afternoon walk
POTD: The Robot
I can’t tell if it is facing me or facing the house. It looks like his feet are facing the house and it appears he has a ray gun facing the house but, he has eyes looking at me. Maybe it is a confused robot but, the metal work is cute. ~Vic
Click for a larger view.
Picture of the Day
POTD: Shadow Man
I saw this on an afternoon walk. “Only the Shadow knows…” ~Vic
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Picture of the Day
FFTD: Purple Dead Nettle
Also called Red Dead Nettle and Purple Archangel. It’s an edible herb. ~Vic
03-23-2019
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Flower for the Day
FFTD: Dogwood Bloom
heading towards the Colonial Inn.
04-10-2019
Flower for the Day
POTD: Cute Mailbox
We have a town full of artists, of all kinds. I found another interesting mailbox on my afternoon walk, yesterday. This would be a companion piece to the Colorful Mailbox post. ~Vic
Song Sunday: Africa (Toto)
Update:
The blog continues to evolve and Song Saturday has changed to Song Sunday. ~Vic
“It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you…”
Changing things a bit. I’ve got Music Mondays and I’ve had Tune Tuesdays (I may return to that) that showcase music by release date, in five year increments (if I can). Early on, I listed number ones, only. There was also my jump into the 30-Day Song Challenge back in December 2018. Now, I’m stretching Saturday out a bit for some music, too…an idea I got from the Nostalgic Italian. I might even stretch it to Sunday, if I take a notion to. It just depends upon my mood. All blogs evolve and, I’m always looking for new and different things.
This is a song on my playlist on my phone. I have a lot of music on my phone…things that I love to hear when I go out for my afternoon and evening walks or, just sitting in my Adirondack chair, watching the sunset. ~Vic
This song came out in the US in October 1982 and is the tenth track from the album Toto IV. Written by David Paich and Jeff Porcaro, it made it to number one for one week in February 1983.
From Mix Online:
Paich recalls writing Africa on his living room piano.
“Over many years, I had been taken by the UNICEF ads with the pictures of Africa and the starving children. I had always wanted to do something to connect with that and bring more attention to the continent. I wanted to go there, too, so, I sort of invented a song that put me in Africa. I was hearing the melody in my head and, I sat down and played the music in about 10 minutes. And, then, the chorus came out. I sang the chorus out as you hear it. It was like God channeling it. I thought, ‘I’m talented but, I’m not that talented. Something just happened here!'”
Paich, then, proceeded to work on the lyrics for another six months. He brought the skeleton to drummer Jeff Porcaro with the idea of having percussion being an integral part of the composition.
“Jeff got out African sticks with bottle caps that his dad (Joe Porcaro) and Emil Richards (both percussionists) used on National Geographic films. He brought in a marimba and a wooden xylophone kind of thing. This was pre-synthesizer. We didn’t have samples back then. You’re hearing bass marimba, that other instrument and you’re hearing, probably, one of the first loops that was ever done.”
Sadly, Jeff Porcaro passed away nearly ten years later.
Shutterbug Saturday: Sky Gazing 3.0
More submissions of the beauty of our sun and sky. All photos are my personal collection. © ~Vic
10-20-2017
04-15-2019
09-12-2019
09-12-2019
POTD: All Seeing Eye
This was propped up against a building in downtown, about two blocks from my house. I was out for an afternoon walk and it was an unusual sight. It’s no longer there and I have no idea who it belonged to, who put it there or…where it went. I found it creepy but, took a picture of it, anyway. ~Vic
07-10-2017
POTD: Stickwork Sculpture 2.0
This is a companion shot to my June POTD post. This was taken a year later, nearly to the day. ~Vic
07-16-2018
Picture of the Day
POTD: Caterpillar
The weather has been gorgeous over the last couple of days. My birthday was nothing but blue skies and low humidity. Yesterday was the same. Now that we have Dorian headed towards an East Coast pub crawl, the clouds have been moving in. This looked like a giant caterpillar to me. ~Vic
POTD: Stickwork Sculpture
In November of 2015, Patrick Dougherty of Stickwork was commissioned by the Hillsborough Arts Council to craft a sculpture for our Riverwalk. The saplings were sustainably harvested from the Ayr Mount Historic Site. In December of last year, the heavy snowfall damaged the original piece and it was finally taken down. I’m glad I got some photos of it. ~Vic
06-09-2017
