Thursday, 1 September 2011
For the second time in as many weeks I enjoyed the Atlanta skyline at twilight from a high vantage point. (We don’t have that at home.)
At ground level, I think I’m getting the hang of salt-water pools….
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
You’ve heard of wine-dark seas? Around here we have some coffee-stained creeks and rivers. Although usually the water is described as tea-colored. It seems more like coffee tones to me….
Up above the riffles where the path has no guardrail, I took my sandals off and waded on a non-slippery rock, enjoying the rushing cold on my ankles and calves. More, however, I enjoyed the low roar of the falling water behind me and the sparkle of the sun on the roiling waters.
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Herculaneum was a Roman city of perhaps 4K, maybe 5K, people when Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. Residents had mostly fled the community by the time deadly hot gasses killed over 300 remaining, many on the beach. (More may still be entombed in the volcanic deposits that remain unexcavated.)
The beach area is now covered in green vegetation along the right side of the picture. The grey wall bordering it and in the background are the volcanic…stuff (technical term) that buried the city, and remain along the margins of the excavated area and beneath the modern city. The volcano’s output pushed the shoreline back, and it is now over 1500 ft to the SE. The old beach, now exposed, is essentially a moat and would flood if pumps were not removing water at a huge rate. Anyway, the mini-forum where you see teensy people in the middle is the second story above the arched rooms that shippers would have used. The large arched rooms in the foreground are perhaps a third story (all high stories) above the ancient waterline. Residences sit even higher, and would have enjoyed fine ocean breezes. The upright evergreens along the far horizon line the main entry route (from the left), with views between oleanders into the ancient city.
Perhaps the coolest thing about Herculaneum is that the volcano’s effects were different than at Pompeii, such that wood (and other organic materials) was carbonized in place and preserved. The balcony is from the first century AD, as is the screen below it. The red on the wall of the second floor is likewise ancient.
We underestimated how interesting we’d find Herculaneum.
Monday, 30 May 2011
Yes. We’ve made a circle.
And this is good.
In the process of closing the circle, we saw some serious peaks (exceeding 1K meters, or over 3300 feet), green and looming on the west side, with fewer trees on the east side that we approached from.
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Here’s the view from our B&B bedroom, across the valley at Piazza Armerina, of course with the cathedral dominating both the old town just below it and the skyline.
We got here via D’s Madonie mountain road, while the sun was shining and the views long. We crested our highest pass at around a mile high, and saw alpine-ish vegetation, although I thought most of it was pasture land—transhumance?—snow sticks 2m tall lined the road, and we encountered almost no traffic. Stunning!
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
When you visit a volcanic island named Vulcano, ya gotta expect to be careful. So, don’t walk on the wild side, and be careful around the sulfurous clouds. Seriously. Cough cough.
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Sometimes it doesn’t get any better than this. (Outside the frame is wine, bufala di mozzarelle, prosciutto, apples, tomatoes, and more.)
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
From yesterday….
With all this talk of pending snow overnight—perhaps a bit more than would be called a dusting across the Midwest—I almost forgot to post a blahg entry today….
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Sunrise across the snowy fields…with a crescent moon, or a moon in just a fingernail.
Yesterday I saw two Vs of Canada geese, so there must be enough food somewhere that they decided to stay, or perhaps just not to go.
Thursday, 27 January 2011
Every once in a while you can be on the fast road, and the circumstances deliver something special. This is the pass by Jellico, and the storm that came through here yesterday, leaving the trees looking fresh-flocked.