A Momentary Taste of Being

A wonderful lecture on the building of the Colosseum noted by Open Culture

A novelty for me, not for Boston.  In my touring Sunday, I passed by a statue of Benjamin Franklin that stands about a hundred feet away from the sidewalk plaque that celebrates the first American Public school.  I walked back to look at it and as I was exiting the fenced in area, I saw a statue of a donkey.  Now, this was odd.  I knew of the bull on/near Wall Street, but this donkey had no apparent explanation.  Walking closer I looked for an explanatory plaque.  I saw embedded in the pavement the object I sought, or so I thought.  Looking at it, it took me a moment to decipher what I saw.  There were two shoe-prints in each of which was the drawing of an elephant and at the base of this plaque, behind one if one were to stand in the shoes was the inscription--Stand in Opposition.  I realized what it was, but still didn't know why it might be there.  Then it occurred to me (and I would have to find the dates of the statue to affirm) b...

Plaques in the Old North Church Major John Pitcairn fatally wounded while rallying the Royal Marines at the Battle of Bunker Hill was carried from the field to the boats on the back of his son who kissed him and returned to duty. He died June 17, 1775 and his body was interred beneath this church In memory of The Revd Mather Byles Jr. DD. Rector of this Parish 1768-1775 and of the Parish of St. John 1788-1814. Loyal to the King he was banished by the act of 1778 " to suffer death without benefit of clergy " if he should return Plaque in the Holocaust Memorial Park April 12, 1945 OHRDRUF concentration camp THE THINGS I SAW beggar description. The visual evidence and the verbal testimony of starvation, cruelty and bestiality were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick. . .  I made the visit deliberately in order to be in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things, if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to propag...

So, I did as I said I would and took the train down to Quincy and toured the three houses that part of the Adams National Historical Park.  There are two "birthplace homes" on a small lot, representing the early life of John Adams, and the much more stately Peacefield, a true mansion of a house, though considerably bigger now than it was after Abigail Adams's additions.  The family continued to add to it through time resulting in a truly magnificent house.  Of interest to me were three points.  Being more acquainted with Southern Colonial residences, I was surprised to find the kitchens and the cooking areas within the main house. In most of the Southern House I've been in it is a separate building with a "butler's pantry" built into the house to serve as a warming station for food brought in from the kitchen.  The second point that impressed me is that nearly every room in the houses had a closet or storage space.  Again, in southern houses because th...

I love Boston--or at least the parts of Boston I've been able to see from the Back Bay to Charlestown.  Yesterday, I went down and walked most of the Freedom trail, stopping only at the Old North Church while cheerfully munching a cannoli from Mike's--a place so famous that you can order their cannoli kit online.  This was after a lunch at the Union Oyster House and stopping by the Market and picking up a half-pound of marinated olives to munch on along the way.  Today I've decided to chance Quincy, although the sky is fearfully overcast and it doesn't bode well for extended sightseeing.  This may be the one and only chance and while in the area I want to take advantage of it.  If I do so, I will have visited the residences of the first six presidents of the United States.  Not that I'm trying to "do" all the President's homes, but Adams has been of interest to me since I first saw the musical 1776 at Lincoln Center in the seventh grade (or thereabo...

I may repost on the appropriate date--but what brought it to mind is that a coworker had a chance to visit and said that the bridge in question is presently under the flood. The Concord Hymn Ralph Waldo Emerson By the rude bridge that arched the flood,      Their flag to April's breeze unfurled; Here once the embattled farmers stood;      And fired the shot heard round the world. The foe long since in silence slept;      Alike the conqueror silent sleeps,      And Time the ruined bridge has swept      Down the dark stream that seaward creeps. On this green bank, by this soft stream,      We place with joy a votive stone, That memory may their deeds redeem,      When, like our sires, our sons are gone. O Thou who made those heroes dare      To die, and leave their...

On Greenwich Mean Time.  And so today I went to see the Book of Kells--yes, it's overpriced and touristy, but it helps to support the college library and I did get to see two full spreads of the original.  It is a book and it is important. Afterwards toured Dublin Castle.  As with most of these things, the locals are singularly unimpressed, but I can tell you that I enjoyed it.  The plasterwork alone was worth the price of admission--that and seeing the Poddle River--it was in part the confluence of the Poddle and the Liffey that gave rise to the Black Pool from which the Anglo name for Dublin is derived.  (The Irish do not call the city the Irish spelling of Dubhlinn--they call it something else entirely--I can't even spell it and have no notion how it is pronounced.)  So after Mass this morning in a Church run by Discalced Carmelites, I finished the day with sung, choral evensong at Christ Church Cathedral.  I was floored both by the beauty of ...