February Presidents

Posted on February 21, 2022 by admin

Almost forgot about “Presidents Day,” as AP recommends it be styled (no apostrophe). It’s fairly forgettable, especially when it’s an ordinary work day. As I’ve mentioned before, there isn’t any agreement among the several states about exactly what’s being celebrated, or what it should be called, though federal law specifies Washington’s Birthday.

Not such a bad thing, I believe. It’s Washington we’re honoring, not Kim Il-sung. Lockstep not required.

Those U.S. presidents born in February include not only Washington (22nd, N.S., 11th, O.S.) and Lincoln (12th) but also Ronald Reagan (6th) and famed short-timer William Henry Harrison (9th).

Of course, Washington and Lincoln get most of the attention. Often in the same image. This series dates from 1865. For obvious reasons.

Not an array that you see much any more in popular images of these presidents. The Victorians had different sensibilities, after all. The second one at least is an albumen print after a painting by Stephen James Ferris (1835-1915), a Philadelphia engraver, etcher, illustrator and portraitist.

Holidays

Posted on January 3, 2022 by admin

Christmas and New Year’s Day came and went pleasantly, a pause in paying attention to the rest of the world except maybe for weather reports. And I did hear that Betty White died, not an hour after I saw her face on a magazine in a drug store rack, noting her upcoming 100th birthday. RIP, Betty.

A bit of Christmas morning. A few hours later, a zoom with other family members in Texas.

Christmas dinner was nearly the same, in foodstuff prepared for the table, as Thanksgiving, except no beans and instead a large salad. Toward the New Year, Yuriko prepared osechi ryori, as every year. Homemade dishes need not be as elaborate as in this article, but they are put in a three-tiered box, and ours are just as delicious as any prepared by a store.

Mostly pleasant December weather gave way at the end of the month to snow and then heavy snow for New Year’s Day, but nothing blizzard-like. Nothing to interrupt traffic for long, though I expect not that many people were out on Saturday or Sunday anyway. We didn’t go anywhere either, but we did shovel, since today brought a return to workweeks.

Manhattan Decked Out for Christmas

Posted on December 23, 2021 by admin

Regards for Christmas and New Year’s Day and all the days around them and in between. Back to posting around January 3.

One reason to go to New York City in December is to admire the seasonal lights and decorations, and that’s what I did. Starting with the impressive Christmas tree on the street in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

Fearless Girl is there now, and she still has her admirers.

On Broadway just up from Bowling Green, the Charging Bull bronze still stands, and there’s a sizable tree nearby as well. For some reason, there was also an Kazakhstan flag flying.

I saw the giant Rockefeller Center tree, though the madding and maddening crowd put me out of the mood to take pictures. For the record, the 2021 tree is a 79-foot Norway Spruce, 46 feet wide and weighing 12 tons, according to the center, with about 50,000 LED lights and a 900-lb. Swarovski star with 70 spikes on top.

You might call the tree shape at Radio City Music Hall a bit of deco decoration.

No Christmas show inside.

Another gorgeous light display in the area was on the wall of Saks, facing Fifth Avenue. The crowds were quite attentive as it shifted and blinked.

Back downtown, Zuccotti Park.

The lights of Trinity Center, overlooking Zuccotti.

From there, I went to the World Trade Center complex. Not especially decked out for the holidays, but I caught the buildings at a good time in terms of lighting.

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine, still under construction.

It’s a replacement structure, designed by Santiago Calatrava, for a church of the same name and denomination on the site that was destroyed by the Twin Towers collapse. The new church will also be a memorial honoring those who died in the attack.

The Oculus‘ interior is blue for the holidays. At least it was when I stepped in for a few moments. A lot of other people were taking a look as well.

Wandering the streets of Manhattan, I saw a lot of smaller decorations, such as this restaurant annex on 51st.

Fire house lights, same street.

Bongs in the window.

Not Christmasy, but colorful all the same. This head shop near the Oculus — are they even called that any more? — is no doubt taking advantage of the legalization of cannabis in New York State this year, though retail sales haven’t started yet. For what it’s worth, I noticed the smell of cannabis on the streets of the city a lot more this time than ever before. And for that matter, less urine smell, which I suppose is a function of the hypergentrification of Manhattan.

Over in the Meatpacking District, angular snowfolk occupy a small plaza.

The angular building facing that little plaza.

After visiting Little Island, Geof and I had lunch at a Mexican restaurant on the first floor of the building.

I had the Mexican French toast.

I’d never heard of that before. Created for the table of Maximilian I? Man, it was good.

Not far away, on 14th Street, is Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en San Bernardo, a parish church formed by the merger of two congregations in the early 2000s.

An 1870s building designed by the amazingly prolific Patrick C. Keely. Wonderfully colorful interior, hardly shown in my picture.

A good place to spend a few Christmastime minutes.

Despotism In Jest & In Earnest

Posted on December 13, 2021 by admin

Back around December 19. Got things to do and, maybe, a few things to see.

Today’s amusement: I happened across this photo.

I’ve seen a lot of pictures of President Roosevelt, but never this one, which I downloaded from the National Archives. The occasion was a Roman-themed birthday party for the president, January 30, 1934.

Among other things, FDR’s enemies accused him of despotic tendencies, and it looks like he decided to make fun of the notion as Emperor Roosevelt.

Speaking of despotism, somehow our gnome ended up on the Christmas tree.

Dreaming of a red Christmas, no doubt. Except that reds don’t celebrate Christmas. Of course, Stalin could have, if he’d wanted to. He was Stalin.

I’d better keep an eye out, or some of the other ornaments might be sent off to parts remote, including the great beyond, as Christmas tree wreckers.

Tannenbaum ’21

Posted on December 12, 2021 by admin

We acquired a tree on Saturday at the same lot we’ve visited for a few years now. Prices were indeed higher this year, as has been reported. Seems that fewer trees have been planted since the late 2000s recession, and the cost of transporting them is up this year as well.

Got one anyway. A little smaller than most years, but not bad. I set it up and put on the lights.

The girls put most of the rest of the ornaments on. They learned the everything-here-and-there on the tree approach to Christmas decorations from me, as I learned it from my mother and brothers.

The result, with the room lights off.

All together, it only took a couple of hours to get the tree, set it up and decorate it. Much faster than last year. The whole process happened in between dinner, which was take out Japanese food, and a movie we watched together later in the evening, which was The Princess Bride. None of those things ever gets old.

Miscellany Thursday

Posted on November 18, 2021 by admin

Been a cold November so far, especially late last week, except for a few hours on Saturday afternoon. So I took a walk at the Chicago Athenaeum International Sculpture Park that day. It’s pretty much the same as ever, though of course a sculpture was added in 2019.

There’s still a side path through the woods.

As well as along water destined for the Mississippi.

That same day, I went to the Sears at the Woodfield Mall. It was about to close for good; it did so a few days later. So my stroll was through mostly vacant retail space, the ghost of a once-vast enterprise.

But not quite empty.

It was the last Sears in Illinois, the state formerly home to the Sears Tower. A retailer ending with a whimper.

I didn’t buy a rug. I will say that my lawn mower before the current one, a Craftsman, was a Sears acquisition.

Even further back is the cast iron table on our deck, purchased ca. 2003 at a Sears. Looks as solid as the day we got it, so like my cast-iron frying pan — bought ca. 1983 at a Nashville grocery store, not a Sears purchase — the table will certainly outlast me.

I was glad to see that Barbara’s Bookstore, a metro Chicago chain, has opened in the mall. I don’t go to the mall a lot, so I’m not sure when. The Barbara’s branch I remember best was the store in the lower level of the Sears Tower, which I visited sometimes ca. 2000-05 (gone now).

Up with the times, Barbara is, with a twist on the old retail warning.

Most everyone in the mall was masked. Otherwise, everything was about the same as any recent year. The crowds were thick, and I’m sure they’ll get thicker still as the days progress toward Christmas.

I interviewed a British retail expert not long ago, and she happened to mention the prospects of Black Friday retail sales this year in the UK. I’d heard before that is now part of British retailing, and I told her I thought that was funny.

“What’s the special occasion?” I said. “The fourth Friday in November?”

She chuckled. Like Japanese merchants importing Valentine’s Day, their British counterparts have imported Black Friday — and come to think of it, American merchants are doing their best to expand Día de Muertos in the United States. About a month ago, I saw a Día de Muertos-themed box of Pop-Tarts in a mainstream grocery store.

We also discussed American Halloween, which she said the British have taken to as well. I hope not to the detriment of Guy Fawkes Day, I said. Some customs have faded, she answered, such as a penny for the guy, but there are still bonfires.

Good. We see no reason/ why gunpowder treason/ should ever be forgot….

Armistice Day 2021

Posted on November 11, 2021 by admin

One of many.

Laurice John Inglis was born in South Australia on the 2 March 1898, the only son of Henry W. and Lucy Inglis. He enlisted on 1 November 1916 and took part in the assault on the Polygon Wood and the capture of Black Watch Corner. Private Inglis, aged 19 years, was killed in action at Broodseinde Ridge, Belgium, on 5 October 1917.

Source.

Also, I’m happy to report — literally — that the National World War I Memorial in Washington, DC, is mostly complete.

Skulls & Bones & Things

Posted on October 21, 2021 by admin

Back to posting around Halloween. Speaking of which, this two-story skeleton can be found about a mile from my house. I’m not planning to get one for my yard.

Also, I’m not planning to watch or care about The Squid Game. Or is it The Octopus Meet? Hard to keep track of all the fashionable shows.

North Pole, Alaska

Posted on August 9, 2021 by admin

Here’s a question I’ve never considered at all before, for any reason: Where is the world’s largest Santa Claus statue? Guinness World Records and other sources put it in Portugal, where the municipality of Águeda erected a 69-foot Claus made of aluminum and iron and LED lighting in time for Christmas 2016.

Yet other sources assert that the 42-foot-tall, 900-pound fiberglass Santa statue in North Pole, Alaska, deserves the honor, as a more permanent fixture. It is definitely older, having graced the Fairbanks suburb since 1983 after making its way up from the Lower 48 (Seattle, specifically) in a tale told by Roadside America.

I don’t have an opinion about the champion Santa statue. I did see the North Pole Santa, though, not long before I drove down to Denali NP.

Santa stands at the Santa Claus House in North Pole, pop. 2,090 or so. I couldn’t come to greater Fairbanks and not see that. The establishment dates from nearly 70 years ago in the early days of the town, which supposedly renamed itself North Pole to attract a toy factory that never materialized (“Made at North Pole” could be stamped on such toys.) One Con Miller and his wife Nellie capitalized on the name, however, by calling their trading post Santa Claus House.

These days the place isn’t particularly a trading post, but most definitely a tourist attraction, still owned by the Miller family. I came myself exactly because it is a tourist attraction.

Santa-themed murals decorate the exterior walls.

Inside, as you’d expect, is a large retail store devoted to Christmas decorations and other holiday paraphernalia.

Not as large as the Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan, but pretty impressive all the same. In one corner, a Santa and an elf were standing by, waiting for children to visit. I understand that a Santa always stands by at the store, no matter what time of the year it is.

Santa Claus House might be the main tourist attraction in North Pole, but other parts of the city play to the theme. For instance, visible from the highway is Universal Welding, and its locally themed sign. Local street names include Santa Claus Lane (what else could that be?), Snowman Lane, Mistletoe Drive, Kris Kringle Drive and Donner and Blitzen drives.

Then there’s the North Pole post office.

I had lunch at a diner in North Pole, Country Cafe. A nice ham and cheese sandwich. The place didn’t have a Christmas theme, but rather model military airplanes. No surprise, really. Eielson Air Force Base isn’t far down the Richardson Highway (Alaska 2) from North Pole. Santa Claus House and its tourist draw is nice, but I’m sure it’s Eielson that supports the local economy.

Independence Day & Cicadas

Posted on July 6, 2021 by admin

At-home Independence Day weekend this year, unlike last year or the year before. Or rather, a metro-area holiday, since I spend some time on Saturday tooling around the border area between Cook County and Lake County before attending a backyard party in north suburban Wilmette, hosted by an old friend and her husband.

The weather turned conveniently dry (and pretty hot) after July 2, so the air temps were just right for an evening outdoor party, as well as for viewing the fireworks show in west suburban Westmont on Sunday. That morning, I got around to mowing our lawn, front and back, which had been greened up by the considerable late June rains. More rain is expected in a few days, so I’m not done with lawn maintenance for a while.

The weekend also involved a lot of time on the deck reading, or, during one particular few minutes at dusk on Monday, listening to cicadas. I hadn’t noticed them this year until that moment. There seemed to be only one (or maybe a small knot) of the insects in the tree over our deck, singing 20 or 30 cycles before being quiet for a moment.

More distant lone cicadas seemed to be doing the same in other trees. Are these the vanguard of the cicada army that will loudly fill the late afternoons of late summer?
Also, how can something so small be so loud? That’s a question new parents tend to ask themselves as well.

Been There, Seen That

By Dees Stribling

Category Archives: Holidays