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.

Eero Saarinen

Recently there was an exhibit of the work and life of Eero Saarinen (1910-1961), a Finnish born architect. He moved with his family to the United States in 1923 and followed in his father, Eliel Saarinen's footsteps. To see how the exhibit was set up at both of the Yale University Art Gallery and the Yale School of Architecture click here. He was quite the designer and was the first to design pedestal furniture and the plastic 'tulip' chairs in 1957.
Yale's campus hosts one of his designs, the David S. Ingalls Ice Hockey Rink completed between 1956-58. It's home to the YU ice hockey team and seats 2800 people. It's affectionately called 'the whale' because it resembles....a whale! You'll see why in the photos below.

He designed so many buildings and other interesting things. The TWA terminal at JFK Airport in New York City and the CBS Building, also in New York are just a couple of places. But my
favorite is the US Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, America's Gateway Arch to the West. Or, as we St. Louisin's call it, the Arch. St. Louis is my beloved hometown. Below is a photo of a photo that I took a couple of years ago. Saarinen died before the arch was completed.

Here's an interesting bit of trivia...well sort of...for me at least. I was about 10 years old when the arch was completed and they came around to all of the grammar schools in St. Louis and asked to sign our name to something (can't remember after all these years). Anyway, my name and thousands of other people's names are embedded somewhere in the arch. Meet me in St. Louie, Louie!

Wisdom Speaks

I hope she's right. This is the current marquis of the First Methodist Church on the corner of Elm and College Streets in New Haven.

Weekend Reflection

Here is reflected one of the Yale University buildings in Seychelles dress shop window. For more reflections check out Jame's Weekend Reflection. You won't be disappointed.

Train Up a Child

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train Up a Child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." Even the little boys at the Carnaval San Francisco Tetlanohcan we outfitted and dancing, or just wandering depending on the age. Below is Lorenzo, he was so cute and the back of his cape is very beautiful. I'm saving that photo for a very special day in December (if I can remember it then!!) In between the two adults, one black and white and the one in orange is a pre-teen. Also, in the back you can see little Lorenzo with his mama.

More Carnaval San Francisco Tetlanohcan

Here is one of the masks that the men were wearing as they were dancing. See yesterday's post about the history of the Carnaval.

These men and women were dancing together more like a troupe. Honestly, they wore me out just watching them. While we were there, about 30 minutes, they danced without stopping.

The fancied up ones loved to pose for the camera. I'll have one more entry tomorrow.

San Francisco Tetlanohcan

After coming out of the Commencement Concert at Sprague Memorial Hall at Yale University yesterday my neighbor and I heard another sort of music. Naturally we RAN over and to our delight we saw the Carnaval de San Francisco Tetlanohcan happening on the New Haven Green. Dancers of all sorts! Dancers, called charros, were dancing the Los Charros. Tetlanohcan is a small village of 10,000 people and it's in the Mexican State of Tlaxcala. Tlaxcala is the smallest state in Mexico.

Below you'll see some of men dressed very beautifully with sequins, feathers and plumes. Masks too! They are celebrating Independence from the Spaniards during the 17th and 18th centuries.

By wearing the masks it is the commoners way to mock the wealthy fair-skinned landowners

More tomorrow!

Weekend Reflection

OK. So I know you're probably getting tired of seeing this little guy Milo, but he's so doggone cute! He was taking a snooze in the sunlight and I noticed his reflection in the window. For other weekend reflections see James meme.

Think the Impossible

Freddie Fixer Parade

The Freddie Fixer Parade is an annual event in New Haven in the Dixwell/Newhallville neighborhood. Begun by Dr. Fred Smith in 1962 it was a way to celebrate after cleaning up the neighborhood. You can read more about the history in the above link.

I didn't know about it until watching the news last night however you can read about it in the New Haven Register and watch a video. So step right up to the New Haven Register Newstand and grab yourself a paper.

American Gothic Revisited

This one is modeled after Grant Wood's 1930 painting entitled 'American Gothic'. It also has sort of a Van Goghish Starry Night sort of feel to it also.

Yet another...

Well not so creative but a good effort.

Weekend Reflection

The blue sky is reflected in the spoons. You just can't keep a good sky down.

The last few days I've been posting photos of News Stands for the New Haven Register that have been painted by different school groups around New Haven. To see more Weekend Reflections click HERE.

And another

Read All About It

Over the next few days I will post photos of some of the New Haven Register's newsstands in the downtown area around the green. Each newsstand has been decorated by a different middle school in the area. Quite creative!

The Garden

Recessed in the Beinecke Plaza at Yale University is a garden of sculpture by Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988). It's entitled 'The Garden' (Pyramid, Sun & Cube).From the website about public art at Yale University, "Japanese-American sculptor and landscape architect Isamu Noguchi designed this work for the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library in one of several collaborative efforts with architect Gordon Bunshaft. Garden extends the creamy Vermont marble surfaces of the library’s paneled walls into its sunken courtyard. The cold materials of the space inspire not emotion but contemplation, reinforcing a studious atmosphere in the adjacent underground reading room. The mood is that of a Japanese Zen garden, quietly balancing cosmic forces symbolized by the circle (the sun and its energy), the pyramid (the earth and its history), and the poised cube (chance). This synthesis of East and West also unites past and future by suggesting both the marble flagstones of an Italian piazza and the surreal landscape of the moon. Gift of Edwin J. Beinecke, B.A. 1907, Frederick W. Beinecke, Ph.B. 1909, and Walter Beinecke, B.A. 1910, to the Yale University Library, 1963"

Windows Say It All

On Wooster Street Anatasio's and Tony and Lucille's had some fine displays painted on their windows for Mother's Day. I believe that the signage was painted by LeRoy Parks. Indeed a very happy Mother's Day to all.

A Year on Hughes Place

Hughes Place is a short one way street that connects Saint John Street and Greene Street in Wooster Square. In the spring when the cherry blossoms are in bloom you find people slowly strolling down the middle of the street enjoying the beautiful canopy that the blossoms create. I photographed the street all year long so we could have a look at Hughes Place in the other seasons of our year. We start with summer.

Weekend Reflection

With this ring, I thee wed. It took me a while to get back to blogging because I was at a wedding in St. Louis, Missouri. One of the benefits of being the officiant is that I had their wedding bands in my possession for a time. I photographed them on my stole that I purchased from the Arab Women's Union in Bethlehem, West Bank. When I was finished taking the photos I settled down to write my reflection for the service. For other reflections check out Jame's Weekend Reflection.