You do not ask a tame seagull why it needs to disappear from time to time toward the open sea. It goes, that’s all, and it is as simple as a ray of sunshine, as normal as the blue of the sky. ~ Bernard Moitessier (The Long Way)
Now that our son and daughter-in-law have returned home to Georgia our house is so very quiet… Yesterday for lunch we went to the beach. The weather was cool and damp and there were very few people there. I wasn’t the only one wearing a sweatshirt. At first we didn’t see our friendly gull.
7.10.16 ~ there was a crow raising quite a ruckus, all by himself, leaving us wondering what all the fuss was about
7.10.16 ~ a mother Canada goose swam by with two children
7.10.16 ~ gull monitoring Long Island Sound from the rooftop
Disappointed that we hadn’t seen our friend, we started to walk back to our car and then we saw him, standing on the sidewalk, almost as if he was waiting for us. He was quiet – no vocalizations this day.
So I got down on the grass and talked to him for a while. He sat down and allowed me to get closer than ever before. This time I had my camera!
After getting the picture above I pressed my luck and got the portrait at the top of this post. What a thrill! Somehow he knows we can be trusted. But again, he seems old and tired. I wonder if we will ever see him standing on one of the white posts this summer. Maybe those days are over. We’ll see…
4.16.16 ~ Avery Point ~ “Pig Iron” by Timothy Kussow
It’s been a while since we went down to Avery Point so we decided to take a sunset stroll last night. Believe it or not, our bathroom renovation still is not finished. It started on February 29 and was supposed to be done on April 1. A series of tile and fixture delivery delays stalled the job at various points. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that the new bathroom door will be put in place this afternoon as promised…
4.16.16 ~ Avery Point
After taking showers at my sister’s apartment for five weeks at least we could finally use the shower here, but we still had no toilet and had to continue using the one in the basement. We’ve only had the new toilet for two days now… One thing I’m thrilled about is my new linen closet in the bathroom!!! No more running out in the hall dripping wet when we forget to get a towel!
meteorological mast ~ 4.16.16 ~ Avery Point
We discovered something new installed along the Avery Point sculpture walkway, a meteorological mast.
The Marine Sciences Program is located on UConn’s coastal campus at Avery Point, on the shores of Long Island Sound. Our Program includes the Department of Marine Sciences and the Marine Sciences and Technology Center. Within this program, faculty, staff, and students carry out cutting-edge research in coastal oceanography using cross-disciplinary approaches. We offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees that are characterized by an interdisciplinary foundation, high faculty-to-student ratio, and individualized plans of study and research. Our program offers the intimacy and support of a small campus, coupled with the resources of a top-notch public university and internationally renowned scientists. ~ http://marinesciences.uconn.edu/
I loved the mauve tint to the sky opposite of the sunset.
4.16.16 ~ Avery Point
4.16.16 ~ Avery Point
4.16.16 ~ Avery Point
We’ve never had a renovation done before – this has been a surreal experience. At last, though, I think I may have a touch of spring fever!
Rich meanings of the prophet-Spring adorn, Unseen, this colourless sky of folded showers, And folded winds; no blossom in the bowers; A poet’s face asleep is this grey morn.
Now in the midst of the old world forlorn A mystic child is set in these still hours. I keep this time, even before the flowers, Sacred to all the young and the unborn.
Up and away for life! be fleet!- The frost-king ties my fumbling feet, Sings in my ears, my hands are stones, Curdles the blood to the marble bones, Tugs at the heart-strings, numbs the sense, And hems in life with narrowing fence. Well, in this broad bed lie and sleep,- The punctual stars will vigil keep,- Embalmed by purifying cold; The winds shall sing their dead-march old, The snow is no ignoble shroud, The moon thy mourner, and the cloud. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (The Titmouse)
Province Lands 10.10.15 ~ Provincetown, Massachusetts
This is another of those strangely potent places. Everyone I know who has spent any time on the dune agrees that there’s, well, something there, though outwardly it is neither more nor less than an enormous arc of sand cutting across the sky. ~ Michael Cunningham (Land’s End: A Walk in Provincetown)
Almost every time we go to Provincetown we go on one of Art’s Dune Tours to see the Province Lands sand dunes of Cape Cod National Seashore. In the past part of the tour took us down on the beach but we couldn’t do that this time due to severe beach erosion caused by storms the past couple of winters. So we had to be satisfied with exploring the dunes themselves. Unfortunately we weren’t able to book a sunset tour – those have been our favorites over the years.
If I die tomorrow, Provincetown is where I’d want my ashes scattered. Who knows why we fall in love, with places or people, with objects or ideas? Thirty centuries of literature haven’t begun to solve the mystery; nor have they in any way slaked our interest in it. Provincetown is a mysterious place, and those of us who love it tend to do so with a peculiar, inscrutable intensity. ~ Michael Cunningham (Land’s End: A Walk in Provincetown)
Pilgrim Monument, in the distance, is 252 feet high
a little tourist from Switzerland
words left on a shingle in the dune
Our guide kept showing us where the sands have been shifting in recent years, impressing on us the endless flow of nature. How strange that while present there, time seems to stand still, if only for a moment.
For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad. ~ Edwin Way Teale (Autumn Across America)
A light wind swept over the corn, and all nature laughed in the sunshine. ~ Anne Brontë (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall)
On this day we woke up in Bergen, rented a car, and made our way out of the city to Hardangerfjord. We spent most of this day driving the length of the fjord (179 km or 111 miles) and enjoying the scenery, making a couple of stops. The first thing we spotted was this tiny island with a little building sitting on it. It was so picturesque we looked for a spot to pull over so we could take pictures of it. As we were waiting to cross the highway we heard shrieks of delight and turned to see two girls coming down the side road on a bicycle. I got this picture (above) as they were turning around and getting ready to head back up the hill. They were gone as quickly as they appeared!
So then we walked across the highway and took lots of pictures of the little island, wishing we could somehow see the other side of it! It might be a boathouse?
Dawn-awakening coves, hammer-blows of light against the sky and out there in the fjord mouth, birdsong, clamorous, crescendo as from a works yard, the strident assembly of a brand new day, a sun will soon be ready for launching! ~ Stein Mehren (Early)
This pretty scene (below) was also to be appreciated – I love how the mountains were reflected in the fjord.
Late in the afternoon we left Flåm, boarding a high-speed ferry which transported us to Bergen in 5½ hours via Aurlandsfjord and Sognefjord. When we left the rain clouds seemed to be surrounding the mountains in misty ribbons. Enchanting…
Again, I’m not sure exactly where we entered Sognefjord, but it is the longest and deepest fjord in Norway. It was certainly very wide. We didn’t get many good pictures because of the rain and because the shores were so far away. Some of these pictures were taken from behind the ferry window and with the long lens.
Rain always comes from the clouds, clouds from mist and mist from moisture in the ground. ~ Carl von Linné (The Magic of Fjords)
No matter where I turn my eyes, great mountains over each other rise, flank to shoulder on they soar; to heaven’s rim and all between. We wail to hear the tumultuous roar: silence adds grandeur to the scene. ~ Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (The Magic of Fjords)
As we got closer to Bergen we saw more small houses tucked away on the banks of the fjord.
…turf roofs provided insulation and protection against winds and frost…
We arrived in Bergen very late, although it was still light out, and found our hotel, a short walk from the ferry. The next morning we picked up a rental car and began our exploration of Hardangerfjord. Having a car allowed us to park on the sides of the roads and hop out of the car to enjoy the scenery and hear the waterfalls!
scenery on the road between Skien and Notodden, Norway
more scenery
one of countless food storage houses (stabbur) we saw everywhere
when I dream of Norway I see many birch trees
Heddal Stave Church in Notodden
memorial to Olea Crøger
Olea Crøger (1801-1855) was the daughter of a pastor from Heddal Stave Church, known for collecting Norwegian folk music and folklore.
the church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary in 1242
on a headstone in the churchyard
in the cemetery
the west side of the church, and main entrance
altarpiece
After the Reformation alterations to the church were slowly made. The date of the painting showing the crucifixion of Jesus by an unknown artist is 1667. The one above it, of Christ rising from his tomb, was painted by Lars Osa about 1908.
above the altar
The Heddal portals are a mixture of fauna and floral ornamentation. The western portal is dominated by leaf carvings but the vines transform into snake shapes with poisonous heads. Other animal bodies can also be seen. … These motifs were renown in Norse religion and superstition but were reinterpreted in Christian art. They did of course provide a sense of familiarity for churchgoers who found it difficult to let go of their old heathen faith. At the same time these wild depictions became a symbol of the battle between good and evil in the world. This was a central topic both in the new and old faith. ~ Heddal Stavechurch guidebook
I noticed that most of the columns inside the church had a simple carving at the bottom of the arches, but on either side of the southern entrance portal columns there was a carving of a creature of some sort (above). In the picture below you can see the simple carvings of three oval leaves (?) on the bottom of the arches, about the same level as the lights.
So I asked the docent about it. She explained that men used to enter the church from the southern portal and were thought to be more likely to bring corruption into the church, so the gargoyle was needed to scare off the evil. The women, on the other hand, used the northern portal and were already protected by the Virgin Mary.
based on “Soria Moria Castle” by Theodor Kittelsen
It was chilly that day and we appreciated a cup of hot cocoa in the visitor center. I was delighted to find these copies of paintings on the backs of a couple of chairs. I’ve been using Theodor Kittelsen’s calendar art in my posts on the 15th of each month since August.
based on “White Bear King Valemon” by Theodor Kittelsen
