Yesterday was First Friday Art Crawl, so in spite of the rain and traffic, off I went in search of Art, free wine and nibbles.

First up was the fanciest gallery in town.   I have been near it before, I knew it was there, but I had never actually walked in through the door.   As it was gloomy and raining I was the only one there, so I had a chat with the young woman who works there about selling art (she had just sold a painting and was looking for another one to display).   Their prices were mostly in the 2K  range for a small work, and 5-6K for a large painting.  In the sister gallery on the other side of the hotel, some Texans were trying to decide between the picture of the Longhorn or the buffalo, so another sale racked up for the gallery.

They also sold lawn ornaments.   But I saw nothing that said “buy me” to me, so I was off to the next stop, hip galleries in the alley downtown.

What could be hipper than a wailing saxophone? (at the hotel I heard distant bagpipes, definitely un-hip).  There is a secret sort of hipster bar hidden across the alley, I knew I was not among my people.  😉

This gallery was next door.  This artist’s work was much more interesting that the stuff I had seen earlier, and was much more affordable at about 1.2K for a large skillfully painted portrait.

I did not get a picture of the artists who were flogging their work at the comic book store.   But their pictures of aliens and outer space were quite reasonably priced at $30, and I am somewhat sorry that I did not buy one.   It was an interesting evening of art appreciation, perhaps next time I will find something I can’t live without (but no more books, really).

I had some time on my hands, so I went out walking with Miss P.   The good thing about walking your dog (especially one that walks as slow as Miss P) is seeing all the details that you miss when driving past.  We were sauntering along when we came across this.

So I immediately started singing the Hank Williams song “I saw the light” to Miss P and fortunately there were no other pedestrians out and about.  But I was thinking about time.

Here’s another sundial, with the motto “Tempus fugit”.  Yes it’s true, time does fly.   This one was put up in 1910, and it still keeps perfect time.

The clock in the courthouse is still working as well, but it has required considerable more maintenance.

Over in the center of what passes for downtown, this clock has been attached to a store since the 1930’s.  It’s motto “Dum Vivimus Vivamus is various translated as “while we live, let us live” or “let us enjoy life” or “let us live well” and all of these are good slogans to guide your life, whichever one you choose (assuming that you know Latin).

It was once important to the public to know the correct time, and many banks and all train stations had large clocks.   Now, you can just look at your phone to know the correct time.   Which is flying by.

Death and taxes, taxes and death.  Twinned together, but not exactly equal, one temporary, the other permanent.   If you don’t pay your taxes you might have to go to jail eventually (it being the job of the government to prosecute you, this could take some time.  Perhaps one might even succumb to old age 😉

Of course my own experience with death is limited, it is the great unknown.   A frequent plot device, it’s easy to write.   My favorite is Death as conceived by the late Terry Pratchett who speaks in CAPITAL LETTERS.   And of course all writing about death is fiction.   And the way taxes are appropriated is often fiction as well.