The Hermitage is the largest art museum in the world, located in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was formerly the tsars’ winter palace. There is no way you can see this entire museum in one day, but what there is to see is more than paintings and sculptures. There are ceilings, floors, tables, thrones, clocks, fountains and more. “Art” at the Hermitage encompasses architecture and any other form that beauty may take.
These are some of the “ways” at the Hermitage.
The Jordan Staircase
Hall of PortraitsThese floral designs are typical of the beautiful wooden patterns on the floors throughout the museum.The Raphael Loggias, commissioned by Catherine II to be a replica of the Raphael Loggias at the Vatican. As you walk down this long hallway, the walls and ceilings are filled with beautiful paintings on every topic imaginable.Walk through this ornate doorway to enter another awe-inspiring room full of artistic treasures.
Views from windows at the Hermitage:
This internal courtyard has a lovely garden with a path around it to admire every view.
View of pedestrians on a cobblestone street along a narrow canal.
As very young children, our hands were used to explore things – babies are very tactile explorers. At her first birthday party, my grand-niece Rosemary explored a blueberry pie, first by touching the rough surface of the crust…
Mmm, the top feels nice!
…next by digging her hand into the cool gooey blueberry inside…another new sensation!
Why is everyone looking at me?
…and finally by putting her fingers into her mouth to taste this intriguing substance.
Hmm, tastes good too!
As we age, our hands grow along with us and are used for many things: typing on a keyboard (as I am doing right now), create a painting or sculpture, play a musical instrument, signal to people (victory signs, thumbs up, and others not so nice), even talk – the deaf community has its own language, ASL (American Sign Language) to communicate with their hands.When we meet someone, we shake their hands. When we want to express our heartfelt thanks, we might put our hand over our heart. We embrace our loved ones and caress our lovers with our hands.
When I think about it, it’s truly amazing what we can get our hands to do. A secretary who can type as fast as her boss can talk, or a pianist playing a concerto, or a teacher, her hand gripped around a piece of chalk or dry erase marker, as she illustrates or writes something on the board for her students, or a florist using his hands to shape a bouquet just so. So much do we rely on our hands to perform tasks that we become frustrated when our fingers refuse to cooperate!
Hands can be adorned with rings, henna or bracelets.
A piano teacher’s hand
In old age, hands can fail us: they may become misshapen with arthritis or just not work as efficiently as before. The veins in the back of our hands become more prominent as do the bones of our joints. Age spots may appear on the skin. One of my favorite pictures of my mother is this one, taken on her ninetieth birthday, her wrist decorated with a corsage. Her hand is as expressive as the look on her face.
In Indianapolis, we were in a park where on one side was this statue of Pan playing his flute:
Roger White, American sculptor, created Pan and his companion Syrinx, of bronze with limestone pedestal. This was originally a drinking fountain. The sculpture of Pan was stolen 3 times! This is the 4th rendition.
On the other end was Syrinx, her hand to her ear, straining to hear Pan’s flute from afar.
Syrinx, a nymph in Greek mythology , is shown listening to the call of the pipes played by her companion, Pan, whose statue is located on the other side of the fountain.
When I think of fun, I think of the exuberance of childhood – children find it easy to have fun! Fun means different things for children, adults, and cats…
Recently, I was at a birthday party for a grand-niece’s first birthday. In attendance were her aunt and uncle and their son Alex (age 2). Alex never has trouble entertaining himself. Here he was running around the house, with two pink balloons, singing a song with words something like, “Nah, nah, nah!”
Fun for my cat is chasing a laser light.
As for me, I have fun being with friends and family. My husband and I are in a dinner group which meets every month at a different restaurant. In June, they celebrated my birthday at Chevy’s, a Mexican restaurant in Schaumburg. People celebrating birthdays at that restaurant are given a sombrero and a small dessert with a candle. However, I was more interested in a luscious large dessert and willing to pay…
This dessert is served on a mini crate – I’m not sure why. Maybe to make it closer to your mouth so you don’t spill chocolate all over your shirt??
These are examples of the fun moments I like to remember.
My niece and I went for a pedicure in Sept. 2013. I decided on orange – a bold move for me at the time – in time for the upcoming Halloween. My niece’s feet are on the right.
Footwear (sans feet!)
The evolution of Native American footwear (taken at Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis)Display of boots for sale in Santa Cruz, California
On our short trip to Indiana in June, we visited Indianapolis and Columbus. Indianapolis has an eclectic mix of architectural styles, and Columbus is famous for its architecture (it’s rated 6th in the country for innovative architecture, superseded only by 5 large cities).
A mixture of styles, a mixture of doors…
Shriners building, IndianapolisEntrance to the Indiana World War Memorial, IndianapolisEntrance to the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis. Brachiosaur “Riad” stands erect and her baby seems to be going in through the top.Doorway of a theatre in Indy. To fit into the space they “folded” the facade, so the door is at an angle.Entrance to Circle Tower building in Indianapolis.Inside the door into Pres. Benjamin Harrison’s house. This national monument commemorates the only president from Indiana.One of the historical homes of Columbus, Indiana: Irwin Home (1864); 1910 renovation and addition by Henry Phillips. Now The Inn at Irwin Gardens.Doors to First Christian Church in Columbus. The architecture for this church is modernistic, and rather unusual. For one thing, the doorway is not centrally placed; the left side is wider than the right side.
WINTER MORNINGS: CHILLY VIEWS FROM THE WEST (FRONT) SIDE OF MY HOUSE IN ILLINOIS
7:44 a.m., February after a snowstorm: The morning light filters through the trees and settles on the fresh snow. Although someone from my house has been outside (because of the footprints), it’s too early to have shoveled the walk. However, someone across the street has and a neighbor has already left for work, before the snow plows come through.
A month later, at 6:08 a.m., the golden full moon sets behind our neighborhood.
SPRING MORNINGS: NOSTALGIA, UPPER KAUBASHINE LAKE, WISCONSIN
9:00 a.m. on an early June day, I admired the stillness of Upper Kaubashine Lake in northern Wisconsin, a view I had seen many times for the last 50 springs and summers. This was to be my last morning at this beautiful place. My siblings and I were getting too old and our lives too far away to take care of the place.
As I gazed out at the lake in my bathrobe, with a cup of coffee in my hand, I saw a mama duck herding her little ones. They had no doubt awakened much earlier than I had and were ready for their daily fishing lessons.
SUMMER MORNINGS: I LOVE SUMMER MORNINGS!
It is my daily custom during warm months when I first get up (between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m.) to grab my cup of coffee and a light snack and sit on the deck at the back of our house, dressed in my bathrobe, and read for awhile out of whatever book I am reading. Sometimes, when I know it’s going to be a hot day, I try to take a walk as early as possible. On July 20, I was well on my way when I stopped to snap a picture of lilies and hibiscus bushes.
Walking to church around 9:15 a.m. on summer Sunday mornings, I pass this lovely garden and the colorful chairs that the residents of the house arrange on their lawn every summer.
AUTUMN MORNINGS: A REFRESHING TIME TO TAKE A WALK
8:30 a.m. in late September – a spider has been up all night, no doubt, creating this giant web. See her? She’s right in the middle of the web, just in front of the green leaves in the bottom center of the picture.
Autumn is a wonderful time to take 3-day road trips. Last October we went to Saugatuck, Michigan. The streets were nearly deserted on an October Saturday morning at 9:15 a.m. as we strolled down the main drag. The shops hadn’t even opened yet! Saugatuck is a lovely, photogenic town on Lake Michigan, in the southwest corner of the state of Michigan.
Hubby strolls down Butler St. in SaugatuckBench at 110 Butler St. (Later we passed this same place, when the store had opened, and the bench had been covered with colorful pillows.)
Morning brings the promise of a fresh new day and during every season, morning has its charms.
