22. Traditions old and new. Part 1

Fatima Shrine 12/25/2015

Because it is about one mile from our house, we usually we make a trip to Fatima Shrine sometime during the Christmas holidays to see the lights . This time we went on Christmas evening with the Jacob family. I like the display much better when the snow is falling but we enjoyed the company and the warm weather. We didn't take pictures.


Douglas State Forest 12/26/2016

Hiking outdoors is a newer holiday tradition for us. Ben, Paul and I went to Douglas State Forest and hiked about 7 miles around the Connecticut and Rhode Island boundaries. It was a beautiful day and several people were enjoying the trails with and without dogs. We did not enjoy the ATVs that were bypassing vehicle blocks to surround the rest of us with noise and fumes. They waved politely - I'll give them that. But it was the only negative part of the trip. The footpaths were varied. The trunk trail was very flat and wide and others were hilly, narrow and very rocky. We explored a few old house foundations and Paul explained some of the clues in the landscape, both man-made and natural, that he used as a land surveyor to figure out the locations of various boundaries in farm property.

I had a great opportunity to use the new hiking sticks Paul gave me. I love them. They don't show up in these photos but will be in many other blog entries in the future, I'm sure.

Here is a selfie taken by Ben (the blurry guy on the left) at the tri-state marker.

21. Migration ... Immigration

Week 21 12/17/15

A day in New Bedford. 

We had both attended concerts in the auditorium of the New Bedford Whaling Museum but I had never seen the collection. Paul remembers going there as a child. Today we learned all about whale species, migration, anatomy and behavior, the worldwide whaling industry, imported goods, art, and the New Bedford area. The museum was much larger than I expected. Go see it. We spent several hours and could have stayed longer but ran out of time.

This 1/2 size replica of the whaling ship, Lagoda, is the largest ship model in the world, they say. This ship was Paul's strongest memory of his earlier visit (probably 55 years ago).

It was fun to see exhibits that reminded us of two of our trips from the past year. There were many artifacts and maps from the Azores which was a large part of the whaling industry connected with New Bedford. There is a large Azorean population in the New Bedford area. We traveled to São Miguel in the Azores with two good friends last year and we'd all like to go back, maybe explore some of the other islands.

Another trip from the past year was to Washington state, including the Olympic peninsula. While there, we hiked to Flattery Point. (See blog entry 4.) In this museum we saw exhibits from the Northwest coast, and references to Flattery Point and the nearby communities of the Makah people who have been whalers. 

My fiber artist friends might appreciate the collection of swifts and spool holders in the ivory room. 

After a walk around town in the rain, a visit to the National Park station, and seafood dinner at The Black Whale, we walked to the Zeiterion Theater for a performance of Christmas Celtic Sojourn. We had heard this broadcast on the radio every year but had never attended. We're glad we went. The host, Brian O'Donovan welcomed his performers from Ireland, Norway, Shetland Islands, Sweden etc., and reminded us about past immigration to the US from many parts of the world, connecting it to the current immigration situation from Syria. He made the point that most of us were descended from immigrants and that we are a nation of immigrants.

20. Christmas Spirit

Week 20 12/6/15

We attended the Christmas Vespers service at Houghton Chapel, Wellesley College. I have not been to this Vespers in quite some time. The chapel was packed, the music was inspirational and complex, and the whole effect of sound and light was dramatic. Faculty, advisors, staff and chaplains read and spoke.




The Back Bay Ringers accompanied with hand bells, the student voices were stunning and my favorite is always a chance to hear the Charles B. Fisk organ. Besides the sound and the special historical features, I'm intrigued by the craftsmanship of the construction which reminds me of pieces that Paul and I saw in Germany. At the very top of the central set of pipes is a carved wooden star called a zimbelstern. Each performance includes a climactic point where the zimbelstern is activated, sounding like a percussive symbol.

This organ is made to play northern German music of the 17th century. Most of the time the sound is produced by a bellows that is filled using some sort of electrical pump, I guess. But this organ also includes an optional mechanical bellows system requiring an assistant dedicated to stepping up and down onto a platform that fills the bellows manually while the organist plays. I once attended a doctoral thesis concert using this system.  Here is a video including the sound of the Fisk organ, but I can't seem to find one showing the organ being played

19. Russian icons

Week 19 12/1/15

I had heard good reviews about this Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, MA. We had a rainy couple of days so we headed for this indoor spot.

The museum building is an old courthouse, recently renovated as a museum. The displays were well-lit, attractive and informative. A free audio tour explained techniques, symbolism and many stories that are depicted in the icons. We learned about the painting process and watched a restoration in progress by a conservator. For the season there is a special exhibit about St. Nicholas who, although born in Turkey in an area that was then Greece, is the patron Saint of Russia. 

On the lowest of the three floors there are old jail cells made over as viewing rooms. There is also a nice self-serve tea room with a variety of Russian teas. On the tea room wall is a display of samovars and nesting dolls. In the 60's my father and mother brought home a samovar, similar to one of these, from a trip to the U.S.S.R.

The icons in this museum date from as early as 1450. Many had extremely detailed painting and lettering. There are magnifying glasses to borrow which help quite a bit. I thought it was interesting that many had a decorative/protective metal layer, usually silver. Some of the metal is cut to expose whole figures or else just faces, hands and feet. This is an example of one where the holes are so tiny that I couldn't see the little parts they were meant to reveal. This is a typical example where there is a section for each month of the year, with figures representing that month. It's impossible to see in this photograph the minuscule writing in the spaces above the figures.

Lessons were taught around the themes of feast days. Churches used the pictures and stories to explain the gospel. Rural areas in Russia did not have space or money for large icons, so traveling priests used folding icons like these to show the various feasts.

If you visit Clinton, I recommend that you eat in the new Clintons Bar and Grill, which is not a pub as the name might imply, but more of a nice restaurant.

18. Post-Thanksgiving tradition

Week 18 11/27/15

Ben was home for Thanksgiving, and we all decided to revive a family tradition by picking princess pine to make a Christmas wreath. My grandmother Helen Lucy Garratt Hoag, who lived in the house we now call home, led an expedition every year. At that time we used burlap feed sacks to collect this low ground shrub. Nanny, as we called her, made a large wreath that hung in her dining room. Every visit leading up to Christmas we children were allowed to add a decoration to the wreath. Most decorations were old mismatched jewelry, barrettes, beads and other odds and ends that Nanny had collected. Paul and I stopped collecting princess pine many years ago because my father was concerned that it was endangered. We bought a large fake wreath that we have been using in our dining room for the same purpose. However, right now I don't see any references to princess pine being threatened and there are huge quantities in the woods, so we decided to pick some again. I made a smaller wreath for our front door and we are still using the fake wreath in the house for small ornaments. All of our guests, young and older, add ornaments to the wreath.

Here is the princess pine we picked this year, along with some berries that Ben took back to Baltimore. He will make something for his door also.

Here is the finished wreath on our door.