I was going to do one post and title it “Blue and Red” (you’ll see why), but I decided that these pictures would make better sense if I just lumped them all together beneath an umbrella title uniting them within the context of a coherent “story,” which is that they are random photos documenting my drive home from work last night, including a quick stop at the same grocery store featured in last night’s Edward Hopper photo from two weeks ago.

So.

First is the photo I would have titled “Blue.” Taken facing west at the intersection of State and 11th as I sat at the traffic light on my way out of downtown. I liked the crazy reflections of the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility in the Sinai Medical Center complex windows, but mostly I liked the colors. My windshield was filthy, but I chanced taking the photo through it anyway, and it turned out okay. You can’t even see the bird-dropping residue that the wiper blades couldn’t quite get rid of 😂

This next one I was going to call “Red.” I was at the store where I took my “Edward Hopper” awnings photo two weeks ago, and I just really liked the strong confluence of reds at this stop sign.

While I was in the parking lot, I took some more pictures of those awnings to show how ordinary they look without the drama of that intensely warm, slanted evening sunlight. (Well, I guess there’s a tiny amount of evening sunlight and drama here, but nothing as noticeable as in yesterday’s photo.)

And from the side, with the FedEx collection box, etc., at the corner, you can see that the awnings are just an add-on adornment of a rather ordinary, featureless wall.

Although actually, I tried cropping that last image as a square and decided maybe it could look pretty good after all. I like the way sunlight is catching the edge rims of those somewhat Art Deco looking faux columns that alternate with the awnings. It gives what is basically a flat surface a bit more of a three-dimensional appearance.

After fooling around with all this awning malarkey, I slipped my phone back into the outer pocket of my purse and got down to the business of loading my groceries into the car. Waking back to my car from returning the cart to the corral, I noticed the parking lot lights had already turned on, even though it wasn’t dark yet. I liked that look of little “stars” barely noticeable at the tips of these light poles.

Then, as I shut the rear hatch and turned to get into the driver’s seat, I noticed all the vapor trails up in the sky high above the cars that were now rendered nearly invisible by contrast in the gathering twilight below. And suddenly it occurred to me that, at this time of evening, those planes were most likely headed to their final destinations of the day, the crisscrossed lines representing a homeward commute for hundreds passengers nearing the end of their work day or week. Just like me.

It was a nice moment of “connected” awareness, reflecting on our shared humanity and the fact that, despite our many differences, we’re all seeking essentially the same things.