And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush....

So...

This past weekend, Mara and I ventured to Union Terminal (the Museum Center) for the Celtic Heritage Festival.  How can you not ab-so-lute-ly love this building??

Hey Pappy....we found the Skinner Pipe Organ...and Mara's ghost...

I actually went to the festival to visit my friend, Crystal.  She has a community art project in the works with which I hope to be a participant.  Yay!  (She's so freaking cute...)

We were a little disappointed in the amount - or lack there of - of booths set up in the Rotunda.  (I bought some Goat's Milk Soap!)  Luckily, there was some gorgeous live Celtic music to entertain the crowd.

And, of course, we browsed the Gift Shops.  Mara added to her finger-puppet collection, adopting Helen Keller, and I bought a big hunk of Amethyst.  Never know when that stuff may come in handy.

There were two of the musicians busking in front of the building as we were leaving.  I always wanted to learn to play the violin.  Only one problem, though, I can't read music.  I do have a violin related thingy on my bucket list.  I want to feel the strings vibrate while someone - who knows what they're doing - is playing the instrument.  I should have asked someone while I was still at NKU.  I'm not sure I know anyone with a violin now.

I also have to add more Elemental Detail photos...sorry...it's what I see all around me.  Always.

After we left the Museum, we went to O'Charley's for dinner.  The fact it was only 3:30 in the afternoon didn't deter me....I'm old enough to eat with the Early Bird Specialists now.

This is Mara's, "Don't take my picture!!"...picture.  Suck it up Buttercup...if you're with me you know what's coming.

I'll leave you with this image....SPRING HAS FINALLY SPRUNG!!!!!

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."
                                                        ~Anne Bradstreet

Vernal Equinox 2015

So...

Today was the FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!!!  Yay!!!

(freakin' finally!!)

You want to guess how I knew it was the first day of spring??

I saw a worm!!!  Free range...

" We don't have the time for psychological romance..." ~Cameo

Well...

I FINALLY took a couple of days off...not that I am complaining (I loves me some overtime) but I needed to reset my clock.  Too much crap has been going on and I haven't been sleeping well.

Guess what...I slept very well - for 2 days.  Two WHOLE days.  I had a little "stay-cation" at a nearby hotel and slept like a log.  I took along my bathing suit (I'm a water baby) but I never changed out of my jammies.  I even met a friend for dinner one night and secretly wore my "dressy" jammies.  Here are a couple of photos of my suite.  It was pretty nice.

Got one text that made me quite angry but that's what I get for leaving my phone on while I was vacationing.  Gotta love your "friends".  Yeah, right.

And, I digress.  After my dinner date, I stopped at the store (in my jammies - god forbid) and bought some snacky things to tide me over throughout the night.  (All I ended up eating of the haul were the powdered doughnuts.)  I also bought a knock-off spirograph set, a stuffed elephant (to go with Teddy and my new Cracker Barrel sock monkey, Joe) and a Lego car.  I love Legos.  I miss Legos.  After I assembled the race car, I decided to take some photos - of course.  I took a sequence using several different f-stops.  In this first one, I shot at f/5.6 but I didn't like this angle...the light was behind me and I didn't like the shadows it cast.

So, I turned the car to face the other direction.  Much better.  This photo was shot at f/9.  I love having a tiny focal point but hey, I was experimenting...remember?

Then we're at f/16 for this next one.  Little more depth of field...

And then on to f/32.  Everything is in focus now.  I don't like this, but it was worth seeing - experiment-wise. 

Maybe I'm just too artsy-fartsy...or maybe I like being "dramatic".  Here is my last photo for this observation...and I went all out.  Shot at f/5.6 and converted to Black & White and a vignette added.  Arsty and Fartsy.  Hey...I'm allowed.

"It was the Spring of Hope..."

So...

Thursday afternoon was an adventure day for Mara and me.  Art Museum!!!  This, of course, is one of my favorite reasons to visit....

Since she had a little cabin fever, I decided to treat us to lunch at the Terrace Cafe.

We had sandwiches...

And...desserts....Cheesecake for Mara...

And Chocolate/Caramel Mousse for me....

The waitress was nice enough to bring two forks and two spoons - to share.  Mara refuses to eat whipped cream so I always get her extras (how is this kid mine??).  Our eyes were bigger than our bellies...

They opened the new Rosenthal Education Center this past week and I wanted to visit.  (I made some art but somehow it made its way into Mara's bedroom and I haven't seen it since.)  There are cool chandeliers...bubbly...

There are a lot of galleries being updated, including my favorite in the Cincinnati Wing.  I didn't get to visit "my girls".  I did take some photos of a couple of paintings I didn't realize are not supposed to be photographed.  I am not sure why all of the sudden some of the paintings I always take photos of are now off limits.  Hmm...  Anyway, here is some of the art we visited...(holy crap...monkeys must have cropped some of these photos...or I was drunk)

Oh my...without fail, if I walk into the Cincinnati Art Museum - for any reason - I will somehow make my way to this sculpture.  My absolute favorite piece of art in the building.

Giovanni da Bologna's bronze "Rape of a Sabine Woman".  I want to touch this piece so badly...feel the cool bronze under my fingertips...the delicate fingers...the contours of each figure.  One of these days...my picture will be hanging at the front desk and I'll be "politely" escorted from the premises every time I visit.  No touching the artwork, silly girl.

Here is another bronze that fascinates me...Hercules and Antaeus.

In Greek mythology, Antaeus was a giant who lived in Libya and forced anyone who traveled through the country to wrestle with him. He was the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and of Gaia, goddess of the earth. Because Gaia was his mother, Antaeus became stronger each time he touched the earth. As a result, he defeated and killed all who wrestled him.
One of the 12 labors of Hercules took him through Libya. Antaeus challenged Hercules to wrestle. At first, Hercules, despite his great strength, could not defeat Antaeus. Then realizing that Antaeus got his strength from the ground, Hercules lifted him off his feet so that he could not touch the earth. Slowly, Antaeus' strength drained away, and Hercules eventually squeezed him to death.

 Mara was being very patient with me...she looks so contemplative here...absorbing the ambiance.

Another one of my proclivities is to take photos of the walls inside of elevators.  There is always some kind of design which is one of those things overlooked...

I also like random photos of architectural elements...

And bicycle racks...

This was my view from a bench while waiting for Mara...

And on our way out...

Don't worry, Pinocchio...we'll be back!!!

Giovanni da Bologna (Giambologna)