Happy 4th of July

Happy Independence Day!

Of course, it’s an opportunity for vintage cards.

Which Way Challenge

St. John Cantius, Chicago

The Which Way Challenge, that Cee began, has been picked up by the Alive and Trekking blogger.  The beauty of it is that it’s free form.

I went to church in the city for the first time since the infamous lockdown. This way was a surprise. This traditional church painted the drive and set up a shrine for Corpus Christi.. I’d never seen that done.

You can include images of doors, gates, roads, streets, exits, signs, paths, waterways, canals, railroad tracks, you name it.

See more Which Way photos by clicking here. You’ll be amazed at where people are going.

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Mass Pentecost

Some peace on Pentecost, the day that Christians commemorate the Holy Spirit coming down and filling believers.

I love that at the end there’s a shower of rose petals coming from an opening in the dome. Evidently, this is an ancient tradition, but I’d never heard of it.

Easter across Europe

This Rick Steves’ special on how Easter is celebrated in Italy, Spain, Greece and Slovenia was wonderful. I had no idea of the colorful, heartfelt traditions that people have kept through the centuries.

He describes holidays and practices from Mardi Gras all the way through Easter Sunday.

I looked for some photos of these holiday practices, but soon learned that this year due to the CCP Virus, they’ve been canceled. My nephew was in Greece for a semester abroad, but had to come home. What a shame as Greece celebrates with lots of passion and color.

I pray next year will be normal and maybe I’ll have the good fortune to plan a trip.

Thursday Door Challenge

Hosted by Norm 2.0, Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing it, between Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American Eastern Time).

From my walk around Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood and I couldn’t wait to post these lovely Christmas doors.

Holiday Doors

Note: The evergreen smells so nice up and down this street.

All in the Gold Coast

Thursday Door Challenge

Hosted by Norm 2.0, Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing it, between Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American Eastern Time).

Now this post is late (or perhaps early for January 2nd), but I went on a walk around Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood and I couldn’t wait to post these lovely Christmas doors.

Watch this blog for more doors throughout the week.

Sepia Saturday

We’re ending another year of Sepia Saturday with vintage New Year cards, my choice of the wild card prompt. I hope all of you have a healthy, prosperous 2020.

Happy New Year!

Huh?

 

 

 

 

Joffrey’s The Nutcracker

I’m blown away by Joffrey Ballet’s The Nutcracker. What makes this version stand out is that it’s set in Chicago, on Christmas Eve before the Columbian Exposition of 1893.

The shift from Germany to old Chicago was a brilliant idea. Clara’s family is poor and she lives with her family in a (very large) cabin for construction workers. The story remains essentially the same. For Christmas, Clara (aka Marie in some versions) receives a beloved nutcracker, which is broken by her rambunctious brother Fritz. Drama ensues and when Clara finally goes to sleep she has fantastic dreams of the Columbian Exhibition’s White City with Buffalo Bill dancing and a slew of performers from all corners of the globe.

Tchaikovsky’s music is among my most favorite and is well known even to people who don’t follow classical music. It’s played beautifully by the Chicago Symphony.

The setting and special effects were magical using projected archival images from the actual World’s Fair. The sets in both acts were creative and captivating.

I loved seeing all the young girls dressed up to see this ballet. Their excitement rubbed off on me.

This is a must-see show.

Happy Mother’s Day

Well, maybe not everything, but a lot.