Behind the Fences

 Torrington, Connecticut

Mostly I've seen these little figures (in a much less faded green/yellow eye-catching color) on lawns in suburban neighborhoods with the legend "SLOW" urging passing drivers to watch out for kids and pets.

Just part of an extensive in-town garden only a few blocks from Main Street. In WWII people had "Victory Gardens" even in dense urban areas. This made me wonder if this is a "Covid Garden" since I've walked down this street many times in years past and never noticed a remarkably large urban garden before.

Painted Rocks

Ansonia, Connecticut

These painted rocks are near the sidewalk on Pershing Drive, on the west bank of the Naugatuck River. It's a desolate spot—the other side of the street has empty fields surrounded by cyclone fencing. No one ever seems to walk through here. My first thought was that this might be a school project, something serving as an outdoor activity, maybe in compensation for cancelled or virtual graduation ceremonies. It's that time of year, and the rocks weren't painted the last time I walked through here, not more than a month ago. The last rock seems to have a military theme though, so my first thought might be wrong.

I searched on "Ansonia painted rocks," and got two hits for Facebook pages which returned error messages, likely indicating pages for closed or invitation-only groups. So it's still a mystery.

As always if you click on the pictures you'll get a bigger and better view.

An Orthodox Rite Wedding

Belgrade, Yugoslavia, 1970

The IHP group spent over six weeks based in Belgrade, and I once again lucked into finding a wedding ceremony to cover for my thesis project on religious ritual. There was a fair amount of tension in the air since the communist regime at the time just barely tolerated religious practice. Getting permission to photograph took several difficult discussions in broken English (theirs) and very poor French (mine). Somehow I got across the reason I wanted to make pictures of the wedding and in the end everyone was very cooperative.

The vestments were just about as elaborate as at the Hindu wedding and the pageantry was highly dramatic. Also the chanting—my impression was that one of the requirements to become an Orthodox priest must be to possess a basso profundo voice. The interior was also very dark, mysterious and murky. There were electric lights in a hanging chandelier and several wall fixtures, but they were barely brighter than the candles. The overall mood was solemn.

Decorative Plant

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Decorations

Bristol, Connecticut

Pretty low key.

The Angel and the Sheriff

Winsted, Connecticut

detail

(As always, you can click on any picture here to get a larger, isolated, and in this case, legible, version of the file.)

Angels and Sophisticated Ladies

Torrington, Connecticut

Christmas Music

Torrington, Connecticut

Barbie

Hudson, New York

Winsted, Connecticut

Star Trek Plates

Winsted, Connecticut

Not Weeds

Graham, Texas

Window View, Early December Morning

New York, New York

Christmas Tree

Waterbury, Connecticut

Doh, Doh, Doh!

Winsted, Connecticut

Hats!

Woodbury, Connecticut

Another Christmas crafts show, this time in the middle school gym.

Woodbury, Connecticut

Brazen Betties at the Armory, I

Torrington, Connecticut

Backstage at the Brazen Betties Vintage Expo, fashion show, and Bettie Page Look Alike Contest held in the Torrington, CT, armory yesterday. You might remember posts earlier this year from another Betties event.

Plant in the Window

Naugatuck, Connecticut

Two Sculptures

Keesville, New York

Keesville, New York

Holiday Display

Washington, Connecticut

From the 1950s themed holiday exhibit at the Gunn Memorial Museum.

Frogs

Waterbury, Connecticut