100 Days of Summer - Day 21 - da plane! da plane!

This is where I fly in and out of and where you'd land if you came to vist me.

Stuttgart Airport

It was a rainy morning when I took this photo. We'd just dropped my in-laws off for their early flight back home. Stefan and I then had breakfast in the restaurant on the top floor.  From our window we could watch the planes being loaded, directed, taking off and landing.
 

100 Days of Summer - Day 20

100 Days of Summer . Day 19 - Daisies and Daisy

Today's contribution to 100 Days of Summer can be found here.

http://www.jellyfishwhispers.com/2012/07/a-poem-by-linda-hofke.html

The poem was just posted this morning. I had totally forgotten that the publication date was today, because I sort of had a rough day. If you want to know why, visit my other blog here.


http://lind-guistics.blogspot.de/2012/07/daisy-cupcake.html

Thanks for stopping by. Have a nice day.

100 Days of Summer - Day 18 - dog times four

 The greatest love is a mother's; then a dog's; then a sweetheart's.  ~Polish Proverb 

100 Days of Summer - Day 17 - hot dog

                        Hot + Dog =

                            hot dog

100 Days of Summer - Day 16 - relaxing

My husband is changing jobs. He worked his last day at the former job on Thursday but doesn't begin the new job until August 1. That means I get to spend extra time with him. It also means that when the weather is nice, he can spend time riding. After a 30 or 40-kilometer ride, he likes to relax a bit. Sometimes he'll enjoy a cool beer or Radler. Other times he might take a nap. And then there are times...

he does both. Here he is in our backyard, legs up, bicycle gear still on. I couldn't resist snapping a picture.

100 Days of Summer - Day 15 - Similarity

As I was visiting the blogs of other 100 Days of Summer participants I came across a post from Jim Wittenberg. (Click here to see the picture or else you'll miss the comparison I make later.)

Looking at the artwork, I got a feel of movement in the blue area, like water. The red-orange shapes to the left side could be flames or perhaps something else. It seemed familiar to me. Then I realized. It reminds me of a photo I took in October, when the colored leaves on a tree branch hung over the water of  Ebnisee.

Here's my photo. The distribution of color isn't exactly the same but it sort of has the same feel to it. What do you think? Or is it just me?

100 Days of Summer - Day 14 - food for thought

The Bet*

Last night I watched her pocket 200 bucks. Some claimed she swindled them. Others called her a money hungry bitch. But I know it ain't about the money. She's just a perfectionist who needs to win at all costs, even if there's no money on it. It's like an addiction. She can't help it. I mean, why else would you spend night after night after night learning to pick a fish clean to the bone with chopsticks?


*challenge: to write a story in 100-words or less using an unusual picture

100 Days of Summer - Day 13 - one too many

Have you had too much to drink? If so, you must be having a hard time reading this. If not, look at this picture of mine and you'll feel like you did.

train wheel

100 Days of Summer - Day 12 - heart

I love fruit, and it appears fruit loves me. A kiwi heart  :-)

100 Days of Summer - Day 11 - The Big White Bird

 

We came across this big bird post. He has a papier-mâché head with a carrot shaped nose (which is damaged and hanging slightly), and he stands about 5 feet tall. The white material hanging on the wings blows with the wind. I found him interesting, so I took a picture. However, no matter what angle I tried, the background was always cluttered. I don't like the signs and all in the back. I decided that if I couldn't have the perfect photo, I would photo-shop it later.

Since he is sort of playful and child-like, I decided to use an effect that is colorful and would appeal to children. 


 The new photo is below. I don't think it is better. Nor do I think it is worse. It is just...different. What do you think?

100 Days of Summer - Day 10

Since I posted a picture of our roses yesterday, I thought I'd continue with the garden theme. One of my favorite things to do in summer is sit in the backyard with family and friends, drink wine, and smell the sweet fragrance of our jasmine bush. Aaaaaaaah! I wish they were in bloom year-round. Then again, maybe that wouldn't be a good idea. Every time I pass them I get that song stuck in my head...

summer breeze makes me feel fine...

     blowing through the jasmine in my mind.

100 Days of Summer - Day 9

Summer flowers only last so long.

Here is a photo of roses on the trellis in our garden...last month when they were in full bloom. Now they've all dried up.

Next year the cycle continues. But not all things present themselves over and over again. Enjoy the moments as they come. Take time to smell the roses.

100 Days of Summer - Day 8

                                      Reminder of Home

This is the Pagoda in Reading, Pennsylvania.
It isn't far from the town where I grew up and is only minutes away from my father's house.

 While visiting last year, I took this picture. At night it is lit up in red. However, I wanted a more subdued color and really like the look of these purple tones.


From the Pagoda, one can get a great glimpse of the city below, and visitors come from all over the world.

I was recently informed that a writer's group meets there the first Saturday of each month.

100 Days of Summer - Day 7

Call it What you Want

on a building in Stuttgart

You can argue what this is called. Most would say it is a gargoyle. A true gargoyle (per the definition) is a carved stone grotesque with a spout design to direct water from a roof or from the sides of buildings to prevent eroding. It is hard to tell if it has a spout or not, but since this isn't on a roof and sits out from the wall, it seems unlikely.

So maybe we should just call it a grotesque? I look up the definition of grotesque and one of the points is this: the grotesque forms on Gothic buildings, when not used as drain-spouts, should not be called gargoyles, but rather referred to simply as grotesques, or chimeras.

Look up chimera and you'll find this: a fantastic, mythical or grotesque figure used for decorative purposes. Yep. That seems to fit. However, that's not what the little girl said to her mother as they passed by. She pointed up at it and said, "Look at that grumpy dinosaur" as if she were scolding him. Call it what you want.

100 Days of Summer - Day 6

Not Head over Heels


This photo was recently taken in Stuttgart. Though you can't see it, there is a statue of a man. See his feet/ankles/shoes near the top of the photo? Below, on all four corners, are these heads. Though I could have zoomed in on one of the other heads, I liked this angle with the head under the two feet. I think I will title it Heels over Head.
 

100 Days of Summer - Day 5

Mondays. They can be difficult. But what if you are driving on your way to work (or just sitting at your computer looking at this post) and you see this?

smiley hot air balloon spotted near Lehnenberg

What a way to start the week. Smile and enjoy the coming days.

100 Days of Summer - Day 4

Look at this great shot my friend Laurie has posted. (Click on the words great shot). Isn't it just adorable? Underneath the photo, she poses the question "Have you ever seen eyes like these staring you down in a poolside tease?"

Well, I'd like to know if you've ever seen one of these?

I hadn't until one scurried across the bicycle path in front of me and my husband one Sunday afternoon. It was BIG. We stopped to get a closer look, and as luck would have it I had my camera along. As I was snapping this picture, two bikers were approaching from the opposite direction. And I knew them.

One was my friend Ute and her boyfriend Hans. I waved them down. They told us this is called a Maulwurfsgrille in German. In English it would be called a mole cricket. This is not an insect you want to have in your garden. Why? Just take a look at those front legs. They are highly modified for digging. They tunnel rapidly beneath the soil and make trails of pushed-up dirt like that of a mole, only smaller.  (Hence, the name mole cricket.) And apparently they will munch on your plants and vegetables at the roots, causing extensive damage. 

On the soil surface they can run very rapidly. I think if some of my friends came across one of these, they'd be the ones scurrying.

Red at night

Red sky at night, sailor's delight...

This is a picture of the evening sky over our neighborhood. I wish this picture had been taken last night instead of last month. Perhaps the weather would have been better today.

Red sky at night, sailor's delight.
     Red in the morning, sailors take warning.

It wasn't red last night. Nor was it a red sky this morning. But there was a warning.

We were outside working in the garden. My husband said the clouds were changing. Then I told him to stop and listen. "Do you hear that?" I asked. But he couldn't hear anything. No wind. No thunder. Then I said, "We missed the warning. All afternoon the birds have been singing away and now? Silence. A storm is definitely coming."

We put the mower away, cleaned up the garden tools, and went inside. TWO minutes later, it began. The sky became very dark and the clouds let loose. Not only did it rain cats and dogs, but large balls of hail were bouncing all over, off the roof and the driveway. Then as suddenly as it came, the storm left. The sun shone again. Fluffy white clouds floated in a cerulean sky. It was as if nothing every happened...until one spied the broken flowers and the almost coin-size holes in the leaves of our zucchini plant. Sometimes Mother Nature is not my friend.

Smile! You're on candid camera.

For 100 Days of Summer project:
Day 2

Only a 15 minute drive from where I live there is an place with alpacas. Some of them, as they age, have a very prominent underbite. Some lose their teeth. This one look directly at the camera. With his protruding teeth, it looks like he is smiling.

For some reason it reminded me of watching Candid Camera as a child. "Smile! You're on candid camera."

100 Days of Summer - Day 1

Paint the Town Red

This photo was taken at the Fasching parade in Althütte. Hundrends of people take part. There were many witches but also ducks and clowns and such. Since the area Rems-Murr-Kreis has many wineries, it was not surprising to see a group of giant red grape faces. This one willingly posed for a photo.

I'm joining in 100 Days of Summer

I've been invited by Dorothee Lang to take part in 100 Days of Summer. Dorothee, who is the editor of Blue Print Review and organizer of the Language/Place blog carnival, has taken part before and shared some of her beautiful photographs. Thanks for thinking of me, Dorothee.

Steve Veilleux is actually the organizer of 100 Days of Summer. His description of the project is as follows: 100 Days of Summer provides its members with the opportunity to share their creative work within the intense framework of providing one artistic submission per day for 100 days. Officially, we are beginning on July 5th and expect the program to run through October 15 or so.

JULY 5th! That is today (and I just noticed the invitation about a half hour ago). 

Since I write about language and post links to my published works on my Lind-guistics blog, I thought I'd use this blog for my 100 posts. The posts will most likely be photographs, often with a description, short story, or thought listed below the photo.

Though we can post whatever we wish, there are some suggested themes which are offered each week. All the themes come from expressions. This week's expressions are "paint the town red" and "out like a light". I'm going to search my photo files and I'll be back as soon as I can with a new post. I remember a photo from Spring that is very, very red.