common market, architectural salvage

i love to shop at architectural salvage places,
and Memphis has a 3 floor warehouse called
the Common Market.

it was a sunny day and the high windows
allowed streams of light to illuminate and cast
shadows on the pieces, adding to their
already phenomenal character.

most of what i saw was way too large for
my small space planning needs, but it was
fun to imagine the mansions those big doors
and windows may have come from.

 this was the most surprising find.....an old dental drill complete with spit bowl...i could almost hear the drill! and see the water swirling around that bowl.

 there was one area with lots of old books, stamps, postcards, and maps.  i also found a box of old french keys, along with door handles, knobs, and faceplates.

art walk

on the last friday of the month,
there is an art walk on south main street.
only memphis calls it the "trolley tour"
because trolleys transport people down
to the galleries since parking is at a premium.

tonight i found a parking spot and walked
down the street, popping into the galleries
looking for inspiration.

i was surprised at how many collages and
mixed media were hanging...

similar to the slow introduction
of photography as it began to be considered
"art" not so many years ago.

at the college of art,
the exhibition was  called
singular masses, an examination of racial identity

this was  "The Reclamation of Color" by
Anthony Lee.
an excerpt from the catalog:
there are terms issued to colors that connote
race--or, perhaps better stated, color words that
define specific skin colors.  this exhibit reclaims 
these color works by assigning them a different
color, attempting to visually recondition the
viewer's association of color with the word.  
words like mulatto conjure thoughts of the beige, 
because it is applied to color solely in terms of race.
what if the context of race was removed from this
color word?  

these were wood block prints on muslin

by Yashua Klos

at the russian cultural center, a class of belly dancers performed

retirement

tomorrow is my last day working....
my last trip, my last flights as a flight attendant.
i am at peace with the idea, and ready to move on
to new adventures.
it's not often that i get to work with such a good crew.
these girls had the whole thing planned,
from a celebratory dinner at a martini bar in pensacola,
to another celebration at a sushi bar in philadelphia.
a twinkling tiara, a "retirement" button.....they had it all.
and then we all walked to trader joe's....to get supplies
for an all day celebration tomorrow!!
i will miss the camaraderie

the shell seekers

today i found myself at the pensacola beach
seeking shells.  there was a lot of wave action,
but by the time i arrived, the shells were very
picked over.  lots of broken sand dollars, and
many scallop shells, as well as mollusks and an
occasional periwinkle or whelk.

after the walk on the beach, i headed across the
street to the souvenir shop and bought a couple
of sand dollars for the grandchildren.

i was thrilled to see that a large ferris wheel has
been erected since the last time i was here....
perhaps i will get a ride tonight?

from the hotel window

after flying all day, we arrived at the denver hotel
about an hour before sunset.
it was past dinner time according to our watches
which were still running on EST,  but i really
didn't feel like going out.
i was torn because it was such a beautiful late
afternoon, but i decided to enjoy the remaining
sunlight that was shining across the roof of the
hotel.
sometimes i enjoy seeing from a different vantage
point.  as you can see, denver is very, very flat.

my bargain quilt

i decided to visit 2 local antique malls before i leave the mid-south.
the minute i walked into the bartlett mall, i spotted a quilt hanging in a booth with a price tag of $55. !!!! i was surprised at the price and assumed that there were many flaws.
i continued to shop all the time thinking that the quilt was going home with me.  when i was finished walking around, i stopped back at that booth to examine the quilt with a critical eye.  there were only a few blocks that had pulled away....because of the all-over quilting (by hand), they were easily repaired.  
now i need to find a place to clean this beauty....to preserve it's beauty and usefulness in my new place.