No news is good news!!!



This is sort of the way i feel about 2010, one minute we're up, then next down.
it has been a rollercoaster ride to be sure. when will this nation recover?
2011 will you come in like a dear friend, or  stink up the place like a
drunken relative at a family dinner?



seating for two

sitting by the dock of the bay



this photo has me dreaming of summer, it is one my favorite places.
i like to sit on the dock and put my feet in the cool water.
this was taken on a night that the moon was so bright that i did not need a tripod. 



its a dogs life

what do you suppose the amenities are?

mammoth moderne with a message

it doesn't matter what road your on. we are all on that road together.

The new year is on her final descent; and i have to say that i am glad to say goodbye to 2010.
HELLO 2011 (!)

great marketing strategy, 'honesty'.

just in time for the new year

The new campaign for public health. Omaha is ranked down on that list at 142 for healthiest cities to live.
When the commercials first came out on TV they caused a bit of a reaction, they portrayed a large woman being taunted by a very thin woman at the market, this did not send a balanced ideal to the female viewers and was NOT well received.

soon the birth of 2011

sure enough she will be born.
When was the last time you did something for the first time?
-Sally Edwards

peace to you

HO Ho ho he wants his cake and eat it too!

Happy Holidays!

from me to you!





  

Ornaments?

These are actually hanging butterfly wombs called chrysalis. This is at the Butterfly Pavilion farm at the OmahaWild Kingdom . I stood and watched patiently...hoping.. hoping to capture one emerging. There were some wiggling but none did, and so I moved on. I will come back though when I have the day to spend. :)

hanging wombs ll

these chrysalis were quite intriguing, they reminded me of a Japanese paper lantern, when the light shown on them they seemed to glow!

the owl butterfly, faux eyes are the
defense mechanism that scares
predators away!

thunderhead

 2008, county road outside of Springfield, Nebraska .
This beautiful cloud formation can be deadly and is called :

Cumulonimbus

These clouds can be  a warning of severe weather approaching. Nebraska is in what is nicknamed 'tornado alley.'

Lauritzen Garden

Yes Raskolniikov we have castles in Nebraska!
Every year the Lauritzen gardens creates a winter wonderland exhibit.
There is literally a whole city, with replicas of the famous Omaha landmarks, bridges, and the railroad.
Each building is created by a local artists and they are made of all natural materials.
This is the likeness of the Joslyn Castle. I will post photos of the actual castle sometime in the
near future. Of course the castles here are somewhat different than in other places around the world.
But no less inspiring!

pimp my fence

period art

i must admit, i really don't quite understand what the engraving above the artwork means and i find the image of the dancer intriguing.

Prairie palace

Nebaska State capital, palace on the prairie, there is another nickname that represents its
shape ;). Never the less the building is a WOwing work of art, towering 400 ft above the plains it was built in 1922. when you enter the building there is a feeling of being inside a crypt and your  steps echo down the hall to the other end and back to you. fun to tap dance, until the guard comes to stop you! crazy arts and crafts style lighting. i have been told that there are ghosts who roam the halls and once a friend said that the elevator light lit like someone had pushed it, only NO one was there. The elevators are about the size of a large phone box and they shimmy and groan popping and jump at your stop.  you can take them nearly to the top- there overlook which you can walk around to see the view .
the inside is quite amazing with chambers which branch from a center chamber with a grand dome ceiling. four outer chambers lay outward in the four directions. a sower is stand at the very top of the structure with his basket sowing his seed to the four winds. there are exquisite works of art on the walls, the floor is freaking awesome made of millions of tiny glass tiles to create images!!! 

house of the rising sun

inside the glass chapel

throw no stones

holy family shrine


Glass chapel on the prairie, made of glass with of course wooden trusses, this building stands high atop
 a hill overlooking the platte river valley. i was there last year during a storm and it was quite spectacular.

country christmas

The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including trackage in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, Detroit, Michigan, Buffalo, New York, St. Louis, Missouri, Toledo, Ohio, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Omaha, Nebraska. The rails still exist in some of the areas and in others it is the iron ghost of the past.http://www.r2parks.net/rail.html 
These tracks brought many travels home for the holidays, wrapped packages in the stow.

lovely algae pond at arbor day park
scientists are currently studying the role algae plays in the absorption of  CO2 on our planet.

little white house

Knox Chapel built in 1896

We used to pass this old relic every day on the school bus. My father told a story that he had heard
from his father; about a woman who lived in the town of Knox which was there in the 1800's. she fell in love with a wrangler passing through on a cattle run . she wanted to marry him but her father , the preacher- wouldn't allow it. So one night she tried to run away with him.The dragging sound of her heavy suitcase  gave her away. She and her lover were  hung not far from the chapel and buried in the cemetery high on the hill overlooking knox.