PJ's Studio: May 2025

Sunday, May 25, 2025

Spain collage

This month’s collage features a photo of the Plaza de Espana from Seville Spain.

You may recognize it from a Star Wars movie. 😉

Then I added three drawings of magnolias.

Here are links to previous collages…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2025/02/tulum.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2025/03/venice.html

Cheers!

Sunday, May 18, 2025

Jeff went to Japan!

My globetrotting nephew and his family braved the 13-hour time change and headed to Japan to check out the cherry blossoms. (I’m fascinated by this multi-color maple tree.)

Their timing was perfect so Jeff got the classic Mt. Fuji photo. Doesn’t this look like a postcard?

But I think the azaleas were so magnificent they actually topped the cherry trees.

As you might expect they saw some massive Buddhas.

And had a robot waiter. I forgot to ask if they tipped it. 😊

But Jessica and Jeff also made their own sushi.

The bamboo garden was so huge I found myself thinking about how invasive bamboo is. Of course, that’s why it is so sustainable. It grows like a weed!

I was also surprised to see that red is the standard for Torii Gates. I guess that explains why the one at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is also red. I have to admit I have always wished that it was pink so it wouldn’t clash with the pink cherry blossoms. But tradition is tradition. And red is a lucky color in Japan.

This museum featured some magnificent Matsuri floats, also known as Dashi or Sansha. They are used for festivals and this one is so large and heavy that it takes a village to carry. While they didn’t get to see this one in action, they did get to see a few smaller ones that required fewer volunteers to carry.

Jessica looked so fetching in her kimono that I am wondering if she kept it for next Halloween.

Clearly a good time was had by all. And a special shout out to Jeff for becoming an ace photographer. I had a hard time picking out my favorite ten shots for the blog.

Enjoy!

Sunday, May 11, 2025

Easter Parade 2

I had so many great photos from the Easter Parade that I thought I’d post a second set.

The Easter parade began in the 1880’s, and by 1900, Easter was as important in retailing as Xmas season is today.

In 1933, Irving Berlin wrote “Easter Parade.” In 1948, the movie was released.

The parade peaked in 1947 with over one million participants.

It is still an informal and unorganized event. How NYC!

Anyone can join – they just need to show up – preferably in awesome costumes and hats.

The parade had historic roots in Easter processions which have been part of Christian culture since its earliest beginnings.

But it lost its religious significance somewhere along the way.

In fact, there is an old Irish adage – “For Christmas, food and drink; for Easter, new clothes.”

And there was a Tudor superstition (1485) that unless a person had a new homespun cloth available at easter, moths and crickets would eat the old goods. (No mention of dogs though.)

More here…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_parade