2010 The Year to Finish Projects

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I plan this year to finish the five major writing or writing related projects that I’ve been working on.
One: complete the editing of my biography about the life and times of Maria Sybilla Merian, a woman who captured my heart because she played with caterpillars all of her life, was a very important part of the development of the field of entomology, did her own meticulous research, and became famous. She persevered and did all of this even though everything was stacked against her. What a gal!
Two: finish the illustrations for a children’s book written by Beverly Crandall.
Three: complete the last bit needed for my picture book about Maria Sybilla Merian, and send the dummy book out searching for a publisher.
Four: send out a children’s book I have written about a ghost’s discovery that he is a ghost.
Five: complete the writing of a 50,000 word mystery novel during the month of January, even though I have a slow start right now. : )

Ice Cream, Frozen Yogurt

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Last weekend in Columbia, MO, I tried Tiger Ice Cream at MU. It was quite tasty and the scoops were the biggest I’ve seen in awhile.
Last night we went to Andy’s where I had my favorite––a concrete with raspberry topping (which means the topping is all mixed in). Delicious.
But my all time favorite is the ice cream I had in the little town of Wilster, Germany, at the Eiscafe Rialto across from the church. It was a dish called Spaghetti Ice Cream; looked like real spaghetti with tomato sauce! Tasted fantastic! I loved the combination of looks and taste. And if I’m ever back in Hamburg, I will definitely take the train to Wilster for more ice cream at the Eiscafe Rialto.

Researching Amsterdam

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I have taken Maria Sybilla Merian and her family from Frankfurt, Germany, where she was born to Nürnberg, back to Frankfurt, on to Castle Waltha in Friesland, northern Holland and now to Amsterdam.

This part feels different to me because I have not yet been to Amsterdam; I haven't seen it, I haven't walked the streets myself where she would have walked.  By far, the best source for obtaining a bit of this feel is the DK Eyewitness Travel Amsterdam guidebook!  It has given me new directions to pursue as well as showing in brilliant color what is there.
But I would still love to actually go to Amsterdam myself.  I want to see for myself what streets are like with canals running down the center.  I want to see the old house placques, the gabled houses, the "yawners" that used to be over the pharmacies, the skinny bridge.   I'd like to know how long it takes to walk the length of the Prinsengracht, what the Hortus Medicus looks like, etc., etc
I do hope that my readers cannot tell from my writing what feels so different to me.

Inside the Old Walls of Nürnberg

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cobblestone street in Nürnberg

The first photo shows the cobblestone street––notice the width of the street––and a modern wall that is boundary of someone's house/yard today.

outer wall of old city walls in Nürnberg

The second photo gives a better look at the outer wall.  The tower has the door which is an entrance to the upper walkway of the wall.  Here I can imagine the men, whose duty it was to defend the city, walking their assigned stretch and keeping a close surveillance of any activity outside the city.

Bat Column in Chicago

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BatColumnWhile in Chicago I also wanted to find the Bat Column, a steel and aluminum sculpture designed by Claes Oldenburg.  It is on the grounds of the Social Security Building on West Madison Street.  My friends and I walked down Madison Street, keeping an eye out for this column.  Unknown to me, my friends thought it was something else and were looking for another kind of bat column.  They were quite surprised to discover the sculpture was a baseball bat instead of a column of bats–the flying kind!

I always enjoy Claes Oldenburg’s gigantic sculptures of ordinary things. : )

Cloud Gate in Chicago

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Cloud Gate, nicknamed The Bean

Cloud Gate, nicknamed The Bean

This piece of sculpture is officially called the Cloud Gate, but has been nicknamed The Bean.  It was designed by artist Anish Kapoor and draws thousands of tourists.  The reflections in some places are like funhouse mirrors.

Under the Bean

Under the Bean

Standing underneath the Bean provides funhouse type views of your reflections.

The last photo is one taken to prove I found the geocache that is there.

Me standing at the Bean

Me standing at the Bean

Entering the old City of Nürnberg

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OutsideWallDoorInsideTheWallEnterCity
This is one of the more interesting entrances to the old city.  It curves inside the wall and is more like a tunnel.  You can see the curve in the middle photo.  The third photo shows the exit into the city, but it also gives a feel of how dark it would have been without lights.
Most of the old German cities have only a small section of their old wall remaining, due to the horrific bombing of World War II.  Some tore down remaining walls because the openings were too small to allow fire trucks into the old section, or they felt they needed to widen the streets for modern traffic.  I'm so glad that Nürnberg did not do this; being enclosed within a city wall is the only way you can get a feel for the size both of the city and the thickness and height of the wall.  It emphasizes the fact that everything is within walking distance, and helps give a feel to life "back then."
I was awed to think that both Albrecht Dürer and Maria Sylabilla Merian walked this town and through this entrance.

Washing Your Hands?

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old German stand for washing fingers

Old German washstand for washing fingers,
not hands, before eating.

Shown here is one style of what we would call an old washstand.  These were used in Germany in the 1600′s for washing your fingers before eating.  Yes, I did say fingers instead of hands. You didn’t wash both hands, instead you washed only the first two fingers and thumb of each hand.  No housewife wanted to waste water, and the first two fingers and thumb is all you use when eating. (Notice next time you eat…this is true!)   And, I’m sure that if you are the one who has to go outside with a bucket, draw the water from a well, and then lug it inside to use, you don’t want to be making a lot of trips to the well.

Inside St. Sebaldus Church

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St.SebaldusInsideSt.SebBaptism
These photos are from inside St. Sebaldus Church in Nürnberg, Germany.  Besides being another lovely old church, this one has special meaning for me.  This is the church Maria Sybilla Merian attended, and where her second daughter, Dorothea, was baptised.
When I learned that the statue of St. Sebaldus is easy to recognize because he is holding a church, I had to photograph it!
I was also interested in the very old baptismal font in the church.  It is the original one, made around 1430, and is the one used when Dorothea was baptised.  How awesome is that!  When our country is less than 300 years old, I just find it incredible to see something still in existence and over 550 years old–something older than the US.  (And as luck would have it, on this particular day, a baby had just been baptised when I entered the church.  You can see the photographer snapping pictures of the family.

Artists’ Pigments

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The sole reason I toured Albrecht Dürer's house in Nürnberg, Germany, was because I had read there was a display of his paint and where it came from.  Now Dürer lived 170 years before Maria Sybilla Merian did, but things were slow to change back in those days; I figured the source of paints would still be the same.  I had already spent two and a half years researching the old paint recipes to find a few which would be usable in the classroom during the study of art in the Middle Ages.  (I was bored with the time period and needed a way to "liven it up" 'cause it's a sure bet that if the teacher's already bored, the students will be triply bored, and the last thing we need is bored kids in the classroom.)

I was delighted to see that what I had read was confirmed here.

pigments used by artists at Dürer Museum

The blue pigment in the picture on top is azurite; the powdered form was kept on the half shell, it's source is the azurite rock behind.  The red pigment was new to me–it is called Drachenblut, or Dragon's Blood.  It comes from a red resin from the fruit of a palm tree found in Asia.

pigments used by artists

The center picture shows a pigment made from roots of the Rubia plant–also new to me–on the left.  On the right is a dish of cochineal bugs which, when crushed, make a purply-red pigment.  (And, yes, the dried bugs do stink if you get your nose too close to them!)

pigments used by artists

The bottom picture shows the beautiful bright red pigment derived from Cinnabar rocks from Spain.

One added note:  most rocks lose their color when crushed and cannot be used to make paint.  Those that do retain their color make very lovely paint, indeed.