The Crown

After rehearsing in Stamford, our choir traveled to the Crown Hotel in Harrogate (shown below) where we arrived just in time to take our bags to our rooms and head out to find something to eat for a late supper.

Here's how The Crown describes itself: "This glorious Victorian exercise of Italian Renaissance in sandstone has a long and distinguished history that reaches back to the early 1600s when visitors first began to drink the waters of the world's strongest known Sulphur Well The name Crown may have been adopted around the time of Charles II's restoration of the monarchy in 1660, when a much smaller inn overlooked the Sulphur Well to the west. Since then, the Crown thrived, reaching 'gigantic proportions,' by the time Lord Byron and his 'string of horses, dogs and mistresses' were guests in 1806 . . . . When Elgar stayed at the Crown, it was probably at the peak of its Edwardian perfection. After being sequestered by the government in 1939, the Crown reopened to visitors in 1958."

St. John's Pulpit

 

 

Again, according to Wikipedia, the pulpit in St. John the Baptist's Church in Stamford "dates from 1953, and was donated by the restorers of the church at that time."

All Shall Be Well

 

 

The Julian Shrine 

Norwich, England

Cell

 

 

"In 14th century Norwich a young woman fell under a life-threatening illness, during which she experienced a series of extraordinary visions. These revelations transformed her life, and after a miraculous recovery she took vows to live as an anchoress, locking herself away in a small cell attached to a church in Norwich" -- The Julian Shrine

St. Julian's

 

"St Julian's is a Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England in Norwich, England. It is part of the Diocese of Norwich. During the Middle Ages, when the city was prosperous and possibly the second largest city in medieval England, the anchoress Julian of Norwich lived in a cell attached to the church. The cell was demolished during the 1530s.

Due to a lack of funds, the church slowly became dilapidated during the 18th century. It underwent a restoration after one side of the building collapsed in 1845. The tower, also in danger of collapsing, was repaired in 1934. In June 1942, St Julian's received a direct hit during the Norwich Blitz. The only one of the four churches destroyed in Norwich during World War II that was rebuilt, it reopened in 1953." -- Wikipedia

Song of Mary

One of the pieces we sang at evensong in Norwich Cathedral was a setting of the Magnificat:

He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble and meek.

He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.

IX

Norwich Cathedral

"The IX monogram or XI monogram is a type of early Christian monogram looking like the spokes of a wheel, sometimes within a circle.

The IX monogram is formed by the combination of the letter 'I' or Iota for Iesous (Ιησους, Jesus in Greek) and 'X' or Chi for Christos (Χριστος, Christ in Greek). The spokes can also be standalone, without the circle. These monograms can often be found as ancient burial inscriptions." -- Wikipedia

Tariffs

Actually, the news about tariffs was just a good excuse to try out this Pilot Retro Pop ballpoint pen and to photograph it in the morning light streaming through my dining room window. A really smooth writer, with a nice wide .1mm tip. Like it much better than the Jetstream ballpoints. But, back to tariffs, I wonder if even ballpoint pens will cost more now. Sheesh! What a crazy world.

"Be Merciful"

Yesterday's event in Washington, D.C. reminded me of this image I captured in front of St. John's Episcopal Church back in 2017. It was at yesterday's service that Rev. Budde reminded Trump of his obligation to "be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land."

False Votes

Thomas Jefferson "sketched a scenario to James Madison whereby a future president, having been defeated for reelection, refused to accept the outcome and civil war threatened, 'If once elected, and at a second or third election outvoted by one or two votes, he will pretend false votes, foul play, hold possession of the reins of government, be supported by the states voting for him, especially if they are the central ones lying in a compact body themselves and separating their opponents: and they will be aided by one nation of Europe, while the majority are aided by another.' The solution would be to restrict the president to a single term (a stricture Jefferson would ignore in 1804 when he ran for a second presidential term)." Cogliano, A Revolutionary Friendship, p. 203

Executive Power

Something to think about. According to Cogliano, the Virginia's 1776 constitution sought to "diffuse and limit executive power." To wit:

"The governor would work with an eight-man Council of State, whose members served at the pleasure of the assembly. The Constitution vested executive power in the council rather than the governor, who could not call out the militia, make appointments, or grant pardons without consulting the council. The governor and council should exercise the military authority through a Board of War appointed by the House of Delegates." 

Odds & Ends

Decorations down and safely packed away. Just a few odds and ends left. Interesting phrase, that. According to the Free Dictionary, it refers to:

"Fragments and remnants; a miscellaneous collection. This term may have originated as odd ends, meaning short leftovers from bolts of cloth. It was transferred to miscellany of other kinds by the mid-sixteenth century, and by the mid-eighteenth century it had become the modern cliché."

Hydroelectricity or Recreation?

Bill, yesterday, asked why the hydroelectric plant on Belle Isle was abandoned. Here's Wikipedia's scoop on the matter as well as another excellent question to ponder:

"Silt in river water wore down turbine blades, bearings and bushings. Logs and debris damaged the entrance gates of the mill race and mud had to be cleaned up after floods. Power production varied with river flow and was always low in summer.

In the mid 1950’s the price of oil was so low that petroleum products became the fuel of choice (local gasoline was .25 a gallon). Had anyone foreseen the great increase in costs after the Arab Oil Embargo in 1967, this plant might have remained competitive. Question: would power production have been as valuable as the recreational benefits we now have from a free flowing river?"

Autumnal Sun

Lately, I've been intrigued by the shadows cast by our late autumnal sun.

I am the autumnal sun,

With autumn gales my race is run;

When will the hazel put forth its flowers,

Or the grape ripen under my bowers?

When will the harvest or the hunter's moon

Turn my midnight into mid-noon?

I am all sere and yellow,

And to my core mellow.

The mast is dropping within my woods,

The winter is lurking within my moods,

And the rustling of the withered leaf

Is the constant music of my grief…

~ Henry David Thoreau

"Ears"

Powhatan Creek Trail

Curious about why we call corn "ears"? Well, so was I. So I looked it up. Here is some of what I found from Grammaphobia:

The “ear” of corn that we eat in summer and the “ear” that we hear with are unrelated. Yes, these are two separate and distinct words, both of which have been with us since Anglo-Saxon days and have different prehistoric roots.

In Old English, Middle English, and Modern English, the word “ear” has been used to mean a spike or head of grain. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “the part of a cereal plant which contains its flowers or seeds.”

Here’s a typical citation from the OED: “The ripen’d Grain, whose bending Ears Invite the Reaper’s Hand” (from a 1740 poem by William Somerville).

This spiky agricultural “ear” is descended from an ancient Indo-European root that’s been reconstructed as ak (“sharp”). It became the Proto-Germanic akhuz, which eventually gave us the Old English word ear around the year 800. 

"Contraband"

Odd story about how this tea from Sweden came into my possession. Knowing how much I liked tea, a friend had it shipped to me in early June while he was in Stockholm. Only I didn't learn about it until much later in July because it had been seized and later released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection as suspected--wait for this--"contraband." I kid you not.

Turns out that on June 29, 2010, the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act became law, an act that made it illegal to use the U. S. Mail to ship cigarettes and most other tobacco products. In addition to Federal law, several states and localities also have specific laws prohibiting the purchase and interstate shipment of tobacco products. 

So, evidently, one of our hardworking U. S. agents decided this "tea" was actually some kind of fancy tobacco and had it seized until he or someone else decided, "Oh, heck! It probably is just some kind of tea" and let it pass. 

That still didn't prevent me, though, from receiving all kinds of ominous sounding notices, including one from the United States Criminal Investigations Service Center threatening me with--I kid you not--"both Federal and State criminal and civil liability, including fines, penalties, and imprisonment."

All of which sort of reminds me of a certain song. :-)

Emerson

Frelinghuysen Arboretum

Morristown, New Jersey

"The landscape belongs to the person who looks at it." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Spotted Joe-Pyeweed

Wentworth Farm Conservation Area

Amherst, Massachusetts

"Spotted joe-pyeweed thrives in marshes, rich fens and swamps. It also does well in man-made moist expanses such as ditches, seepage areas and wet fields. Above all else the plant flourishes in the non-shaded environments that are also abundant in wetlands.

It is a larval host to the Clymene moth, the eupatorium borer moth, the ruby tiger moth, and the three-lined flower moth. The plant also attracts butterflies and honeybees." -- Wikipedia

Pollinator Research

Wentworth Farm Conservation Area

Amherst, Massachusetts

"The Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (CAFE) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst integrates research and outreach education in agriculture, food systems and the environment. The Center is the contemporary standard bearer of the university’s land-grant origins. It provides linkages from the University with vibrant business, policy and public interest sectors in the state, including agriculture, the horticultural 'green industries,' environmental decisionmakers and food system interests. The Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, UMass Cranberry Station, UMass Extension and the Water Resources Research Center are all units of the Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment. The Center is based in the College of Natural Sciences at UMass Amherst and also works with the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the College of Engineering." -- University of Massachusetts Amherst

Staghorn Sumac

Wentworth Farm Conservation Area

Amherst, Massachusetts

Staghorn Sumac "flowers in June to July depending on the part of the country in which it is found. Bees, wasps, and beetles are strongly attracted to the flowers. Some bird and small mammal species eat the fruits. The fruits are sometimes soaked in water to make a tart, somewhat lemony drink. It is occasionally cultivated for its bright red to maroon fall color and persistent red fruits. Numerous lacey leaf cultivars exist. Without attention, it can become weedy." -- U. S. Department of Agriculture