Category: *Having My Say

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Mosaic of Life #44 – One Man’s Trash…

RJ Walters

I know I am using plenty of clichés here, but I think you get the idea. Go to the big city, and they spend big bucks to keep the above flower out of their lawns. Being basically a country boy, I love the diversity of a country lawn. It is not just one boring plot of the same old grass. I remember when we first moved into our country homestead in 2000, there was a yard pump in the side lawn with wild violets around it. When I left in 2021, almost the entire 3 acres were covered in violets … Continue reading Mosaic of Life #44 – One Man’s Trash…

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Mosaic of Life #86 – The Most Mysterious

RJ Walters

Just when I think I have photographed the most complex “Into The Depth” flower, another one come to take the “Most” title. If I were to make an abstract painting that described the complexity of my mind, it would probably closely resemble this picture. Just so you know, this picture was not modified in the least from when it was taken. Continue reading Mosaic of Life #86 – The Most Mysterious

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Mosaic of Life #78. Lego Beauty

RJ Walters

I have found out that Lego is not just a bunch of blocks, but instead it is a creation yet to be discovered. It took about 4 hours to build this 771 piece LEGO Icon Succulents. It was a very peaceful 4 hours. Yes, I know this is a “kit” that has probably been sold to thousands of different people. But this is just what I needed almost a year ago to finally push me in a different direction. It was the beginning of the process, and I’m certainly glad it happened. Continue reading Mosaic of Life #78. Lego Beauty

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Mosaic of Life #61 Re-enactments Are My Thing

RJ Walters

One of my favorite places to visit in all my 50 years of travels has been re-enactments, particularly those that celebrated events in the 1800s. The above mosaic celebrated the Fall seasons in Northern Indiana. This historic reenactment captures 18th century life at Fort Quiatnon which is north of the present day West Lafayette/Purdue University. Continue reading Mosaic of Life #61 Re-enactments Are My Thing

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Mosaic of Life #20 Shaker Seeds

RJ Walters

During my travels, I have visited many historic sites. I think Shaker sites are my overall favorite, especially the one closest to me near Lexington, KY, called Pleasant Hill Shaker Village. There are no longer any active villages, but many have been preserved as national historic sites. My initial introduction to Shakers was their furniture, but garden seeds were probably what they were actually more famous for. Continue reading Mosaic of Life #20 Shaker Seeds

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Mosaic of Life #74 – Chaos (Double Memory)…

RJ Walters

This mosaic was taken on the shores of the Great Lakes. Indiana only has a minute segment of shoreline, but what it has is beautiful indeed. It is at the very southern end of a 317-mile Lake Michigan. Most of the weather in this part of the country comes from Canada, so I suppose that is the reason that many of the rocks and pebbles accumulate at the southern end. To me, this mosaic kinda looks like organized chaos. I especially love the blue rocks scattered among the others. Continue reading Mosaic of Life #74 – Chaos (Double Memory)…

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Mosaic of Life #73 – Old Fashioned Containers Tell A Story

RJ Walters

One of my favorite things to look for when I visited local or regional museums were containers. Back in the day before TV commercials, magazines, and such, the primary way to get attention to their products was by creative packaging. This picture was taken in the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. I will give you more details about the park in a future mosaic. For this mosaic, I just what to focus on the containers I found there. Each one tells a story of it’s own. Continue reading Mosaic of Life #73 – Old Fashioned Containers Tell A Story

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Mosaic of Life #70 – Red and Green & White All Over

RJ Walters

One of the advantages of living in a college town is the number of artsy sources in the community. Last month I visited the IU Biology Dept green house for the first time. I was warned ahead of time that it is a “working” green house, so expect hoses and wet concrete. Most of the flowers were one steel-grated tables, not elaborate presentation as most conservatories are. But, that was perfectly fine with me. Continue reading Mosaic of Life #70 – Red and Green & White All Over

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Mosaic of Life #28 – Surreal Landscape

RJ Walters

The last time I was at the Grand Canyon was when this picture was taken in 2005. I have been there on two other occasions. What was special this time was that we stayed in the lodge on the south end of the canyon. We could lie in our bed at the national park lodge as see the canyon about 50 feet away. It was like the other two times I had visited there in that it just didn’t seem real. The grandeur of it was just beyond imagination. One of the “woulda, coulda, shoulda” things I regret not doing … Continue reading Mosaic of Life #28 – Surreal Landscape

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Mosaic of Life #72 – Happy Anniversary, My Dear…

RJ Walters

Today is our wedding anniversary. It would have been our 38th. I still miss you so much, even now, three years after you passed. This picture was taken at one of the NYC Central Park ponds. It was an unusually warm day for that time of year. We celebrated your birthday with dinner at the top of the World Trade Center.

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Mosaic of Life #71 – Guadalajara Grill – Tap & Pop

RJ Walters

During my time in the business world, I made several trips to Guadalajara, Mexico, otherwise known as GDL. I’m sure I will have several other mosaics about those times, but for this one it is about the Guadalajara Grill and how I got “popped” there. If you want to go to THE “party” place in GDL, this is it. I can’t remember how many times I have been there. Every time we had a “new” person join us on the trip, we always took them to the GDL Grill. One of the traditions is to get the “Special” appetizer platter … Continue reading Mosaic of Life #71 – Guadalajara Grill – Tap & Pop

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Mosaic of Life #68 – Name Changes…

RJ Walters

I know the title of this post title is kinda cryptic. It is a story about how I have changed my name over the years, to match where I am in my life. It’s strange to me that something we have to carry with us throughout our lives, we have no control over. I am ⅛ Native American, and I kinda like the idea that they don’t name their children until some particular characteristic exhibits itself. I asked my mother why she named me “Rodney Joe”, and she being a pretty extreme narcissist, admitted that she didn’t give it much … Continue reading Mosaic of Life #68 – Name Changes…

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Mosaic of Life #27 – Heinz Museum – Pittsburgh

RJ Walters

When I planned on visiting the Heinz Museum in Pittsburgh, I imagined it would be all about ketchup and other condiments. Yeah, that was included, but a big majority of the contents were about documenting history. During my visit I discovered that the museum is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institute. If you want to see a video of the museum, click HERE The museum in itself made the two days in Pittsburgh well worth the visit. But there are other sites you must see if you visit that city. The Primanti Brothers Bar & Pub, which is only a … Continue reading Mosaic of Life #27 – Heinz Museum – Pittsburgh

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Mosaic of Life #8 – High Plains Barn & Silo

RJ Walters

I mentioned a few posts ago that I am hankering to do another purely analog mosaic, but before I do that I need to close out my early attempts in that mode. I have been across the high plains States numerous times, but like Indiana, many traveling through the High Plains just breeze through it without stopping. The most prominent thing about this area of the country is that it is WINDY. Maybe I should stop here and give you my definition of “High Plains”, that is Nebraska, southeastern Wyoming, and South Dakota, and central Kansas. In hindsight, it was … Continue reading Mosaic of Life #8 – High Plains Barn & Silo

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Mosaic of Life #68 – A Rose Is A Rose… Into The Depth

RJ Walters

I love looking into the depth of a flower. How can anything so beautiful come from something so simple? Because I reside in a RetCom (retirement community) I see beautiful flowers every day. Since there are over 200 residents here, someone has a birthday or other even to celebrate almost every day. I thought I would show you where this single flower came from. Below is the source photo. Can you pick out the flower I choose? Continue reading Mosaic of Life #68 – A Rose Is A Rose… Into The Depth

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Mosaic of Life #32 – Veggie Flowers Are…

RJ Walters

Just because I am trying to nurture my artsy side here at RJsMosaics doesn’t mean that my logical engineering side is stifled. I decided to use the 2017 photo of my veggie garden to highlight the yellow flower that is prominent at the top of the picture to show you the beauty of veggie flowers. Yes, they are for the most part very short-lived and die off quickly when the veggie, in this case zucchini, starts maturing, but that doesn’t decrease their beauty. I think that veggie flowers are just as beautiful as the flowers that were in my wife’s … Continue reading Mosaic of Life #32 – Veggie Flowers Are…

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Mosaic of Life #60 – Ft Wayne Museum of Art

RJ Walters

For those of you who don’t know Indiana, that is probably most of you, Ft Wayne is in the northeast corner of the state. It is the second-largest city in the state with a population of about 260,000, although it seems much smaller than that. I had been in Ft Wayne several times but had never visited it Museum of Art. I’m glad I finally got there in 2019. I don’t remember if it had the usual Renaissance paintings that most of the larger cities have, but I definitely remember the abstract wing as shown above and below. One thing … Continue reading Mosaic of Life #60 – Ft Wayne Museum of Art

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Mosaic of Life #10 – Wounded Warrior??

RJ Walters

When I took this picture in my wife’s garden in 2017, I didn’t immediately realize that the butterfly had a serious portion of his left wing missing. I know that if an airplane had that much wing destroyed, it would seriously hamper its ability to fly. I can’t imagine how that happened, but I like to dream that he got it while defending his family. 🙃 Continue reading Mosaic of Life #10 – Wounded Warrior??

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Mosaic of Life #15 – Prayer Plant

RJ Walters

This was an early analog post of a flower I bought from my favorite local nursery last November. I bought seven young plants to put on my patio door shelves in my RetCom apartment. They are all doing very well. The prayer plant is now about four times its original size, as shown to the right. Why is it called the “Prayer Plant”? Of course, I had to check that out. Here is what Google AI says about that: The prayer plant is a colloquial term for plants in the genus Maranty. The name comes from the way the leaves fold … Continue reading Mosaic of Life #15 – Prayer Plant

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Mosaic of Life #4 – I Gotta Get Back To It…

RJ Walters

Grandma Moses started painting at 78, which is about where I am right now. So, maybe it’s not too late for me. 🥴 This mosaic is one of those I made when I was working in the analog mode. It was inspired by a photo I had taken several years before. I still get numerous compliments on this mosaic, so I thought I will finally post it here. Since I officially opened this blog in mid-January I have been mainly concentrating on digital art, but I am finding that I am actually missing the messiness of the analog version, so … Continue reading Mosaic of Life #4 – I Gotta Get Back To It…

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Mosaic of Life #26 – My First Hutch…

RJ Walters

I spent from 1970 to 2000 in the corporate world. During almost all that time, I was also a woodworker. I inherited that trait from my father. Dad mostly specialized in grandfather clocks. I went another route. I was tuned into country furniture, including Hoosier Cabinets (shown below). I was especially proud of my first serious attempt at making a country hutch as shown above. When I retired from the corporate world, I was determined to try my hand at being a sole-proprietor making country furniture. I somewhat successfully did that for six years. Here are some random pictures of … Continue reading Mosaic of Life #26 – My First Hutch…

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Mosaic of Life #21 – The St. Lawrence Fisherman

RJ Walters

It’s been thirteen years since the Canada trip.How could time have flown by so fast?It was a month-long adventure that I won’t forget.Especially that sunrise along the St. Lawrence Seaway. We were traveling in the hinterland between cities.We were determined to follow the Seaway to its source.It was getting dark, so our attention was for a place to sleep.We feared we might have to sleep in the car. Then suddenly a small sign appeared on the side of the road.We were desperate so we took a chance.The person in the small shack labeled “Office” only spoke French.But his wife knew … Continue reading Mosaic of Life #21 – The St. Lawrence Fisherman