Heart

Pondering this morning the full implications of this simple ornament.

Odds & Ends

Decorations down and safely packed away. Just a few odds and ends left. Interesting phrase, that. According to the Free Dictionary, it refers to:

"Fragments and remnants; a miscellaneous collection. This term may have originated as odd ends, meaning short leftovers from bolts of cloth. It was transferred to miscellany of other kinds by the mid-sixteenth century, and by the mid-eighteenth century it had become the modern cliché."

Time

Well, it's time. My neighbors, I noticed, took all their decorations down after the turn of the year, whereas I kept them up through Epiphany. Today, though, they're all coming down, slowly but surely, and being packed away for another year. But I've photographed a few of them to share and enjoy for just a wee bit longer. 

Magnolia Leaves

Amazing how lovely a simple basket of magnolia leaves can be.

Phone Box?

I don't know if this is actually the case or not, but a visitor to the historic building where I volunteer thought this might be an old telephone box like the one she had in her late 19th century home. Oddly enough, if that is the case, it still serves that purpose, as there is a security phone inside that is used to make contact with various people. The visitor also remembered a fold-down seat that was part of the setup in her home.

Twelfth Night

Well, I do hope you all have a wonderful--and SAFE--Twelfth Night.

Hydroelectricity or Recreation?

Bill, yesterday, asked why the hydroelectric plant on Belle Isle was abandoned. Here's Wikipedia's scoop on the matter as well as another excellent question to ponder:

"Silt in river water wore down turbine blades, bearings and bushings. Logs and debris damaged the entrance gates of the mill race and mud had to be cleaned up after floods. Power production varied with river flow and was always low in summer.

In the mid 1950’s the price of oil was so low that petroleum products became the fuel of choice (local gasoline was .25 a gallon). Had anyone foreseen the great increase in costs after the Arab Oil Embargo in 1967, this plant might have remained competitive. Question: would power production have been as valuable as the recreational benefits we now have from a free flowing river?"