With the snow receding, interesting markers like this are beginning to surface. I spotted this one northwest of Mandan at the diminutive Yucca Cemetery along Highway 25. There are a couple of these staring skyward in silent anonymity.

This is part of a rather creepy looking Masonic-themed marker at the abandoned Greenwood Cemetery near my old stompin’ grounds south of Mandan. When I was a kid there were some even weirder markers that seem to have disappeared over time. Then there was the discovery of over forty unmarked graves in that area a couple of years ago, a fact which was kept quiet by local media to discourage grave robbers until things could be moved.

Did you know there are a couple of very old grave markers, probably among the area’s oldest, right along Sibley Drive in south Bismarck?

On my way to the rally I spotted this shot of the trees in the historic Cathedral District. Ever the compulsive photographer, I hiked up on the sidewalk over Memorial Highway and took a few shots through the frosty chain link covering. Then it was back to the truck to deliver a nice big HUG to my wife at her workplace, then to the Ramkota for the afternoon’s events.

It gets its picture taken, I suppose! This fine example sits in the snow on 93rd Street southeast of town. The frost is from the haze that’s been hanging over Bismarck-Mandan every morning lately.

I’ll admit it, I had not been to the antique mall in the first floor of the Anderson Building in downtown Bismarck. In fact, I don’t think I’d been in this building since Eggers Audio was in the basement! I used to spend lots of time at Boyd’s Ark when it was here as well. But that’s another story. A co-worker and friend (the two are synonymous at our offices) reminded me of this place, so I took the opportunity to end my work day early and go visit.

There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of little gems in the antique mall. One of which was too funny not to photograph: this Fonzie paper doll! There was another one of these still wrapped in plastic on the top of a shelf. I saw plenty of other cool memorabilia as well. One thing I was on the lookout for, however, was a unique photo or postcard. I found a couple.

I couldn’t resist a classic “Greetings from Bismarck” postcard, of course. This style predates me but I’ve seen it plenty. I have to admit it first reminded me of a few things I saw in the Pixar movie “Cars,” which my little boys love tremendously.

Here’s the real gem. I had never seen a photo of the capitol building with these lights on top of it! The building is lit from below by giant floodlights these days, but apparently it was once lit from above as well. Since this was the first time I’d ever seen the capitol with such a feature, I had to bring this postcard home. It has no date on it, so I had to do a little poking around. The photo credit lists tht North Dakota Highway Department, so I thought I’d search the state’s photo collection.

Apparently these lights were present for quite some time! This image is one available from the state’s Digital Horizons online collection. The link to the photo with information is here. It’s also noteworthy that they were doing the whole “numbers at New Year” thing way back when as well. I like the rounded digits, too!

I had a blast at the Antique Mall last Friday, and made this interesting discovery to boot. You need to pay this place a visit and peruse the various collections for yourself. They’re also having a rummage sale in the basement this week, so you may find some unique deals there! Take some time to wander, and you won’t be disappointed. Tell them I sent you.

It’s Friday…why not knock off a little early and go visit the 18th floor of the capitol building? It’s warm and quiet, and it allows for multiple views of our frosty city.

Speaking of frost, a few of the windows on the shady side of the building have some very nice frosty shapes formed on them! There are still plenty of available views in all four directions.

My wife and I just paid off her truck in just under two years instead of five. Shoveling money at our bills in an effort to make them go the heck away takes discipline and a budget. That means that I don’t often get those little indulgences I’ve favored in years past, such as my beloved Applebee’s boneless wings. Imagine my surprise (and glee) tonight when she asked me if I wanted to go get some, since our budget could handle it! Yowza! I thought maybe it was because I surprised her by doing a bunch of housework while she was gone…in reality, I think it’s because she loves me. To top it off, she thought it’d be keen if I took a few minutes to grab a couple of photos along my way.

The bridge shot above is a reshoot of something I tried the night before (see the post following this one). I accidentally left the lens’s gyroscopic image stabilizer turned on for the shots last night, probably in an effort not to freeze my fingers off, which left it room to wander a little bit and blur my photos. Oops. I made good tonight.

I also featured the Global War On Terror memorial recently, but this was an opportunity to show it at night. The variety of light in the area made it a particularly challenging shot, one that I wasn’t sure would turn out. I was pleasantly surprised with the results.

One more angle of said memorial. After I got a few photos out of the way, I figured it was about time for my Carside To Go order to be ready. I pointed the truck toward the ‘bees and picked up my wingies. Mmmmmmmmmmm. Clint likey. Clint want wingie. (I couldn’t wrap this up without a music or movie quote.)

Not only is the new bridge finally lit, but work has commenced on the park facilities along River Road nearby. I took this photo standing behind the construction fence along part of the work in progress. If you’ve read this blog for a while, you already know that I don’t take photos where I’m not supposed to. I heed No Trespassing signs and that sort of thing as well. Besides, the structure on the other side of the fence didn’t look like a wise place to be!

Fantastic new bridge we’ve got. One question, though: why haven’t the lights on the supports been turned on? If you don’t know the lights of which I speak, look to either side of the “V” of each of the concrete bridge supports. There are lights located there, and they’d be a remarkable addition to the new local landmark.

I was so sure I saw at least some of them on way back when the bridge was brand new. It’s been about a year; isn’t it time we turn ’em on?

Often I use some sort of lyrical or song title reference in my posts, but a quick album/title search of my music library only brought up “Ribbon of Darkness” by Marty Robbins. Great song, but not applicable to this “ribbon” of pink and white flags at the state capitol grounds.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, in case you’re wondering what it’s all about.

That reminded me of this pink tractor that made an appearance a while back as part of a promotion to raise awareness. It was parked near the Clear Channel offices for a while and showed up at a lot of different events. I don’t know if it was given away; can you imagine being the lucky guy to win a pink tractor? Driving around on it would be the kind of thing that could get you beat up, I imagine, unless you can blurt out the “how I got a pink tractor” story first.

If you drove past the capitol and were wondering what was with the little group of flags was all about, I hope this clears it up.