Pic(k) of the Week: Españolas morningtide

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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 populated city in the continental United States, founded by Spanish explorers in 1565. It is easy to envision female colonists, the Españolas, promenading on Sundays beneath their parasols, much like the scene captured by the sculptor. (The small city of St. Augustine Beach is of much more recent vintage, located just to the southeast.)

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About Marianne Lerbs

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

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Return to Forever: Spain

Album: Light as a Feather (Label: Polydor)
Released 1973; recorded 1972.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Jewelweed corolla

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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.

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.' "

— North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
— Wikipedia.

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Charles Mingus: Orange Was the Color of Her Dress then Blue Silk
Album: Revenge! The Legendary Paris Concerts (Label: Revenge. Released: 1996; recorded 1964)

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Pic(k) of the Week: River Oats on the Creek

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River oats in dappled morning light.

Cecilia Creek along the East Decatur Greenway: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 27 July 2025.

Chasmanthium latifolium — commonly known as river oats, inland sea oats, and wood oats — is a clump-forming, upright grass in the grass family (Poaceae), native to the central and eastern United States, growing in wooded areas and riparian zones.

River oats reach a height between 2 to 5 feet (⅔ - 1½ m) and a width of 1 to 2 feet (⅓ - ⅔ m). Their distinctive flat nodding seed heads resemble oats, emerging green in spring, turning tan in summer, and then purplish in fall. The bamboo-like leaves often turn yellow-gold in fall.

— North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
— Wikipedia.

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Nat King Cole: Nature Boy

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Pic(k) of the Week: Black-Eyed Susans on the PATH

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Native black-eyed Susan wildflowers bloom in a pollinator garden.

South Peachtree Creek Trail in Mason Mill Park: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 18 July 2025.

Rudbeckia hirta — commonly known as black-eyed Susan and yellow coneflower — is a flowering plant in the aster family (Asteraceae), native to eastern and central North America.

The plant grows to 3½ feet tall (1 m), blooming from late summer into early autumn. The flowers have daisy-like yellow heads, up to 4 inches in diameter (10 cm), with yellow ray florets circling a conspicuous brown or black dome-shaped cone, containing many small disc florets. The species epithet means 'hairy' and refers to short, stiff hairs on the leaves and stems. The genus name honors Olof Rudbeck, a 17th-century Swedish botanist.

— Wikipedia.

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Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine: Cheek to Cheek
Album: Sarah Vaughan and Billy Eckstine Sing the Best of Irving Berlin (Mercury, 1958)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Should I stay or should I go?

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What I really want to know,

Should I stay or should I go?

An American bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus) sits in a small, artificial pool fed by a natural spring. Decades ago, the pool was a source of water for dairy cows. Now, it's a haven for amphibians and waterfowl.

Seminary Wood in Decatur Legacy Park: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 13 June 2025.

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Sheila Jordan: Anthropology
Album: Lost and Found (Muse Records, 1990)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Woodland morning

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Softly camouflaged,

Morning in the woodland

Fending the summer beast.

Melton Park: DeKalb County, Georgia, USA. 23 June 2025.

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Thelonius Sphere Monk: Pannonica
Album: Thelonius Alone in San Francisco (Riverside, 1959)

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The return of Red Sky at Night

“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.
Red sky in morning, sailor take warning.”
— old sailing adage

Heavy Seas Brewing's Red Sky at Night Saison, served on draught (with a side scoop of hummus) at My Parents' Basement (a combination good-beer pub, graphic novel shop, and arcade game parler) in the City of Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA (some 570 miles south of the brewery).

22 July 2025.

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About Red Sky at Night

Heavy Seas is a thirty-year-old 'craft' brewery, founded in 1995 (née Clipper City Brewing) in Baltimore County, Maryland, USA. The Red Sky at Night appears to be a limited re-release for the brewery's anniversary. Here's the brewery's description of the beer in 2010, when it was an annual spring release:

Brewed in the style of Belgian farmhouse ales – using a unique Belgian yeast and authentic Belgian candi sugar. It is a potent and spicy ale with deep complexity. Pairs well with Thai cuisine and mussels.

• ABV: 7.5% [alcohol by volume]
• IBUs: 17.5 [international bittering units]
• Hops: French Strisselspalt
• Malts: Pale, 2-Row, Wheat Malt

My impression (now, in 2025):
The beer poured with a pleasantly hazy appearance, typical of the saison style. In flavor, there were hints of spice (such as anise), notes of candi sugar fusel alcohols, and a 'red delicious' apple character. Tasty!

My Parents' Basement mistakenly, but humorously, referred to the beer as Red Rum Sky at Night, mixing a cinematic horror allusion with a nautical aphorism (quoted above). To be fair, so had the beer-review app, Untappd.

About Saison

(pronounced: "say ZAWWN")

Beers in this category are gold to light amber in color. Often bottle-conditioned, with some yeast character and high carbonation. Belgian-style saison may have Brettanomyces or lactic character, and fruity, horsey, goaty, and/or leather-like aromas and flavors. Specialty ingredients, including spices, may contribute a unique and signature character. Commonly called 'farmhouse ales' and originating as summertime beers in Belgium, these are not just warm-weather treats. U.S. craft brewers brew them year-round and have taken to adding a variety of additional ingredients.

— CraftBeer
a website of the [U.S.] Brewers Association

A series of occasional reviews of beer (and wine and spirits).
No scores; only descriptions.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Like a caress

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Like a caress,

A woodland embrace.

Vernal fancy.

Seminary Wood in Decatur Legacy Park: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 25 April 2025.

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Dinah Washington: Crazy He Calls Me
Album: Dinah Jams (EmArcy, 1955)

"The difficult, I'll do right now. The impossible will take a little while."

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Pic(k) of the Week: Halfway Crooks' draught "Farina"

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"Farina": a delightfully delicate 'Kölsch-style' beer brewed by Halfway Crooks Brewery (in Atlanta, Georgia, USA).

Here, served on draught (in its own glassware!), at the Brick Store Pub in Decatur, Georgia, USA, on 24 May 2025.

"Farina" is a top-fermenting lager brewed with German pilsner malt, hops sourced directly from Seitzfarm in Bavaria, a classic Kölsch yeast, Atlanta water. Notes of white wine, pear, German pilsner malt, floral German hops, and a refreshing dry finish. 4.8% ABV [alcohol-by-volume]

— Halfway Crooks

Light herbal, earthy aromas. Mild bitterness, moderate spicy, earthy hop flavors, then some light white-grape acidity. Subdued soft fruit esters come out in the middle. Nicely balanced sweetness and bitterness.

— Craft Beer & Brewing

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What is Kölsch (-style beer)?

1) Kölsch has the pale color of a fine Pilsner but the fruitiness of a fine ale. It has an aromatic bitterness and noticeable hop character, is well-fermented [like an ale], but is lagered cold for 14-40 days. Kölsch is properly served in a tall, narrow, straight-sided 200-ml (6.8 US fl oz) glass about 5 inches (13 cm) tall, at 55 °F (13 °C), with a pale white collar about an inch deep.

Kölsch is defined by German law as top-warm-fermented and cold-aged, with an alcohol content of 4.4 to 4.9 percent by volume. Also by German law, the beer must be brewed from Pilsner and Vienna malts, but may also contain up to 20% wheat malt.

— Encyclopedia of Beer (1995). Christine Rhodes, Thomas Bedell, Fred Eckhardt, et al.

2) Since 1997, the term 'Kölsch' has had a protected geographical indication (PGI) within the European Union, indicating a beer that is made within 50 km (31 mi) of the city of Cologne (Köln) and brewed according to the Kölsch Konvention as defined by the members of the Cologne Brewery Association (Kölner Brauerei-Verband).

— Wikipedia.

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A series of occasional reviews of beer (and wine and spirits).
No 'scores'; only descriptions.

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Pic(k) of the Week: Pre-concert preparations

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Bassist Teja Veal prepares for Rhonda Thomas' Red Dragonfly concert.

Inman Park Festival: City of Atlanta (Inman Park), Georgia, USA. 26 April 2025.

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Rhonda Thomas at Inman Park Festival.

Soul/jazz vocalist Rhonda Thomas incorporates jazz, soul, gospel, house, and funk in her music. From 1997-2008, Ms. Thomas was a background singer and soloist for soul music legend, the late Isaac Hayes. She has also performed with Roy Ayers, Roberta Flack, Eric Roberson, Avery Sunshine, Frank McComb, Stephanie Mills, The String Cheese Incident, and others. She performs internationally, in her own right.

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Rhonda Thomas with Isaac Hayes: Do Your Thing.
Montreau Jazz Festival, 2005

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Pic(k) of the Week: Black Sheep brass

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Black Sheep Ensemble performed during the WigWag Art & Music Festival — "a hyperlocal art and music festival, celebrating local artists and musicians" — in Avondale Estates, Georgia, USA. 31 May 2025.

Black Sheep Ensemble is a modern brass and percussion band from Atlanta, Georgia. Our performances are rooted in Second Line traditions but with a repertoire that blends Prohibition-era Swing, Jazz, Balkan, Latin, Ska, Punk, and more into one danceable sound. We bring a crowd to its feet and keep them there. Low brass belts out the bass line while drums drive the rhythm.

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Black Sheep Ensemble: St. James Infirmary.
Clips of live performances, in 2020, in New Orleans, Atlanta, and Boston.

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Pic(k) of the Week: At Rest

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At rest: street tableau as a festival abounds.

Decatur Arts Festival: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 4 May 2025.

The Decatur Arts Festival brings the community together through a multi-day offering of live music, dance, comedy, theatrical performances, children's book festival, exhibitions, and an expansive and diverse artists’ market.

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Count Basie: Cute
Album: Basie Plays Hefti (Roulette, 1958)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Before the storm

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Swamp thing! A dead tree retains grandeur as a spring storm gathers.

Frog Bog in Legacy Park: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 3 May 2025.

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Leo Parker: Blue Leo
Album: Let Me Tell You 'Bout It (Blue Note, 1961)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Redbud in the field

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The vibrant yellow and green foliage of a native Rising Sun redbud tree, in spring.

Trailhead Community Park of the East Decatur Greenway: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 7 May 2025.

Cercis canadensis —commonly known as the eastern redbud tree— is a large deciduous shrub or small tree in the legume family (Fabaceae), native to eastern North America.

The Rising Sun™ cultivar —Cercis canadensis (JN2)— was discovered in a Belvidere, Tennessee nursery in 2006. Of unknown parentage, it had been planted from collected seed and was growing in a row of nursery seedlings. Unlike a 'standard' Eastern Redbud tree, the Rising Sun grows only 8 to 12 feet tall (2½ - 3½ m) but is drought and heat-tolerant.

Rising Sun's abundant pea-like, rosy pink flowers appear in early spring before the foliage. Its heart-shaped foliage emerges deep golden orange and matures through shades of orange, gold, and yellow to a speckled lime green. New leaves appear throughout the summer, resulting in a continual mix of colors. The fall foliage is yellow and orange.

— Missouri Botanical Garden.
— Wikipedia.

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Clifford Brown: Sandu
Album: Study in Brown (EmArcy Records, 1955)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Dwarf crested iris

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A native dwarf crested iris (Iris cristata) wildflower, blooming creekside.

Trailhead Community Park of the East Decatur Greenway in the City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 7 May 2025.

Iris cristata (also known as dwarf crested iris and crested iris) is a species in the genus Iris, and is part of the subgenus of Limniris (bearded iris). It is a rhizomatous perennial plant, endemic to the eastern United States. Purple blossoms arise on a stalk above the 4 to 8 inch tall leaves. There are 3 unmarked petals; the yellow, fluted crest is on each of three sepals. It is usually found in colonies of several to many plants, growing in chalky soil, in oak woodlands, on rocky hillsides, in ravines, and along streams.

— Wildflowers of the United States
— Wikipedia

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McCoy Tyner: Love Surrounds Us
Album: Uptown Downtown (Milestone, 1989)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Clarkston poppies

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Brilliant red poppies (Papaver rhoeas) bloom in an urban wildflower meadow planted along a CSX railroad track.

Stone Mountain Trail: City of Clarkston, Georgia, USA. 13 May 2025.

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Hank Mobley: This I Dig Of You
Album: Soul Station (Blue Note, 1960)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Sextuplet brood

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A mallard hen (Anas platyrhynchos) was swimming in a bog, right in front of me, just below the camera's angle. She noticed me and, not pleased, let out a stream of loud, agitated quacks. Her six ducklings, alerted to danger, quickly scattered for safety. I couldn't help but apologize to them all as I exited...but not before capturing a photo!

Frog Bog in Legacy Park: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 24 April 2025.

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Maurice Ravel: String Quartet (II. Assez vif – très rythmé)
Musicians: Auryn Quartet
Album: French String Quartets (Tacet 2003; Naxos 2020)

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Pic(k) of the Week: 3-2-1 Sketch!

Pens down! In a 'sketch-off,' participants had only a short time to draw a portrait of the person sitting across from them.

Atlanta Dogwood Festival in Piedmont Park: Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 13 April 2025.

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Sheila Jordan: You Are My Sushine
Album (George Russell): The Outer View (Riverside, 1962)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Five Points ceiling

Ceiling over subterranean rail station.

Five Points MARTA: Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 13 April 2025.

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John Coltrane: Giant Steps
Album: Giant Steps (Atlantic Records, 1960)

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Pic(k) of the Week: Tree over beaver dam

The residents of a beaver lodge have been busy building a dam on Cecilia Creek.

Seminary Wood in Legacy Park: City of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 15 March 2025.

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Reuben Brown: All My Tomorrows
Album: Blue and Brown (SteepleChase, 1998)

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