Wordless Wednesday - Doors to Ballet Rehearsal Facility

Rehearsal facility for the Tulsa Ballet.  The building reflected in the doors of the ballet facility is the Brookside Branch Library whose doors were featured a few weeks ago.

Ruby Tuesday - Behemoth

Behemoth (definition) - Something abnormally large and powerful, e.g. the Hummer.
Originally built as a rugged all terrain vehicle for the US military, it enjoyed a macho reputation after the Desert Storm exercise in the early 1990s.  As a rugged military vehicle it did a good job.  Called "Humvees", they were originally built by AM General Corporation, which was formerly AMC-Jeep's General Products division. 


The macho image of a Hummer has a certain appeal to the status conscious driver with plenty of money to spend.  In 1992, AM General began selling a civilian version to the public under the brand name "Hummer". In 1998, AM General sold the brand name to General Motors, but continued to manufacture the vehicles. GM was responsible for the marketing and distribution of all Hummers produced by AM General.  Shortly thereafter, GM introduced two new homegrown models, the H2 and H3, and renamed the original vehicle H1.  


The Hummer had its day in the sun but by 2009 the practical limitations of its size, safety, and fuel economy outweighed its allure as a muscle car.  There were numerous attempts to find a buyer for Hummer but it was not able to survive the bankruptcy of General Motors, and by early 2010 it passed into history.  Wikipedia has a a good article on the Hummer if you are interested.

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Macro Monday - Carpenter Bee

Another photo from the Contigny Gardens in Wheaten Illinois.  I feasted on photo opportunities while we were up there last week.  


I originally posted this as a Bumble Bee but after some online research will have to correct myself.  Carpenter Bees are quite large and resemble Bumble Bees but have a shiny black abdomen  where Bumble Bees are covered in black and yellow hair.  While I realize that very few readers will give a flip what sort of bee this is, I like to be accurate where I can.  Thank you for your patience.


Several of you asked what sort of macro lens I used for some of these photos. The camera I use is a Canon SX20 IS. While not an SLR, it has a 20X zoom lens which is the 35mm equivalent of 28-560mm and a resolution of 12.1 Megapixels. This gives me the capability of an SLR with multiple lenses at a cost under $400.


As some of you already know I am mobility challenged and take most of my photographs either from my automobile or from a power wheelchair.  The Canon 20X allows me to shoot what looks like closeups from distances of 10 feet or more.  This bumblebee shot was taken from my power chair at a distance of about 3 feet simply by zooming in on it.  If I need to be closer there is a macro setting that will allow me to really get close.  However, feeding insects will not generally hold still for that sort of business.


The zoom lets me get pretty close and the 12 Megapixel resolution will let me get by with a certain amount of cropping to get in even closer to the center of interest.  Once the images are on my PC I use Paint.net for cropping and adjusting the exposure and color saturation.  A hard core photographer might use Photoshop but Paint.net is free.  Need I say more?

Sunday Jigsaw Puzzle - Contigny Gardens

I really love this place.

Weekend Reflections - Cantigny Center

The Visitor's Center at the Cantigny Gardens has a glass floor.  Beneath the glass is a scale model of the garden.

The whole of Cantigny park covers 500 acres.  Besides the botanical gardens there is a military museum, picnic and camping areas, and a golf course and restaurant.  This is all laid out to scale beneath the glass floor.  I'm sure the floor is capable of supporting a good deal of weight, however, I skirted the edges just to be safe.

The park includes a veterans memorial and military museum with vintage tanks and canons.   In the gift shop Willy found a toy rifle and helmet that he could not live without.  He struck appropriate poses and asked for pictures.  Willy makes a good soldier.

We saw a lot this week but if I were to name a favorite thing it would be this park.  Perhaps the most surprising thing about it is that the admission was only $5.00 per car for parking.  Quite a bargain.  Thank you Mr. McCormick.  The park is just outside of Chicago in Wheaton, Illinois.  To read about this fine park look HERE.

Skywatch Friday - St Louis Arch

The Gateway Arch, also known as the Gateway to the West.
Last weekend on our way home from Chicago we enjoyed this view of St. Louis, Missouri and the Arch as we crossed the Mississippi River from East St. Louis, Illinois.

The Gateway Arch was built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States, and has become the iconic image of the city of St. Louis. It was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel in 1947. It is 630 feet (192 m) wide at its base and stands 630 feet (192 m) tall, making it the tallest monument in the United States, Construction started on February 12, 1963, and ended on October 28, 1965. The monument opened to the public on July 10, 1967.  The interior is hollow with trams on either side to take visitors to an observation area at the top.  As usual, Wikipedia has an excellent article on the Gateway Arch with good photos of the interior and the view from the top.

Theme Thursday - The Color Brown: Waxaklahun

Stone monument celebrating Waxaklahun Ubah K'awil, 13th ruler of Maya city of Copan, circa 695 CE.  From the Ancient Americas exhibit, Field Museum, Chicago.  The exhibit fascinated me because I had no idea that the early civilizations of North and South America were so complex and advanced.  Now I plan to read more about these early civilizations.  If you are interested in an example see HERE.

Wordless Wednesday - As the World Turns

At the Morton Arboretum is a large stone globe of the earth that rests on a column of water which lifts it just enough so that it can be made to rotate.  These youngsters are debating which direction it should turn.

Ruby Tuesday - Trumpet Vine

The common Trumpet Vine thrives in rough conditions.  It makes a hardy plant for a fence, a wall, or an arbor.  But it can grow too rank and be difficult to control.  Even a rose can be a weed if it grows in a corn field.

Macro Monday - Tiger Swallowtail

The Tiger Swallowtail.is one of the most beautiful butterflies to be found in the United States.  This is a male.  The female would show a band of blue between the black margin and the main yellow area of the lower wing.

Sue and I arrived back in Tulsa about 6:00 this evening and deposited Molly and Will back with Sue's daughter and son-in-law.  We were all pleased to be home and back to familiar beds.  We had a very nice week.  Sue was surrounded by six of her grandchildren and I was able to take an embarrassing number of excellent photographs which I will be happy to share with you as the days go by

CDPB Theme - Bright Colors: Japanese Beetle

The first day of each month there is a theme for all City Daily Photo Blogs.  Tulsa Gentleman is a City Daily Photo Blog for Tulsa, Oklahoma.  The theme for August is "Bright Colors".  This little Japanese Beetle is munching on a yellow marigold.  A light sprinkle of rain left little drops of water to reflect the colors.  He may be a pest but at least he dresses well..

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Weekend Reflections - Cantigny Gardens

We toured the beautiful Cantigny Gardens at the McCormick Mansion and museum.  I have never seen such beautiful gardens anywhere,  I took so many photos I would be embarrassed to tell you how many.  The problem is that they are all worthy of being posted.  But I will spare you that.  Here are a couple for today and I will dribble the rest out slowly so as not to choke you.  I say again that they were a feast for the eyes, ears, nose, and touch.  I did not taste any although many were edible.  More later.  Enjoy the reflection of the water lilies, and a quick sample of only one of the lovely formal areas.

This beautiful circular garden is composed entirely of yellow Marigolds and large violet Zinnias .and is enclosed by a privet hedge.  This panorama view opens the near side so that it's circular shape is not obvious.  Simple but quite elegant the whole is a magnet for butterflies, bees and beetles.  I will show proof of that soon enough.
  -->Click on the image to see it full size<--

Skywatch Friday - Sky over Field Museum, Chicago

Next door to the Shedd Aquarium is the Field Museum of Natural History.  It was founded with a grant from Marshall Field who made his fortune in the department store business.

Entrance to the Fields Museum

With a gift shop that runs as far as the eye can see.

Theme Thursday - Light: Over the Waters

Light from above the tank illuminates the fish in the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

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Family Swim Fun

We are staying at a nice Comfort Inn that has a small indoor swimming pool.
This evening Mark brought his girls over for a swim.  Sue enjoyed having 6 of her 8 grand children with her.
 From L to R are:  Moria, Fiona, Niamh, Mark, Susan, Calista, Molly, and Will.

Don't miss Willy's special dive.

Wordless Wednesday - Shedd Aquarium, Chicago

The beautiful Shedd Aquarium left us wordless.

Ruby Tuesday - The Morton Arboretum, Chicago

On Saturday and Sunday of this week we drove from Tulsa to Chicago with an overnight stop in St Louis.  We are visiting Susan's son Mark and his wife Elena, and their four little girls.  We brought her daughter Jennifer's two children Molly and Will so we have full compliment of grand children.  Today we all visited the Morton Arboretum.  This vast complex covers 1,700 acres in two adjoining sections.  We were there for about 4 hours and barely made a dent.  I will try to share a few photos in the days ahead.  Currently a group of 14 nature-inspired steelroot sculptures by artist Steve Tobin are on display throughout the grounds.

Of course the main attraction for Susan was her grandchildren.  We will enjoy them all week and drive back to Tulsa next weekend.

Susan Cuddles the baby Niamh

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Will and Molly, Moira, Calista, and Fiona.

Macro Monday - Meadow Butterfly on Lantana

This is a Skipper on a yellow Lantana.  I can't tell which variety of skipper because I am looking at the wings edgewise, but it is one of them.

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Weekend Reflections & Puzzle - A World of Reflection

The mirrored glass in the Commercial Plaza Building frames a view of the sky behind me.

Black & White Weekend - Garden Center Conservatory

Located directly behind the Tulsa Garden Center on South Peoria is a lovely Victorian conservatory housing exotic tropical plants and orchids.