Mary Louise Eklund

Category: Travel

  • Excuse Me, Can You Repeat That?

    Internet Archive of book images page 162 from Flickr 12May16
    Image from page 162 of “Boll weevil suppression, management, and elimination technology : proceedings of a conference, February 13-15, 1974, Memphis, Tennessee” (1976) provided by Internet Archive Book Images on Flickr via The Commons. The image has no known copyright restrictions.

    Okay I’m a true GRITS (Girls Raised In The South) but apparently I’ve lost my ear for Southern accents.  (Oh and yes plural they are varied from the mountain twang to the Lowlands drawl to the Louisiana who has at least 10 of their own).   (more…)

  • Friday Findings – St. Patrick’s Day in Charleston, SC

    Cat crossing in Charleston SC by JR P who graciously shared it under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license. Click on the photo to go view her photos stream.
    Cat crossing in Charleston SC by JR P who graciously shared it under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license. Click on the photo to go view her photos stream.

     

    As I write this in February we’ve had a very mild winter by Wisconsin standards.  Right now it’s rain and sleet mix out there, or sludging making an Icee like slurry on the ground that’s salt and petrol flavored I’d be guessing.  For February in Wisconsin, that’s practically Spring-like.  However I shall always judge the season by Charleston’s St. Patty’s day.  Here’s why I think that’s the best weather ever. (more…)

  • Friday Findings – Travel

    Flying into New Orleans
    Flying into New Orleans

    This is the temporary suspension of Fictional Fridays for now. I’m not ready to share what I’m working on right now with anyone. So instead Fridays for this month will be about my travels on my cruise recently. Then in April, I’ll highlight a few true but strange tales from the world that intrigue me. Then when we get to May I’ll decide if I’m ready to dig about in old writing for Fictional Friday return or move on to something else. (more…)

  • Wildcard Wednesday – Orlando in October

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    Mike and Mom in front of the big Orange gift shop. Mom got oranges to take to friends and we shopped.

    In October Mike and I took my parents to our condo in Orlando. We flew to Knoxville, rented a van, picked up my folks and hit the road. We made it just about half way the first night then on to Orlando. It was a calm week there seeing the sights. Dad mostly chilled in the apartment. Mom got out to see things. Below are photos of our trip where we ate our way through Orlando.

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  • Wildcard Wednesday – Alice The Corpse Flower

    Oops! That's not Alice the corpse flower but Molly the dog.
    Oops! That’s not Alice the corpse flower but Molly the dog.

    Okay back in the Fall Alice the corpse flower at the Chicago Botanical Gardens bloomed. Mike and I went to see her when we had a weekend free. Sadly I have lost the photos of her. Also sadly when we got there she was going to seed and the stink was gone. I offer pictures I did find of Alice’s neighbors. Do enjoy after the cut –

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  • Wednesday Wildcard – My Collection of Ugly Carpet Pictures

    IMG_20151017_200956

    It all started when I was bored at a conference and noticed the hotel meeting room had horrid carpet. You’d never pick to go anywhere. I made a photo silently with my phone and e-mailed it to a friend in Britain that has as warped a sense of humor as I do. Well that started what has become a years long tradition of making a photo album of the ugliest carpets I encounter. Most have been convention centers and hotels. This one was a hotel in Georgia’s hallway. Lovely, eh, rushing out to Lowes to get it installed aren’t you.  I won’t shock your senses with more but do know I think with the last decade of collecting I am becoming an ugly public carpet connoisseur.

  • Wednesday Wildcard – Boogie On Down

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    I’ll be the first to admit that the older I get the more I dislike big crowds. I’ve never liked being packed like a sardine but now it’s more than that. So I avoid things that look to be too crowded. Also I don’t like loud. Yes I’m too old and it’s too loud. Don’t care, looking forward to those Senior Citizen discounts rolling in quietly.

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  • Wednesday Wildcard – Introduction

    Williamsburg VA Jul 2013 (227)

    Another month another day to cover with a theme, finally I wanted an open day.  Tuesdays have become about reviews of books, movies, TV shows, and the like.   So Wednesday is wide open, anything goes today whatever hits me.  It may be something I did sometime ago.  It might just be an idea that natters at my mind.  Heck it could be a rant on or praise of something I feel worthy.  It could just be a photo post, like today.  A photo I made or found (with the right licensing) that I like.  It’s a wait and see game for us both.  Sit back and enjoy whatever comes at you on Wednesdays and let’s both hope it helps us get over the hump toward Friday.

    Today is a photo I made in Williamsburg, Virginia July 14, 2013.

  • Murals of Kenosha, Wisconsin

    DeBerge's Framing and Gallery
    DeBerge’s Framing and Gallery

    It doesn’t take long driving around Kenosha that I noticed all the custom murals. On Labor Day in the heat of the day we took out the Mustang seeking murals for me to photograph. So enjoy the scenery on that warm day (in the upper 80sF). (more…)

  • Harbor Market Ever Saturday In September

    This September our booth is in front of the fountain on 2nd Avenue every Saturday
    This September our booth is in front of the fountain on 2nd Avenue every Saturday

    It’s that time again. September starts the craft shows for my friend Paula and me. We kick it off with an Inventory Clearance Sale of the previous years’s things in Kenosha’s Harbor Market Every Saturday in September. Last Saturday was our first one this year and it went well. This is the first year that we have taken credit cards for purchases of $25 or more. (more…)