YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN

As Ben Stein used to say. (Whatever happened to Ben?) We live in a small condominium development, 45 homes. Most are two townhouses in a building that resemble the style of our town, Webster Groves, one of St. Louis' oldest suburbs. Then there are six detached homes that are still condos, like ours. We were having our semi-annual block party on a gorgeous evening yesterday when this ice cream truck drove through. The driver did not know that were no children in the development save for one 5 year old and granddaughter Ellie a night or two a week. That's Chez Crowe in the right background.

ULTRAMATIC

 

This is the rear of the automobile seen in yesterday's post, identified as a Packard by a friend. The antique car license plate indicates 1949. Just what Ultramatic means was left to the imagination of the buyer. Marketing hooey has old roots.                   

THIS THING COULD KILL YOU

Big, elaborate hood ornaments used to be a thing. I remember that my family's first car, a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air (we lived in NYC and didn't use it every day), had one that looked like a chrome jet plane with twin vertical tails. I'm sorry that I didn't note what this car was, but you can imagine how it could eviscerate a pedestrian in an accident. Now the marques are all flat.                              

NEW NEIGHBORS

 

Some time back I posted a picture of a dove that had built a nest in the crook of a downspout from our porch. It sat there for so long that I wondered if the eggs were still viable. Fortunately, I was wrong. Two healthy chicks have now set up residence on top of a hanging swing chair on the other side of the porch. I assume that's mom supervising. Dad was on the porch rail just below keeping watch. They seem to feel safe here,                    

IT'S IN THE DETAILS

 

I don't have any special skill in photographing automobiles. but it seems to me that sometimes you can get more interesting images from the details rather than the whole. If you squint, you might see me in the red jacket reflected in the letter I.