A Little of This, A Little of That . . .

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To continue with the theme thread in red from the last post, while out in the wilds of western Pennsylvania the other day, this lovely red property caught my eye. That red truck would've looked just fine parked in front of this place. Maybe if I was good enough with photoshop I could make that happen, but for now you'll have to see it in your mind's eye. I can just imagine a lady in a red dress leaning up against one of these porch pillars, watching the traffic go by. This is most certainly one for the growing catalog of dream houses which can be found in these pages. If you'd like to see more of my dream houses, just click here. For a little music to go along with this old red house, there's a video at the bottom of this post for your pleasure.
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Even in the pouring rain I thought this place was beautiful. Would've loved to see the inside, and whatever traces past lives might have left there, but it was posted "Private Property", so I decided to leave well enough alone. Looked like the roof was about ready to collapse anyway.
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So, yes, memories, red souvenirs. Red houses, red trucks, ladies in red, red flowers on a tombstone. Last Sunday I had the very good fortune to be able to meet James who is the mind and fine photographer behind Newtown Area Photo and the Weekend Reflections series. The agreed meeting place was at one corner of Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris where we spent a couple of hours strolling, chatting, and photographing, before taking off on a hike through Belleville and up to the Buttes Chaumont park. A fine day, with many photographs from Paris recorded from two different perspectives. He has a second blog called Something Sighted where he said he'll be posting some photos from Paris when he gets back home in a couple of weeks time. These red flowers, ceramic and natural, are just one tiny souvenir from that most enjoyable afternoon. Thanks James for taking a day to spend with me !
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While we were walking through Belleville we got to talking about the book and movie "The Red Balloon", which we had both enjoyed as children. I wondered out loud if that story could have contributed in some small way to my wanting to return to Paris later in life, and James desire to spend time in Paris on vacation. Just a little while later I saw some kids playing with a red ball.
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Not actually a balloon, but close enough to have me reminiscing about that story.
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Nearby there were red posters glued on walls, remnants of the protests that shook France up fairly well over the past couple of weeks, over retirement reform questions. This one says, "Our Republic, Same ground, same rights !" Pasted over the poster was a request for any information about a young man named Nicolas who disappeared after 20 October. Did he run away ? Foul play ? Mysteries . . .
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"Tax the profits ! Retirement is at age 60 !" When you look at retirement age or life expectancy in some other countries, these folks don't know how good they have it, imho.
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Right by the entrance to Père Lachaise cemetery, these two red squirrels were caught with their arms crossed, keeping an eye on passers-by. Suspicious if you ask me. I couldn't help think of our blogging squirrel friend, the one and only Lone Grey Squirrel himself, out in Malaysia.
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And to top it all off, Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock doing Red House . . . Wishing you rosy red dreams.
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