Ice Cream Parlor

Ice Cream Parlor

Ice Cream Parlor ©2012 Bo Mackison

The first time I ever visited this ice cream parlor, I was newly married and Sherpa was giving me a highlight tour of Oak Park, Illinois. We were ready to leave the crowds of Lincoln Park for a little yard and a lot more quiet and our very own garage space, and Oak Park was one of our choices.

On my very first visit all those years ago, we both ordered apple pie with cinnamon ice cream. Oh, deliciousness! Once we moved to the area, we treated ourselves to pie ala mode at the beginning of every month. (My pay day.) No matter how stringent our student budget was, it couldn’t make us give up our monthly ice cream fix — though we’d have preferred a daily dose!

Recently we drove through Oak Park to see how the quarter of a house we had rented for a year was faring. It looked great. Then we drove past the ice cream parlor. It was no longer a restaurant, just a narrow shop with ice cream goodies on one side and a few tables and chairs on the other. It was nice to see the wall of old ribbons Petersen’s Ice Cream had won at over many years of State Fair participation. And the ice cream was as yummy as ever. No apple pie, though!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.

All Saints’ Cathedral

A View from the Vestibule

A View from the Vestibule

I’m not one for spending a lot of time attending church services, but I do appreciate a quiet space where I can take some time out of my day and sit in quiet.

Often that quiet space, at least for me, is out in the middle of a hardwood forest propped against a tree, or sitting on the giant boulders lining the lakes, concentrating on the waves that never stop washing over the rocky shore.

But sometimes I find myself in the city, and I find myself in need of a quiet place. Occasionally I walk inside one of the many churches that line the downtown streets, and I find a space to sit and spend a few minutes in silence.

I was quite taken by the old world beauty of this church in downtown Milwaukee, and wanted to capture the feeling in a photograph. The half open door provided just enough framing for a part of the interior of the church. I liked the warm colors and the simplicity.

It was another one of those good spaces.

Skylights Highlights

Capitol Skylights © 2007

I played with this photo to try and get a shot reminiscent of the old postcards in the 1940s and early 50s, and the technique worked pretty well as far as meeting that goal. I don’t know if it’s too much though.

Interior of the Wisconsin State Capitol Building
Madison WI

Winter Solstice

Snow fell throughout the winter wrapped city,
sweeping the streets and sidewalks, snowflakes dancing with the ice crystals.
All was white and wild.
Winter’s zenith.

In the depths of a darkened, shadowy building
the lamps glowed throughout the longest night. The lamps glowed.

Solstice. The longest night of the year. December 22 at 1:08 am was the mid-point between the equinoxes. From now on, we folk in the Northern Hemisphere will be ‘seeing the light.’

To all, a celebration.