Orchid display, Atlanta Botanical Garden

They are among the most beautiful, most ornate, most extravagant, most delicate of all flowers.  And the Atlanta Botanical Garden is featuring orchids for the next two months.  Many of them are permanent denizens of the glass houses that create habitats similar to their native homes.  There are also displays of potted orchids arranged for maximum effect.

The newest member of my plant family - a moth orchid

We are all familiar with the various moth orchids for sale in supermarkets.  They are among the easiest for the average person to take care of.  With bright but indirect light, and moist soil, they will bloom every year, and the blooms last for months.

Midtown buildings from the garden

But there are thousands of varieties of orchids in the world, and they range from tiny, easily overlooked natives to showy, extravagant cultivated varieties.  Maine has the famed pink Lady’s Slipper which blooms in May.  Children are admonished to never pick them, and gardeners to never transplant them, for such efforts usually fail.

Orange-colored slipper

One book orchid lovers might want is Wild Orchids of North America, North of Mexico by Paul Martin Brown.

pink slippers

Vanilla beans are actually the seed pods of a genus of orchid!  I never knew that.

Delicate yellow orchid spray

Enjoy these photographs of orchids at the Atlanta Botanical Garden.

Website:  www.CindyMcIntyre.com

Gallery:  www.photoartgal.smugmug.com

Valentine Rock

Actually, it’s a rainy morning, too.  Sundays here are always laid back.  People go to church in large numbers in the South, and there are many large and small houses of worship within several blocks of my house.  Things pick up by lunchtime.  Or brunch time.  I understand Atlanta is known for extravagant brunches, particularly the buffet-style affairs, usually involving mimosas – orange juice with champagne. 

Thanks to a very generous Christmas gift from my son, I had a front-row seat at Cavalia’s Odysseo performance last month (69 horses, costumed performers, so absolutely stunning).  I got there early and discovered via Android that I was a few yards from a place that served breakfast.  I wouldn’t have expected Marlowe’s Tavern to “do” breakfast, but it had some good reviews so I went in.  It was pretty crowded with hip young folk — college students, and the type we used to call yuppies.  I took a seat at the bar and took one look at the brunch buffet and went for it.  Salmon pasta, corn grits, hush puppies, omelets made to order, gourmet bacon and sausage, fruits, pastries and so on.   All you can eat – $16.99.  I think I had popcorn for dinner that night, it was so filling.

One of the Cavalia horses

I’ve also discovered things like GroupOn, Living Social, and ScoutMob since I’ve been here.  I was editing photographs as the dawn rose, listening to the robins and cardinals and mockingbirds sing despite the drizzle.  A ScoutMob coupon appeared in my email for La Mongerie Bakery and Bistro, which is on the way to Trader Joe’s (grocery day).  Goody – my first ScoutMob!

It was 8:30, maybe 9 a.m. and I had the place to myself.  (I told you, Atlanta wakes up slowly on Sundays.)  And what a lovely place it was – all white décor, chandeliers, pretty chairs, friendly staff.  Sweet acoustic folkie music (well, I don’t know what else to call it – maybe it’s light pop, I dunno) set a mood as I read my book.  It was time to try chicken and waffles.

Now, I grew up in the South, but had never heard of this combination until I came to Atlanta.  Apparently it’s considered “soul food”.  Two chicken breasts were fried and served with four nice sections of Belgian Waffles, topped with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.  Absolutely delicious!  Who’d a thunk it? It was starting to get busy by 10, so I slid my bookmark between the pages and paid my discounted price (almost forgot the tip.)

Then shopping at Trader Joe’s – where I also bought a small pale green moth orchid.  I’ve resisted buying plants since I left Maine, now that I’m a gypsy.  I had so many houseplants in Maine – including a lovely moth orchid that bloomed every year and kept the blossoms for five months each time.  They were all given away when I left, along with my kitties and banty hens.  (Sigh.)  But I now have four houseplants, so I guess that means I’m feeling more (ahem!) rooted.

It was such a lovely way to spend a rainy morning in Georgia.

Deciduous Magnolia in February bloom

Moonrise over the Window, Chisos Mountains

I decided to do something different and go retro – back to black-and-white.  These are a few of my favorite BW images of Big Bend National Park in far west Texas.  I worked and lived in Big Bend for two winters, and it is truly a special place.    Of course, these are all digital images.

Century Plants in the Spotlight

Grapevine Hills spires at sunset

Lost Mine Trail in fog

Grapevine Hills road yucca

El Pico from Persimmon Gap road

Sierra del Carmen range and fall cottonwoods

Road to Rio Grande Village

Pinyon Pine and the Window

All images copyrighted by Cindy McIntyre

My website:  CindyMcIntyre.com

To see full sized images on this blog:  Go to Big Bend Gallery

Azalea in Fog

I have a nice set of Louisiana fog images that deserved their own post.  Growing up in Louisiana, I don’t remember as much beauty as I have experienced as an adult visitor.  March and April are indeed the prettiest months, and the most comfortable.  See for yourself… 

Gazebo and yellow mustard

Swing and yellow mustard

Wisteria bloom and dewdrops

Oak Alley Plantation in fog

Oak Alley not in fog, for comparison

Oak Alley grounds

Peacock hen and Oak Alley

Bench and live oaks, Oak Alley

Oak Alley 2004

All photographs copyrighted by Cindy McIntyre

My website- CindyMcIntyre.com

My gallery site

Evergreen Plantation, oak-shrouded lane

I have a stack of paper scraps with hastily scrawled notes, meant to help identify photographs.  Some of these notes are 24 years old!  Being home with a cold is a good time to sift through these memories, and to present vignettes of a state at its most beautiful in spring. 

Morgan City shrimp for sale

Most of these scraps are undated.  “Shreveport Loozhiana – that’s how it sounded when he said it over the radio… Falstaff beer sign, broken and faded… Jax beer… Dixie beer… “ 

Frostop Root Beer, LaPlace- I grew up seeing this on Airline Hwy

“Live tiger exhibit, Grosse Tete…  LA Mud Paintings attraction closed… “  Men working on the side of the road in black-and-white prison stripes.  Prisoners in Mississippi wore green-and-white.

Cars pulled over on the shoulder of Airline Highway, with people crawdadding or catfishing…  Kingfishers on utility lines… signs posted on trees in the bayou… what happened to the old Snake Farm in LaPlace?

Lantana on the beach, Grand Isle

The smell of sugar cane burning in the fall…  dead possums on the road… shredded tires look like dead armadillos… houses with Snowball signs… hot boudain in the stores… “Service is our Profession” on police cars in LaPlace where I grew up…

Lake Martin, cypress trees early spring

River Road industries:  Colonial Sugar (I remember Godchaux Sugar, making the air smell like Cracker Jacks)…  LaRoche Chemicals (Gramercy) with red dust over everything… Nalco-Garyville Plant… Marathon Petroleum… Cargill, Inc. Molasses Div… Godchaux-Henderson sign all faded

Oak Alley Plantation porch, Vacherie

Just a smattering of faded memories.  The photographs last longer.

Morgan City pier

Morgan City lighthouse and bridge

Bow of Shrimp Boat, Morgan City

Grand Isle shrimp boat (pre-Katrina)

Old cemetery, River Road

Above-ground burials are common in a land with a high water table

Ghosts...

All photographs are copyrighted by Cindy McIntyre.  Taken 2004 – 2006.

www.CindyMcIntyre - my Website

My Image  Gallery

This view of Atlanta’s downtown is a few blocks from my apartment.  I expected more ribbons of light during morning rush hour.  

By dawn’s early light…

SunTrust building on right

191 Peachtree Tower and Westin Hotel

Sunset from Stone Mountain – showing downtown and midtown Atlanta.  Pretty, huh?

I have only gotten glimpses of red-headed woodpeckers in Micanopy, Florida and Manhattan, Kansas. Now I have a chance to feast my eyes on these colorful birds here in Atlanta.  The bare oaks in Grant Park make it easy to find them poking the bark for grubs.

Males and females look alike, unlike other Eastern woodpecker species whose females are a little less colorful.

Because I do not have a true wildlife telephoto lens, I need to crop these severely.  They won’t make 8×10 prints, but they aren’t too bad on the internet.

Photographed with Nikon D-80, 55-200mm zoom lens.

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I haven’t been birding since I arrived in Atlanta two months ago.  I’ve seen (and heard singing) Carolina wrens, American robins, song sparrows, and a fleeting hawk in my neighborhood, along with juncos, house sparrows and pigeons.  So I made a sightseeing trip north along Peachtree Street, aiming for the Chattahoochee River.

First stop, Starbucks to use a gift card, then Barnes and Noble to check out picture books on Atlanta (nothing very artsy – perhaps a future project?), and to familiarize myself with the area.  Finally I arrived at one of the riverside parks run by the city of Roswell, GA.   I had plans to visit the High Museum of Art during their “Pay as you wish” day in honor of MLK’s birthday.  I wanted to be there around noon, so I didn’t make it all the way to the Chattahoochee Nature Center.  But I did have a nice flurry of birds once a Carolina wren took exception to my proximity to its foraging place under an upturned canoe on shore, and created such a ruckus that other birds came to check it out.

My favorite sighting  was the brown-headed nuthatch.  At first I couldn’t identify the calls, since they are nothing like the toy horn noises of the red-breasted and white-breasted nuthatches I know from living in Maine.  Then one posed right in front of me, and it was the best image of the day.

Carolina Wren

I opted out of the High Museum once I saw the looooonnnngggg line (an hour wait) and went to the nearby Tap pub for lunch – a lump crab cake with fried egg and bernaise sauce.  It was the best, very very best, crab cake I’ve ever had.  First of all, it was full of actual crab meat instead of bread crumbs.  Second, it wasn’t Maryland crab which has a metallic taste, but probably Southern crab, which is sweet.  And it was spiced wonderfully.

I went to check out the museum line and it was longer than before.  Many families took advantage of the chance to see the Picasso-Warhol exhibit from the Museum of Modern Art without dropping a $100 bill, so I decided $18 wasn’t such a bad deal on another day when the museum wouldn’t be crowded and there would be no wait.   I saw nicely dressed folk going into the adjacent Alliance Theatre and followed.  I was just in time to see the play God of Carnage, a Tony-award winning play starring four actors, most of whom have had parts in movies and TV.  It was about two families trying to come to terms with their sons’ playground fight – both funny and pathetic.

Then after walking around Midtown taking pictures, I had dinner at the Landmark Diner in Buckhead – which is decked out in shiny aluminum and neon in the style of old.  The mahi-mahi special was surprisingly excellent, with a citrus sauce delicate enough to complement the fish without overpowering it.  Fresh squash, homemade mashed potatoes, an appetizer (fried artichoke hearts) and dessert (huge tiramisu cake with lady fingers) – all for $15.99.  And enough left for dinner the next day.

The photograph will need to wait til an early morning when there aren’t tons of cars parked in front.  Reminds me of photographing Moody’s Diner in Waldoboro, Maine – aiming for the slow hours to avoid the parked cars.

I’ll end this post with two more bird pix.

American Goldfinch, winter plumage

I had many goldfinches at my feeders in Maine – year-round.  I also had a pair of eastern bluebirds that nested in my bird box, and several pair of cardinals in the neighborhood.  Below is one of each – male bluebie and female cardinal.

Photos taken with Nikon D-80 and zoom lens

All images copyrighted by Cindy McIntyre

See other bird photographs in my Smugmug gallery

It only took a few blocks before I left the relative safety of my street of restored historic homes and wondered about the wisdom of continuing these few blocks to downtown. Clusters of idle men on one corner… a man hauling buckets of water to wash a car (his?)… another talking to himself.  You get the picture.  And I wanted mine.  Since I was using a tripod, perhaps they didn’t suspect I was some kind of narc.  A few wished me a Happy New Year.  I wished them back.

The Oldest Black Shop in Atlanta

The Silver Moon Barber Shop calls itself The Oldest Black Shop in Atlanta.  Auburn Avenue was known in its heyday as “Sweet Auburn” – term coined by John Wesley Dobbs because it was the anchor of a very strong and viable black community during the Jim Crow segregation era.

Fortune magazine in 1956 called Auburn Avenue “the richest Negro street in the world.”

1912 Oddfellows Block with Wok N Roll Chinese Take-Out

The Odd Fellows block was the “largest and most costly Negro block in America” when it was built in 1912, according to the black-owned Atlanta Independent. The Atlanta Chapter of the Grand United Order Odd Fellows had six lodge rooms in the building, several stores, and 42 offices. The Yates and Milton Drugstore was a favorite after-church stop for young Martin Luther King, Jr. and his brother and sister in the 1930s.  It also had an auditorium for concerts and theatre productions, seating 1300.

Atlanta Life Insurance – 1905

The above was an accident, but since the “fad” these days is to do portraits and weddings askew (as a substitute for true creativity) I thought it was appropriate for this decrepit building.  I do love urban ruins, from an artistic point of view.  This company was founded by Alonzo F. Herndon, a former slave and barber who became one of the richest black man in America. The new Atlanta Life Insurance building is nearby.

Billiards on Auburn Avenue

The great thing about Nightscapes is that artificial light transforms an otherwise drab landscape.

Wheat Street Baptist Church

There are several black churches within a few blocks of each other in the Sweet Auburn community.  They were not only spiritual havens, but hotbeds of social change.  Ministers, led by the Rev. Adam Daniel Williams of Ebenezer Baptist Church, organized a silent boycott of the racist Atlanta Georgian newspaper, which was writing inflammatory articles about Atlanta’s blacks. Because outright protest had severe repercussions for “uppity” blacks, the congregations were urged to stop patronizing advertisers, and when they finally noticed, the newspaper folded.  Rev. Williams was the maternal grandfather of Martin Luther King, Jr.  So we see he already had examples of social activism within his own family before he was called to lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 – a role that propelled him into national prominence and began the Modern Civil Rights Movement.

Big Bethel African American Episcopal

Big Bethel AME founded Morris Brown College, which operated first in its basement.  Wheat Street Baptist founded the YMCA, which moved and became the Butler Street YMCA.

John Wesley Dobbs statue

Haugabrooks Funeral Home

Supreme Fish Delight – takeout only.  Great catfish.  Not so good tartar sauce, cole slaw, or fried okra.

Thelma’s Rib Shack

Streetcar Named…..?

A new, modern streetcar will begin operation in 2013 along Auburn Ave. from Jackson St. to downtown.  Sidewalks are marked up for “utility relocation.”

So finally I made it to the Peach Drop area of Five Points, at the Underground.  Here are some scenes:

The Giant Peach  (where’s James?)

As in James and the Giant Peach children’s book.  Yeah, so it’s a peach.  I just wanted to see it, that’s all.  I was back home by 10 pm.  Next year I’ll try to make it to the Possum Drop in Tallapoosa, Georgia (formerly known as Possum Snout).  Featuring a stuffed possum.  Don’t believe me?  http://thepossumdrop.com/

Some photos of downtown, which is really quite pretty, day or night.

Coca-Cola was invented here.  The Secret Recipe is in a vault here.  Coca-Cola will remove rust from your car engine.  It will also clean your toilet bowl.  Don’t believe me?
http://www.onlinedegree.net/40-creative-uses-for-coca-cola/

Coca-Cola sign reflections

191 Peachtree Tower from Auburn Avenue

An interesting alleyway

The Necessities – Blu-Johns

Ferris Wheel and the Capitol Building (and Herb’s Funnel Cakes)

Some horse-drawn carriages were Cinderella cages with little blue lights

Muse’s and Hookah Lounge (yep, they’re really hookahs)

Police searched bags at the barricades.  I raised my hands to surrender, but all I had was cameras and a little money for a great Reuben sandwich at the Landmark Cafe, open 24 hours across from the Rialto.

Oooh… The Capitol Steps are coming.  Saw them in Portland, Maine.  The best!

Dining themed sculpture

Woodruff Park – home of Occupy Atlanta for awhile

Happy New Year.  Only 355 days until the End of the World.

All photographs taken with Canon G-11, 400 ISO, f8

To see full-sized images:  Atlanta Nightscapes

Home website:  CindyMcIntyre.com

Copyright Cindy McIntyre 2012