Crazy for Cardamom

This is likely my favorite of spices. It has often been a conundrum of CardamoM vs CardamoN; but it turns out either is correct as a result of Nordic translation. What is also a bit bizarre to me, is that it is so prevalent in Scandanavian baking, but it is actually grown from large bushes in Sri Lanka or Guatemala. So how the hell did it migrate all the way to Sweden? I also was not aware there are two varieties, the common black cardamom and also the very expensive and rare green cardamom.

Since I am heavy into my holiday baking, one of my traditions to roll out is my braided Cardamom bread. It takes hours to raise, divide and swirl, but it is always a mastery of baking and tastes incredible. I will take it on sometime after the Christmas Cookies. 

I am basing this post off a wonderful BBC offering talking about 'Fika' or a Swedish coffee break. The article talks about Lucia buns, just celebrated on Dec. 13th made with saffron, raisins and almonds. It also makes reference to Semlor buns which feature caraway. But the ultimate favorite flavor is cardamom which has evolved into fine Scandinavian pastries. 

It refers to a craze over the last 30 years, where bakeries are outputting huge numbers of pastries on a daily basis rather than consumers baking at home. I would guess this is because of the time and effort needed for this craft. It then notes a plethora of other uses for it in certainly cookies & spice cakes, but also in porridge (who knew anyone really ate that?) as well as wines & ales. As I pointed out above - it is the third most expensive spice globally so there is that. Thank goodness locally for Penzeys spices.

The heart of this conversation is the or kardemummabulle  (Cardmamom Bun.) They talk about it being a parallel to what would be a croissant in France. Layers of butter and yeast that rise, a crust of caramelized sugar and the airy and fragrant spice of warm cardamom. The recipe listed sounds just as laborious, with a bread, a filling, a glaze and much time spent allowing it to raise between. But the pictures and recipe included are piquing my interest and I'm now wondering if I should maybe make a slight baking detour this year???

BBC: Sweden's enduring Love

"Bundt" Beautiful

A few years back I started hitching a ride on the Bundt cake brigade. I think it started with a purchase of a small pan at a garage sale. In always see them as a Baking Category at the MN State Fair. I don't think they were a staple of my childhood. We always had square tin Chocolate cakes or a tall, circular Carrot or German Chocolate. 

Somewhere along the line, I found the Nordicware factory a few miles from my house and was drawn to the bargain outlet in the back with dented wonders and out-of-season cookie cutters among other treasures. Their birthday club coupons continued to bring me back annually.

But the last year has upped it a notch. With fabulous cookie stamps in Honeycombs and snowflakes, a decadent lattice bread pan and other things that cannot be found elsewhere. Last August I caught a glance of their signature cookbook at the cashier and decided I should peruse it. I did purchase one, but found it used on line for half the cost.

It was only on reading the first chapters that I came to understand the impact of this small MN family and their simple creation that took the baking industry by storm in the late 1950's. It came from a German cake called a Gugelhupf. Basically a round coffee cake with a hole in the middle. Nordicware came up with the name Bundt based on bundkuchen which meant a cake for gatherings. He simply added the consonant T to pronounce the sound of the word with a German dialect.

A recent feature on CBS Sunday morning explores both the history and science of the pans. The concept of a hole in the center has less to do with visual and more about making it easier to bake thick cakes more evenly by allowing the center cone to heat more of the surface area. The cake pan really came to fashion after the National Pillsbury Bake Off in 1966. The Tunnel of Fudge Cake did not even win but was the 2nd place recipe and ignited a craze that propelled Nordicware into fame.

CBS Sunday: Origin of the Bundt Pan

They now come in so many variations of the original mold. I have a collection of 3 right now which seems plenty. They are pretty fool-proof; other than making sure those intricate pans are greased well to they release with all the beautiful patterns. The cakes are always moist, rich and with that Bundt Collection book - there are enough to impress every season. You may not need to go out and buy one. But if see one at a garage sale or a thrift store - grab it and give an easy recipe a try. You won't regret it.

Mácnas Mania for Halloween

I can't speak from personal viewing, but there is this bizarre Halloween parade in Ireland that seems to be where Day of the Dead collides with Mardis Gras and a bit of Macy's Thanksgiving thrown in for sparkle.

 

Here in Minneapolis we have a puppet theater company called Barebones that does something community on a much smaller scale. When I first started digging into this, I couldn't quite grasp what Mácnas was? They began back in 1986 as a performance company that put its effort into creating public events in open & undefined spaces. The term itself is an Irish slang term meaning "frolicking." They attempt to make theater that is pioneering, inventive and radical. Their arenas branch internationally into so many tangents, including touring with U2 in 1993 and also anchoring at the SXSW Music Festival.

 

Their parades became a staple at the turn of the century. Again, they were community based events and all had an element of storytelling & folk tales, usually during a summer Festival in Galway where they are located. At some point they landed onto the calendar during Halloween which has roots as an Irish Pagan festival in itself. The Parade has been an off/ on happening in recent years but this year has returned in full regalia. So much so, that it is occurring in both Galway and Dublin on consecutive nights. The parade is an hour and a half in length, but because the story unfolds in real time, every spectator along the route takes in a different part of the telling.

Mácnas offices are spread across two locations in the city. Administration and rehearsals mainly take place in Fisheries Field. Large-scale construction primarily takes place at a warehouse in Liosban. The cast consists of company members and expands to engage community members with various talents. I cannot even imagine the designers and visual artists that create the elements of the puppets and floats.

For 2023 they are drawing on a Mexican Folk tale of La Lobo who is a half-wolf woman who ravages the streets on the eve of Halloween to collect bones of the dead. At midnight she sings to the bones of these lost souls and brings them back to life for a brief moment to reflect on their past.

So this magical team of 200 creates music, soundscapes, costumes and live art to weave this magical dark tale as the parade watchers join in the revelry and frolicking. Wanna go next year?!

 

Dog Whistle

I am very proud of the work we do at Animal Humane Society. There are always the cute and cuddly pictures of the animals we help. But I am more inspired by the true work we do. We are constantly thinking outside the box with the human-animal bond to solve problems.

Since there is a nationwide shortage of vet techs, we created our own Rachael Ray Vet Tech Program. If they are not graduating from vet school and we cannot find them - let's train them ourselves in exchange for a commitment to serve us after certification. If our community is stressed at not being able to find housing, let's create a Temporary Housing Program to assist with foster care while those severely unfortunate get a chance to get on their feet again until they can be reunited with their pet.

This week our Shelter Behavioral Team briefed us on a new housing study we are undertaking. Any Dog coming into our care is going to be stressed. We are a large clinical setting, many other dogs barking or setting boundaries, strange vet staff handle them, public crowds approaching them 6 days a week. Over the last few years, we are digging deeper into finding what type of housing situations can alleviate that stress.

It can be different for each Dog. Some prefer a quiet, safe sanctuary space. Others may want something that gives them more interaction and free space. We have been gifted a fabulous new technology tool called a Whistle App.

Whistle is available commercially as a Tracking device. But it has many more capabilities. Think of it as a Fit Bit for dogs. When it is attached to their collar, it keeps track of so much more than just activity. Of course, we want to know how much time they spend sleeping vs. how much time they are active. This can be an insight into what may be depression in shelter vs. anxiety. They are also capable of tracing other biological levels very helpful to us. We are ultimately using these devices on a case study of 12 dogs at a time in different living situations with our next transport of dogs in from out of state. This will give us glimpses into adaptation of the new dogs and figure out what might work best on a dog:dog basis. Overall, this will impact what "housing" means at AHS. What can we build to better serve these large dogs who are so much in need? Thinking Outside the Box as noted above.

Whistle App

Glamping - Glam Camping

It seems another Minnesota summer has come and gone, and I have again missed my chance for camping. I suppose there is still a possible Fall getaway in the weeks to come. But every year we vow to pack up the tent and head to a State Park for a night or two under the stars. We have gotten to the parks, seen the Lakes, hit the breweries. I even got the kayak out on the Lake last weekend for some quiet time bobbing on the waves. But the camping experience seems to be aloof.

In all honesty, I am not a true camper. I would say "rustic" fits me better. We did spend our Labor Day weekend out in Waconia in a dandy old cabin. It is actually an old farmhouse on my friend Stephanie & Scott's property. There are gracious fields, lightning bugs and giant porch swings. But there is also running water with a shower, an AC unit in the window and even an old pinball machine. So this does not constitute roughing it by any means.

Which brings me to the concept of #Glamping which is a distant cousin of camping in the wild. Something cozy in the middle of the woods so you get that experience of being one with nature. But plenty of comfort so your idea of relaxing is simply lighting a bonfire with S'mores. No pitching tents or inflating air mattresses. We have had these sort of outings in Duluth, Battle Lake and Lanesboro. The particular destination I am featuring is in Nevis MN.

The tiny residence is a refurbished Train car and can be rented via an app called HipCamp. Think of it as a kitschy version of AirBnB or Vrbo. Some other choices are a Yurt on a Blueberry farm in the Catskills. Or a canvas pod treehouse above the forest with access from two suspended walking bridges in North Carolina.

This campsite is called Goldie the Caboose, nestled on 2 acres. Goldie herself is a 1905 railroad car that worked the Iron Range in Ely. She was in use for over 50 years until she was retired in 1968. The current owners bought the caboose in 2019 where they had it transported (how does one do that?) and spent time renovating & converting it. It has showers and a small kitchen nook. It also needs a 2 night minimum as most campgrounds expect. It is small but that is part of the experience. Unfortunately for us, it is not pet friendly which is a deal breaker for our travels. It also does not come cheap at $160/ night with service charges in addition. So if you are thinking of budget camping, this may not be the fit for you.

Still the idea of a cozy getaway remains appealing. Call it glamping, whatever.

 Booking Goldie; via HipCamp

other rustic adventures via the Dyrt

 

Synesthesia - Tasting Sound

Synesthesia - is a weird scientific term I first heard two years ago. In regard to our 5 senses - it is the odd instance where the sense of sound/ hearing somehow triggers a taste response in addition. It is almost like a short circuit of your senses where an external response, a word or even a sound, unleashes a natural response and you notice a quick reflex of taste in your mouth. Sometimes it is merely a thought of a certain taste in your brain. Nonetheless, it is a scientific phenomenon where a stimulus triggers the wrong sense in your brain.

I bring this post up right now for two reasons. I know I do not exhibit Synesthesia, but my morning coffee has recently been tasting like soap. Possibly in the same way some people get that response from cilantro. Something is misfiring. It could be that my Keurig needs a good vinegar rinse. Or maybe our dish soap is extremely pervasive.

A second thought on my brain are the concepts of current drum corps shows this summer. Totally Disconnected. But the marching community loves to come up with bizarre concepts based on a weird word association, so they create these non-words, that are supposed to create some magical response just like the Synthesia noted above. However, it is usually lost on the other 99% of the population that remains perplexed at said concept. For example this year we have In Absintheia, symbio.sys, Exogenesis and others. In drum corps, sometimes there is an aesthetic approach to a show design instead of something either logical or emotional. In these cases, there is also the risk that they are so far off base that the audiences are not in on the gig. It becomes a Master's Thesis project the staffs are left pandering to the judges in hopes of being rewarded. You can guess how I feel about most of these designs.

But back to the concept at hand. Synesthesia affects a mere percentage of the population and is hardly a quantifiable science. It comes in countless forms. It can arise from hearing words that trigger a taste. It can come from a word/ taste association going back to your childhood. (Much like a certain song can trigger a time sensitive memory from your past.) Some people state it doesn't come as a taste, but a feeling of a texture in your mouth. This one seems hard for me to fathom. Others maintain it is not words, but specific sounds from the environment that bring it on. Some of us might remember that when we were young and forced to eat a food we did not like. if you plugged your nose while chewing, supposedly it diminished the taste in your mouth. I do not doubt that all our main senses are somehow correlated. I also have always wondered about vision - if what I see is blue is the same color sensation as you would see it.

The scientific reality is that the taste buds on the tip of our tongue are highly sensitive and organized into different groups of sweet, bitter, acid et al. And with all the circuitry of our neurology, it is easy to see how misfiring could happen in 1% of the population. All of this means absolutely nothing in the big picture. It is just one of those thoughts that popped up in my mind again today, Inquiring Minds Want to Know.

Synesthesia; Wikipedia

Danny Fitzgerald - the Brooklyn Boys

For Pride month, I wanted to script a few blog posts that are connected, but also their own small detours from the chosen features we usually see in the media. We are in an era of incessant cancel culture over everything Gay Pride, So I found this artist takes us out of the present and into something that is more nostaligia.

Johnny New York 1962

Even then, in the 1960's, there has always been tension between what is creative photography vs. what is perceived as erotic art. It goes back centuries! What is the distinction between a naked Greek statue in marble vs. a Black & White photo capturing a silhouette in an alluring pose? We can all argue over the term "tasteful", but it still remains a creative art form. It just becomes a matter of if you are willing to buy or appreciate.

Danny Fitzgerald was a New York City photographer who captured the streets of the city in much the same way that Vivian Maier did. She has become renowned in the last decade; Fitzgerald remains more of a casualty that is dismissed. His genre were the street gang punks and cruisers of Brooklyn. He called them his "demi-gods." He started by capturing their images on the streets and parks of Brooklyn, New Jersey and even in the nearby woods of PA. Over time he "upgraded" and persuaded them into his studio space in Carroll Gardens which he dubbed Le Demi Dieux. There was also his sexy and younger partner, Richard Bennett, they would entice the young men into settings that were more glamorous and pushed them towards more erotic poses. No one is aware that sexual favors were exchanged, but the gushing over their sensuality certainly made a dent in their blue-collar egos. At the time in the early 1960's it was considered Beefcake vintage and only appeared in seedy rags like Muscles a Go Go and The Young Physique. It has taken a full 50 years to resurface and be viewed in an entirely different light.

Stef, New York 1963

Somehow photos were found and curated for a first-time exhibition by Steven Kasher Gallery in New York back in 2014. It sounds as if enough interest came of it that they are also published into a coffee table book of full-page photographs.

Tommy, 1964

I find that the pictures have both an innocence and an inherent sensuality. I am guessing most of the models were late teens and maybe early 20s, but not much older than that. In spite of being street toughs, I assume most of them are only discovering whatever their sexuality is. None of it feels manufactured. It's as if the boys from West Side Story were given a magazine feature in Life! Fascinating.

Here is a link to the original blog article where I found them:

Alain Truong: Photography

Richard Bennet, Danny's partner 1962

Anthony, 1963

Orest, New York 1960

Peeps Factory

I know I am one of a small fan club when it comes to Easter Peeps. They are pure sugar and colors not usually found in a food spectrum. This is nothing to speak of the continual chain of bizarre flavors like Dill Pickle, Sour Watermelon and Cake Batter among others. There was a time in my late youth and the beginning of microwaves that we got the biggest kick out of putting them in for 45 seconds and watching them implode into a ball of white goo. My family also makes an annual trek to a Peeps contest in Maryland where they attempt to build mini creations out of them as if they were a Lego entry in the State Fair. But I defy anyone to not give them credit when toasted over a campfire/ fire pit and smooshed in the middle a high-quality S'more! With that creme center and the burnt sugar coating, they are a mere step away from a fine creme brulee.

So, it was only fitting that the NY Times just published an inside tour on the conveyor belt process of bringing these sweet marshmallow treats to the masses. If I remember correctly a few years back, during the pandemic there was an outage of Peeps stock along with toilet paper, eggs and other grocery products. The Peeps Factory in Bethlehem PA pumps out 5.5 million of these candies a day. Take a moment to process that! The article credits family member Bob Born, who just died at age 98, with inventing the incredible factory line that uses hoses & spray jets to go from sugar to chick in a short 6 minutes.

Please read the article if you are able to which has great images that show the evolution in block steps:

• 1: Preparing the Sugar - where it is tumbled and sprayed with jets into those bright colors.
• 2: Cooking the Marshmallow - sugar, water & corn syrup are heated into what is called a "bob" and then stiffened with gelatin that needs to be just the exact temperature to set.
• 3: Shaping the Chicks (or Bunnies) - the candy is pumped and whipped into shape before being dropped onto the conveyor belt.
• 4: Sugar Shower - compressed air comes at the chicks from all angles creating a sugar storm which coats them while still soft.
• 5: Adding Eyes - two small drops of "carnauba wax" are calibrated and shot at them for eyes.
• 6: Final Inspection - they have a lengthy route on the belt allowing them to cool, there is quality control and eventual packing while they are still slightly warm.

A Trip to the Peeps Factory 

Kitty Superheroes

It is Spring. It is the change of seasons and a time of new growth. We often think of our gardens, seedlings and bulb blooms in April. But it is also notorious for litters of kittens, bunnies and the like. I can vouch that our Humane Society shelter kittens continue to be adopted out quickly, as it seems no one can pass up the face of a sweet feline with a pink tongue.

I am pairing these Cute Kitties up in a post that again begs the question of AI created artwork. The world of computer-generated photos is beyond me other than simple photo editing of images I have taken. And I do love the ReFace app for silly takes imposing my face onto vintage pictures or epic film clips. As is the case/ argument for this new realm of "creative arts," there is plenty of material floating out there in virtual space, but not a ton of license showing who created the content or even where it was generated from.

I have found a collection of photos rendering kittens as Marvel characters, Harry Potter characters, or other notable personalities. I am only sharing because they are CUTE. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of any of them nor give credit to the creative aspect of them. I am not even sharing a link for them as they are just out there in virtual space on Tik-Tok, Reddit or others. I just felt like sharing some sweet kittens for Spring!

Michael Urie; the Boy-Next-Door Crush

The concept of the Boy Next Door is an archaic notion that goes back to the days of Judy Garland, Mystery Date board game and Archie Andrews from the comics. It implies wholesomeness and charm without pushing the "sexy" quotient too far. He would be the vanilla date who doesn't over step. The one you could bring home to meet the parents. But then also, the one most likely to be your buddy and friend instead of the one to sneak off into the backseat with.

 

Michael Urie would be That Guy for me. Not oozing the sexuality of a Jake Gyllenhaal or the leading man image of a Chris Evans. But I defy anyone to deny that he is aging like a fine wine and comes up aces in everything he sets out to conquer.

I was first amused by him in Ugly Betty as the eccentric Marc St. James. He had incredible chemistry with Vanessa Williams and Becki Newton. He was witty, had an impeccable fashion sense and spitfire comic timing. I am 20 years older than him, but I assume he became somewhat of a role model for young teens that were itching to see where they registered in terms of their sexuality.

I became aware that he was next seen on Broadway in the revival of How To Succeed In Business in a supporting role. I thought maybe it was "star" turn until I realized the stage was where he had really planted his roots. Being a Julliard grad gives him strong pedigree. He succeeds in any genre he takes on. He was riveting in both the revival of Torch Song Trilogy as well as the title role in Hamlet with the Shakespeare Theater Co. I was gobsmacked watching his backstage antics where he recited Hamlet dressing room speeches in costume & character as Arnold from Torch Song. A maniacal mash-up. During the pandemic, I was also astounding when he recreated his role in Buyer and Cellar, a one man show about tending to Barbra Streisand's menagerie of collectables. He dazzled in a live stream filmed entirely in his own studio apartment. Filmed exclusively by his amazing partner Ryan, it was a highlight of that very dark time.

He continues to push boundaries on stage in new works and also demands change in our social norms of what is "normal" for an openly gay male. Single All the Way on Netflix may not have been groundbreaking material. But it was a sincere story that was authentically told. Watching it a second time this holiday season a year later, I was still as smitten with him.

 

These are all his accolades as a performer. But back to that Boy Next Door quality he possesses... Rather than vanilla, he comes full scale in all the colors of the rainbow. He is genuine, articulate, has great humor and boundless enthusiasm. I admire so much how he and his partner Ryan Spahn celebrate each other's work, collaborate together, and then at other times are just present for the other. Today Ryan had a post with pics of them "eventing." That is a true relationship. I am constantly amazed that the two of them almost always respond to a comment I have made on their social media. It shows that they both listen and are hardly swept up in the paparazzi of the great work they both continue to do. Michael speaks with wisdom and candor. And as for that "sexy"? This fabulous feature in this month's Photobook checks that box off the list as well. Still an impeccable fashion sense. Photos by Ben Cope.

 

Trans History Repeating Itself

Every once in a while I use this blog to dig into deeper issues than gardening, the arts or simple opinion pieces. Right now there is so much currency in cancel culture. The divides are getting vast, to the point that they are now impacting lives that had at one point been safe. The push and pull in our cultures seems to be ebbing much more into the past. This particular article really struck me in that we are not going back years or decades. Instead, this is exactly where we were as a civilization a century ago. These same stories were wiped away and erased. This makes us not only ignorant, but an absolutely cruel species.

 Magnus Hirschfeld was a doctor in Germany at the turn of last century. He was at an age watching the onset of Facism and the Holocaust in his country. He was also gay. He was pioneering the field of sexual identity before the 1920s and was documenting the concept of gender fluidity and noted that some people found themselves somewhere in the middle. He was aware of bisexuality, transgender and non binary as being "in accordance with their nature" for these patients. It was not sick or abnormal to him. These terms we are now struggling with, were the same terms he dignified back then.

 In 1919 he purchased a villa in Berlin and opened his Institute for Sexual Research. Its stated purpose was to be a place of "research, teaching, healing and refuge" that could "free the individual from physical ailments, psychological afflictions and social deprivation." It provided sex education and clinics on contraception. This is decades before our Planned Parenthood clinics. It became a safe haven for transvestites and female activists. By 1930 he was performing the world's first gender -affirmation surgeries. While groundbreaking in the medical sense, it still faced persecution from any sort of legal rights. This should sound very familiar to us 100 years later.

With the rise of the Nazi party by 1932, by 1933 Hitler was in power. Thus began the extermination of anything deemed unworthy of living or assimilation. Sadly, Hirschfeld's Institute was destroyed on May 6, 1933. He was out of the country by then. But sadly, his bust and a library of 20,000 books and journals were torched in the street in a huge bonfire. The loss was catastrophic.

But what makes it even more painful, Erwin Gohrbandt, who was Hirschfeld's colleague and premiere surgeon chose to stay with the Reich and later utilized those same skills on prison camp patients with operations of mutilation. Despite surviving, Hirschfeld and his partner Giese both soon died in Paris. Magnus of a stroke in 1935 and Giese by suicide soon after. His work has been given some nods in pop culture on the show Transparent and the film The Danish Girl who was an actual patient of his - but he is never credited for his work in the novel or the film. His legacy has effectively been erased.

So here we stand 100 years later. The same ugly fears and arguments rear their heads again. This should be science supported by history and data. And yet we fling proverbs and moral judgements of righteousness to bar progress from being made. Both in our families and in our medical communities. This is a human travesty and this history needs to be not only revisited, but broadcast. Please read this entire article which is amazingly documented from what ashes remain.

The Forgotten History of the World's 1st Trans Clinic

Polar Bear Playdate

Polar Bears are those magnificent giant creatures that represent winter in its full glory. Like so many other wild animals - cheetahs, zebras and even monkeys, they appear regal and jolly as if they pose no threat to humans at all. Even as that is not the case. I remember seeing them at zoos growing up or here in Minnesota where they splash around in a cold pool or slide on a bed of ice. Very amiable fellows. Possibly even with a sense of humor.

This is a photo essay by Dmitry Kokh published recently in the Guardian. He is a wildlife photographer who was en route to a session on Russia's Wrangel Island which is a UNESCO nature preserve. He describes it as the motherlode of all places to observe Polar Bears and notes it as a maternity ward for them. One day, due to bad weather and floating ice chunks, they took shore leave at a deserted weather station on Kolyuchin Island. Among the rocky shores and abandoned buildings, they noted a "sleuth" of bears had taken over the empty dwellings.

His pictures capture a very unusual atmosphere of content and curiosity with these bears taking full ownership of the village. Again, we have to be mindful they are a dangerous and giant animal. So, with the assistance of good drone photography, Dmitry was able to get some epic images of them without disrupting them. He notes that they were curious about the buzzing of the craft, but generally uninterested. 

The expedition noted they probably landed here because of the floating ice bergs and simply swam ashore as they neared. Polars apparently have an instinct to explore and play with doors, windows and latches. So, it is not uncommon for them to venture into these empty spaces. They are also now smart enough to realize they can be prey from hunters and take refuge in a safe shelters.

Enjoy the images and read the travelogue. This is exactly what a Polar Bear life should look like.

Polar Bears in Arctic weather Station: Guardian

Turquoise Ice

Today was another winter walk in the tundra that is Minnesota in January. It happened to be the frozen falls at Minnehaha today. There is still a single stream coming over the top that trickles down the slope of what becomes a mammoth cauliflower iceberg over the course of our fierce winters. I have seen it year after year.

However this year I am taking notice of the particular shade of the ice mounds. I have seen an earlier article about the incredible Turquoise Ice Shards at Lake Baikal in the Siberian glacial area of Russia. There, because of the pureness of the water, the depth of the lake and the wild winds that whip into their season - it creates dams of literal turquoise blocks that are more gemlike than liquid. It was formed as a rift valley where the underlying plates of the Amurian and North China faults shifted and pulled away from each other leaving a huge chasm. It continues to shift to the point of adding a 1/2 inch to the Lake each year. It is also home to huge biodiversity because of hydrothermal vents at its bottom which release heat from the earth's core and high levels of oxygen. Because of this purity, the water freezes into a unique blue shade. These shards of ice are called "hummocks."

 

So I know our Minnesota rivers are not nearly as pure and perfect. But I was asking the question of how we are also able to see those beautiful shades of lavender, seafoam and aquamarine? The answer was easy to a scientist, but somewhat lost on me and my understanding of light rays and the spectrum of color absorption! In simple terms; Water, like other matter absorbs light and the color reflected back is perceived by our eyes to be a shade of blue. Somehow in the process of freezing into both snow and ice, the water becomes fragmented (as in a snowflake) and scatters back light to us which then appears in shades of white rather than the absorbed blue. Even in smooth ice cube trays, there are enough bubbles that it no longer reads to us as blue anymore. BUT, as ice becomes thicker and more dense, it obviously becomes heavy as well. As the pressure squeezes out those imperfections, it allows the light transmissions to begin again, and thus starts to show those magical shades of blue.

This is what are noticed on Lake Baikal and any large glaciers that you see in the polar caps. We are just given a very rare glimpse of these tones in the gift of a frozen waterfall here in Minnesota. And now you know more.

 

Sargent - the Master

It was just pointed out to me that today is the birth date of John Singer Sargent, infamous American Impressionist painter. Anyone with an interest in curated art will know his works, but even those without an inkling of art history can appreciate the incredible depth of his work. Over a century before our current AI generated portraits, he was shaking up society with his individual take of what a "classic" capture of a face looked like.

I first stumbled onto him in a framing store on Hennepin Ave that no longer exists. It was his controversial portrait of Madame X that remains the focal point of our foyer in a spotlight on a bright melon wall. It is stunning. The subject was French socialite Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau and was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1884. What made it so provocative at the time were her very pale white shoulders on a bare torso. But amplifying it even more, was that he had painted her right shoulder strap slipping down her arm. People lauded the work, but he was chastised for the indiscretion on a society woman, so the portrait has very obvious markings where the shoulder strap was repainted - aligned on her collarbone to right the wrong. 

One of my many favorite traits of his works is the unmistakable lighting in a Sargent work. They seem to glow. It is both the way he captures sunlight and also the highlights & colors that he uses. The second works that drew me to him were seen at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. There was one called the Birthday Party with a very young child blowing out the candles on a cake. And also in Repose, a lovely female figure sprawled on a big sofa in what appeared layers of taffeta. 

Another unique detail is the attention to texture on background patterns. Fabrics, foliage, wallpaper. He starts with tiny strokes of color and detail - then as the portrait frames out, they become broad splashes of those same shades that then blur. Almost like a filter on an Instagram post.

His claim to fame are his portraits, both in Europe as well as the US, particularly Boston. But he also conquered lovely works in his Venetian and Spanish watercolors. His imprint on the city of Boston are huge murals all over the Public Library as well as other landmarks. Many aren't aware that he also dabbled in sculpture and even some architecture. There are catalogues of his drawings of many of his gay male models, one inspiration being handsome Black model Thomas Eugene McKeller whose figure is manifested in many of his mural works.

This year I was so very fortunate to see huge amounts of his work. A trip to Boston was so rewarding with his massive galleries there at the Isabella Gardener Museum. HIs El Jaleo is a masterpiece in motion and takes up an entire wall in its own room. Then we luckily timed our visit in Washington DC to an extensive showing of his Spanish works. As beautiful as his paintings are in tabletop books (of which I have many), there is nothing like seeing them spring to life in person. The colors, the strokes, the angle of the light and glow of twilight in his garden works, and the expression he captures in every face. He is indeed a Master. If you don't know his incredible legacy, find one of his works in a museum and it will be evident.

In Awe of Man in the High Castle

Since we are starting into the "Awards" season, there are many limited series that have completely taken me in over many years. Six Feet Under and Pushing Daisies are two that continue to percolate in my mind long after I have finished them. But Man in the High Castle certainly sits there among the best of them. I am NOT a binge watcher and like to take time to revisit them and let them expose themselves to me over time. With this one, I was late to the game to start with. And it has taken me a good 18 months to invest in 4 epic Seasons of the show. I am still a few episodes away from the ultimate reveal. But damn, if I don't have to take a breather and just talk about each show after I am finished with it.

The premise for the show examines what our country could/ would have become if WW II had ended much differently. It takes our American landscape with the West Coast occupied by the Japanese with their headquarters in San Francisco & the East Coast controlled by the German Reich based in New York City which has been rechristened New Berlin. In between, the Rocky Mountains operate as a Neutral Zone where renegades from the old states operate in clandestine sects. Throughout the course of the show, there are these mysterious films that emerge to show other possible outcomes where neither side actually wins. Over the course of its arc, it becomes clearer how the movies foreshadow. Japan remains staunch in their culture and traditions. Germany is resolute to be the pioneer in all technological and artistic advances. Even at the inhumane cost of purging all other races.

Let me state that so often media does not translate the written word well. In this case, the novel on which this is based is so far surpassed by this crew of screenwriters. The book featured the mainstay of the characters but was based more on the assimilation of US citizens into their cultures and the blackmail market of Americana artifacts. The political aspect was there, but not to the extent the series provokes it. Talk about a culture clash! It explores not only Japanese and Nazi cultures, but also American idealism where all three are willing to succeed at all costs. The entire scope of the show is political and spirals around courage, sacrifice and a hunger for power. 

I love literature that takes history and then commingles it with fiction. I have admired the work of Michener, Leon Uris and Doctorow for those reasons. I am currently reading All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr which also takes place during the struggle of WW II. High Castle takes the macro of a global setting and plays it out in the heavy reality of small but important lives.

For starters, they pack so much content into an hour, it takes time to process each chapter when I am done with it. It is not that they move too quickly; it is just that the density of the time period and the material is sprawling. It is written with purpose and there are no supporting characters here. Every role introduced has a major stake revealed over time. And each one is not 2 dimensional - but a deep character that is somehow ensnared with inner and outward struggles based on the world in which they live. Even more so - each one is not guaranteed a reward. Spoiler alert - the writers have no qualms about eliminating a major actor regardless of the size of the role. Those are the harsh consequences of the world they are all living in. As it spirals out of control in Season 4, it gets more convoluted but also richer. We see it play out in the next generations based on the faults of their parents and the racial outrage ignites to impact even more cultures. This list of both writers and episode directors is massive which speaks to the depth of the storyboards. It could have been a calamity with no consistency, but instead is a wealth of detail.

Too much to digest. Why yes! It is a slow burn that haunts. Tell me if you do not agree. Skip the current list of "must watches" and pull this one up for a chilling winter binge.