There is the standard sort of holiday decor, it can be purchased anywhere, from craft stores, to department stores, to grocery stores. And then there is my take on holidays, in which I spend minutes arranging a plastic Godzilla into a scene of holiday magic. Here is one such photo, which I took this year for Valentine’s Day. As we all know, the only sweetheart of Godzilla is Tokyo.

This year I was rather busy, so I went with this simple arrangement.

And then there are these people in the neighborhood, who also have an interesting sense or humor. They bought a number of skeletons for last Halloween, and instead of taking them down, have decided to keep these as seasonal decorations. Here is their view of Valentine’s Day.

The great thing about dressing skeletons is that you don’t have to worry about clothes being too small. Models envy their size -0, they can wear anything.

So here we are in the Easter season, so of course I had to spend minutes again in setting up a suitable scene for my Godzilla. I used to use dinosaurs for these pictures, but somehow Godzilla seems more festive.

And then there are the lovely neighbors, they cheer me up every time I drive by their house.

I would say that they spend hours planning their scene. Who would have thought that one could have so much fun with skeletons. And toy Godzillas (the real Godzilla is not so much fun.)

Where the ocean touches the land is the beach, a place intermediate between earth and water. The seaside (as defined by me) is the place beyond the beach, where one typically finds tourists. Where one goes for entertainment as one sees the sea.

This piece of art is on a cliff above the ocean along a walking path. It’s a giant puffin, perhaps it is there to frighten the tiny puffins who live in the rocks offshore. How does one create such a work? Why you start by collecting all the bits of plastic debris that wash up on the beach, sort them by color and before you know it, it’s done. And it’s a reminder to care about what goes into the water.

What? You don’t care for puffins or walking along a path? Well then right there in town there is a lovely giant sculpin or something(?) made out of similar flotsam. The effect of the whole is really much greater than the parts (but looking closely at the parts is also interesting.)

If a tree falls in the forest, what do you do with a massive trunk? Why one whips out the trusty chainsaw and creates art. (Actually, I’m not sure if this was done with a chainsaw, but it might have been). This is a splendid carving which the local fish cheerfully posed for.

Of course what is a seaside without a fish shack selling the delicious bounty of the ocean. There are a couple of these located along the seafront, including one that will clean and cook whatever you have just caught, providing that what you caught was a crab. I must say that they were quite delicious, and now I am dreaming of a return by the sea.

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.