Blending in

Nature continues to amaze me with how birds and vegetation appear to blend into natural camouflage. My daughter and artist developed an entire theme about "camouflage" wich included a musical performance with her and band members wearing custom-designed camouflage attire.

Today, in my literal world, I am looking for camouflage examples.

First, while bird-watching out the living room window onto the bank of the Sycamore Creek, there appears to be a cardinal on a branch. That turned out to be Tomfoolery by the naked eye. Zooming in with my Nikon and it is just a leaf.

After having a sip from my coffee cup, out another part of the window, there appears to be a cardinal. This time, it is the real thing. In the fall, when leaves hang sparse on the limbs, they create silhouettes that could be birds.

Determining what the eye sees is part of the camouflage game.

That is a leaf

That is a cardinal

That is camouflage

That is real camouflage 

Artist, Mary George

Folk Mass

As one of the pioneers of folk masses in the United States, I have a funny recollection. The story images from the Columbus Dispatch describe the folk mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral. I was a member of a group that sang and played there every week.

One senior priest objected to "guitars in church." He was Father Muhaw. The thoughtful priest never wants to be too much trouble, and that is why he slept in his casket, so the story goes.

When it came to guitars, the elder priest leaped forward from the pew to register his objections before the band played on.

Visiting the spring house

My professor friend, Dr. James Rodger celebrated his birthday with a ride through the woods on an all-terrain vehicle to visit his spring house. I envy him for living on a farm in Pennsylvania where turkeys are common visitors, and sometimes bears make an appearance too.

I used to go to a spring house with my Great Uncle, Olver George who lived on a farm outside Chesterville, Ohio. The spring was located across a cornfield from the farmhouse.

A spring house is a covered shed or structure that keeps the water flowing from the spring clear of debris. It may also keep animals out to prevent contamination.

Uncle Oliver's structure was made of brick and stone that was covered with sod. It had a wooden door that opened into a small cave. Inside, he had constructed shelves to hold fruit and vegetables, primarily apples.

I don't know what Dr. Rodger keeps in his spring house, but I bet that since it is located a distance into the wooded shrubs that it would be inviting to animals, including bears that live in that area.

In the old days, a spring house was used as a refrigerator.

Dr. Rodger's spring house

Similar to Great Uncle Oliver's spring house

That's what I want to see

End of summer as not seen before

Living adjacent the Sycamore Creek, I have not experienced the change of seasons so closely before. As a child, I remember the falling leaves, but it seemed to me that the leaves didn't come down in earnest until the air was cold and crisp. Maybe, my memory had failed.

The fall equinox begins September 22nd, just a few days away. The leaves have been falling for a couple of weeks in the mostly dry environment. The nuts from trees are down too. Some berries remain on bushes, and many of them are poisonous. That is why they remain there uneaten by birds and animals.

Surely, there is still lots of green in the woods, but the leaves are turning. Some vines are already bright red.

The raking will begin over the weeks to come. The practice was to mulch or burn the leaves when I was young. Some leaves would be used to enrich the garden, while others would be burned with smoke rising from yards and fields all around.

A few leaf piles would serve as a fort for boys to play in.

Soon the air will cool sufficiently to repress the incessant insects. Then, I will enter the woods and walk the creek to do more exploring. Still, I will apply Deet to discourage the ever-present ticks that travel with the deer.

Artist Compendium: All at once

Artist Compendium: All at once: Stories for my grandsons at year 1 Aquilla and Eugene have been out in the world for one year now. I visited them with Gramrene shortly af...

All at once

Stories for my grandsons at year 1

Aquilla and Eugene have been out in the world for one year now. I visited them with Gramrene shortly after their arrival home with their Mom (Mary) and Mum (Vicki). We grandparents flew from Arlington, Virginia to London and taxied directly to see the boys.

At first, there was lots of concern about making sure that Mommy was healthy after delivering two boys into the world. Mum was in the delivery room watching to see what the babies would be, boys or girls. She was certain that there would be two, but uncertain about what.

When the doctor lifted out the first baby, it was a boy that would become Eugene. Then, the doctor delivered the next baby. Would it be a boy or girl? There was a brief moment of anticipation before the doctor announced that "It is another boy!"

Mum instantly broke into tears of joy, and nearly collapsed from exhaustion and excitement. Mary held the baby boys for the first time.

Over the next several weeks, midwife and nursing staff from the National Hospital Service would visit the babies to weigh them and to check their health. The health professionals were the parent's partners to ensure that the boys were eating properly and gaining weight.

When Eugene was riding inside Mommy, he was prone with lots of room to stretch. Aquilla was head down below and perpendicular. He was all balled-up. Therefore, it wasn't surprising that when Eugene was carried about that, he wanted to stretch the fullest extent, while Aquilla continued to be curled up.

Jimpa was there with Gramrene to help Mum and Mom who had planned quite well for the arrival of new babies. Until the actual moment when babies are of the household is the full extent of responsibility apparent.

The boys are here, all at once.

All at once

Soulful spirits

Contemplation.

A soul exists so long as body chemistry remains alive. A soul is described as the spiritual part of a human being that is believed to be immortal. Immortality is eternal life. How is a soul supposed to be eternal when the host body dies?

One might argue that an individual's soul is kept alive in the minds of those who knew and remembered them while they were alive. A person's soul might be recalled by the artifacts that they leave behind. Some of the artifacts might be physical while others might be ideas.

There is a notion that soulful energy may remain intact after death as it moves freely around the universe. Some might argue that power dies and is otherwise dispersed upon death. It simply goes away.

Could it be that human beings are so close to answering these questions that they cannot comprehend their presence?

Step back to create a context for human life and existence.

The universe as we know it is infinite in all directions, and we may not be aware of all of the possible dimensions. It is microscopic. It is macroscopic. It is also kaleidoscopic all at once.

All living things begin with seeds of life from which organisms have a birth and a lifecycle. Some propagate successfully to create offspring. Others do not. In both instances, human beings will be remembered by someone and more for who they are or were. In that sense, individual souls may be remembered on merit.

A spirit is said to be the nonphysical dimension of a person. Its contents are emotions and character at a minimum. Spirits are brought to life and kept alive when other living persons remember their individual embodiment, for better or for worse.

Artist Compendium: The age of infographics and interactive media

Artist Compendium: The age of infographics and interactive media: See the fire of London as never before. Obviously, to all who are on the web and engaged in social media, this is a time of much interacti...

The age of infographics and interactive media

See the fire of London as never before.

Obviously, to all who are on the web and engaged in social media, this is a time of much interaction with the stuff we read and the people who produce it. I have been trying to get an old fashioned book published, and while doing so, I became intensely aware of the shortcomings of a book.

The information is all there. However, the printed page and digital text are so flat feeling what with videos streaming on Facebook, while my tables lie rigidly on the page.

This morning while reading a report of the fabled London fire, you may "retrace Samuel Pepys' steps" whilst he runs from the approaching fire. Readers may advance along the map with textual descriptions that pop up from locations complete with images that accompany them.

"The detailed private diary that Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 was first published in the 19th century and is one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period. It provides a combination of personal revelation and eyewitness accounts of great events, such as the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War, and the Great Fire of London." 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pepys#/media/File:Samuel_Pepys.jpg

See the BBC presentation here.

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20160902-retrace-samuel-pepys-steps-in-the-great-fire-of-london

Samuel Pepys

Map of London, BBC