Daily Entries for the week of
Sunday, July 12
through
Saturday, July 18
It’s Saturday, July 18
Welcome to the 828th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Portrait of Giotto di Bondone
Florentine School
made between 1490 and 1550
- Own workMOSSOT
Taken on 30 March 2012
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2.0 Commentary
All week Friday was projected to be hot and humid.
Made plans accordingly.
Friday morning woke to discover a weather change.
Friday to be cool and wet.
Thank you, meteorologists.
Plan now is to proceed, with small changes.
Make lemonade and all that.
Read a piece on Thursday listing the amazing number of well-known restaurants that
will not reopen at all.
Sad.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
I would rather be assassinated than
see a single star removed from the American flag.
~Abraham Lincoln
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This from Sally C who has just started on her own blog, http://www.brasscastlearts.com/
Dear Dom,
Re: your notes on lost muscle mass: Yes, inevitable in these times. But you are wise not to despair and to establish a new routine, and let the muscle mass and toning come along, as it will, in its own good time. As you well know, it takes patience and dedication more than anything else. (Now I need to discipline myself into a routine of skipping rope for a few minutes a day, especially on those days when it's too hot or wet to go out for extended walks with Phillip.)
I found significant changes in my broken arm as my physical therapy progressed. The therapist took baseline measurements of flexibility and strength when we began in March, with the good hand (for comparison) measuring 65 lbs of strength and the bad hand measuring 0 lbs. This was four weeks after surgery. Six weeks after beginning PT, the good hand was up to 75 lbs and the bad hand was up to 30 lbs. Two weeks later, the good hand held steady at 75 lbs and the bad hand was up to 40 lbs. One month later, at my last PT session, the good hand was again at 75 lbs and the bad hand was up to 50 lbs.
Continued use and exercises will continue to bring up the bad hand strength, but to lesser and lesser degrees, until both hands will have similar strength. Most of the hand strength has been gained through everyday use - the resistance necessary to hold a bagel, for example, in order to cut it in half for toasting, or holding half a rutabaga while peeling it. My current goal, now that the major factors have been addressed, is to improve dexterity of the fingers, in grasping small items, so I'm playing with small dry beans in a bowl, picking them up, and in therapy putty, working them out of the putty one by one.
I hope you find your return to an exercise routine a pleasure more than a chore, and I'm sure you'll see notable returns approaching if not matching your previous fitness status.
Happy exercises! Happy recipe-tinkering and -sharing! Happy blogging!
Sally
Blog Meister responds: We need encouragement while we work to stay healthy. Thanks, Sally.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Had dinner at Figs on Thursday night.
Very good pizza.
Delicious salmon served on a bed of wonderfully cooked brussel sprouts.
And a plate of mussels, red sauce, also well-done.
Had two bottles of Gavi (three of us, one of whom drank a bit).
The Gavi was excellent.
Service was slow, as to be expected during this rebuilding period.
Only gripe is that customers are not offered any wine selections below $40.00.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnail
Giotto di Bondone (1267[a] – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages.
He worked during the Gothic/Proto-Renaissance period.
Giotto's contemporary, the banker and chronicler Giovanni Villani,
wrote that Giotto was "the most sovereign master of painting in his time,
who drew all his figures and their postures according to nature" and
of his publicly recognized "talent and excellence".
In his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects,
Giorgio Vasari described Giotto as making a decisive break with the prevalent Byzantine style and
as initiating "the great art of painting as we know it today, introducing the technique of drawing accurately from life, which had been neglected for more than two hundred years".
Giotto's masterwork is the decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel, in Padua, also known as
the Arena Chapel, which was completed around 1305.
The fresco cycle depicts the Life of the Virgin and the Life of Christ.
It is regarded as one of the supreme masterpieces of the Early Renaissance.
That Giotto painted the Arena Chapel and
was chosen by the Commune of Florence in 1334 to design the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral
are among the few certainties about his life.
Almost every other aspect of it is subject to controversy: his birth date, his birthplace, his appearance, his apprenticeship, the order in which he created his works,
whether or not he painted the famous frescoes in the Upper Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi and
his burial place.
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It’s Friday, July 17
Welcome to the 827th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Spread of the Black Death in Europe and the Near East (1346–1353)
Flappiefh - Own work from: Natural Earth ;
The origin and early spread of the Black Death in Italy:
first evidence of plague victims from 14th-century Liguria (northern Italy)
maps by O.J. Benedictow.
Map showing the spread of the Black Death in Europe between 1346 and 1353.
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2.0 Commentary
Thursday marks my third visit to the club in three days.
My sole immediate goal is to establish a checklist of the machines I want to use and
an entry-level baseline level of exertion.
To my great sorrow but no surprise, I discover that
I have indeed lost significant muscle-mass.
On the pull bar that I used for 6 unaided pull-ups and
an additional 18 pull-ups with a 70-pound counter-weight,
I can do only 4 (four) pull-ups using the same counter-weight.
Sad.
But I am not determined to regain my former glory.
Rather, to simply re-establish my routine and
permit gains to come at their own pace.
Will not visit on Friday as I now seek to establish a three-times-a-week routine.
Perhaps the exercise routine is a metaphor for our economy.
Businesses are opening now and
bemoaning the reduced sales.
My goodness.
All of us must understand that we have hemorrhaged,
are still hemorrhaging,
from a mortal blow to our common health.
Being open is miraculous.
We must hunker down and wait,
with patient confidence,
wait,
and brace for the final soft-crash as we hit bottom.
If our business or employment survives that jolt, then,
without bemoaning a comparison,
accept where we are,
adjust,
and go forward.
Reduced, yes.
Reduced for a decade to come, perhaps.
But we must make the most of being alive,
working,
producing,
appreciating our customers.
Humbled by our experience.
And let us compare.
Let us applaud those of our leaders,
Gov. Baker, Mayor Walsh, and Mayor Joe Curtatone of Somerville, for example,
who used intelligence and science to steer us.
Let us point fingers at those of our leaders,
on local, state, and national levels
who made unpardonable errors of judgment that
exacerbated this terrible pandemic.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
This, too, shall pass.
~Common speech.
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
In response to a Commentary that mused: We should have freed the slaves and let the South become its own country (this thought born out of pique that US citizens are not welcomed in Tuscany although Massachusetts is as clean as our European counterparts) we received this from Tommie T:
Hey, Dom,
This is your friend from the south.
I spoke with a long-time friend of mine today
who is a retired educator(M.Ed, National Board Certified) of learning disabled children and
a wonderful mosaic artist.
She responded to your article about the Confederacy should not have been admitted back into union:
"Well, you know, everybody would have been a lot happier."
After having giving it some thought, I agree with my artistic, creative friend.
The only downside is that we would have slavery legalized.
God help us.
It has and is a long journey.
Let us hope for more critical thinkers, more thoughtful, caring people as our leaders in the future.
When I look at our grandchildren - yours and mine - I am amazed at their thought processes, their inner strengths, and their wonder.
We have a better future.
Love you,
Tommie
Blog Meister responds: Agreed: we must look to the future.
But remember my dear, it is you and I who paved the way for them.
Let’s keep at least a modicum of the praise for ourselves.
Love you.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Wednesday night I made a roasted eggplant and lentil dinner salad
I used to accompany my leftover, somewhat burnt chicken.
The salad was terrific.
I’ll redo the recipe stolen from Nagi of RecipeTin Eats,
call it my own, and
reprint it here.
Ssh!
Even ‘omer stole material.
BTW: this is a newly-discovered website that has produced homeruns for me
the three times I’ve used her recipes.
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The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality, or the Plague) was the deadliest pandemic recorded in human history.
The Black Death resulted in the deaths of up to 25–200 million people in Eurasia and North Africa, peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351.
Plague, the disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, was the cause;
Y. pestis infection most commonly results in bubonic plague, but
can cause septicaemic or pneumonic plagues.
The Black Death was the beginning of the second plague pandemic.
The plague created religious, social, and economic upheavals, with profound effects on the course of European history.
The Black Death most likely originated in Central Asia or East Asia,
from where it travelled along the Silk Road, reaching Crimea by 1347.
From there, it was most likely carried by fleas living on the black rats
that travelled on Genoese merchant ships,
spreading throughout the Mediterranean Basin and
reaching Africa, Western Asia, and the rest of Europe via
Constantinople, Sicily, and the Italian Peninsula.
Current evidence indicates that once it came onshore,
the Black Death was in large part spread by human fleas – which cause pneumonic plague – and
the person-to-person contact via aerosols which pneumonic plague enables,
thus explaining the very fast inland spread of the epidemic,
which was faster than would be expected if
the primary vector was rat fleas causing bubonic plague.
The Black Death was the second disaster affecting Europe during the Late Middle Ages
(the first one being the Great Famine) and
is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population.
In total, the plague may have reduced the world population from an estimated 475 million to 350–375 million in the 14th century.
There were further outbreaks throughout the Late Middle Ages, and
with other contributing factors
it took until 1500 for the European population to regain the levels of 1300.
Outbreaks of the plague recurred at various locations around the world until the early 19th century.
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It’s Thursday, July 16
Welcome to the 826th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Gilbert du Motier Marquis de Lafayette
Joseph-Désiré Court
- allposters.com
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2.0 Commentary
So my first foray back to the club was easy.
1. I was practically alone.
2. Several available machines I won’t be able to do for another month, due to my still healing knee tendon. That saved me time.
3. Two machines I would have done but were not useable for ‘social distancing’ reasons
4. I anticipated extra time to check in but the protocols in place weren’t at all time consuming.
5. As to the machines I did use, I only did one set of reps; and even those at 50% of my former;y normal routine.
But my first foray was only ever intended to be a gentle reintroduction.
It was that.
Meanwhile, I did find several machines in the ’30 minute’ section of the club that might replace some of the exercises lost in the greater facility.
I added these to my typed exercise chart when I updated it to reflect the reality.
I’ll try them out.
I did encounter a nasty reminder when I tried using the Rotary Torso.
Although created to exercise abdominal muscles,
it’s a machine on which the user must kneel.
Kneel.
As in ‘torn knee tendon.’
As in ‘Gotcha.’
My cousin suggested I try a stationery bike at the club as perhaps a leg exercise that my knee tendon won’t object to.
It’s possible, since the pain I feel is only when the knee is called on to twist a bit.
We’ll see.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
He has a right to criticize,
who has a heart to help.
~Abraham Lincoln
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This from Colleen G: she who makes me laugh just by being in the same room
Hey Dom!
Days are a bit blurry--not meaning my eyesight is failing, but meaning that there's just no set schedule and lines are blurred as the kids have been home with no structured reasons to leave for four months--and so I haven't been very good about reading emails.
I am so glad I gave your blog a gaze, though.
LOVED the commentary.
So funny and of course I had to look up the anthem, since no credit was given and so I started to wonder, chuckling to myself, if you had strung those words together yourself and are taking your newfound time to write country music :)
I found the song performed here by Johnny Russell: https://youtu.be/4N3iVHxP8FQ
Thanks for the entertainment and the reimagined past.
On a completely separate, but somewhat hilarious, note--it smells like the North End outside my house right now since I just got the first treatment of an organic spray to keep mosquitos and ticks away made of GARLIC!
My neighbors must think I'm cooking up a storm in here.
I'll let you know if it works :)
Is there no end to the wonderful talents of that humble bulb: garlic?
Stay cool.
Cheers,
Colleen:)
Blog Meister responds: You haven’t lost your touch, my dear. I’m chuckling.
Don’t forget you can check out Colleen’s blog at www.theroomtowrite.org
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Had lamb chops last night.
On sale at Whole Foods.
Accompanied by a simple salad of heirloom tomatoes, red onion, red bell peppers, and avocado.
Pretty and pretty delicious.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnail
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834) (known in the United States simply as Lafayette) was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War, commanding American troops in several battles, including the Siege of Yorktown.
After returning to France, he was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830.
Lafayette was born into a wealthy land-owning family in Chavaniac in the province of Auvergne in south central France. He followed the family's martial tradition and was commissioned an officer at age 13. He became convinced that the American revolutionary cause was noble, and he traveled to the New World seeking glory in it.
He was made a major general at age 19, but he was initially not given American troops to command.
He was wounded during the Battle of Brandywine but still managed to organize an orderly retreat, and he served with distinction in the Battle of Rhode Island. In the middle of the war, he sailed for home to lobby for an increase in French support.
He returned to America in 1780 and was given senior positions in the Continental Army.
In 1781, troops under his command in Virginia blocked forces led by Cornwallis until other American and French forces could position themselves for the decisive Siege of Yorktown.
Lafayette returned to France and was appointed to the Assembly of Notables in 1787, convened in response to the fiscal crisis.
He was elected a member of the Estates General of 1789, where representatives met from the three traditional orders of French society: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners.
After forming the National Constituent Assembly, he helped to write the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen with Thomas Jefferson's assistance.
This document was inspired by the United States Declaration of Independence and invoked natural law to establish basic principles of the democratic nation-state.
He also advocated the end of slavery, in keeping with the philosophy of natural rights.
After the storming of the Bastille, he was appointed commander-in-chief of France's National Guard and tried to steer a middle course through the years of revolution.
In August 1792, radical factions ordered his arrest, and he fled into the Austrian Netherlands.
He was captured by Austrian troops and spent more than five years in prison.
Lafayette returned to France after Napoleon Bonaparte secured his release in 1797, though he refused to participate in Napoleon's government.
After the Bourbon Restoration of 1814, he became a liberal member of the Chamber of Deputies, a position which he held for most of the remainder of his life.
In 1824, President James Monroe invited him to the United States as the nation's guest, and he visited all 24 states in the union and met a rapturous reception.
During France's July Revolution of 1830, he declined an offer to become the French dictator.
Instead, he supported Louis-Philippe as king, but turned against him when the monarch became autocratic.
He died on 20 May 1834 and is buried in Picpus Cemetery in Paris, under soil from Bunker Hill.
He is sometimes known as "The Hero of the Two Worlds" for his accomplishments in the service of both France and the United States.
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It’s Wednesday, July 15
Welcome to the 825th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Orozco's Prometheus
Jose Clemente Orozco - http://encontrarte.aporrea.org/expo/e6.html
The fresco mural Prometheus by José Clemente Orozco in Frary Dining Hall at Pomona College
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2.0 Commentary
I’m so proud of our community.
Two weeks ago, we shared the great news: Kali’s wedding dress.
You remember Kali as she worked her way through dark times through poetry written for us.
Last week we shared the great piece by Kay Kane, MD regarding the great work the medical community is doing, the piece accompanying her iconic display of the latest in medical fashion.
And now Sally Chetwynd comes along with her new blog,
a much-needed entry for the literary world. (See 5.0 Mail, just below).
So proud.
God bless us, everyone.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens,
you can never regain their respect and esteem.
It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time;
you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but
you can't fool all of the people all of the time.
-Speech at Clinton, Illinois, September 8, 1854,
~Abraham Lincoln
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This from Sally C regarding her blog, of which I am a follower:
Greetings!
There’s no time like the present to launch a newsletter or blog, so here I am. I hope to post regularly, no more than once a week, and I hope you will enjoy Natterings & Noodlings. And if you’d like to respond to my posts, add to the narrative, ask questions, or comment, please do so. If you’d like to guest-post here, please ask. Your perspective might be just what we both need.
This blog’s primary focus is on writing interests – building and refining one’s art and craft, books and reading, sharing resources, creativity. Let’s share what we learn as we broaden these skills.
Sometimes I will wander into other subjects, like history, the natural world, personal philosophy, and sometimes aspects of living a Christian life. A number of posts from a previous blog now exist on my web page, most of them tidbits of 19th Century American history that struck my fancy.
Although I have strong positions on current events, this blog will not be a political platform.
Please join me on this journey! It’s always more fun to travel with a companion.
Sally M. Chetwynd
Email Me: brasscastlearts@gmail.com
Visit Website: http://www.brasscastlearts.com/
P. O. Box 1916 | Wakefield, MA 01880
© 2020 - Brass Castle Arts – All Rights Reserved
Blog Meister responds: Sally is a writer of considerable talent.
A storyteller of worth.
And a repository of Americana.
Combine that with a passion for the art and
understand why her blog allures anyone with
an interest in the written word.
Best of luck, Sally.
Count me in.
Dom Capossela
Blogmeister
existentialautotrip.com
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Monday night I enjoyed a small roast chicken.
Although I set it in the broiler and
then answered the phone.
Result: blackened chicken, salvageable.
I worked on a pan sauce for it and came closer to something noteworthy:
fresh basil, fresh lemon juice, s/freshly-ground pepper, pan juices which resulted from the broil/burn.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnail
Prometheus is a fresco by Mexican muralist José Clemente Orozco.
It depicts the Greek Titan Prometheus stealing fire from the heavens to give to humans.
It was commissioned for Pomona College's Frary Dining Hall and
completed in June 1930, becoming
the first modern fresco in the United States.
It has received widespread critical acclaim.
Abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock considered it the greatest painting in North America.
The mural is above a fireplace at the north end of Frary's refectory.
It consists of four panels:
a main one facing the open eating area of the dining hall,
two side ones, and
an overhead one.
The Greek mythology Titan Prometheus dominates the main panel,
reaching for fire to give to humans,
an act for which he would later be punished by Zeus.
Surrounding his muscular, contorted figure is a crowd of people reacting to the gift, with
some welcoming it and
others scorning it.
The color palette features heavy use of reds, blues, and black.
Art historians generally interpret the mural to be a metaphor for
the challenges often faced by those seeking to expand the realm of knowledge, particularly from onservative authority figures.
The varying reactions of the crowd around Prometheus depicts that
human development comes with both costs and benefits.
This theme connects to the mural's collegiate setting.
It also had personal resonance for Orozco, who
faced resistance throughout his life from those
opposed to his leftist political views.
The subject of fire was of interest to him because of a fireworks mishap in which
he lost his left hand when he was 21.
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It’s Tuesday, July 14
Welcome to the 824th consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
David Rittenhouse
Charles Willson Peale
WAEksDHdIdRTjw at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level
David Rittenhouse was a renowned American astronomer, inventor, mathematician, surveyor, scientific instrument craftsman, and public official.
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2.0 Commentary
Abraham Lincoln’s great mistake.
Compounded by Johnson (not Lyndon Baines but Andrew) and
U.S. Grant:
Once the South laid down their arms and freed the slaves
why did we permit the South to return to the Union?
Wouldn’t we who like to travel be better off today if the South had stayed a separate country?
Think of it.
Northern states have done a terrific job in coping with the corona virus.
Southern states are the poorest performing political entities IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.
Is it a wonder that US citizens are shunned abroad?
No!
No!
If we were free of the Confederacy
we could be booking flights to Tuscany.
Today!
And the South would have their own national anthem.
Not that it matters to me but I propose calling it:
Red Necks, White Socks And Blue Ribbon Beer.
The lyrics:
There's no place that I'd rather be than right here
With my red necks, white socks and blue ribbon beer
The barmaid is mad 'cause some guy made a pass
The juke box is playin' there stands the glass
And the cigarette smoke kind-a hangs in the air
Red-necks, white socks and blue rib-bon beer
A cow-boy is cussin' the pin-ball ma-chine
A drunk at the bar is get-tin' noisy and mean
And, some guy on the phone says ill be home soon dear
Red-necks white socks and blue ribbon beer
[Chorus]
No we don't fit in with that white collar crowd
We're a little too rowdy and a little too loud
There's no place that I'd rather be than right here
With my red-necks white socks and blue ribbon beer
The semis are passing on the highway outside
The four thirty crowd is about to arrive
The sun's go-in' down and we'll all soon be here
Rednecks, white socks and blue ribbon beer
[Chorus]
There's no place that I'd rather be than right here
With my red-necks, white socks and blue ribbon beer.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
As a nation, we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal.'
We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except negroes.'
When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.'
When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty
– to Russia, for instance,
where despotism can be taken pure, and
without the base alloy of hypocrisy.
~Abraham Lincoln
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Sunday evening was a dry-aged rib eye with a salad.
Nothing more needs be said.
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7. “Conflicted” podcast
Conflicted, by Dom Capossela, is a spiritual/fantasy story about a sixteen-year-old mystic-warrior conflicted internally by her self-imposed alienation from God, her spiritual wellspring, and, externally, by the forces of darkness seeking her death or ruination.
https://soundcloud.com/user-449713331/sets/conflicted-dom-capossela
The podcasts are also available on Sound Cloud, iTunes, Stitcher, Pinterest, Pocket Cast, and Facebook.
Search: dom capossela or conflicted or both
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11.0 Thumbnail
David Rittenhouse (April 8, 1732 – June 26, 1796),
born in Roxborough Township, Philadelphia County, near a small village within Philadelphia called Rittenhousetown,
was an American astronomer, inventor, clockmaker, mathematician, surveyor, scientific instrument craftsman, and public official.
Rittenhouse was a member of the American Philosophical Society and
the first director of the United States Mint.
His skill with instruments, particularly clocks,
led him to construct two orreries (scale models of the solar system),
the first for The College of New Jersey (now known as Princeton University),
the second for the College of Philadelphia (now known as the University of Pennsylvania).
Both of these orreries still exist, with each being held by their original recipients: one in the library of the University of Pennsylvania and the other at Peyton Hall of Princeton University.
During the first part of his career he was a surveyor for Great Britain, and
later served in the Pennsylvania government.
His 1763–1764 survey of the Delaware–Pennsylvania border was
a 12-mile circle about the Court House in New Castle, Delaware, to
define the northern border of Delaware.
Rittenhouse's work was so precise and well-documented that
it was incorporated without modification into Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon's survey of the Pennsylvania–Maryland border.
In 1768, the same year that he became a member of the American Philosophical Society, Rittenhouse announced plans to
observe a pending transit of Venus across the Sun from several locations.
The American Philosophical Society persuaded the legislature to
grant £100 towards the purchase of new telescopes, and
members volunteered to man half of the 22 telescope stations when the event arrived.
Rittenhouse used the observations to calculate the distance from Earth to the Sun to be 93 million miles.
(This is the approximate average distance between Earth and the Sun.)
The published report of the transit was hailed by European scientists, and
Rittenhouse would correspond with famous contemporary astronomers, such as Jérôme Lalande and Franz Xaver von Zach.
In 1770, Rittenhouse completed an advanced orrery.
In recognition of the achievement, the College of New Jersey granted Rittenhouse an
honorary degree.
The college then acquired ownership of the orrery.
Rittenhouse made a new, more advanced model which remained in Philadelphia.
The State of Pennsylvania paid Rittenhouse £300 as a tribute for his achievement.
One of Rittenhouse's hands or helpers with the project was Henry Voigt,
the clockmaker and Chief Coiner under Rittenhouse at the mint.
Voigt later repaired the orrery in 1806 and was an earlier co-inventor of the first practical steamboat with John Fitch.
In 1784 Rittenhouse and Andrew Ellicott completed the survey of the Mason–Dixon line to the southwest corner of Pennsylvania.
In 1786, Rittenhouse built a new Georgian-style house on the corner of 4th and Arch streets in Philadelphia,
next to an octagonal observatory he had already built.
At this house, he maintained a Wednesday evening salon meeting with
Benjamin Franklin, Francis Hopkinson, Pierre Eugene du Simitiere and others.
Thomas Jefferson wrote that he would rather attend one of these meetings
"than spend a whole week in Paris."
Rittenhouse served as treasurer of Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1789, and
with these skills and the help of George Washington,
he became the first director of the United States Mint.
Rittenhouse resigned from the Mint on June 30, 1795, due to poor health.
In 1871 Congress approved a commemorative medal in his honor.
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It’s Monday, July 13
Welcome to the 823rd consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
Sunrise at Harbor Island, SC,
July 9, 2020
Tommie loves the heat.
1.1 Lead Picture
View of Florence from Monte Ceceri
Sailko - Own work
Fiesole
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2.0 Commentary
Today’s the day: Planet Fitness reopens.
Planning on a get-acquainted visit, leaving my apartment at 10.00am.
The fits in with my evolving schedule.
Q: Does it fit in with club and other clients?
Q: Can I lift anything after four months of inactivity.
Do we realize that we are in a depression?
Both emotionally and economically?
Why are we surprised when businesses announce they will not be reopening? Or
businesses reopen and find sales a fraction of what they were before March 12? Or
businesses reopen and close.
These are hard times.
We are still free-falling thanks in part to ‘leaders’
who have spent months assuring us that health experts’ advice needn’t be heeded.
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4.0 Chuckles and Thoughts
You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by
evading it today.
~Abraham Lincoln
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
This from Tommie T, responding to my working on an itinerary for Tuscany:
Consider Umbria. . . Near Tuscany.
Stayed in a glass factory built in 800.
Three girls and I rented an apartment here in Piegaro near Perugia.
We took the train to Florence for a day of sightseeing since we had all been to Florence previously.
We flew into Florence, took a van to Piegaro.
Rented a car for two weeks and did side trips throughout Tuscany and Umbria.
We cooked a lot of our meals and shared at evening meals with people staying in the apartment complex.
Also with the owners of the glass factory.
It was an extraordinary experience having dinners each nite - not really planned - but brought together in true Italian style.
We would arrive from a day trip and our friends from another apartment or two, would say, "Hey, come eat with us . . . Bring what you have."
And we would bring a bottle of wine or water, and
whatever we had in the kitchen.
It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life.
Incidentally, the couple who bought the glass factory and turned it into 5 apartments are from Seattle.
Blogmeister responds: Sounds idyllic. And very reasonable.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Had dinner with friend Victor Saturday night sitting at
a table in the back yard of Limoncello.
Weather was perfect for outdoor dining.
LouLou waited on us.
She’s great.
We had an antipasto of salumi, cheeses, and vegetables like sun-dried tomato, followed by
a crisp fried veal cutlet under an arugula salad.
Food, service, and ambience were terrific.
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11.0 Thumbnail
On the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Tuscany boasts seven: Florence’s historic center, (1982); the Cathedral square of Pisa (1987); the historical centre of San Gimignano (1990); the historical centre of Siena (1995); the historical centre of Pienza (1996); the Val d'Orcia (2004), and the Medici Villas and Gardens (2013).
Tuscany also has 120 nature preserves, among which is the Protected Natural Area of Local Interest Montececeri, or simply,
Montececeri Park.
Monte Ceceri is a hill near Fiesole, Tuscany.
It is part of a 110-acre nature reserve to the northeast of the city of Florence,
within the Metropolitan City of Florence.
Monte Ceceri was named for the swans that would once frequent the area,
whose plumage included spots on their backs that, to the local Florentines,
looked like chickpeas (the word for which is ceceri in Florentine dialect, and ceci in Italian).
Since antiquity, the hill was quarried for construction of settlements in Florence and Fiesole.
The ruins of some of the miners' huts are still present today
along with several surviving necropoleis.
From the top of the hill, one can have a panoramic view of the city of Florence and
the surrounding hills of the Arno Valley.
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It’s Sunday,
Welcome to the 822nd consecutive post to the blog,
existentialautotrip.com
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1.0 Lead Picture
The central Duomo Square
cisko66
San Gimignano
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2.0 Commentary
The T as we knew it is over.
Talking to a knowledgeable city worker on Friday who
is most happy that the city of Boston has no jurisdiction over the T,
calling the situation toxic.
Toxic.
It is.
Looking for a set of balls owned by the official who
is going to say, “These are the dramatic steps we are taking,”
who is going to say, “The time of the T as we have known it is over.
“Starting with, ‘No access to station unless we have a safe spot for you
to wait for the three-minutes-max wait
you will have for a seat or stand
in our 30 person-max cars.”
The T needs radical ideas.
What about no-fares during off-hours?
High charges for the rush hours?
Or some such permutation.
Timed-tickets?
Mandatory hand sanitizing.
Masks mandatory.
MBTA personnel at entry.
At station landing: counting the available clearly marked spaces once riders have exited.
Permitting entry of that number only.
Expense.
Is a hospital stay cheaper?
Is a death less intrusive?
What about beginning with a public update of
what we can expect and when?
Like Monday.
Let’s acknowledge:
The T as we knew it is over.
Honestly, thinking of all those individuals, states, and officials
flouting overwhelming medical warnings not to,
wallowing in their ignorance,
encouraged by their leaders,
leaders?
doffing masks,
piling on top of each other,
laughing at the rest of us,
and now dying by the gross,
thinking of them,
do we say “You had it coming.”
I don’t know.
Asking.
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4.0 Chuckles/Thoughts
Commitment is what transforms
a promise into reality.
~Abraham Lincoln
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5.0 Mail
We love getting mail.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
Several emails agreeing that after the too cool spring we went through
we must not complain about weather hot and humid.
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6.0 Dinner/Food/Recipes
Friday night I settled with making a delicious tuna fish sandwich featuring
a ciabatta loaf, high quality tuna in a jar, and a host of salad things including celery, onions, mayo, vinegar, pickle, salt, freshly-ground pepper, chopped parsley.
I bought a bag of potato chips.
Delicious.
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11.0 Thumbnails
Tuscany is a region in central Italy with an area of about 8,900 square miles and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants (2013).
The regional capital is Florence (Firenze).
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its influence on high culture.
It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and
has been home to many figures influential in the history of art and science, and
contains well-known museums such as the Uffizi and the Pitti Palace.
Tuscany produces wines, including Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano and Brunello di Montalcino.
Having a strong linguistic and cultural identity, it is sometimes considered "a nation within a nation".
Tuscany is a popular destination in Italy.
The main tourist spots are
Florence,
Pisa,
Castiglione della Pescaia, the most visited seaside destination in the region,
Grosseto and
Siena.
Seven Tuscan localities have been designated World Heritage Sites: the historic centre of Florence (1982); the Cathedral square of Pisa (1987); the historical centre of San Gimignano (1990); the historical centre of Siena (1995); the historical centre of Pienza (1996); the Val d'Orcia (2004), and the Medici Villas and Gardens (2013).
Tuscany has over 120 protected nature reserves, making Tuscany and its capital Florence popular tourist destinations that attract millions of tourists every year.
In 2012, the city of Florence was the world's 89th most visited city, with 1.834 million arrivals.
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13.0 Travel
Florence and Tuscany
A trip put on hold a year ago.
Now very much ready to take.
Except:
they don’t want any Americans.
Seems like too many Arizonans are scofflaws,
thinking they above the laws of nature.
The Florentines don’t want tanned Floridians who
may bring their death to Italy.
Or Texans.
Or Californians.
Hasn’t the European Union learned that we from Massachusetts are indeed careful?
We from Massachusetts are worthy of being judged separately from our moron countrymen from elsewhere?