Shadows and shapes

It's been awhile since I posted any pictures, so here are some beauties courtesy of Mother Nature on cold/freezing mornings. The first few feature shadows of outer trees, etc. when the windows were covered with ice. The others are lovely frost shapes she left after very cold nights. Of course, now with the earlier-rising sun (one of my least favorite thing) they're usually melted by the time I get out of bed.

Woof

I'm gonna book me a trip to Finland.

Tendaberry

My Alexander teacher asked me recently what my favorite popular singer was. This song immediately sprang to mind: New York Tendaberry by Laura Nyro who sadly left us way too soon. Oddly, it's taken me this long to actually read the incredible lyrics.



New York tendaberry, blue berry
A rush on rum, of brush and drum
And the past is a blue note, inside me
I ran away in the morning

New York tendaberry, blue berry
Rugs and drapes and drugs and capes
Sweet kids in hunger slums

Firecrackers break and they cross
And they dust and they skate
And the night comes

I ran away in the morning
Now I'm back, unpacked

Sidewalk and pigeon
You look like a city
But you feel like religion to me

New York tendabery, true berry
I lost my eyes, In east wind skies
Here where I've cried, where I've tried
Where God and the tendaberry rise

Where quakers and revolutionaries
Join for life, for precious years
Join for life, through silver tears

New York tendaberry.

Valentine posies

From our house to yours.

Someone who forgives

Saw this recent Brief But Spectacular segment on the PBS Newshour and thought I'd share it with you.



Andy and I spent the day (or several hours of it) at the MFA yesterday, taking in one of the last chances to see their pastel show. Happily, few other people seemed interested in the sole Redon in the show, so I was able to spend most of the time we were in that gallery communing with it. I doubt I'll see it again live in this life time.

Stille nacht

I have a memory of Grandma Vi sitting at the piano in her living room (or was it ours?) without music in front of her, playing and singing Silent Night in German. Did that ever happen?

The original version's melody has traces of its Austrian origin that are lacking in the U.S. version (in the melody accompanying the "sleep in heavenly peace" lyric) that I remember. Who knew it was 200 years old. Here is an English translation of the German.

Hope you like it.

Space/time and free will

I've been searching for a long time for the Closer to Truth episode that had such a clear graphic representation of the theory behind Einstein's theory of relativity. I though I'd discovered it, but no. So until I can track it down, I thought I'd send along this Radio Lab episode on time. The most pertinent part as far as my specific question that if Einstein's theory of the space/time continuum, also known as the "block universe" if I understand it correctly starts around the 20 minute mark of the episode. That is followed by an exploration of how what we think are our choices are actually made before we consciously  choose.