Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).
Perched only a few yards from a boardwalk over a wetland, a red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) was warily observing me from over its shoulder...but obligingly remained posed for the camera.
South Peachtree Creek PATH in Mason Mill Park: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 16 August 2025.
Danny Gatton: Sky King
Album: Cruisin' Deuces (Label: Elektra, 1993)
Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).
A patinated bronze statue of a Catholic missionary appears to beseech heavenward, positioned before a nearly 200-foot-tall 'Great Cross,' whose silvery stainless steel gleams golden in late-afternoon sun.
Mission Nombre de Dios: St. Augustine, Florida, USA.
3 September 2025.
— National Park Service (pdf)Mission Nombre de Dios (Name of God) is a Catholic mission founded in 1587 in St. Augustine, Florida, on the west side of Matanzas Bay. It is likely the oldest extant mission in the continental United States. The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche, the oldest shrine in the southeast U.S., is located on the mission grounds.
The mission traces its origins to September 8, 1565, when Spanish admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés landed with a band of settlers, including a Catholic chaplain, Father Francisco López de Mendoza Grajales. The mission would serve the colonists and nearby villages of the Mocama, a Native American tribe.
The 'Great Cross' was dedicated in October 1966 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the mission's founding. It is made of stainless steel and towers 208 feet above the Matanzas marshes. An eleven-foot-tall bronze statue of Father López stands in front, created in 1958 by Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962), a Croatian sculptor (then dean of Art at Notre Dame University, in South Bend, Indiana, USA).
— Wikipedia.
Donald Byrd: Cristo Redentor
Album: A New Perspective (Label: Blue Note)
Released 1964; recorded 1963.
Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).
Españolas (2010)
painted concrete
— Marianne Lerbs
St. Augustine Sculpture Garden: City of St. Augustine Beach, Florida, USA. 12 September 2025.
St. Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the continental United States, established by Spanish explorers in 1565. One can easily picture the female colonists, known as Españolas, leisurely promenading on Sundays with their parasols, reminiscent of the scene depicted by the sculptor. The sculpture garden sits just beyond the city's southeastern border, in St. Augustine Beach, a suburban-esque town of mid-20th-century vintage.
I first made the acquaintance of these charming ladies on a visit to St. Augustine in 2018 and took their portraits. I wasn't overly pleased with the outcome, so I returned seven years later for another try. The park appeared a bit worn, in need of some care, and the sculpture's plaque had gone missing. Nevertheless, the ladies, with their fans and parasols, appeared resplendent at sunrise. Felicitaciones!
I grew up in Caracas, Venezuela during the sixties. Now, I am a multidisciplinary artist, painter, muralist and sculptress. I am a College level art instructor and recipient of Artist in Residence grants in Jacksonville, FL. I have participated several times in Jacksonville's Cultural Council Art in Public Programs, developing murals, banners and large art panels. I was pre-selected by the Police Athletic League with a proposal with large size colorful concrete pillows for their outdoor areas. I have designed and executed large mosaic murals for the Florida Museum of Natural History. I recently completed two commissions, a collection of paintings inspired on St. Augustine's female historic figures, and a series based on Floridian history. I completed three monumental sculptures for the St. Augustine Sculpture Garden in St. Augustine Beach, Florida.— Marianne Lerbs
Album: Light as a Feather (Label: Polydor)
Released 1973; recorded 1972.
Click on the image for a larger, hi-res version (on Flickr).
Close-up blossom: just one in a riot of orange jewelweed wildflowers blooming on a woodland trail.
Mason Mill Park: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 21 August 2025.
— North Carolina Cooperative Extension.Impatiens capensis — commonly known as jewelweed, orange jewelweed, touch-me-not — is an annual plant in the Balsaminaceae family, native to North America, growing in moist soil including forests, streambanks, and bogs.
Jewelweed is a herbaceous plant that grows 3 to 5 feet tall (0.9–1.5 m), branching extensively. The leaves are ovate, with shallow, rounded teeth on the margins. The plant blooms from late spring to early fall. The flowers are orange (sometimes yellow), ¾ to 1¼ inches long (2 to 3 cm), with a three-lobed corolla[collection of petals in a flower, sometimes in the form of a tube.]
The seed pods have five valves which coil back rapidly to eject the seeds in a process called explosive dehiscence, triggered by a light touch, hence the name 'touch-me-not.' Dew or rain beads on the leaves forming sparkling droplets that give rise to the common name of 'jewelweed.' "
— Wikipedia.
***************Charles Mingus: Orange Was the Color of Her Dress then Blue Silk-----more-----
Album: Revenge! The Legendary Paris Concerts (Label: Revenge. Released: 1996; recorded 1964)
Since 1997, Cask Marque has been ensuring that the cask ale you drink in pubs in the U.K. has been in perfect condition. Qualified ass...
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