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A few weeks ago I noticed a dove carrying a twig from somewhere in our backyard and followed him to this spot, under the eave of our garage, where his mate here was busy building their nest.
I set the ladder out nearby so that she'd get used to it, then climbed up and down a few times so she'd get used to me being close (about five feet) holding the camera. After about three days I determined that the afternoon light was best, setting to the west at screen left, and finally got the frame I wanted.
In so doing I couldn't help get a bit attached to the bird. She was so stoic, sitting perfectly still but for the blink of her eyes, and wary but unperturbed by my presence. Probably the closest thing to a pet we've had since the cat died.
As the last post of this series on Europe, we have a comparison between a modern nail from the 2000's alongside a couple hewn during the Middle Ages.
A scene like this might make one wonder about the corrosive effects of these bird droppings on the stone ledge. Looks prettier from a bit further away:
I have a friend named Roy who recently looked at this blog, and commented that there are no stories featuring him or the adventures we used to have back in the "old" days (late '70's to early 80's). I thought about it, and it didn't take long to identify the one that stands out the most.
Roy and I go back to our days as students at SFA in Nacogdoches. We went to church there at the East Main Church of Christ - at a time when I was the song leader and Roy attended with his young wife and toddler. As time passed we graduated and went our separate ways - me to Memphis, Texas, after accepting a teaching position and Roy to Arlington where he worked IT for American Airlines. We stayed in touch, and I even occasionally made the five-hour drive down to visit his family and attend church with them some weekends.
In the summer of 1984 Roy was chosen to officiate at the wedding of a good friend of his named David Vining in the countryside just outside of Durango, Colorado. Roy had a friend (another David) who owned a Cessna 172 that was based out of Meacham field in Fort Worth, and who had offered to give Roy a ride to the wedding. Since Memphis was on the way I was invited along for the ride. At the appointed time I was waiting with my bag on the barren, windswept apron at the local airport.
Roy and David arrived on schedule, and off we went to Colorado.
The flight was uneventful at first...sunny bright skies and little to worry about, as the flat plains of the Texas panhandle and eastern New Mexico provided ample opportunity to land should something go wrong. But as we crossed into Colorado and approached the Rockies things got interesting.
Mountain flying is tricky enough, but on this day we were skirting the mountaintops as they rose higher and higher, just in time for the afternoon thunderstorms, which lowered the cloud base as they intensified. Before long we were, at times, no more than 500 feet AGL (above ground level), buffeted by winds and, soon enough, rain and lightning. I was sitting in the back seat, with Roy in the right seat up front helping David identify landing spots using the map and what could be seen below. I think we would have landed if given a choice, but in the mountainous terrain there were no options so we plowed ahead. The lightning, rain and wind grew more furious.
David was a champ, keeping us in the right general direction as we searched for and threaded any passes ahead allowing us to stay under the cloud base. While David piloted the plane Roy stayed glued to the map and terrain below for anything flat in case we needed to go down. My job was to help David identify thunder cells and track where they were drifting so we could avoid the worst. At one point we increased our airspeed to charge between two of these cells, and when I looked back they closed together not 30 seconds after we'd made it through. It's amazing we didn't get caught by wind shear.
Meanwhile it was getting dark. I don't know how it happened, but we arrived in Durango, landing safely in the dark, in a driving rain with thunder and lightning all around. One of those times when you think, "Well, guess the Lord isn't finished with me yet on this here Earth, because somehow we made it." I was in awe of David's piloting skill, especially in light of the fact that this was his first mountain flying experience.
Don't know where this concept came from or how old these are, but the boxed-in pews differ from the open-ended ones found in the States. They are numbered...perhaps for seat assignments?
Saw a photo of this stained-glass window featured in an internet article about Troyes, so suppose that it must be famous. At the very least a clue to its age is evident in the half-timber frame in which the window is mounted. The oil paint effect looks good on this one, with the shine turned up a bit (seen better if you click to enlarge). Original is below:
Not too difficult to image a couple of church leaders leaning against the balcony railing discussing issues of the day, except that in this case they are set in stone...
Very interesting to observe that church officials (I'm assuming) are actually buried underneath the floor of the sanctuary in some European church buildings. And as a testament to the age of the place, this fellow passed away in the year 1682, almost a hundred years before our revolution took place in 1776...
The passion and suffering of Christ is captured well in this bronze, except that they got it wrong. Jesus did not have nails driven into the palms of his hands, but rather between the radius and ulna bones just below the wrists. The message is the same, of course, but it's interesting that this misconception of the mechanics of crucifixion is so widely published, even from the earliest days.
This whole business of the Biblical worldview and history has always fascinated me. Not surprisingly, the more they dig the more affirmation surfaces that the Good Book is indeed a book of fact, in every archeologically-examined aspect. The most interesting modern-day discovery so far to me has been that of a heel bone driven through with a nail of someone who had been crucified in Roman days.
I am of the belief that one day, in the afterlife, we will be given the opportunity to visit these places and witness in real time the amazing stories and figures that build our faith in this life.
Not sure which church this was, but suppose it to be typical of the period. Closer-up views offered below...note the sunbeam striking the angel to the left of the bottom photo.
Perhaps a bit more modern is this church...possibly built as "recently" as 1800 or so.
Know that this is turning into a postcardish series, but that's just the nature of it, being in a city so old that features these awesome structures. The next half-dozen or so posts will be exteriors and interiors of another church that we passed on the way back to the car.
Sticking with the old-and-medieval, this structure loomed on the edge of the old part of town. God knows how long it's been there. The fact that it is still there is a testament to the workmanship that went into the construction of these buildings.
...and the door is original. Can you imagine a warlord in chain mail and armor pulling up on his horse, dismounting and pounding away on this thing, asking if there is a vacancy for the night?
This is from within the courtyard, looking out at a scene that would have been familiar to a medieval warrior stopping by for a rest on his way to battle somewhere.
As mentioned in an earlier post, there was a great fire in this city in the 1500's. It's true that most of the wooden structures were reduced to cinders, however most of the wells, such as the one in the background here, survived unscathed. Many of these dotted around town have been in place, if not in use, since long before medieval times.
Living in a country as young as the United States, it's hard to wrap one's mind around the sheer age of many of the structures in European cities. As can be seen in the upper-right corner above, this hotel was built and has remained in place since the year 1564.
And in Asia we've entered structures that have been in use for up to a thousand years! I'm looking around at the people walking by thinking, "Wow, they're just walking by, and not stopping to marvel that this has been here for a thousand years!" Just as in wealth, age is such a relative thing...
This is the same rounded structure from a few steps forward of where yesterday's post was captured.
Also from the business district of the old part of Troyes, this has all of the elements I like in a picture - rounded medieval structure, half-timbered medieval houses, lamps, and weird colored objects hanging in the air...
Ever hear of an alley cat? Well, this is the real deal, and could be where the term came from. (Note the cat carving at the top of the frame.) It is said that the buildings are so close that cats jump from one roof to the other across the alleyway.
And to top it all off there is a real black cat hanging out about a third of the way down, on the right.
...including more modern-day fired bricks.
Interestingly, even the homes are leftovers from 450 years ago (a rounded figure, as there was a great fire in the year 1524 that destroyed most of the city). As with the business district, there are strict rules about preserving the integrity of these structures. Gotta wonder, though, what it's like to actually live in one.
As you can see, there are options on how to fill in between the timbers...
Back in 2011, when our daughter Allison was 15, she got this amazing opportunity to go to France for three weeks in an exchange program. Many of our friends and co-workers thought we were crazy for allowing this, but there was no way we were going to pass it up. There was an orientation meeting, some paperwork, and off she went!
Don't know how they were chosen, but Allison was assigned to a solid, stable family that worked hard to provide the best experience possible for their American visitor. There was a girl about her age that showed her some of the things young people like, a younger sister, and parents that weren't fuddy-duddies (seen at the right of the frame, next to Chenjean). She spent a day or two in Paris, got time out in the country visiting the grandparents, and even went to a sleep-over with her friend.
The place where this family lived was named Troyes (pronounced "twa"), a town that has been inhabited under the same name since the year 330. In fact, the troy ounce system for gold and silver gets its name from this place, which in the day served as a crossroads between larger trading cities.
And in the "old town", at the center of the city, they've done a good job of preserving the history by prohibiting the replacement of its structures. Therefore the scene above looks now as it did almost 450 years ago (except the furniture and things like the security camera at the upper right). The wood in the half-timbered structures, in fact, is the same wood that framed those same buildings in medieval days. This is the source of its charm, and a major draw for tourists like us.
The reason we were there, three years later, was because we thought it a good idea to stop and visit this family while we were in the area. Allison did the communicating and made the arrangements for us to spend a night on our way from Lucerne, Switzerland to Paris. Almost didn't get there, though, due to a transportation strike that left us stranded in Lyon. Fortunately, the father of this family did not mind at all driving three hours to pick us up.
Turns out it was a real highlight of the trip because, instead of hotels, trains and such, we were able to enjoy France with a real French family, tooling around in their family car and eating home-cooked meals in their kitchen. Awesome opportunity. Awesome time.
Naturally I went crazy with the camera, reigning myself in at times so as not to disengage myself entirely from my own family and from the French family that was so hospitable. The age and the charm of this place made it a fantastic place to visit and photograph - not to mention getting to know such good citizens. I will never forget it, and would love to go back some day.
Not sure our friend here can match the dedication of the individual in this post, but he appears to be just as comfortable...
Back at the Pompidou - thought this was a good concept, being able to get a Coke with your name on the can. First I'd seen one of these, though am sure that they have them in many other cities as well.
Zoomed in to capture the incredible craftsmanship at the top of the column...
To conclude the series on Paris photos, this and the next couple of posts will be of various items in no particular order, but which captured my interest for one reason or another.
On the day that Allison and I struck out on our own for an afternoon, we ended up here. Allison was in search of a certain bakery that we never found, but happily encountered sights and scenes that otherwise would have been missed.
Through research upon our return I found out that this is the Colonne de Juillet (English: July Column) commemorating the fall of Bastille in 1789. Very interesting history here, including the fact that over time the remains of 815 victims of the July Revolution were interred in its base.
Ever see a boat with a bona-fide yard, complete with deck and barbeque pit? The closer look below reveals that the grass is getting a little ragged, which begs the question...How do you mow a lawn on a boat?
Lots of folks own and love boats, including my dad, who always had a boat during my upbringing in Orange, Texas. He got bold one year and bought a cabin cruiser, on which we took a week-long vacation traveling down the Intercoastal Waterway. It was big enough to hold the parents, us three boys, and our German Shepherd, Rinnie. Mom cooked in the little kitchen that it had and we slept on beds that folded out from the couches in the "living room". The bathroom was up in the bow, which had a hatch on top. Quite the little operation.
However, we didn't make it all the way to our intended destination, which was Florida. The thing broke down and we vacationed in Louisiana instead.
Even with extensive exposure to boats and boating throughout my younger childhood, I never got use to being on one, as it always felt unstable...the constant motion, lack of brakes, and the slap of the waves on the bow and undersides were unsettling, especially at higher speeds. As you may have observed if you've followed this blog at all, I learned that cruise ships is the way to go if you're going to be on the water.
An aspect of Parisian life not seen or spoken of too much, these cruisers and long boats along the River Seine. Gotta love the colorful one, daring to be different...even the little bitty one at the back is painted the same way.
To finalize the Pompidou bird pics, this view makes one wonder what it must be like - and how expensive it must be - to live in these apartments that face one of the most famous plazas in the world...
This one is set up now as my desktop background here on the home computer, albeit at a much narrower crop from top to bottom.
Through all of these, however, my all-time favorite pick of birds in flock is featured in this post, captured at Nassau in the Caribbean.
...such as this one as they broke from from their rooftop perch...
...and this one as they winged over to the Centre Pompidou museum.
I first became interested in these kinds of shots with this post from Athens, Greece. Similar shots were attempted at different places but they weren't as good, or "blogworthy" as I like to say. This time I decided to go more for flock shots as they took to the air...
