Final stop

Terrestrial Horizon by Chris Plaisted 

This was the last of the sculptures in our hunt for the Temporary Sculpture exhibit in Wake Forest.  I deepened the shadows in this picture to show the depths and lines of the work.

Open heart

Low Poly Open Heart, REDE by Matthew Duffy

Continuing our sculpture scavenger hunt, we found this one in front of the Renaissance Centre in Wake Forest.

Sculpture scavenger hunt

Sun and Earth Feather by Kirk Seese.

This entry in the Temporary Sculpture Exhibit was by the playground at a soccer field.  I wasn't sure if it was the sculpture I was looking for until I found the companion piece a few miles away on a street corner.

Moon and Sky Feather by Kirk Seese.

Sculpture exhibit

We went on a hunt to find the sculptures featured in the Wake Forest Temporary Sculpture Exhibit.  The sculptures are placed around town, so we gathered the addresses, and went to look.

This one is Orpheus, by Charles Pitney.  We found it in a wooded park.

The music notes at the base must have spilled from Orpheus's lyre.

Mural

A detail from a mural on the side of the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre by Taylor White. (here) 

The whole mural is immense and beautiful, but I like the hands the best.

Happy birthday, two year old

The Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral was dedicated July 26, 2017.  

It's an impressive building, sitting on the grounds of the old Catholic Orphanage.

Happy Birthday to the new Cathedral.

If Mother Nature Could Dance

It looks like a mural, but it is a cling.  The painting is printed onto a plastic sheet that is then placed on the wall for temporary display.

It is part of Spotlight on Wake Forest Artists exhibit. This one is on the wall of the Renaissance Centre.

We were lucky to find the artist, Maureen Seltzer, there checking out her work.

She talked with us about how she did the work.  It's  actually a collage, with real leaves, printed pages, and music sheets.

 Her website has a video showing her technique, it's fascinating.

(See here)

Octo-car

Is this what happens when you park your car too close to the beach?  

My 5 year old granddaughter already thinks the beach is dangerous (even though or maybe because she's never been there).  Her friends at daycare have told her all about sharks and jellyfish.  I won't show her this picture...

Mellow

The Mellow Mushroom, Durham, NC

It's not what you think.  It's a Pizza restaurant.

Lunch time

Even though these young cardinals look big enough to feed themselves, Daddy Cardinal was still at work.

Dirt Bath

I was wondering why my flower boxes look like they've been dug up.

I was blaming a hungry bird looking for worms.

Then we caught this squirrel rolling in the damp dirt.

On a hot day, even I might want to roll in cool dirt.

He finished with that one.

And checked out the next flower box.

Moon landing anniversary

Anyone who was over the age of 5 in 1969 could probably tell you exactly where they were when they heard the news that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had landed.  It's strange to look up and think that there are footprints on the moon.

One last water bird

This Black Skimmer (here) would fly down the canals in Hatteras skimming across the water to catch small fish at the surface.  It's hard to see from this picture, but he has a lower bill bigger than his upper bill to give him a better scoop.

The Canals are alive

Great Egret

During a recent trip to Hatteras Island we were amazed at the number of wading birds in the sound.

Green Heron

Tricolored Heron

And hidden in the grasses, Egret meets Heron.

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (here) sits at the mouth of the Scuppernog river as it feeds into the Albemarle Sound.  It's an eerily beautiful spot, site of the reintroduction of the Red Wolf.  The Red Wolf is listed as "critically endangered", only 40 live in the wild, with 200 in captive breeding. (here)

One problem with the Red Wolf is that it looks similar to a Coyote and can be mistaken for one at night.  For that reason, North Carolina has banned night hunting for Coyotes in the counties where the Red Wolf still roams.  A bill to allow night hunting was introduced in 2017 but has not been passed. (here) Whew!

Night Baseball

Last Friday was fireworks night at the Durham Bulls baseball game.  
The sky put on its own show during the game.

Downtown Raleigh from a distance

Raleigh has only a few big buildings, the PNC building is the tallest.

The skyline from Dorothea Dix Park.

Dorothea Dix Park

Practicing his disc game, at Dorothea Dix park.

Dorothea Dix Park is the largest park in the City of  Raleigh.  

The park has been the site of a plantation, an insane asylum ( see the history here)  and now is planned to be a destination park, with an outdoor concert venue, a fishing pond, a "hang out lawn", a water playground, dog park, "Hammock glade", and possibly a boutique hotel, food court and brewery...Something for everyone!

More sunflowers

OK, I couldn't resist posting a few more sunflower pictures.  

A Common Buckeye butterfly ( here) comes in to visit a flower.

It didn't stay long.

I'll follow the sun

It's sunflower time at Dorothea Dix park.  Every year the City of Raleigh plants a field of sunflowers.

People come to enjoy the flowers,

Take selfies

And enjoy the view

When the show is done, the city harvests the flowers and turns them into biofuel for city vehicles.

Sunset again

It's hard to resist taking sunset pictures.  

Weather Bureau Station

The Hatteras Weather Bureau Station is a beautifully restored building housing the Hatteras Welcome center.  ( see here). At one time it housed the scientific equipment used to monitor the weather as well as the people who manned the station.

It's easy to forget that before satellites, someone had to go out on the catwalk to check the weather.

Friends

These two friends were out in the daylight.  One had a hurt back leg.  I think the other one was keeping it company.

Hatteras Island, NC

Coffee break

Mr. Frog sits in front of the Okracoke Coffee Co.  

He's a great advertisement.