Weekend Reflection

A view from the hallway. When I opened the door the other day to walk inside, the light from outside was casting a beautiful shadow of the chandelier. For more weekend reflections see Jame's Newtown Area Photo.

Mobile SoulFood

It's been hot, hazy and humid for the last few days and Wooster Square has come to a standstill. No one walking except for the occasional dog that's got to go out. No one out doing nothin'! This is a photo that I took a while ago, Mobile SoulFood. Of course as a pastor I thought they should be handing out Bibles or pamphlets, but no. Only collard greens and yams.

Just'a Funk

Whoa...I've been in a grand funk lately and haven't posted. Won't bore you with the details but this week will liven up with a cousin's reunion in Connecticut. Seven cousin's and their spouses will converge on Connecticut this week. My brother Rick and I are prepared. Photo circa mid 1940's...before my time! Promise, I'll try to rev up my creative juices once again.

Peruvian Dancers

One of the other performances at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas was a Peruvian Dance troupe. My batteries went kapooey right after I took this photo of the lead dancers.

Chapel on the Green

Each Sunday, rain or shine, Trinity Episcopal Church on the Green in New Haven has a service outdoors at 2:00 pm. After service they serve meals to anyone who is in need of a free meal.
Last Sunday was a gorgeous but hot Sunday. There were quite a lot of people gathered and they had a special drumming group that played.

Interesting contrast between the altar with the elements of the Lord's Supper sitting out and lah-de-dah Ann Taylor women's clothing store. Such is the life in downtown New Haven.

Weekend Reflection

This is the tower of the New Haven Fire Department. It's a rather oddly shaped building, modern and concrete. The tower has one long window which you see here with the clouds and sky being reflected. For other terrific Weekend Reflection's click on over to Jame's place.

American Mural Project

"The AMP is a nonprofit organization with an unusual approach to arts education. It is involved in the creation of the largest indoor collaborative artwork in the world. - a mural 120 feet long, five stories high, and six to ten feet deep. Its mission is to inspire, to invite collaboration and to reveal to people of all ages the many contributions they can make to American culture. The mural's future home is in Winstead, CT.

The artist who conceived this mural takes these snakey looking things to different venues so that people can paint their name and be a part of this project. It will later be incorporated into the large mural. This was just one of the events at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven. You can have a look at their website and see the indoor mural being painted.

Blind Boys of Alabama

Last week in New Haven the International Festival of Arts and Ideas began. It's a great two weeks of concerts, lectures, plays, cultural performances and things to make you think. This years big FREE featured concert on the green was the Blind Boys of Alabama.

Formed in 1939 the Blind Boys are one of the best gospel and blues group around. Two of the original members have passed but the others are still going strong. When they walk onto the stage they hold on to the shoulder of the guy in front of them and a sighted member of the group brings them on and in place to perform. They said they are there to sing the gospel and that they did!

Below is Jimmy Carter, the main attraction who ventures out into the audience towards the end of the show. My friend and I were up close so I was able to get a good shot of him.

Everybody wants to touch him.

Below is the woman who was sitting next to us. At a certain point in the concert everyone got up and just started dancin' and whoppin' it up.

Fellowship Place

Fellowship Place is a community devoted to fostering mental health in New Haven. It's mission is to help adults live more meaningful lives through education and offering resources. As I walked over to the International Arts and Ideas Festival they had just completed and hung these wonderful prayer flags which depict meaningful and peaceful places of peoples lives. Because prayer flags are fabric pieces that are hung outside until they disintegrate they focus on the impermanence of life. It's based on Tibetan and Buddhist theology. You can find out more about Fellowship Place by clicking here.

Many Thanks................

A BIG thank you to my son-in-law Nick for solving my computer problems. Now I'm back on line and will be posting once again. Thanks to all of you for your patience.

I knew that I loved that guy for more reasons than one. Here they are on their wedding day, September 19, 2009. Wedding and reception were held at the New Haven Lawn Club. Photo by Jessica Materna. Watch for more postings to come on the International Arts and Ideas Festival in New Haven.

Weekend Reflection

Unfortunately in an urban setting this is an all too familiar site...glass from a broken car window. Many of them happen around here, people looking for GPS's or any other sort of technical device. The small bits of glass do however make for some nice reflection. Sigh!


To see more Weekend Reflections hop over to Jame's Newtown Daily Photo.

The Cupcake Truck

I like the way some people think. Cupcakes are grand any time of the day or night.
While I didn't indulge myself I think I would get a red velvet cake with white chocolate cream cheese frosting and some MnM bits. And you?

On the Edge

Audubon Arts on the Edge is organized by the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, Creative Arts Workshop, ACES Educational Center for the Arts and the Neighborhood Music School. It's a one day festival featuring live music, dance, puppet shows, a petting zoo and lots of art. I volunteered to help set up but unfortunately couldn't stay for the festival. So my photos are just the beginning of the day before any festival goers arrived. Here they are painting the street so that children could make chalk drawings.

And putting up lanterns.

And a wall just ready for painting! You can read a little more and see a few more pics at the New Haven Independent. I was sorry that I couldn't stay, it looked like fun.

The Census

The US Census is being completed now. This poor census taker walked the street for days trying to make contact with those who didn't send in their forms. I have to say that this was the first time that I really paid attention to what the census was all about. In addition to 'just counting people' they count for a reason. I saw some effective billboards that read to the effect, if we don't know how many people we have how will we know how many hospitals to build. Well, the light went on for me.

In a city with documented and undocumented immigrants you can imagine that he has his hands full even though no personal information is taken in the census. Fear and misunderstanding prevail.

Felice Varini

How does this paint bucket and tarp get from this to.... ....to this? Felice Varini, that's how. Varini is a renowned Swiss artist who had done many public outdoor artwork displays throughout Europe. This is his first US exhibit right here in New Haven. The piece is entitled Square with four circles. There is another exhibit of his at the Public Library which I will try to get there this week.

This guy is a genius as far as I'm concerned. I took these before he was actually finished. The opening reception was last Friday. For more info you can go to www.siteprojects.org.

A Simple Reflection

Each evening as the sun goes down it streams through my kitchen window and lands on a multi-faceted red glass heart. On the opposite wall is reflected the beauty of the red heart. So simple. For other Weekend Reflections visit Jame's Weekend Reflections.

East Rock Park

The ridge that makes up East Rock Park was formed 200 million years ago as the continents were moving away from one another. The molten rock from deep within the earth came through the stress cracks. On Memorial Day my son and I drove to the summit and were able to have this wonderful view of downtown New Haven. In the photo below you see downtown as well as New Haven Harbor which empties out into Long Island Sound.

If you turn around and look west you see West Rock Park. Just below the horizon in the middle of the photo you can see the ridge of West Rock.

Pardee Rose Garden

Nestled in East Rock Park, a 425 acre park, is the Pardee Rose Garden. It's quite lovely and the roses are in full bloom right now.

Memorial Day

In the middle of the green in New Haven stand a memorial to fallen soldiers of several different wars. Today there were wreaths laid on the memorial in honor of Memorial Day, a national holiday. The purple heart wreath caught me eye.