Evil in Wooden Carvings

In earlier times, when printing presses were non-existant, and commoners illiterate,
the arts were essential as teaching tools.     Stained glass windows, marble sculptures,
bronze panels on baptistry doors were all vital sources of instruction and reflection.

Easter Sunday is one of the few Sundays in which it is possible to sit in the Great
Choir in Washington Cathedral.   While normally, the pageantry, the glorious organ
music and the stunning floral displays captivate my attention, I could not help but
note  that I was sitting next to the following armrest in my pew...

(Oh Dear!!!  Hope I'm not being given any divine message!! <LOL>)

On the side opposite, was an incredible wooden carving of a lion eating a serpent --
with Adolph Hitler's face!!  Not exactly an image of love and forgiveness....then again....
this was crafted at the time of WWII and one can certainly understand how
the carver saw Hitler as evil incarnate!

Ponder...

Frog versus Snake at Huntley Meadows,Virginia

I recently read David Carroll's "Swampwalker's Journal" for an Audubon class.   The artwork alone

should commend the book to those who are serious naturalists.   In this book, the author presents the observations he has made year after year while mapping the wetlands near his New Hampshire home.

When I read the book, I was struck by the following passage in which  Carroll recounts poking a snake on the nose with his walking stick after hearing the plaintive cry of an oversized frog:

"Two eerie calls, silence, then two more calls. The pattern continues. The repeated drawn out cries sound like the downscaled bleatings of a lamb...they seem to express the epitome of distress....Of all the possibilities that went through my mind as I searched for the source of these wails, I never imagined a frog.. The snake has one of the frog’s hind legs in his mouth, and winding backward, is dragging him up the slope... The frog continues to cry out. The snake coils and on coils, flexing his belly plates resolutely seeking traction in soft, plush haircap moss... I am not given to interfering with nature, but I find myself unable to walk away from the scene.....My human perception that no good can come of this for prey or predator moves me to gently tap the garter snake with my walking stick. The tenacious young hunter lets go of the frog’s hind leg. He curls back into the sweetfern and is gone.

The wood frogs nerve jarring expressions of distress fell on literal and figurative deaf ears in the case of the young garter snake. His was truly a voice  crying out in the wilderness. ... Neither protest nor imploration would seem to have a place in the natural world, yet their embodied evocations can be sensed in such dramatic existential voicings as the wood frog’s distress call.   It is hard for human perception, with its own evolution of cries, to ignore such an expression, even from the nonhuman world. One could well wonder about the possibility of plea in protest, and how far back they might go in the history of living forms... No band of wood frogs rushed in here. None ever will. And yet, in the face of an unfathomable unhearing, life cries out at times."  (pp.9-11)

Carroll,David M.; Swampwalker’s Journal: a wetlands year.  Houghton-Mifflin. New York,  1999  (It is available in paperback and on various e-readers)

This afternoon, I was faced with the exact same scenario. While every fiber ached for the suffering frog, I also realized that this is a setting in which nature must take its course.   The garter snake has as much right to its existence as the frog.  Like Carroll, I could not walk away...but unlike Carroll, I did not feel I had a right to intervene (and the barrier of the wooden boardwalk made that impossible anyway).

In this case, however, the snake seemed to realize, it truly had bitten off more than it could chew, and gradually the frog's leg was released -- whether it will be functional after such an encounter???  Of that, I am unsure.   Here then, is a photographic account of what happened.

Note, in this first picture, the snake has been well camouflaged in the remnants of last year's cattail fibers.

Note the leg is beginning to be released in this next shot.

The snake actually has to turn its head to let the lower foot out.

At this point the poor frog is really on stretch and I keep wondering whether it was able to get away.

I did not find out -- because the snake arched up as the reeds rustled, thus, the action shifted deeper into the cattail roots.    Some mysteries perhaps are better left unsolved.

Like Annie Dillard when she watched the frog become lifeless when a giant waterbug attacked it, I was stunned as this drama unfolded - but the naturalist within held firm to observe.  The compassionate part of the self hopes and prays for both frog and snake this evening...in their quest for survival.

Wet and Wild

I do carry a point and shoot with me...  (My camera of choice these days is the Panasonic DMC-ZS10. It is unobtrusive but has a wonderful Leica lens.)  

Yesterday I was reflecting on the creed of the Shutter Sisters. One of the tenets is: "I will allow for play and experimentation".   My car was in desperate need of a wash.  The moment was not lost on me!

"Wet and Wild"

I loved the sense of exhilaration, of freedom as the roller brush sudsed (sp?) up my car.

When the dryer came on, a different mood came over me and I remembered Salavador Dali's

"Rainy Day Taxi"at MOMA ...hopefully there are no snails on the windows of my car however!

Just a little fun on an April morning!  Enjoy!

Take me out to the ballgame!

The game had been iffy from the start.  (Indeed, one must question whether players can really perform at their best in 40 degree weather - whether at the end of March, or the beginning of November.   One has to be able to feel the ball to hold it,let alone throw it.)   Be that as it may, the downpours had given way to mere drizzle, and OPENING DAY proceeded as scheduled.

Now I confess to a certain amount of excitement when baseball season opens, for I grew up in Manhattan, and during the era of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris -- and their home run battles.
The Nats are not exactly at that caliber...yet...but hope springs eternal!

I had never been to opening day ceremonies before, but we arrived in time to see the Nats' lineup
stand awaiting the arrival of the color guard.   There is something a bit moving about seeing these
men take the field -- on an opening day -- just like the younger boys they once were -- hoping for a new start, a better season, hats off for something higher (than their astronomical salaries....).

Behind that lineup were the 5 armed forces generals who were to throw the opening pitches -- President Obama seems to show up only if the White Sox are in town! <LOL>

There was, however, another starting lineup - as impressive - and they stole the opening moments.

When I was younger, my grandfather used to fly a huge flag between two trees, this flag was so old that it only had 48 stars...and as children, we loved running under it and hiding behind it!   I have to say that seeing a huge flag unfurled like this - in person- is incredibly powerful.  TV cannot begin to capture just how large these field flags are!

The players took the field and The Atlanta Braves capitalized on an early lead.   We had men on base but just could not seem to get enough batting power to get them home. (sigh).


If the Nats got off to a sluggish start, alas, so did my beloved Teddy Roosevelt.

 For those of you who are not Nats fans (the majority of you!),  there is always a Presidents' race after the Fourth Inning and, poor Teddy has yet to win any of the races.  This year, his season began with a relay. Honest Abe pushed him over the top.  One might say, the race went to his head...

 After the race, there seemed to be a veritable "Who's Who" of mascots - from the Geiko Gecko
to Screech the Team Owl.   Those of you with sharp eyes may spot the Secret Service aide for our 4 Presidents...

We didn't have much hitting...we did have a few pitching changes...and some decent pitching.  This is a photo of one of our relief pitchers, who throws with incredible intensity despite needing near telescopes for glasses....

We also seemingly have a bright spot among our fielders.  Jayson Werth made his debut with a hit and also some stellar catches --he will be keeping the laundry crew quite busy.  I suspect he was looking up around him wondering how he landed here however....

Alas, when all was said and done...the bottom line went in favor of Atlanta...thankfully, it's a very long season...

Lego Architecture

Several weeks ago, I went to an unusual exhibit here in DC : “Lego Architecture: Towering Ambition” at the National Building Museum. The Museum itself is an architectural jewel that was designed in the late 1880‘s by U.S. Army General Montgomery C. Meigs to house diverse government agencies.   It is an edifice not often visited by native Washingtonians.  


The Great Hall is a huge space, but light and airy; a space that encourages visitors to consider their own scale -- relative to the colossal structure in which they are standing.  Within the hall,  is a wonderfully energetic interplay of light, space, columns and arches.

Surrounding the Great Hall are long hallways -- which have an orderly, and somewhat  military, feel.  

The LEGO exhibit itself features the work of Adam Reed Tucker.  Tucker trained formally to be an architect.  He lived in Chicago (which many consider to be the true birth place of modern architecture) when the events of September 11 changed his life.    He reportedly invested $150,000 in Legos (that's a LOT of Legos!!) and began to construct models of some of the world's most iconic modern buildings.

LEGOS allow building on a grand scale - far more than the ERECTOR sets of old!

The first table features a lone -- and eery --model of the one of the World Trade Centers:

I grew up in Manhattan.   Thus, I could not help but take note of the Empire State Building.

I realized just how dated the Empire State Building now seems-- and diminutive -- in terms of scale.  (Look at the Hancock Tower soaring above it on the same table!)

My favorite structure is one that has not been built because of the failing economy: the Chicago Spire.   I am in awe of the curves that Mr. Tucker achieved using only the traditional LEGO blocks!

I also really enjoyed the black (former) Sears Tower (now called the Willis Tower).  There are many times when I have flown into the Windy City and have been amazed at how close that skyscraper seems relative to my flight!

There was a true simplicity to the exhibit room.  The beautiful blue and the light from the windows allowed visitors to focus on the models themselves...

With respect to the photography?  I am learning that bright colored clothing can be problematic when taking photos through windows (on planes for example)  or trying to capture surfaces that are highly reflective.  The black skyscraper models readily mirrored back my light blue fleece!

Having been inspired by the models viewed, children, of all ages, enter an adjoining room with tables and multicolored LEGOS to try their hand at creating their own modest 

structures.   Midlife, so many adults are weighed down in life that words such as"play","imagination" and "fun" sound like alien and menacing terms-- to be distrusted at all costs!   We can learn much from our children!   

First Day of Spring!

While I was out in Minnesota, I did have a chance to do a little sightseeing.   One of the places visited was a conservatory in a small zoological park.  You can imagine that northerners become snow-weary as winter wears on.   That does not mean life comes to a standstill!   

Far from it!  The Science Museum was hosting a fabulous exhibit on the treasures of Tutankhamen. There was also a major hockey tournament in progress (Duluth lost to Eden Prairie in triple overtime when the puck ricocheted off a player’s skate).   Still, with two feet of snow still on the ground, everyone was looking forward to spring’s arrival; the observatory, with its soothing warm humidity, was well-attended.   The first of the exhibits was a collection of ferns.  ( I love the size variations and the ways in which the patterns interlace.)

From there,  we went to the orchid collection, and tucked away, near a Victorian lamppost, was a Lady’s Slipper!

The standout, however, was a gorgeous Stargazer Lily with its explosion of color!

Last night, hopefully many of you had a chance to see the gorgeous orange disc of a moon as it slipped above the horizon.    Today, back home, our forsythia is ablaze!!   

Enjoy the season!

The Hoarfrost of Heaven

What is it about snow that brings such a wonderful interior silence? As I looked out towards the horizon, I almost felt as if I was beholding Earth’s shapely curves.  The photo was taken on the trip home from Minneapolis. I felt love/compassion/awe for the beautiful textures beneath me and am reminded of the poetic verses from Job 38:29-30

"From whose womb did the ice come forth,
and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?
The waters become hard like stone,
and the face of the deep is frozen." (NRSV)