rajafacesbothways

Under, Across, Approaching

Under the railroad bridge:

The bridge on the left is a railroad bridge. The structure on the right is of the bridge now closed

 

Obviously the arrangement is reversed above.

For another take of the visit and some great photos go to Kathryn's blog:

Bacon, Birthdays and Bridges

Kathryn has started a bacon tradition on Thursdays that occasionally includes other friends joining in. Bacon ice cream had been the best, but it was topped this Thursday when my neighbor grilled thick-sliced pepper bacon on his rooftop for her favorite BAT (a for arugula) sandwiches.

A trip through beautiful countryside to Weisenberger Mill preceded this event, to buy a couple dozen packaged mixes for pizza, biscuits, muffins, grits, etc. And following the bacon bash we went to the Mary Todd Lincoln home, located in Lexington adjoining  the Rupp Arena parking lot. In fact, if she hadn't married Abe, the house would have been demolished for parking. Fortunately it is now well restored and after passing it hundreds of times, I finally saw the interior.

The highlight of the evening was a rooftop gathering for friend Juilee's birthday-- beer from the "library" of the Beer Trapp, Frickles, laughs, and live music from the square.

 

Today included the Farmers Market and Frankfort. There are some great bridges across the Kentucky River. I vaguely knew where they were and fumbling my way around finally located them. Well worth the effort.

Culture and Calories

There have been umusual beeps in my loft from two visiting iPhones and an iPad that accompanied Karen and Kathryn on their visit. I live in an atmosphere where nothing beeps, flickers, flashes or twitters so my loft has acquired a refreshing cutting edge atmosphere, despite my dial-up server.

We wandered about Georgetown College campus, bought some of Grannies Goodies pimento cheese and Favas frickles to up the fat content of our lunch, then visited the Gift From the Desert exhibit. As a docent I have an advantage of viewing it many times; there is an abundance of history and art built around the Arabian horse that is impossible to absorb in one visit.

To counterbalance all that culture we went to The Beer Trappe in Lexington, where we met two blogger friends of Kathryn. It's a unique spot that just opened, offering somewhere between 400 and several million types of craft beer from all over the world. It's beer's answer to wine tasting--for $1 you can try two ounces  of beer--perfect for a designated driver. We departed with a selection of nine varieties of beer.

And finally we met 2 friends for dinner at Cirque 1840, a recent addition around the corner that offers fine dining in Georgetown. Both friends are high achievers and excel at organizing, making us feel very relieved we possess none of those talents and are content with watching sunsets and chimney swifts.

Company's Here!

Karen and Kathryn arrived at noon at the Louisville airport.They knew they were no longer in Chicago when the parking fee was only a dollar. En route to Georgetown we stopped for lunch at Science Hill Inn in Shelbyville, between Louisville and Georgetown. Science Hill resembles a historic country estate; we arrived just before closing, but in time for an elegant Kentucky luncheon served by a black waiter who looked like a bit player from the film, Raintree County.

We devoured a basket of corn pones--crispy, oval shaped corn bread. Kathryn had country ham with melted pimento cheese over thin slices of corn bread. Karen and I had shrimp and grits laced with bacon and a smooth sauce. Returning here on a back road through Frankfort finished setting the stage for their visit.

Company Coming

Am looking forward to Karen and friend Kathryn who are flying in Tuesday for a visit. It's too hot to clean but never too hot to prepare food ahead for a "foodie"...fresh peach pie, hummus, gazpacho, all which include fresh farm goodies. Also roasting a duck that I bought for their visit in Christmas, canceled because of the cold winter. The duck will be served in a french salad with sliced oranges and pecans.

Also planned is a rooftop party, exhibits, local beer tasting, bacon Thursday, and dinner at friends. And frickles. There always has to be Fava's frickles.

Tops and Bottoms

Recent TOPS experiences:

Movie--WAITING FOR GUFFMAN--Directed and starring Christopher Guest. One of the funniest films I've seen; a small town's 100h anniversary celebration focusing around the little theater group's production of the history of the town. It reminds me of Georgetown and the preparation for WEG but it stands on its own in hilarious story telling.

Music: PIMPS AND PREACHERS by Paul Thorn. I heard him interviewed on NPR with Bob Edwards and got the CD yesterday. His father was a preacher, his uncle was a pimp, thus the title. "One taught me how to love. One taught me how to fight."  Many great lyrics and a fine musician.

And then there are the BOTTOM eperiences:

My friend Juilee and I had a discussion this morning how annoying and disgusting it is that women embark in cell phone conversations from the toilets in Ladies Room--often from the "luxury" of the handicapped stalls. Our only defense is to keep flushing. Better if we could flush them down the drain.

Head of the Class

The morning glories and the sunflowers keep holding their own among the roof-top plant world. The sunflowers have attracted goldfinches. Like us, they prefer fresh organic food over the dry packaged thistles they were offered--and had ignored--in the past.

Garden Report Card

Morning Glories-----hyper-active. Refuse to stay in their own pots. Cheerful, but wander randomly

Sunflowers----Bright, tend to show off

Beans---Flunking out. Sent home when bugs were discovered

Tomatoes----very productive, focused on self-improvement

Herbs-----works well with others

Squash----slow learners

Bamboo---showed promise initially.  Became typical burn-outs

Two Reviews

Two Reviews:

 The Scientific American Day in the Life of Your Brain (2009) by Judith Horstman is a compelling account of how your brain works as you go through a typical 24 hour period. Practical, fun and very readable, it reveals what occurs in your brain as you go about your life, including sleeping, decision making and aging. (meditation, healthy eating and exercise delays the aging process but surely you knew that)

 Horstman uses up-to-date research to create a fascinating, informative book. This is not pop-science. More has been learned about the brain in the past 50 years than in the previous 5000 years.  Although it doesn''t prepare me for medical school, it is wide ranging, intelligent and clearly written; it absorbed my attention throughout the whole 24-hour-cycle.

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Birdology (2010) by Sy Montgomery. Unlike detailed field guides to birds, Birdology is a relaxed narrative about birds of different feathers--birds that Montgomery is very experienced with and knowledgeable about---hens, pigeons, crows, falcons, parrots, hummingbirds and the Australian cassowary, a modern day dinosaur.

Filled with actual accounts of her experiences and told in an engaging manner, the book offers an entertaining account, inviting the reader to marvel at these living dinosaurs that have evolved over millions of years. 

I was thoroughly engrossed in both books; reading them in tandem added to my enjoyment. Human brains are thinking brains, birds are instinctive and are attuned to sounds, colors, vision that totally escape us. And if anyone ever calls you a "bird brain", nod and graciously thank them.

Snip Snip

I finally did docent duty for "The Gift From the Desert" and fortunately it was a very slow day so I didn't have to make anything up about the past 10,000 years and the Arabian horse. (Did you know their foals are all born black and can develop into any color? This I did not make up.)

Here is a photo I took of the ribbon cutting at the opening many weeks ago--on film which makes a strong reason for using digital for instant gratification.

The scissor-man left of the Arabs is Gov. Beshear. The next scissors belong to Saudi Prince Abudulala and the last pair of scissors is held by Bill Cook from the Horse Park who made the whole exhibit possible. Quite a feat. It is a non-traveling exhibit of 400 artifacts from 27 lenders. it will be seen no where else.

Not a great photo but I slipped into the press corp undetected.