camera along with me when I headed into town for a doctor's appointment and some errands.  It was another foggy day and I took advantage of the mood and snapped a couple of architectural pics down by the lakefront district.  St. Matthew's Episcopal Church is a nice example of Gothic Revival architecture.

A lot of the buildings in this area are empty and sad, but there are blocks here and there that have been fixed up and businesses have moved into.  The city is trying to revitalize the area, building museums, bringing back trolleys, and completely restructuring the marina area.  The old industrial area along the lake is now a mix of museums, parks and housing that is the beginning of the development plan that is starting to spread throughout downtown and bringing back great small businesses and local restaurants.

As I wandered around I got to enjoy a few window displays, including this cheerful holiday scene.  You can see a few buildings reflected in the window, not to mention me too!

It's a shame to see so many buildings that could be used not to mention prime lakeside real estate that is going to waste.  Now that the economy has stabilized I'm sure things will continue to improve in Kenosha.  All that new casino money coming our way soon probably won't hurt, right?  I saw a sign on the front of the Kenosha Theater saying a restoration project is in the works.  Sounds like something I should investigate!

There is a Right Answer

One of the best things about the bare trees this time of year is the ability to spot fungi and lichens while out hiking.  I found a surprising amount of both while at Volo Bog the other day.

Looking at lichen close up always amazes me.  When one of the episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" explored the topic of lichens I was thrilled! They discuss lichens for the first two minutes in the video link below.  You won't get the post title unless you watch the video.  It was pure Sheldon Cooper at his best... I dare you not to laugh.

I don't think the lichens were "snacking on the sunlight" on my foggy visit!

The fungi were plentiful thanks to the moist habitat around the bog and I even found some orange ones growing on a log.

I liked these last ones because I thought they looked like little ice cream cones!  One of these days I'll have to get a good book on the topic so I can wow you all with my knowledge.  For now I'll have to be satisfied with finding them and enjoying them for their visual impact.

I took my camera to Kenosha with me yesterday.  I got at least a week's worth of posts while out running my errands!  There was fog all day again, but still better than the weather today because the wind and cold are back with a vengeance.  You're going to hate me when I say this, but my cards are mailed, my shopping is done, my 5 family gifts and my 6 neighbor gifts are wrapped and today my tree will be decorated.  Take comfort in the fact that Mother Nature will be taking her fury out on us all weekend so all I'll be left with is laundry and dusting.