Monthly Archives: December 2015

Crow amid empty branches, December 31

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Crows are sometimes seen as bad omens, even signs of impending death. But they are also seen as omens of positive change and messengers from the gods. I much prefer the latter interpretation, especially as catching sight of this one … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Nature, Photography | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

12 Days of Christmas Songs (#5) – “Barbara Allen”

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

“Barbara Allen” is a real downer of a song; no question about it. And it isn’t really a Christmas song, but I have always associated it with this time of year, dating from my first viewing of A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim … Continue reading →

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12 Days of Christmas Songs (#4) – “Silver Bells”

Posted on December 26, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Christmas shopping when I was young meant pausing at magical window displays while trundling along snowy sidewalks in heavy coats and boots between the fancy department stores and the Woolworth’s and Kresge’s five-and-dime stores. Tinsel, pine boughs, and strands of multicolored lights … Continue reading →

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12 Days of Christmas Songs (#3) – Handel’s Messiah

Posted on December 25, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Merry Christmas! For today’s post, I thought the most appropriate “song” might be Messiah, the most significant musical work ever composed about the life of Christ within the context of Biblical Old Testament prophecies about his birth and Gospels about his life, … Continue reading →

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12 Days of Christmas Songs (#2) – “Have a Merry Merry Merry Merry Christmas”

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

During my childhood in Ohio in the 1960s, my mom (and grandmother and great-grandmother, for that matter) were fans of Ruth Lyons, a pioneering Cincinnati radio and television personality who began her career in the earliest days of commercial radio in the 1920s. … Continue reading →

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12 Days of Christmas Songs (#1) – “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming”

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

The “Twelve Days of Christmas” is actually the 12-day period beginning on Christmas Day and ending on January 5th (the day before the day the three kings/Magi/wise men visited the Christ child, aka “Epiphany“). So I’m getting started a little early. Backstory: … Continue reading →

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Looking forward versus looking back

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Strange how a shift in perspective changes everything. I was walking north with the sun at my back this afternoon when I noticed this interesting pattern of shadow and light reflections on the sidewalk ahead of me.After walking a little farther, I … Continue reading →

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Thanks, Google!

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Way back when I started my blog in April 2012, I wrote a post to articulate the way I see the world and how I expected that perspective to shape my daily (ahem, weekly?) entries. As it so often feels, this post died as soon … Continue reading →

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Three Views of the Val. Blatz Brewing Bottle House (MSOE Campus Center)

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Light changes the appearance of things, as shown in these photos I took yesterday. What initially caught my eye was the gleam that obliterated detail as sunlight hit the stone tiles above the windows. (Update: I noticed a few days later, … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, Life, Milwaukee, News, Photography | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Storm’s Coming

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Katherine Wikoff

Taken with my iPhone on a mid-morning Starbucks run. The brief, sunny break between today’s rainy weather systems appears to be ending. Lucky for me that my break between classes coincided with the blue sky 😄

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