ORACLE BONES and the APRIL 8, 2024 SOLAR ECLIPSE

The crowd did not dream when they laid down their money that they would see the total eclipse of the Sonny!

Muhammed Ali 

(Muhammed Ali vs Sonny Liston, February 25, 1964)                                                                                                                                     

In ancient cultures around the globe, bones often played a role in divination.  

In China during the late Shang dynasty c.1250 BCE - 1046 BCE,  animal bones and flat underside of turtle shells were carved or drawn on using the earliest known examples of Chinese writing.  Many of the characters are close enough to modern versions that they can be read.  The bone or shell would ask a question.  It was then pressed with a hot poker causing cracks that would be interpreted by a diviner.  Now these oracle bones act as windows into the ancient cultural history of China.  They remain as records of weather, crops, military engagements, sales made, the royal families - and on rare occasions records of a lunar or solar eclipse.

The oracle bones were usually made from the bones of an ox but a few skulls of deer have also been found.

This year there was a gathering to view the solar eclipse at my brother's house in Ohio - in the path of totality.  The forecast was for cloudy skies but the day turned out to be perfect, clear and warm.  We watched the sun being nibbled away, and when the moment of total darkness happened loud cheers went up in the neighborhood all around us.

It is impossible to explain why it was so thrilling.  Despite everything having been predicted and explained, it remained mysterious and strangely beautiful.

Since I had an undecorated deer skull sitting around in my Cabinet I had the opportunity to do my own oracle bone to record the total eclipse of 2024.

THE BIRDS LIBRARY

"Nothing is invented, for it's written in nature first. 

Antoni Gaudi

The structure that holds the Bird's Library is an altered antique clock case. The exterior surface is covered with mirror pieces and iridescent blue acrylic, changing its impact to one that is light and airy - air being appropriate to the life of birds.  The top two images were photographed with a white baffle.  The bottom photograph shows how the library all but disappears into its reflections.

Two ceramic owls perch on the roof's pedestals.  Since ancient times owls have been symbols of wisdom.

The shelving inside the library is also covered in mirrors and the walls are collaged with images of birds.

The books in the Bird's Library so far have all been created with collage images and come in two sizes.  The topics are wide-ranging and include birds napping in bed,  or accompanying people who wear a variety of uniforms, or enjoying fruit.

 

SENTENCES 

"The house never forgets the sound of its original occupants."

John Hejduk

                              

HAND STORIES: PLANTING BY MOONLIGHT

Thus, though the sky is changeful, men can predict
The seasons as they change and what they bring:
The time for harvest, the time for planting seeds...

                                    Virgil, The Georgics
                                    translated by David Ferry



Synodic planting depends on the observation of the waxing and waning of the moon to make decisions.
Sowing seeds at the time of the new moon is preferred for leafy plants and flowers.  Planting root crops when the moon is going toward darkness.
But this story is about Wanda Miller who during her lifetime worked constantly during the planting/growing season.  Since she was busy all day selling plants and produce her only option for planting was to do it after hours and into the night.  By moonlight.

HAND STORIES: SAINT KEVIN

                             ...now he must hold his hand
Like a branch out in the sun and rain for weeks
Until the young are hatched and fledged and flown.

                                               Seamus Heaney
                                                St Kevin and the Blackbird



St Kevin (Anglicized from Coemgen) of Glendalough is recorded as being born in 498.  His death date is listed as 618 which seems an unusually long life.
Legend has it that a white cow appeared at his parents' house every morning and evening to offer milk when he was an infant.

He lived as a hermit surrounded by animals.  His living quarters were so small that when he went to pray, palms upward, one of his hands had to stick out of his window.  One day a blackbird chose to use his hand as a nest in which to lay her eggs.  Kevin let the eggs remain there until the chicks hatched and fledged.  He was fed by birds who brought him fruit.

The hand standing in for Kevin is that of Megan Parry who has a great love and knowledge of birds.  In the summer she and her husband live very close to nature in New York state where they can hear the birds' songs and can watch their  behavior.

HAND STORIES: THE ODYSSEY

The Early Dawn was born; her fingers bloomed.
                                         
Homer
Translation, Emily Wilson



In the The Odyssey many chapters begin with a description of dawn as rosy fingered -  the goddess using her hands to create sunrise.  
The modern hand standing in for Eos (Greek) / Aurora (Roman) is Stephanie Ruseckas who has filled her lovely garden with roses.  

The daylight begins by chasing away the stars.

DYSTOPIAN WALLPAPER: the Lives of Birds and Insects

Life changes fast.  Life changes in an instant.  You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.

Joan Didion














This quartet of images is to be repeated side by side / up and down to create wallpaper.  The immediate impression is quiet and pleasant, but close observation reveals deadly problems in this peaceful landscape.

The upper left grouping:
The central focus is a European Bee-eater (Merops apiaster) in the act of devouring a bumble bee.  The bumble bee is also being eyed by a beewolf  (genus Philanthus) and a Conops quadrifasciatus.
Two different, highly predacious,  assassin bugs sit to the left and right of the poisonous black hellebore, stalking two herbivorous leaf beetles.
The columbine leaves that interest the leaf beetles have already been attacked by leaf miners, usually the larvae of moths, sawflies (a type of wasp) or flies.

Stationed at the corners of each square are four species of ants ready to go to war.

Upper right grouping:
Attracting 3 house flies to their deaths in a pitfall-trap is the beautiful North American pitcher plant (Genus Sarracenia).  Just above are two groups of three seeds from the poisonous, vespertine, moonflower plant  (Genus Datura). Flanking the pitcherplant are the leaves of the sweet pea (Laythyrus odoratus)whose seeds are toxic.
Flying over the pitcher plant is a cicada being followed by a Cicada killer - a solitary wasp which will paralyze the cicada then lay eggs on it that will provide food for the larva when it hatches.

Lower right grouping:
A green hummingbird flies over the leaf of the poisonous castor bean plant, right into the waiting arms of a large, carnivorous, praying mantis.  The leaves by the wings of the mantis are from the bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis), which can cause skin irritations.  Sitting on the leaves are lady beetles (Family Coccinellidae) ready to attack three aphids.

Lower left grouping:
A blue warbler (Setophaga caerulescens) from the deep woods of North America somehow has run across a yellow pansy butterfly (Junonia hierta) from the paleotropics. A pair of  common green darner dragonflies (Anax junius) are also interested in a butterfly lunch.
Seated in the center of a white opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) is a white crab spider (not an insect) which doesn't spin a web, but grabs its prey when it comes to the flower.  In this case, it is a doomed white cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapae).
Around the poppy are the poisonous leaves of the choke cherry (Prunus virginiana) and deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna).