Broad Street Steps

 These steps in Bridgeport, Connecticut, were painted in 2017 by artist Liz Squillace and volunteers.  They represent a DNA sequence.  The artist says they represent the City of Bridgeport and our shared humanity.  

She chose most of the colors by working with colors nearby — blue for the sky, green for the trees, yellow for the flowers, black for the handrails. “On a clear day when the sky is that really bright blue, the blue on the stairs looks like it flows right into the sky,” Squillace said.

Linked to Monday Murals.

Saint Thomas Episcopal Church

 I passed this church building in Bethel last week and had to stop.  This building replaced an earlier white frame church from 1835.  The current church was constructed in 1910 from coarse stone gathered from stone walls of farms in the area.

Doughboy

 The town of Bethel has a small triangular park near the center of its downtown.  It once had an impressive fountain donated to the town in 1881 by the great showman, P.T.Barnum, who was born in Bethel.  But the fountain deteriorated and was torn down in 1923.

A Bethel civic group raised funds to replace the fountain with a statue honoring men who fought in World War 1.  The 1928 statue is the work of the sculptor Ornest Moore Viauesney who decided to portray not a general leading troops but an "everyman" soldier -- a doughboy -- in an unknown battle.

Tarrywile Mansion

Tarrywile Mansion was built for Dr. William Wile in 1897.  The name is a play on the phrase "tarry for a while."  Dr. Wile served in the Civil War, fought at Gettysburg, and accompanied General Sherman in his March to the Sea.  Dr. Wile was Danbury's first medical examiner and a benefactor of Danbury Hospital. 

Mrs. Wile fell down the stairs ten years later and was badly injured, so Dr. and Mrs. Wile sold the house and gardens to C.D. Parks, who developed a process useful in hatmaking.  (Danbury is known as the Hat City and even today the high school's sports teams are called the Danbury Hatters.)

In 1985 the City purchased the mansion from the Charles D. Parks estate with 535 acres of meadows, forests, mountains, lakes, and ponds as well as 19 buildings.  The mansion is used as a community center for the City, providing a space for public and private events of all kinds.

Colabella Fine Art Gallery

 Colabella Fine Art Gallery is showing works by the New York street artist HEKTAD and UK-born artist David Hollier.  Many of HEKTAD's works include colorful heart shapes with LOVE messages.  Hollier creates images of well known people, using their famous words in the form of painted and typed text.

These are three by Hollier.  Taylor Swift (created in words from "Lover"), Keith Haring (typed on a vintage custom painted typewriter with words from a Haring journal) and Charlie Chaplin (created from the final speech in "The Great Dictator").

A little closer.

And this Marilyn Monroe painting is a collaboration between Hollier and HEKTAD, with the image created by Holllier's painting of words and HEKTAD's colorful background and hearts.

Gerri Lewis

Gerri Lewis wrote The Last Word, a cozy murder mystery.  The story is told from the perspective of Winter Snow, a young obituary writer.  Lewis set the book in the "Hallmark worthy" town of Ridgefield, Connecticut, where she was brought up and has lived and worked for decades.

A mutual friend of Gerri's and mine in Florida told me about the book, so I bought it at Ridgefield's Books on the Common when I returned in May.  (Didn't seem right for me to buy it on Amazon, but if you live somewhere else, go ahead.)  Gerri recently gave a talk about the process of writing, publishing and marketing one's first book.  

The talk persuaded me that I don't want to try writing a book.  But it was fun reading The Last Word and seeing the characters moving around a town I have come to know since moving here a few years ago.

CHIRP

 Concert Happenings in Ridgefield Parks (CHIRP) presents popular outdoor concerts in Ballard Park every Tuesday and Thursday in the summer.

Twice a week, hundreds come to the park to listen to music, have a picnic, enjoy the beautiful park, and visit with friends and neighbors.

At a recent concert, the New York-based roots band Nemeth Mountain performed.  They describe their work as blurring the lines between Americana, Bluegrass, Folk, Jazz and Blues.  They were terrific.

The band is led by the husband and wife team of Eric Lindberg and Doni Zasloff.