Month: December 2022

A Lion in Winter

If this visage seems familiar, there are some possible reasons you’re not wrong. One is that I have indeed posted this very concrete lion some years ago, not to be confused with the lion I posted a few months ago. Another reason might be that you’ve seen a concrete lion very much like this one as a drinking fountain in Chicago’s iconic Water Tower at Chicago and Michigan. I’m not sure that these are identical but I do remember encountering the drinking fountain in the tower and thinking: “Oh!” But I could be wrong. Still, once upon a time, in the 1930s and 1940s most probably, this stone lion was also a fountain. And since it hasn’t been a fountain for a very long time, it is indeed wintertime for kitty.

So what brings forth this stone feline today? Well, as an image it has possibilities and one that I wanted to try was turning the photo into something resembling a sketch.

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Photo / graphic by Roman.

“!”

It’s not exactly an imposter syndrome. Sometimes I create something that delights me then later I can’t help but wonder: How did I do that? Were those choices deliberate? What path did I negotiate for the words and such to tumble out as they did?

Ferocious was my cat Rainbow’s larger daughter. One of the kitten’s early bowel movements came as a surprise to Ferocious as she bumble stalked along a wall.

“!” said Ferocious, looking wide-eyed above a small, neatly formed dry turd.

I try to keep Ferocious in mind.

It makes my pleasure more plausible.

Noble Oak

Photo by Roman.

“Dying Oak Tree That’s Older Than The City Of Chicago To Be Removed From Lincoln Park Zoo” said the headline of an article by Jake Wittich at Block Club Chicago. “Hmmm,” I thought. “That tree looks familiar. I think I have its photo from a few years ago.”

And maybe I do. There it is above, I think. That photo is from my last visit to Lincoln Park Zoo in 2018. Lincoln Park Zoo, whatever your feeling about zoos generally, is a photogenic place, but most of the photos that I took back then were not especially interesting or successful. But I do remember that Oak, and I’m quite happy to have made its acquaintance.

The Block Club Chicago article notes that the tree today is mostly dead. My experience has been that trees tend to become forgetful and careless with dead parts (some trees deliberately?) so passers-by are at risk especially during or immediately after windy weather. The article also has some interesting factoids about other tree elders in Chicago and Illinois.

Shadow & Texture

Photo / graphic by Roman.

Another shadowscape from my apartment wall.

This reminds me very much of the stucco ceiling of an apartment in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after having consumed a mushroom and some blotter. It was a texture that I became lost in for what may have been days except it was not much more than half an hour when it came to pass that it was time to leave for the 4th of July fireworks…

I try but sometimes I’m just lucky.