Month: July 2022

A Bald Cypress in Clintonville Ohio

A deciduous conifer -the Bald Cypress
In Whetstone Park by the playground and library

I used the inaturalist Seek app to identify this magnificent tree

“This tree has inspired much poetry and prose over the centuries due to its melancholy and mysterious appearance. Longfellow refers to its “towering and tenebrous boughs” that “waved like banners that hang on the walls of ancient cathedrals” in his 1847 poem, Evangeline. Naturalist John Muir in his book Thousand-Mile Walk refers to “the dark, mysterious cypress woods which cover everything” and states that “night is coming on and I am filled with indescribable loneliness.”- click text for ArborDay source

Closeup

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A Horseshoes Court (With Pits)

You’ve heard of a ringer. In your memory can you hear the sound of horseshoes being pitched and hitting the metal stake or the thud as it hits the dirt? Or wooden backboard? Not just a pastime of yesteryear. Here’s a video of the best Horseshoe Pitcher ever.

The pits are protected with metal covers shown in photos below.

Turns out I wasn’t in town for the horseshoes tournament held July 2nd.

If you’re in Ohio, you can check out the Ohio Horseshoe Pitchers Association page.

“an excerpt from the Horseshoe Pitching Glossary

Pit – A rectangular area around the stake, and between the platforms, that is filled with a pit substance into which the shoes are pitched. (See page 9, RULE 2, Section B, and page 39, II – SPECIFICATIONS FOR COURT LAYOUT, Section B, 4.a; also see diagram on inside back cover and page 48) Pit Substance – The material into which horseshoes are pitched. Clay, sand, dirt, and approved synthetic compositions are all legal pit substances. (See page 41, II – SPECIFICATIONS FOR COURT LAYOUT, Section B.9)

Basic Horseshoe Rules

Whetstone Horseshoe Club Clintonville Ohio

Panoramic View of Whetstone Horseshoe Court
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Blue Cheese Yes or No?

Do you like to eat blue/bleu cheese? Blue cheese dressing? “Blue cheese is made using Penicillium, a type of mold that’s responsible for its unique taste, smell, and appearance. Unlike other types of mold, Penicillium does not produce toxins and is safe to consume.”

Wait, that’s NOT blue cheese.
That’s a slab of marble metamorphic rock!
But it made me think of blue cheese.

Blue cheese how it’s made video

Jellycat makes an amuseable plush toy that’s a soft slab of blue cheese. With legs! You can see it here

Marble seems to have similar veins

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Remembering Claes Oldenburg

A favorite with my art students, Swedish Artist Sculptor Claes Oldenburg passed 18 July 2022 at 93 years of age.

You may have seen some of his well known sculptures. They are huge!

Oldenburg also created giant soft sculptures– some of food- hamburger, cheeseburgers, ice cream cone, profiterole. He took everyday objects and created giant sculptures.

The Clothespin in Philadelphia

Batcolumn in Chicago

Spoonbridge and Cherry in Minneapolis

The Shuttlecocks in Kansas weren’t immediately embraced“…..four-large-sculpture birdies placed throughout The Nelson-Atkins-Musueum-of-Arts-Green by husband and wife team Claes-Oldenburg and Coose-van-Bruggen.(d. 2009). Each birdie weighs 5500-pounds standing nearly 18-feet-tall.”

My nod to Claes Oldenburg

C

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