Wild and wonderful West Virginia fog. I love the way it whispers and hugs the landscape. We could not have asked for better weather on the first leg of our inaugural Pittsburgh based road trip. We left in darkness to beat the traffic, and boy, did we! There was hardly a soul on the road.  I still can’t believe my dumb luck to be born in this great nation, with beauty at every turn.

Lexington is a fun town, with much to admire and try. The Parkette has been on my list for some time, mostly because of that fabulous neon sign, though I was terribly sad not to see it in full regalia. In the sci-fi future of my mind, travelers will have the ability to see monuments just as they like, no matter the hour. Sunset? Yup! Bright neon? You got it! Without utility poles and wires? No problem! Anyhoo, the fried chicken, according to the hubster, is good, but not #1 in his book. He likes super duper extra crispy, and this wasn’t that. I can’t fault the man for knowing what he likes. I was charmed by the friendly and fast service, y’all. I must admit that I never imagined Kentucky would sound sooo Southern. Just look at it on the map, the way it skirts that center line.

Being westerners with few original reminders of just how old our relatively young nation is, the hubster and I find ourselves reeling at buildings well over the century mark, with the majority pictured in that category. This last one is also quite historical, being the home where Mary Todd Lincoln was born. Hello Abraham, let’s go back to my house… There’s another of her family homes a couple of blocks away, but, rather sadly, I could not get a decent photo without a garbage can in it, which seemed terribly unseemly, so you will not see it here. I’m sure Mary would approve.

Tomorrow, Louisville!

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Rusted

We are all differently broken, semi-functional, rusted out love machines.

Hank Green

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Movies

 More movies? So soon? Yup! I realized that I left out some really good ones last time. Enjoy!

 

Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s – Regardless of your take on fashion, this documentary is pretty cool. Meet the people and learn the history behind the iconic New York institution, Bergdorf Goodman. The genius window dressers, the trend spotters, the sales people. Fascinating!

The Silence – A young girl disappears in the precise location another girl disappeared some twenty-three years earlier. A story of loneliness, friendship, and the past we can’t escape.

The Story of Film: An Odyssey – Wowie zowie! This is a spectacular documentary series that looks at film and film making, from the very first to present day. Broad in scope, each of the fifteen hour-long episodes covers a different genre, era, or innovation from around the world. Mark Cousins, the talented writer/director/narrator has a fabulous voice, too. In particular, I enjoy his use and pronunciation of the word “sweep.”

Robot & Frank – In a not so far off future, children concerned about their father but too busy or distant to care for him on a regular basis buy him a robot. Oh, and Frank is a cat burglar with dementia, too, and learns how to get his robot in on the action in between bouts of forgetting. Deception and mayhem ensue.

Rust & Bone – A woman wakes up with her legs amputated after a freak accident with the killer whale she was training. A man with a passion for fighting. They meet and become friends. Sweet things happen. Sad, depressing things happen. People make horrible mistakes. Rights are wronged as best they can be. A happy ending, of sorts. Brilliant!

Frequencies – In this mind bender of a fil-um, success and intelligence are determined by a person’s frequency, the higher the better. When people of mixed frequency interact, chaos ensues (earthquakes! lightning! thunderstorms!), usually within a minute. Very low frequency Zak, in love with very high frequency Marie is determined to find a solution. Terrific!

Dear White People – Meet four black students at an Ivy League school, each unique and with very different ambitions, each mixed up in a heated battle in the one all-black house on campus. Whip smart, laugh out loud funny, and incredibly sad and horrifying, at times.

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Melting

Snow slipping into spring and I have no complaints. The sun is shining on my keyboard, and this morning, out in my down parka, rubber boots, and running shorts to feed the birds, there was no ache on my bare skin. And the birds! Their sweet souls are grateful and singing. The happy cacophony I awoke to, a hundred songs at once, sent my own heart aloft.

Life is good.

Pittsburgh feels more like home. There are more pictures on the wall, more boxes empty, more happy grooves being worn with the pattern of our two small lives. We are eager for travel, rain instead of snow, to drive yet more new roads, to walk and stomp and gallop our way across new sidewalks and paths.

Lovely light! Product of a stained glass window, it meanders across the bathroom wall.

Happy Sunday!

Child Heart

Come clean with a child heart
Laugh as peaches in the summer wind
Let rain on a house roof be a song
Let the writing on your face
be a smell of apple orchards in late June.

Carl Sandburg

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