Scary Face

Valor grows by daring, fear by holding back.
Publilius Syrus 1st century BC

This is a Yaksha, a spirit statue made to look threatening so he
can guard sacred sites in Thailand. Happy Halloween.

The Sun Has Teeth

Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
Victor Hugo 1802-1885

This evil looking smiling metal sun is part of someone’s front gate.
Happy Halloween week.

Contrast

“There is no blue without yellow and without orange.”
Vincent van Gogh 1853-1890

This landscape/still life is about color, shapes and contrast.
Orange pumpkins/white pumpkins.
Spread out pumpkins and gathered pumpkins.
Orange against its opposite color blue.
The populated bottom two thirds and the empty sky.
There’s more. Happy Halloween week!

Good Dog

A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.
Buddha

Chanting helps though.

American Ingenuity

"The same fence that shuts others out shuts you in."
Bill Copeland 1929-

There’s more than one way to get yourself a white picket fence.

Wine Country

"Wine is the most civilized thing in the world."
Ernest Hemingway

Here’s a view of the vineyard at Viansa Winery in Northern California.

Perception of a Situation

“Anythin' for a quiet life, as the man said when he took the situation at the lighthouse”
Charles Dickens 1812-1870

Is anyone feeling a little tipsy?

 

Reflection

"Follow effective action with quiet reflection.
From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action."
James Levin

This is a view of one of the 450,000 lakes in Norway.

It makes you just want to stop. And think.

English Road

“Painting picture by picture, I followed the impressions my eye took in at heightened moments. I painted only memories, adding nothing, no details that I did not see. Hence the simplicity of the paintings, their emptiness.”
Edvard Munch 1863-1944

This photo is about color, line and composition. I was drawn in by the yellow lines leading to the yellow window frames. The yellow wall on the left is balanced by the yellow sidewalk on the right.  The vertical black line on the white wall is countered by the two black lines on the yellow wall. There is emptiness in this scene but also a bit of mystery. Don’t you want to know what’s around the corner? I did.

Bicycle Parking

"If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun."
Katharine Hepburn

Looks like there were a lot of disabled bicyclists at the
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival this year.

Above It All

“Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon”
Winnie the Pooh

Dana and I went hot air ballooning over Napa this week. Great fun! It was a birthday present from my family that I finally cashed in. Thank’s guys!
The terrific company we floated with is Balloons Above the Valley. Two thumbs up.

Hope

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast”
Alexander Pope 1688–1744

Sometimes hope gets knocked a little sideways.

In You They Trust

“You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible.”
Anton Chekhov 1860-1904

There is a small store on the California coast that is run by folks that have great faith in people. Instead of a clerk they have this.

Just a Thought

“Nodding the head does not row the boat”
Irish Saying

Don’t you want to just hop in the boat, start the engine and go?
I wanted to but I didn’t. Grand larceny.

Good Luck

“May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light. May good luck pursue you each morning and night."
Traditional Irish blessing

But first you must unlock the door.