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| Photo: Marge Ishmael |
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| Photo: Marge Ishmael |
And, yes, they do dye the Chicago River green, with an eco friendly vegetable dye (I'm told):
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| Photo: Dani Fasone |
Saturday, March 14, 2015
St. Patrick's Day Parade
It felt very springlike at today's St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Chicago.
And, yes, they do dye the Chicago River green, with an eco friendly vegetable dye (I'm told):
And, yes, they do dye the Chicago River green, with an eco friendly vegetable dye (I'm told):
Thursday, March 12, 2015
UK woodland being sold off
Privatisation of UK woodlands is happening by the back door. Plans to build luxury holiday cabins, majority-owned by venture capitalists, in public forests put protected wildlife and their habitats at risk: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/feb/17/privatisation-uk-woodlands-happening-by-backdoor
There was a similar article in the Telegraph back in 2011. Between 1997 and 2010 the Forestry Commission sold almost 12,000 hectares of forest: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/8964197/Swathes-of-British-woodland-sold-off.html
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Geese at 63rd Street
A warm day at 63rd Street Beach (around 55 degrees Fahrenheit) and the geese are enjoying it as much as the humans!
And there were some white-winged scoters:
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| Photo: Marge Ishmael |
And there were some white-winged scoters:
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| Photo: Jane Masterson |
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Opossum sighting
Today's warmer weather brought out an opossum that was hibernating in our wood pile. You can just about see his tiny fangs in the second photo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum
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| Photo: Marge Ishmael |
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| Photo: Mark Oreglia |
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Mini Moon - Worm Moon - Sap Moon
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| Photos: Marge Ishmael |
This evening we saw the Full Moon rise -- this is the Mini Moon. Native Americans called this March full moon the Worm Moon (when worms were appearing in the soil) or Sap Moon (it being the time of Maple tapping). http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/tonights-full-moon-will-be-an-oddly-shrunken-micromoon/ar-BBig5jZ?srcref=rss
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Human headed winged bull
It's a cold and snowy Sunday so I decided to spend it at The University of Chicago's Oriental Institute: http://oi.uchicago.edu/
The colossal bull's head (below) is from the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis - present day Iran. Carved from dark grey limestone and highly polished, the head measures over two metres high and a metre and a half wide and weighs an estimated ten tons. The head was attached to the body of a bull that still stands as one of a pair flanking the northern portico of the so-called Hundred-Columns Palace (also called the Throne Hall).
Entrances to important buildings were frequently ‘protected’ by pairs of colossal animals (some of which were mythological guardian creatures) in the ancient Near East. Sometime in the past, perhaps when the city was ransacked, both heads became detached from their bodies. They were found not far from the bodies during excavations in 1932/3 by archaeologists from the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute. Unfortunately, the ears and horns, which were not carved from the same block of stone but added separately, were not recovered.
This is an old photo of the bull's head being restored once it got to Chicago:
And below is a human-headed winged bull from what is now Iraq. It reminded me that similar artifacts have been destroyed by ISIS militants in northern Iraq this week: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150227-islamic-militants-destroy-statues-mosul-iraq-video-archaeology/
"This colossal sculpture was one of a pair that guarded the entrance to the throne room of King Sargon II. A protective spirit known as a "lamassu", it is shown as a composite being with the head of a human, the body and ears of a bull, and the wings of a bird. Viewed from the side, the creature appears to be walking; but when viewed from the front, it appears to be standing still. Thus it is actually represented with five, rather than four, legs."
The colossal bull's head (below) is from the ancient Persian capital of Persepolis - present day Iran. Carved from dark grey limestone and highly polished, the head measures over two metres high and a metre and a half wide and weighs an estimated ten tons. The head was attached to the body of a bull that still stands as one of a pair flanking the northern portico of the so-called Hundred-Columns Palace (also called the Throne Hall).
Entrances to important buildings were frequently ‘protected’ by pairs of colossal animals (some of which were mythological guardian creatures) in the ancient Near East. Sometime in the past, perhaps when the city was ransacked, both heads became detached from their bodies. They were found not far from the bodies during excavations in 1932/3 by archaeologists from the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute. Unfortunately, the ears and horns, which were not carved from the same block of stone but added separately, were not recovered.
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| Photo: Marge Ishmael |
This is an old photo of the bull's head being restored once it got to Chicago:
And below is a human-headed winged bull from what is now Iraq. It reminded me that similar artifacts have been destroyed by ISIS militants in northern Iraq this week: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/02/150227-islamic-militants-destroy-statues-mosul-iraq-video-archaeology/
"This colossal sculpture was one of a pair that guarded the entrance to the throne room of King Sargon II. A protective spirit known as a "lamassu", it is shown as a composite being with the head of a human, the body and ears of a bull, and the wings of a bird. Viewed from the side, the creature appears to be walking; but when viewed from the front, it appears to be standing still. Thus it is actually represented with five, rather than four, legs."
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| Photo: Marge Ishmael |
Monday, February 23, 2015
Bohemian waxwing
My intrepid friend, Jane, took this amazing photo of a Bohemian Waxwing when we took a walk at Jackson Park's Wooded Island this afternoon. It was pretty cold at 19 F. (minus 7 centigrade) but warmer than last week!
Bohemian waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) is a starling-sized passerine bird that breeds in the northern forests of Eurasia and North America. http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/bohemian-waxwing
On the same trip, we saw a crow eating food scraps:
And a white-winged scoter (sea duck): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-winged_scoter
Bohemian waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) is a starling-sized passerine bird that breeds in the northern forests of Eurasia and North America. http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/bohemian-waxwing
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| Photo: Jane Masterson |
On the same trip, we saw a crow eating food scraps:
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| Photo: Marge Ishmael |
And a white-winged scoter (sea duck): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-winged_scoter
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| Photo: Marge Ishmael |
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