It’s been a while since I broke the digital camera out of its carrying bag and took some just-for-fun pictures. On the Saturday of this past weekend, while doing laundry, I had a couple of reasons for inspiration.

First, every time Steffi and I wash clothes in Fidelity Court’s little laundromat, we’re confronted, upon entering the small room, with its collection of 4 washing machines, 3 dryers, an ornery Coke machine, and a sorting table, and on the right wall – the only one that’s unobstructed – hangs a bulletin board with two thumbtacked pieces of artwork. These are so incredibly odd and out-of-place that I had to get a good digital image of them. Here’s a picture of the approximately 2’ x 3’ colored-chalk paintings, and I’d bet there’s got to be a story or two in these images:

What gets me is that these are original pieces that have no signature on them. Equally mysterious is why these overtly religious artworks are even in the laundromat. (I really like the little blue guy getting struck on the shoulder by lightning and his - one can only assume - wife having to stabilizes him while he's subjected to God's wrath.) I have to say, the artist - professional or amateur - put a lot of character into these pieces, and everytime I go into the laundry room I'm mesmerized. I honestly don't think these pieces would have the same effect hanging on someone's living room wall or in a museum.

The weather that day was my second inspiration for taking some snapshots. I think the sky was the bluest and clearest (in terms of color) it’s been in over a week, and the cloud formations were spectacular. While our clothes were being cleaned in the Sanctified Wash Salon I went outside and took well over thirty pictures of blue and white. The following is my personal favorite of the bunch:

And this is a “photoshopped” version of the same photo that I’m currently using as my desktop wallpaper:

And, finally: