Travel
Betty is my 89 year old aunt. At age 18 she left South Dakota for California and has lived there ever since. At age 18 she showed a willingness to explore and she recently showed the same willingness when we carted her all over the Los Angeles area.
In this photo she is sitting complacently in the lobby of the Norton Simon Art Museum in Pasadena. I thought a full day of visiting places like Hollywood, the Santa Monica pier and an art gallery would do her in. But she never slowed us down!
Take a minute to look at this post from a while back (click here) and then consider the three biggest differences. And one similarity. Discuss.
One similarity that I can see is that they were both taken through the window of a car on an interstate highway. A difference? In one the world is whizzing by at 75 mph and in the other it is hardly moving.
For the record, one was taken in southern California and the other was taken in western South Dakota. And I love both places.
That there should be no snow or ice in Pasadena, California, might be enough for South Dakotans enjoying a brief spring break. But that there should be greenery and flowers and warm breezes is enough to erase a whole, harsh winter.
These “flowers” caught my attention because they are green and were in a deeply shaded part of a garden adjacent to the Norton Simon Museum of Art in the town that is the home of the Rose Bowl Parade.
Canon 5DII 1/80s f/4.0 ISO200 105mm
That’s me with the camera and behind me is the Santa Monica Pier in southern California. And way off in the distance is the peaceful Pacific ocean, smooth and welcoming on a beautiful spring day.
Just around the corner in the unfocused part of the photo is the owner of the sunglass kiosk. When she discovered me taking this photo, she said, “No photo’s allowed.” I said, “I’ve already taken the photo but the dock and the light and the reflections are public.” She insisted otherwise and after a short philosophical exchange about ownership, I walked away. And then I bumped in to Fred and Kathleen, two people from Watertown, SD. What are the odds?
The only wildlife I seem to photograph is captive, such as the butterflies I've posted. And now a lumbering brown bear, on display at a zoo a few miles south of Sitka, Alaska, named "The Fortress of the Bear." This young bear is one of two at the compound. They were orphaned after their mother had to be be destroyed. The crime the mom had committed was that she had made her way into the kitchen of a resort. Once a bear has tasted peanut butter and jelly, she is less inclined to eat berries and salmon. And before you know it, they'll be back in your kitchen. Here's another view. (click)
Well, it's not gurgling here and this isn't an ordinary downspout. It's a gargoyle and it is located on the famous Sainte-Chapelle chapel, just around the corner from the Notre Dame de Paris. It is a marvelous combination of stained glass, stone and air. It's not on the "normal" tourists stops so you'll have to make special efforts to get there. Interestingly, its inside the main judicial complex in central Paris so you'll also have to go through metal detectors.
One of the architectural features of many Gothic churches are the carved downspouts, known as gargoyles. And the sound of water rushing through the monster's mouth was described as a "gurgle," a word derived directly from the name of these conduits.
This is the inside view of one of the most famous domes in the world. It was designed by Brunelleschi and the exterior dominates the skyline of Florence. The exterior is what every visitor to Florence sees but many don't take the time to step inside the famous Duomo. The interior is difficult to photograph because it is fairly dark. But it is certainly worth the visit.
I call this "The Impossible Dome" because the church was built on such a scale that no one had the engineering skills and technique to cap the transept. Finally, Brunelleschi invented the process and the dome was built.
To get an idea of the scale of this dome, look closely for the people standing on the walkway around what is called the "lantern." I've never been to the top of this dome but it's on my list.
I read somewhere that for every day we spend fishing we should add a day to our lives and for every day we spend golfing we should take a day away. I guess it has something to do with the relative stress and frustration of the two activities.
It would be hard not to enjoy fishing in this place - even if the fish weren't biting. I use the term "fishing hole" tongue in cheek in this post since the man is actually fishing in Starrigavan Bay, which is a few miles north of Sitka, Alaska. The snowy mountain in the distance is Mt. Edgecombe, a potentially active volcano.
This is a shot that I took through our rental car window as Deb and I drove through a small village on the island of Corfu. Europeans drive much smaller cars than many Americans, in part because fuel is more expensive but also in part because less space is devoted to autos - such as this road which, to me, looks more like a alley.
I would have to say that in my opinion St. Peter's in Rome takes the prize as "Most Photogenic Interior." I have been looking at my photo collection, and I have a disproportionate number of the inside of this awe inspiring structure. There is so much to look at, I wonder if paying attention to the Mass would be secondary? I do know that one of the Calvinist reactions against Catholicism concerned adornment. Compare this sparse interior in a Calvinist church in England.
I like this view of the interior of the dome because you can clearly see the Latin Bible verse which came to be known as "The Petrine Doctrine." Peter became the first Pope in a 2000 year succession of Popes.
"Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam mean et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum" ("You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church, to you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven." Mt 16:18)
Jesus may have been making a little joke when he said this to Peter because "Peter" was derived from the Greek word for "rock." Was Jesus smiling when he said this? I ask this because in the Middle Ages there was actually a theological debate about whether Jesus ever laughed, since there is no specific documentation of this in the New Testatament.
For the traveler who has been to western European capitals such as London, Paris, Berlin and Madrid, Athens can be more than a little jarring. It is a little less polished, and a lot more congested than those other capitals. There are 11 million Greeks and 4 million of them live in Athens. Many of them seem to have cars!
But I love Athens, partly because it is so different from other European capitals and partly because if you grow weary of the modern city, all you have to do is step to a location where you can see the Acropolis and the Parthenon. Then you are reminded of the fact that in so many ways - our politics, our aesthetics, our view of human possibilities - Percy Shelly was right: "We are all Greeks."
This photo is a bit misleading in that there are green spaces in Athens. But the uniform color of the city visible here is accurate, though the brightly colored awnings of the many apartments is hard to miss. Another view of Athens and the suburbs A view of the Acropolis and the Parthenon from our hotel
