The cathedral rectory of St. Raphael's has stood empty for as long as I've lived here
... since July '05, anyway.

The design is clearly meant to evoke a cathedral's wide apse flanked by narrow galleries.

The brassy screen across the front keeps the entrance shady and cool
without blocking out light.

I don't know what this architectural style is called,
but the American 1960's was lousy with clerestory windows and these plain, clean lines,
particularly public buildings and institutions like this.

Slender columns soar over the entrance.

A heap of rubble at the back door betrays
the rectory's either undergoing renovation
or not long for this world.

This crowd of about 100 students
marched up State Street to the steps of the capital
during the noon hour to protest the treatment of the Jena 6.

The Suhr Building's distinctive prow marks it as one of the city's "flatirons"
a term that gets overused. I like "wedgie" myself.

As unusual as its shape may be,
the old wedgies are getting lost in the growing skyline of our fair city.

Even with its sandstone flanks glowingly lit by the noonday sun,
the Suhr tends to shrink under the towering Tenney building.

But on her own, she still stands out as obviously very special.

As usual, it's the details that make all the difference.
This little sprout is shooting up from the cornice,
barely visible in the photo above.

It's that tree again ...

Click on the keyword "autum" below
to see the tree go from mostly green
to red & gold

When you think of Wisconsin cheese ...

... you should think of this house. Adolph Marschall built this house in 1912 for his family after he got his business, the Marschall Dairy Laboratory, up and running just six years before. Marschall was a Danish chemist whose business extracted and purified rennet, the stuff that curdles milk. An awful lot of rennet, as it turned out. He must have been pretty comfortably well-off by the time he commissioned Claude & Starck to design this Prairie-style mansion on Pinckney Street. I love the staggered roof out front and the set-back entrance to the right, behind the porch. The condition of the place is just a bit rough around the edges but still, considering the condition of other Madison landmarks, not bad at all. I'd move in tomorrow, if I had a million dollars. *sigh*

Java delivery bike

Stenciled on the sidewalk
along Jenifer Street

I never get tired of looking at this old bank on cap square. Everything about it is pleasing to the eye: The proportion and number of the windows, the gentle weathering of the sandstone facade, the colors they've added to the cornice. Whoever the goddess of old buildings is, she's worth every hozannah if she can keep more places like this around.

At The Farmer's Market

When the sun came out at the farmer's market this morning,
the produce was positively glowing.

Every single person who stopped at this stand said,
"Oh, what cute little peppers!"

Hm. Me Cow.

This is exactly the kind of thing I'd decorate my dorm room with, if I still lived in a dorm room, and thank dog I don't any more.

... those fall colors are becoming more bright.

Can you see it?

That touch of red and orange
at the fringes of the maple tree?
And they had the squash and pumpkins out
at the farmer's market yesterday, too.
Fall is just around the corner.

A Few Photos from the Dane County Farmer's Market

The Iron Man's in town.
That means Madison's filled with hundreds of mind-bogglingly fit and trim athletes this weekend. Even Mister Pepper was ready for action.

I couldn't tell if she was part of the act,
or if she was dancing only because she liked the music so much.

There's a rumor going around that the UW is no longer the drinkingest school in the nation.
At least one student would beg to disagree with that.

Must be a pilot

Main Street is open to foot traffic

The excavators move on to Carroll Street...

fini

Le Penseur

Pondering the immutable inscrutable.

Punch Buggy
Seen at the Monona farmer's market this weekend.

There's no finer summer convertible than a Veedub.

The interior's a bit rough ...

... but it's still a happy-looking Volks.

I've owned two old microbusses, the newer camper-van and one bug,
and they'll always have a soft spot in my heart.
I can't help stopping to take a close look at a Volkswagen
wherever I see one.

A Taste of Madison

It looks just like Art Fair On The Square
except there's no art and lots of food.
I didn't think about that until after I'd looked through these snapshots
and realized I didn't see any food.
Next time, I'll mare sure to get a few snaps of the food.

Besides food, there's also lots of music.
There are stages set up on MLK Blvd, East Wash, Wisconsin Ave, and State Street,
and you can hear the band at every one of the stages from anywhere on the square.
I know I'm going to sound like a crusty old fart when I say this, but
couldn't they turn the volume down to the point where you'd hear just the band
that's in front of you?

This guy's Italian.
Both my sons tell me so.
Or, if he's not Italian, he's singing Italian songs.
He's absolutely, positively not singing Spanish songs.
No way.
I'm a dummy for even deigning to argue with them about it.
So tune in to La Movida at 1480 AM in the Madison area
to listen to all the best Italian music programming.

Whad'ya do today, Dave?
Not much, you?

The set of Whad'Ya Know?
Michael Feldman's weekly radio show on PRI.
They were broadcasting from Madison this weekend,
so we got tickets and went to the show.

Sean and Tim enjoyed the show.

And so did My Darling B's parents,
Joan and Richard.

Newly repaved Cap Square sidewalk along Main Street, nearing completion.

There are lots of really cool old buildings along the main drage in Cedarburg that date back to a time before most places were wired for electricity, but only a few that date from whatever era this office building came from -- I suspect some time between the 20's and 40's.

A slightly closer view of the bay window and overhang.

The customary awning and leaded clerestory windows.

Leaded windows all around the entrance.

The cast-iron burglar alarm box marks the final touch.

Stairway in an old feed mill
Cedarburg, WI

... um ... speechless ...

Putting the finishing touches on the new sidewalk along Main Street.