Along the Via Dolorosa, Way of Grief.
The top photo is of an impression of Jesus’ hand as he stumbled while carrying the cross. Top row middle, Station VII along the way where Jesus fell a second time. Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Entry to the tomb.
This site has a telling of Via Dolorosa with a lot pf photos and descriptions of the stations.
We stopped traveling abroad years ago, but I’m thankful we made an exception to go to Israel and tour the Old City.
The religious value of such a picture lies in its power to revive personal memories. Death is one of the most solemn realities in the world; it is the door by which one passes from the seen and temporal into the more immediate consciousness of things unseen and eternal.
Commentary on Decent from the Cross by Peter Paul Rubens (1612) as quoted in the crappy old book, Christ and the Fine Arts (1938).
Decent from the Cross is the center panel of the alter-piece in the cathedral at Antwerp, Belgium, about 30 miles north of Brussels.
Reposted from 2016
Not to worry. My computer had just had a conversation with my printer and I had failed to flip the switch.
Rain started at 3, 8/10th of an inch so far. It’s April in Mississippi.
It’s like a broken record. And what’s funny about that is in another 20 years most folks will understand the meaning of that but few will know what it means.
I’m tending the roses and grapes today. Big job. The grapes have really taken off but I did not realize they had so many suckers. Must go. Roses need attention. Big garden!
Guess what? It’s going to rain! And not just any old rain, thunderstorms and lightening and possible hail and tornadoes.
I’ve been outside since about 9:30 or so. In addition to the songs of nature, I’ve heard several lawn mowers, a couple of shots, and I think Mr. Cotton Farmer’s tractor. Everyone is getting ready for more rain.* The various theys are predicting 1-3″.
*We’re not the only ones with a range out here. Normally the other folks get their shooting time in on Saturday. But, you know, it’s going to rain.
The state of Western Civilization notwithstanding, today will be even gloriouser than yesterday.
Pax vobiscum.
This looks like something that would be fun to make with… oh, I don’t know… a little boy, doesn’t it? 😉
From The Best of Bon Appetit (1979) brought to you courtesy of Mr. Big Food’s Big Food Manual and Survivalist Flourishing Guide. (More info here; similar recipe here.)
“This bread may be frozen and decorated after defrosting.”
ITALIAN EASTER EGG BREAD WITH FROSTING
Makes a 12-inch circular loaf
2½ to 3½ C flour
¼ C sugar
1 Tbsp yeast
1 tsp salt
2/3 C milk
2 Tbsp butter, plus more melted
2 eggs, at room temperature, plus an additional 5 raw, colored
½ C mixed candied fruits or raisins, chopped
½ C toasted almonds, chopped coarse
½ tsp anise seed
Frosting (see below)
Colored sprinkles (decoration)
Candied pineapple, citron, or jellybeans on coconut “nest” (optional garnish)
In large bowl of electric mixer combine 1 C flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Heat together milk and butter in a small saucepan over low heat until warm (110o), and add mixture gradually to dry ingredients, beating 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, and scraping sides and bottom of bowl occasionally. Add 2 eggs and ½ C flour, “or enough to make thick batter,” and beat at high speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Gradually stir in enough additional flour to make a soft dough that comes clean from sides of bowl.
Recipe continues below.
From The Best of Bon Appetit (1979)
Be creative! Make this in the shape of a bunny instead of a duck!
More info here; similar recipe here.)
“Each slice of this festive bread will show a swirl of raspberry, chocolate and nuts.” —The Best of Bon Appetit (1979)
“Duck may be prepared a day ahead. Reheat in brown paper bag in 200oF oven 15 to 20 minutes and cut into slices to serve.”
“May also be frozen before glazing. Defrost completely and warm prior to decorating.”
DANISH EASTER DUCK WITH FILLING AND GLAZE
Makes 1 bread
¼ C golden raisins, soaked overnight in ½ C sherry
Dough (see below)
1 C raspberry preserves
Filling (see below)
Glaze (see below)
Gum drop
Yellow and green colored icings, “available in tubes”
Melted chocolate and chocolate sprinkles
Mushroom-shaped meringues (see recipes in Desserts section), green-tinted coconut (optional)
Turn out risen dough on an unfloored surface, and roll and stretch into a rectangle 40×8 inches, and spread dough lightly with raspberry preserves. Sprinkle Filling over dough to within 1 inch of edges, roll jelly roll fashion into a narrow roll about 2 inches in diameter and 40 inches long.
To shape duck, cut off a 3-inch length from each end of roll and twist entire roll a few times. Shape twisted roll into a large ‘S’ on an oiled baking sheet, using 1/3 of roll for neck and 2/3 for body. Shape duck loosely with coils close together but not touching. Using 1 piece of remaining dough, shape duck beak and tail, and attach. Using second piece, shape duck feet and attach. Cover duck with waxed paper and allow to rest in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 50 minutes. Preheat oven to 375o. Bake duck 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. “It may be necessary to turn pan to ensure even browning.” Remove bread from oven and allow to cool until just warm to the touch.
To decorate, use gum drop for eye, paint body with Glaze, and use colored icings for feathers. Highlight tail and feet with melted chocolate dusted with chocolate sprinkles. Surround duck with meringues and coconut “grass” (if using).
Dough, filling, and glaze recipes below.
I had been alternately diddling inside and out, and thinking and writing about preparedness.
I came inside, sat down at my desk and refreshed American Digest.
For a split second, I did not understand. And then I typed drudge… .
I hit the top link– there were only three at the time– and looked at the pictures.
Notre Dame. In flames. I just sat there staring at the screen.
As much as I know about the brain and how as it relates to the mind, I have no explanation for why my brain singled to my tear ducts in these moments.
And then I went outside for some fresh air. Notre Dame. In Flames. Why does this affect me so? What is going on?
I don’t care about how / why it happened.
I’ve been there once, and only on the outside.
Where is that photo?
I searched the picture tub and found it.
So why does it affect me so?
Why did I weep?
Kat & Tony’s weekly newsletter from Penang, Malaysia, mentioned natural disasters and survival. They noted that most “survival situations” are resolved within 72 hours. (Mississippi’s Emergency Management agency’s motto is “The first 72 are on you.”) They also linked a video from Uncharted Supply Company promoting a bug out bag (BOB), Seventy2.
As I have a passing interest in preparedness, I clicked over to the 20 minute video and watched about two minutes. [But see updates below.] In slowly ginning up the sales pitch, the dude makes the insightful comment that if you are in a situation where you need a knife, you shouldn’t need a knife to open the box in your BOB that contains the knife. No. You should not.
Let us pause. If you get nothing else from what I hope will be an informative series of posts, please get yourself a pocket knife and put it in your pocket. A Buck, or Swiss Army knife will do nicely. Those multi-tools come in handy– I carry one in my sack– but they are too bulky for my pocket.
My aims for this series are to 1) offer a critique of pre-packaged emergency preparedness kits and BOBs such at Seventy2, and 2) put together a BOB in real life. You heard that right. We do not have a BOB because we have already bugged out to The Farm. I can think of no circumstances, which have any meaningful probability of happening, which would necessitate our bugging out. (We are far enough inland to not be subject to hurricane evacuations, and there would be absolutely zero tactical advantage to knocking out rural north central Mississippi.)
However, I can think of circumstances under which we should have a bag of useful things in the truck, should we hit some sort of snag in the routine, or come across another’s emergency. To be clear, the BOB I will put together will not be a true BOB– a bag that’s packed with things one would need to flee one’s home in advance of an impending threat. Rather, it will be a bag containing items Mr. Big Food and I might need to get home on foot (EMP?), to use if we are trapped away from home (massive flooding?), to help others in a serious emergency (car accident?). We’ll still call it a BOB, though (it’s a search engine thing).
One general, and one specific observation about Uncharted Supply Company’s Seventy2 below the fold, as well as one almost true life scenario.
Some honking creature just flew across the front yard from the lake to the pond. What a great time of year!
Well… except for the tornadoes, fluctuating temperatures, and flooding.
Good Morning!
What a beautiful day to be stuck inside. We have had 6.5″ of rain this month. It’s a slog. Mr. Big Food is behind on his cutting. I’m behind in my planting. And there will be no cutting or planting for a while.
On a positive note, I did get those three shrubs planted and this is perfect weather for their first week of life on The Farm.
FYI, there’s an Easter ham in my future!
Sunday morning is the Book Thread at Ace of Spades HQ. ace.mu.nu
Via ace.mu.nu
Tornado update coming. We are fine. Others are not.
The chicken & pastry is done, at least we’ll be well-fed.
@USTornadoes
Good advise.
Also,
Think it through.
The radar images you see at the various weather sites are all “smoothed.”
RAdio Detection And Ranging
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the range, angle, or velocity of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. A radar system consists of a transmitter producing electromagnetic waves in the radio or microwaves domain, a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna (often the same antenna is used for transmitting and receiving) and a receiver and processor to determine properties of the object(s). Radio waves (pulsed or continuous) from the transmitter reflect off the object and return to the receiver, giving information about the object’s location and speed.
That Infallible Source
That information is raw data. What you are seeing at Wunderground, Windy, and NWS, though, are not colorized raw data, but data that have been subjected to a computational filter, an algorithm. (I’ve seen it called “averaged,” but that is not a correct term, although it captures the underlying sentiment.) I thought this about a particular filter was pretty telling:
In situations where the target motion conforms well to the underlying model, there is a tendency of the Kalman filter to become “overconfident” of its own predictions and to start to ignore the radar measurements. If the target then manoeuvres, the filter will fail to follow the manoeuvre. It is therefore common practice when implementing the filter to arbitrarily increase the magnitude of the state estimate covariance matrix slightly at each update to prevent this.
That Infallible Source [my emphasis]
If you want to see the information itself, you need to look at un-smoothed data.
√
I know that’s not a check mark. The ability to improvise comes in handy sometimes.
Via Powerline’s The Week in Pictures.