Weekly Photo Challenge: Fickle December

For Weekly Prompts Photo Challenge, the theme this week is Advent weather. November here in Chicagoland was unseasonably cold – in fact, our first and only major snowfall was just after Thanksgiving! Since then, we haven’t had more than a dusting or flurries. We are never guaranteed a white Christmas and this year it looks […]

December Squares: Two Amazing German Timepieces

This is my last opportunity to post for Becky’s December Squares (Time), as we will be leaving tomorrow for a two-week trip to Egypt followed by 10 days in Israel. I will have lots of photos to share when we get back home! Meanwhile, here are some amazing clocks in churches in two German Baltic […]

FOTD: Tree

This isn’t a flower and I don’t even know what kind of tree this is, but the “buds”(?) on this tree reminded me of pussy willows. I thought it was a delightful sight for December! Posted for Cee’s FOTD 12/22/18.

December Squares: Ugly Sweater Time!

Becky is hosting her December Month of Squares with the subject time. It’s that time of year to attend holiday parties – get out your “ugly Christmas sweater!” Wearing “ugly Christmas sweaters” to a holiday party has become an American holiday tradition. So much so that now stores are marketing ugly sweaters and other garish […]

Thursday Doors: Sigma Alpha Epsilon National Headquarters (OHC 2018)

During Open House Chicago 2018, we visited several sites in Evanston, including the national headquarters of the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Regardless of my personal opinion of this fraternity’s history of hazing (for which it has been disciplined at least nine times) as well as of fraternities in general, the headquarters building is an austere […]

FOTD: Roses are Red…and White

For Cee’s Flower of the Day, I offer red and white roses today. The bouquet was at my friend’s house, who decorated her home with seasonal colors for her annual Christmas party.

Time for Soup

There is a Mexican restaurant in our neighborhood where I like to go when it is super cold outside. They have a very good caldo de pollo – chicken soup with big pieces of white meat, potatoes, carrots, and beans. With it they serve little cups of chopped onion, cilantro, rice, and lime slices which […]

Thursday Doors: Lake Street Church (OHC 2018, Part 7)

During the weekend of Open House Chicago (Oct. 13-14, 2018), we visited another of the Evanston sites, Lake Street Church. Although founded as Evanston Baptist Church in 1858, according to their welcome brochure, Lake Street Church is now a “progressive community of spiritual seekers from across multiple denominations” and is “rooted in the free-church tradition,” […]

FOTD & Dec. Squares: Time to Bloom

It’s Christmastime, time for a Christmas cactus to bloom! Here is one that is blooming just as it should, taken at a friend’s house last Monday. Posted for Cee’s FOTD 12/13/18 and for Becky’s December Squares: Time.

December Squares: Steam Clock of Gastown, Vancouver

The world’s first steam powered clock is in the Gastown neighborhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This plaque tells about it. Glass panels on the sides allow the curious visitor to see the mechanics inside this clock. Another photo showing the whole clock is in my previous post. For more timepieces and other interpretations of […]