Blessed Easter to my friends who celebrate Western Traditions

- and I hope for a peaceful Palm Sunday for my friends who celebrate Eastern Traditions, 

 

I'll take a moment to reflect on tomorrows readings with you. 

Ponder whatever is...

True
Honorable
Just
Pure
Lovely
Gracious

 -St Paul's Letter to the Philippians 4:4-9

Spring will soon be upon us here in the North...

Just a fun post of some interesting art my sister created from some ordinary subjects.  I hope you enjoy all of the green in these.  Spring is right around the corner!  I heard Ice melting on a lake near me last night.  It was the first time I had ever heard this eerie sound - sort of a low frequency muffled under water whale like sound.  I didn't think to record it in my iPhone, but I found this video which is exactly the sounds I heard.  So cool!  Imagine it's late at night - very dark under a star filled sky, and very silent EXCEPT for these eerie sounds...  this is what I experienced last night. I wonder how many myths or legends have sprung from this strange and wonderful effect? Sort of sounds like the old Star Trek phaser...

The Bodie Light...

Ferns

An Iris

A Harrier Jump Jet!

Sandstone Cliffs

Water Lilly

Thanks Sis, really beautiful creations.

A side trip to see the Habsburgs...

What a great weekend!  Another little trip to check out something truly incredible.  The Habsburg gallery with all of its pictures, history and artifacts were so vivid.  The traveling exhibit didn't allow photography - so only links.  I did get to see the Chinese displays though and have uploaded a few pics from that gallery.  I hope you enjoy!

7th century Tang Dynasty

Chin Dynasty incense burner

Han Dynasty ink well and tablet - really!

Neolithic... around 1700 BC!

 A few paintings in the museum.

This is a Dou from 1670.  A hermit prays with much symbolism in the painting.  Hard to see, but there is an extinguished candle, an hour glass and a small straw basket with the frugal scraps that anyone requires to survive.

A Tenier from around 1680.  The Temptation of St Anthony.

On the list of things to do this summer...

Hope you all have a great week!

One of the coolest things I've ever seen...

Check this amazing driver simulator out from FORD Motor Company...

I still think the most beautiful American Iron ever to come off of Detroit clay is the Mustang.  This 2015 pony is no exception!

BEAUTIFUL. I drove the Mustang and the Camaro last year... Hands-down the Ford is so much better - in my opinion anyway.

Another excellent day!  Spring is around the corner...  Love ya Nick and Johanna.

Lake Superior Ice Caves...

What a great day for a hike!  Today I visited the ice caves located on the South Shore of Lake Superior.  It's a good 8 mile hike to complete the trek, but very well worth the effort.  I hope you enjoy!

Around 40 Degrees F, this is the first ice cave

Fantastically beautiful

One of the more impressive caverns...

Tunnels, frozen slides and colors of various minerals...

Isn't this fantastic?

Along the shoreline.  The Department of Natural Resources Ranger said over a thousand folks made the trek onto the ice today...

Tannins from creek water create the tan colored ice, pure spring water the blue...

What a great day for a hike!

This would be a really beautiful stretch of shoreline to canoe this summer.

Another archway....

Sort of gives you a sense of the size of this cave opening...

That's all for this year's ice cave trek!

Hope you all enjoyed the pics, I had a great time taking them.  Miss you and love you Johanna and Nick!

Lee

Some cool pics of stuff I've seen flying around lately...

The first job I had was at Bell, watching this bird fly always amazes me...

So cool to see in flight...

Keeping a jet engine lubricated in extended vertical position was pioneering...

She's a beauty...

Then I heard the unmistakable sound of this guy...

Just truck'in along...

All of this scenery while standing across the river from this...

The "Showboat."

Hey Orville! I really don't think bicycle chains are the way to go on those propellers...

Hope you have a great day!

L

A wander through the gilded age...

I had the great good fortune of visiting the Biltmore last weekend.  I took these pics of the exterior, and would have loved to photo-document the interior... but photography inside the mansion is not allowed.

Imagine you were a Van der Bilt coming home to this place!

What a grand estate.  The largest private "home" in the US.   I think it's over 100,000 square feet.

The view of the "back yard."  Incredible...

Naturally an estate this large had an enormous staff.  When you tour through the house most of the living areas are shown.  This includes staff, kitchens, bedrooms, the game room, the indoor pool, a bowling alley, opulent dining areas, a grand library... and a lot more.  If you are ever in the Asheville area I recommend taking the tour.  It will easily take a whole day, but well worth the experience.

The estate has an enormous greenhouse with amazing plants!

Van der Bilt took styling cues from these two European estates to create the Biltmore...  See if you can find the similarities!

Waddesdon Manor

and...

Chateau Royal de Blois

 Very cool!



And now for something totally different!

A great static display of a Jump Jet - the Harrier

Awesome!

The Harrier in action...

and... NOT a Harrier! I wonder what the glide ratio would be?