There were some buildings in downtown Des Plaines that were going to be demolished in order to build a new mixed-use complex. I snapped a few photos of these boarded up and locked up buildings.
Vacant buildings, once someone’s home or workplace…
…now abandoned.
Once a thriving community of monks and pilgrims in Egypt, now bricked up.
This is day 15 of Becky’s January Square Up challenge.
Welcome, Dan at No Facilities who has taken over the Thursday door challenge!
I haven’t had the chance to photograph many doors lately, but every once in a while, my husband and I go for a drive just to get away from Covid-19 tedium. Here are a few doors from those wanderings.
Tourmaline is hosting her first Countdown to Christmas challenge this year! Here are the themes:
I am admittedly lousy at keeping up with a daily challenge, so I am going to take this one by chunks, this time at least!
Dec. 1: Decorations
Many people here at our senior community put wreaths and other decorations on the doors and shelves outside their apartments. Last year when it was too cold to walk outside, I instead walked the halls of the apartment building and took lots of photos of decorations. I will probably do the same thing this year. Because of COVID-19, to get us into the holiday spirit, there is a door decorating contest, so there ought to be even more doors decorated this year!
Here are a few from last year. I especially like the ones that reflect different ethnic traditions.
I made this collage of some of the door wreaths.
Dec. 2: Family
I have a large family so we don’t all gather together. Mostly we get together with the kids and grandkids of my sister and brother-in-law, who live in this same community. Last Christmas, our daughter & son-in-law hosted the celebration at our old house (where they currently live).
Dec. 3: Traditions
We have several holiday traditions, such as putting up my collection of creches (Nativity scenes – I have quite a few), a Christmas tree decorated with lights and ornaments, and games – we always play some games! We also sing carols around a piano (if there is one). My sister has two Christmas carol games and we also love to play Charades and Categories. Last year our daughter and son-in-law had a new game for us, where everyone at the table takes turns unwrapping a large ball of cellophane full of little prizes. One person unwraps while another throws dice. When the dice come up as doubles, the person unwrapping has to stop and pass on the cellophane ball. It was frustrating and fun!
I think we will have to forego the games this year, because we can’t get together – but maybe we can play Categories via Zoom!!
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge‘s colors this week are white and cream colored.
Norm and others have posted colorful and creative doors for Thursday Doors this week. Here are some colorful doors mostly from the De Pijp neighborhood of Amsterdam, which I don’t think I’ve posted before. If I have, so be it – they’re worth having another look!
The topic of Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is door/drawer/cabinet knobs & handles.
Knobs and handles are things we usually take for granted, much less notice, although during this COVID-19 pandemic, we are very wary of them! How many hands have touched them and how unclean are they?!
Even so, there are knobs and handles that are noticeable for being different – unusually beautiful, rustic, etc. – yet they still perform their primary function beautifully. Just don’t try to touch them until you’ve wiped them off!
Because of COVID, I have not photographed handles or knobs this year, so all these photos are from last year.
Since I haven’t gone anywhere lately where I could photograph doors, I’m recycling some previous ones I’ve posted, thematically. This week for Norm’s Thursday Doors, I present doors with flowers.
Anything With Double Letters is the topic of Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge this week.
Schoenbrunn Palace Door, Vienna
Little bottles
Dessert
Daffodils
Balls
Mississippi River
Doodle of a woman reading a book
Cee’s Wednesday challenge, On the Hunt for Joy this week has the topic of “paint your front door.” Not literally, of course! She’s calling for photos of brightly colored doors or any interesting doors. And Thursday is Norm’s weekly door challenge.
Here is a collage of colorful doors from my archives:
On the 4th of July, the day we spent the morning in Passau, Germany, we opted for an afternoon tour to the small town of Schärding, Austria (population approx. 5,000). Passau and Schärding are essentially border towns. We even crossed a bridge on the Inn River that had a small metal plaque in the middle with D (Deutschland – Germany) on one side and Ö (Österreich – Austria) on the other!
The town of Schärding is a major port on the Inn River which is the dividing line between Bavaria in Germany and the Austrian state of Upper Austria.
The Bavarian family Wittelsbach owned the town until 1779. In the Middle Ages, due to its location, Schärding became a center of trade, particularly for salt, timber, ores, wine, silk, glass, grain, textiles and livestock. Originally the town was fortified; sections of the wall remain, but the castle that was originally there is no longer.
Schärding’s most beautiful feature is its central square with its rows of colorful, gabled buildings. The buildings are color coded so that illiterate people in past centuries would know what the building was used for. For example, the town hall (Rathaus) was yellow, and pharmacies were green. Nowadays, next to the Rathaus, the green building is a charming hotel, Hotel Stiegenwirt.
The town’s skyline is dominated by St. George Church. It is Roman Catholic; more than 80% of the town’s residents identify themselves as Roman Catholic.
When I was not attending a workshop to make herbal salt (I ended up not keeping it – the salt content was way too high for me!), I joined Dale to explore the streets of the town.
Two interesting clocks!
Schärding’s coat of arms is painted on the side of a building.
Historically, Schärding’s population suffered an epidemic of the plague. A plague pole was erected when the epidemic was over, to thank the Virgin Mary for saving people from the plague.
There is a statue to St. Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, in the center of a fountain. The fountain is hard to see in this photo because it was surrounded by construction zone fences.
Looking out toward the river from Durchgang Wasstertor.
I don’t know what these masks were for, but they look like instruments of torture!
There was also this display of possibly religious relics, near St. George Church.
And now…Schärding doors!
Posted for Norm’s Thursday Doors 1/16/20.
Some historical information obtained from Wikipedia’s article on Schärding.
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