Out of the Jurisdiction: Easter

Old Mission Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, October 2012 (iPad photograph)

From the plaque in the foreground:  While it was still dark, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb and saw the stone had been moved from the entrance.  Mary stood weeping and saw Jesus standing there.  Though she did not know it was Jesus, Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping, for whom are you looking?"  Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, "Please, if you are the one who carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him."  Jesus said, "Mary!"  She turned and exclaimed "Teacher!"  Jesus said, "Go to my brothers and sisters and tell them I am ascending to my Father."

Today I am in Amsterdam, so I am not likely to be looking at other blogs or responding to comments on this one.  But, I have posts to show you while I am away.  See you in a week.

Tea for Two

Please sit down.  Would you like a lemon slice with your tea?

We are at the Silas Robbins House again for the last post in this series.

It takes a guy with long arms to get this photograph.

Out of the Jurisdiction: Good Friday

In August of 2011, I visited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art without my camera.  But, I did have my iPhone.  This limestone carving of the crucifixion is from Metz, France, around 1400 - 1450.  

A Toast

Back in July 2010 I wondered whether I would be able to keep this blog going for a month.  Well, today is the 1,000th post.  With posts every day, thanks to the wonders of autoposting when I am traveling.  Like today.

People actually look at the pictures and read what I write.  They frequently leave me comments.  What a hoot!  Thank you!

Other bloggers who have reached new plateaus often reflect on what changes they will make going forward.  No new resolutions for me.  I wouldn't keep them.  I plan to keep going, pretty much as I have.

I depart today and will be back the second week of April.  Until then, I have posts scheduled.  See you!

The Hall at Silas Robbins House

The second floor center hall of the Silas Robbins House is above.  The stairs are below.

Sitting Room at the Silas Robbins House

Here are two looks into the sitting room of this wonderful inn
in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

Details from the Silas Robbins House

We are continuing the tour of the Silas Robbins House in Wethersfield, Connecticut.

Here are a bust and a candy dish.  She seems quite
disappointed that the candy dish is empty.
I know the feeling.

Dining at Silas Robbins House

Remember the beautiful Wethersfield bed and breakfast you saw in February and August?   

This is the dining room.

Ford V8 Deluxe

Though I am not a car fanatic, I couldn't walk past this beauty without aiming my camera at it.

Hartford Steam Boiler Building

I have shown reflections from this building before, up close.  Here it is again, from a distance.  

And, here are more photos with reflections on James' blog, Weekend Reflections.

Wading Birds of the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

White ibis.

The Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is a 13,000 acre sanctuary at the western end of the Everglades in southwest Florida.  It is home to the largest stand of old growth bald cypress in the country.  There is a 2-1/4 mile boardwalk leading visitors through a variety of natural environments.  Small differences in soil types, elevations and water affect the flora and fauna tremendously.  The wading birds live in the wetlands.

Great white egret.

Wood stork.

A young green heron.

Great blue heron.

St. Patrick's Day: The Parade - Finale

And here is the last set of photos from the St. Patrick's Day parade.

Tomorrow will be a change of pace.

St. Patrick's Day: The Parade

Like I said, I can never decide which parade pictures to show, so here are four.

St. Patrick's Day: The Crowd (Again)

Before we go to the parade tomorrow, here is a second day of crowd pictures.

St. Patrick's Day: The Crowd

Happy St. Patrick's Day.  

I can never make up my mind about parade and

crowd photos, so here are four crowd photos. 

Daytripping: President McKinley Directs Traffic

President William McKinley directs traffic in front of the Adams Free Library in northwestern Massachusetts.

Adams is pretty quiet, so McKinley doesn't have much work to do.

President McKinley was a strong supporter of the American textile industry, supporting tariffs to protect the industry from foreign competition at the end of the nineteenth century.  The owners of the Berkshire Textile Company invited McKinley to visit on three occasions.  After President McKinley was assassinated in 1901, Adams remembered its famous visitor by commissioning a statue of the Ohio-born president to stand in a small traffic circle in front of the town's library.

The Berkshire factory closed nearly 60 years ago as most New England textile mills followed cheap labor to the South.  But, the company is the shell on which Warren Buffett has built his Berkshire Hathaway financial behemoth.

Daytripping: Sol Lewitt VIII

Some of the Lewitt works at MassMOCA have reflective paint.  Like reflections?  Click here.

Daytripping: Sol Lewitt VII

Some Lewitt works at MassMOCA are geometric.  Some are irregular.  Some look good glimpsed through a window.

Daytripping: Sol Lewitt VI

This great lady saw me taking photos and struck a funny pose, not thinking that I would be quick enough to catch her.

Lewitt thought the idea of the art was important, not necessarily the execution.  So, he wrote instructions for other artists to execute.  Here are two examples of the instructions.

Daytripping: Sol Lewitt V

This Lewitt grouping at MassMOCA is not my favorite, but the photo does show the scale of the galleries and the art work.  And some of you will like it better than I do.  Maybe those of you who are black and white fanatics.

Daytripping: Sol Lewitt IV

Let's try a couple of photos in which some helpful MassMOCA visitors agreed to stand and look at the Lewitt works.

Daytripping: Sol Lewitt III

Here is a Sol Lewitt study in blue at MassMOCA.

Daytripping: Sol Lewitt II

We will warm up with some Lewitt works at MassMOCA that are not especially challenging.

Daytripping: Sol Lewitt !

OK.  Here is the real reason I took a trip up to MassMOCA (other than to visit an old roommate who lives nearby and who is also visiting me in Florida this week).  MassMOCA has devoted an entire three-story building to an exhibition of the works of Hartford and NewBritain native, Sol Lewitt.  I have shown and explained his work several times before, so I will spare you a repeat.  And, I know that some readers have commented that this is not their cup of tea, so if you are in that group, sorry, you can take some time off and come back for St. Patrick's Day.  Those who stay with me for the next week are in for a treat.

Like reflections?  Click here.

Daytripping: The Cartographer's Conundrum

Another current installation at MassMOCA is The Cartographer's Conundrum by Sanford Biggers.  I read the explanation twice and I still have no idea what Mr. Biggers had in mind.  If nothing else, his installation gives me an excuse to show you a big hall at MassMOCA.  What I liked was the way the colored plexiglass panels on the left cast light on the walls.

Daytripping: MassMOCA

The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art -- MassMOCA -- is in the old mill town of North Adams, Massachusetts, two hours north of Hartford.  It occupies several abandoned factory buildings that have been renovated as galleries for large-scale modern art.  MassMOCA is outstanding!


This is Democracy,  a 2012 installation by Gisele Amantea, a wall flocking that recreates on a large scale a work by the American architect Louis Sullivan.  Democracy is in a recent MassMOCA exhibition devoted to Canadian art.

To the side is Optic Nerve, a 2010 mixed media work -- a van riddled with holes and lighted from within -- by Kim Adams, also in the Canadian exhibition.

Finally, here is a small part of Compound, a 2011 installation by Sopheap Pich in the exhibition "Invisible Cities."  In addition to showing you part of this work, this photo shows how the rough brick walls and polished wooden floors of the old factory buildings add richness to the atmosphere of MassMOCA's galleries.

The art won't be everyone's favorites, but the place is just amazing.