View allAll Photos Tagged BENIGN
I don't know what possessed us to think a hike up a canyon named Hellhole was a good idea. The first part was a benign hike up a sandy trail. The second part was scramble over and around huge boulders up to a small waterfall. In Washington or Oregon that little cascade of water would not have drawn attention. But in the desert, even though it is largely obscured by dead vines and brush, it is considered a worthy destination. After considerable effort and wear and tear on our bodies, we found it. It was not photo worthy, however. So we ate our lunch and returned, skinning our knees and elbows in the process. Happily, the enormous palm trees in the canyon were amazing.
Happy Tree-mendous Tuesday!
Well, it had to happen, because to complete the proper Victorian aesthetic look in my downstairs office and reading room I had to change the Angle-Poise light I had on my desk, which was a spare from my attic office, up in the roof space.
So I found this lamp instead, which is in the classic Accountants/Banker style, but the shade is in white, instead of green or blue. I loved those colours, but felt that they would be too dominant on the desk itself. [Not that I am fussy or anything]. Also, you can’t see it in this photo, but there is a rather nice white glass ‘tulip-shaped’ lamp to the side, behind the sofa, which has a sort of elegance that I thought this light had on my Victorian desk and would echo in style to match.
Now I sound like some house interior magazine waffling on about design. But, I will be spending a lot of time in here, so I might as well get it right, and that’s my excuse and I am sticking to it!
So here I was working in the evening on the MacBook and using my written notes and reference books in my usual way.
This is for a part of a series that I am going to show on my website and Flickr, depending how it all goes, and as to what goes where, I will sort it out as it goes along. Actually there has been quite a lot of work that I have been organising over the past few months. I have had one of those patches where the writing flowed and I just wanted to keep going. A lot of it has ended up in a series, well, four of them so far, rather than just singles because the photographs were either taken on the same day in roughly the same location yet each seems has something to say, or they go together as a group because the weather was similar over a period of time. But seeing them as a series together just gives them more power. Whether this will work on Flickr I am not sure, as the format is a bit restricting, but on my website I can place them all up on a page of their own. On Flickr I might just choose a few examples to tempt you to go and look at it on my website, designed with the poem to go with it. The important thing for me is that they appear together somewhere. But then I will also be printing them out as well…
I know that on Flickr many just scroll through…perhaps not even reading the text that goes with it, or the poem, but lately I have been thinking about this and have decided that I am not going to concern myself with this behaviour anymore. It is there if people wish to engage with it more fully. Because I used to produce creative work for a living you got used to keeping a copy for yourself. And by that I mean a physical, printed copy. Nothing beats it, because you feel as though you have actually done something, and for me that is important to show that you have a body of work. Social media, and even websites can lose information, shut down, or be sold off to the highest bidder…and your work might be lost if you haven’t backed it up, not to mention the subscription fees..which keep going up.
I think that if you are serious about your work, you need to treat it seriously, and lately I am thinking that perhaps the body of work I leave might be of use in the future. I have been encouraged by the reaction to it on Flickr and elsewhere, and that has really helped me to continue producing it. But I have also been thinking about my own well-being and what I enjoy doing. And that is going out with my camera and being inspired to write poetry to go with it. In this way, the joy of producing that work will continue to shine through the work itself as long as I get the balance right.
And for those of you who are itching to know what those piles of books are in the image..don’t worry, there is going to be more about that later. Books should be shared and collections loved, and I have been collecting all my life…
The time seems to be going by faster. A lot has happened since my last upload, both on the world stage and personally, because of various power-cuts, another water-leak in my home, and other matters I am behind in my own schedule for about a month. This winter has been tough. I have had to also block some people on here, as I did not like their controlling behaviour; that is just not acceptable. If you do not like my work then just move on, but also perversely, those that do like it but want to invade my life and use either my work or my empathetic nature for their own benefit can also remove themselves from my presence. You have missed the point entirely of my work.
I am here to share my own journey of the soul, and to help you with yours if you want me to, through art and conversation. Perhaps as creative people we can all find an equilibrium in this, as it is something we can do, that we can rely on to help us through the turbulent years in our lives. I know for myself that this is true, as my work has helped me to remain relatively sane in difficult times. It is also good to share, not just in challenging times, but also in the good times.
The creative arts have always had a place in shaping history too, it can be very powerful. And it can also be quietly consoling.
As well as producing work for my own portfolio it has always been my intention to provide a gallery on Flickr and a website that shows my work in such a way that it can be a constructive help. I wanted both of them to be a calm space, a place you can go to when you need to think, or settle your mind. I wanted these works to provide an understanding of the human condition, of the difficulties of keeping your faith, whatever God you follow, and also the joy that spiritual faith can provide.
And most of all, I wanted my work to offer hope in any dark times you might be going through.
Thank you all for your support and I hope to keep sharing my work and enjoying the wonderful images that you all share on Flickr. In our own way, perhaps we can make the world a better place. It is a privilege to be in the Flickr community and those who care not only about their own work, but also each other.
And If you would like to see more of my work, have a look at my website at:
Update..
Thank you to all those who have responded to this Explored image...and a special thank you to those who read the accompanying text...as that was what this image was for, just to keep people in the loop as to what I am up to. But maybe the algorithm fancied a read today, who knows? At least, for the moment, it is more benign than Kubrick's "Hal"...
"Open the door Hal...open the door Hal..."
Love to all, Shell xx
Il mondo è governato da persone che non sanno cosa sia la misericordia, l'amore . E così commettono il più stupido dei peccati, la guerra. Una parola brutta, che sporca tutto.
Dobbiamo trovare le parole giuste per fermarla la guerra....
Roberto Benigni
Giornata mondiale dei Bambini
Loano
Liguria
Il mare pieno di velelle
Foto scattata da drone - Casa padronale di fine '800, fatta costruire da Benigno Crespi, industriale nel settore tessile e fondatore dell'omonimo Villaggio Crespi inserito nel patrimonio UNESCO.
Oda al tomate
Tiene
luz propia,
majestad benigna.
Debemos, por desgracia,
asesinarlo:
se hunde
el cuchillo
en su pulpa viviente,
es una roja
víscera,
un sol
fresco,
profundo,
inagotable,
llena las ensaladas
Pablo neruda
October is breast cancer awareness month.
My mother died of breast cancer.
5 years later, my doctor at the time found a lump in me, It was biopsied, the cells were irregular, but judged benign.
The following year, a new lump was back in the same place the other had been removed. My doctor suggested only that if it was there the following year he'd order a mammogram.
I objected and said I want one now, so he ordered it.
It was cancer and I am now 35 plus years post breast cancer.
Please, get your check ups and don't hesitate to speak up.
To all those fighting this, my heartfelt thoughts and support.
Comments disabled.
Of a kind,
we're all one
of such a statement so benign
we become
another one
to process in progress
we strive
to repress a heart
must never belay
what beats inside
to one given-
of the outside
we all bestow
the art of living
by anglia24
20h10: 15/10/2007
© 2007anglia24
☀
Simple words, but these are for my great friend Andrew.
I arrived in the States in late September and I noticed Halloween displays straight away, never realised Halloween was a season.
Anyway All Hallows Eve is here so however you spend the day Enjoy Halloween. May your ghosts be benign and the sweets are plentiful. Took this little seasonal shot in Portland Maine at a farmers market .
THANKS FOR YOUR VISIT AND FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE A COMMENT IT’S MUCH APPRECIATED AND SO MUCH MORE INTRESTING THAN JUST GIVING A FAVE
My first reaction to this abundance of foam floating down the river was to think there had been some sort of toxic spill. Turns out there was a more benign explanation. At this point in the season tons of organic materials are being washed into the river. As they decay they produce surfactants which reduce the water's natural surface tension, and this allows for an easy absorption of large quantities of air into the water. Just above the site of this shot is a small set of falls which are roiling at quite a pace thanks to all the rain. End result: foam.
Benidorm es una ciudad y municipio español de la provincia de Alicante, en la Comunidad Valenciana. Está situada a orillas del mar Mediterráneo, en la comarca de la Marina Baja, de la que es su municipio más denso y poblado con una densidad de 1792 hab/km² y 69.045 habitantes en 2015 según el INE. Es la capital turística de la Comunidad Valenciana.
Conocida como la «Nueva York del Mediterráneo»,Benidorm es la ciudad con más rascacielos de España, la ciudad con más rascacielos por habitante del mundo y la ciudad con más rascacielos por metro cuadrado del mundo tras Nueva York.
Se trata de uno de los destinos turísticos más importantes y conocidos de España y de todo el Mediterráneo gracias a sus playas y su vida nocturna, llegando a alcanzar los 400 000 habitantes en verano. No en vano, Benidorm es la tercera ciudad con más plazas hoteleras de España tras Madrid y Barcelona.
Una buena parte de los atractivos iniciales de Benidorm se debieron a su situación, en la costa del Mediterráneo, frente a una bellísima bahía, partida en dos por la punta rocosa del antiguo castillo y con una orientación hacia el sur, mientras por el resto de los puntos cardinales encontraba la protección de otras tantas cadenas montañosas que la protegen de los vientos dominantes de Levante o de los fríos del Norte, con lo que el microclima que se disfruta, sobre todo en primavera, invierno y otoño, es sumamente benigno, con temperaturas sensiblemente más altas que en el resto del litoral y con el agua del mar dentro de unos límites que permiten el baño en todo el tiempo.
El atractivo de Benidorm radica en sus tres playas dotadas de bandera azul, máxima distinción que otorga la Unión Europea. Estas tres playas son: Levante, Poniente y Mal Pas, a las que se suma la pequeña cala del Tío Chimo y la de La Almadrava. También por un animado y variado ambiente nocturno.
El clima de Benidorm es un clima semiárido cálido (Clasificación climática de Köppen: BSh), influido por el mediterráneo debido a la brisa marina que atempera la sensación de calor. El clima es árido, ya que recibe poco más de 300 mm de lluvia al año. Benidorm disfruta de más de 3000 horas de sol al año y la temperatura media anual es de 18.9 ºC. Las temperaturas máximas durante el invierno oscilan entre 16 y 20 ºC mientras que las mínimas oscilan entre 6 a 10 ºC. Durante el verano, las temperaturas máximas oscilan entre 28 a 33 ºC y las mínimas entre 18 a 23ºC. Durante la mayor parte del verano se produce el efecto llamado como "noche tropical" (mínimas superiores a 20 ºC).
En el término municipal se han encontrado restos íberos y romanos. Al parecer, en el momento de la Reconquista existía una Alquería árabe en la Partida de Lliriets; en cualquier caso, la población sería de poca importancia, pues no aparece el nombre de Benidorm en el Llibre dels Feyts de Jaime I de Aragón, quien conquistó esta parte de la provincia de Alicante alrededor del año 1245. Las tierras de Benidorm, al igual que la mayor parte del resto de la comarca, fueron otorgadas al almirante Bernardo de Sarriá. Este importante señor feudal puede considerarse como el verdadero fundador de la ciudad, al otorgar Carta Puebla a Benidorm el 8 de mayo de 1325, creándose el castillo y la villa. La función de dicho documento consistió en marcar los límites del término de la nueva población (que se separaba así administrativamente de la baronía de Polop), así como intentar atraer el establecimiento exclusivamente de familias cristianas. Estratégicamente, el origen de la villa (al igual que el de otras poblaciones costeras como Villajoyosa) se debió al temor imperante en aquel tiempo al superior número de mudéjares existentes en la zona, y las posibles alianzas de estos con sus hermanos de religión del Reino nazarí de Granada y del Norte de África.
En 1335 se encontraba como señor territorial el Infante Pedro de Aragón y de Anjou, seguido por su hijo Alfonso de Aragón y de Foix. Posteriormente, Benidorm pasó a manos de los condes de Denia, volvió a la corona, y finalmente esta vendió el término al noble Ruy Díaz de Mendoza, pues las dificultades financieras del monarca con motivo de conflictos bélicos le obligaron a desprenderse de muchos de sus señoríos.
La población sufrió dos terribles ataques piratas berberiscos, el primero hacia 1410 y el segundo en 1448, que asolaron la villa y el castillo. En concreto, en el ataque de 1448, los piratas se llevaron esclavizados a la mayor parte de los habitantes de Benidorm, aunque el lugar no se despobló ya que en 1492, en el documento notarial de la toma de posesión del señorío, se citan a las autoridades municipales. Sin embargo en 1520, durante la guerra de las Germanías, la villa ya estaba despoblada por lo que el abandono de sus habitantes se podría relacionar con el nuevo ataque de corsarios musulmanes que sufrió en 1502.
Durante el siglo XVI se amplió y reparó el castillo, pero la villa urbana, que había retornado a la baronía de Polop, se encontraba al parecer casi completamente despoblada
La mejora de las construcciones defensivas y el establecimiento de una acequia que aportaba agua desde Polop permitieron atraer a nuevos pobladores al lugar. Eso ocurrió en 1666, por iniciativa de Beatriu Fajardo de Mendoza, señora territorial de Polop y Benidorm, que otorgó una nueva Carta de población a la villa, que volvió así a ser municipalmente independiente. La creación de la acequia del Rec Major de l'Alfàs conocido popularmente como Séquia Mare, permitió la viabilidad económica del nuevo municipio porque disponía de agua para el riego y el abastecimiento doméstico.
En 1715 la población contaba alrededor de 216 vecinos, cifra que aumentó a 2.700 a finales del siglo XVIII. Esta fuerte expansión demográfica se pudo realizar gracias, esencialmente, a una importante actividad pesquera basada en la pesca con almadraba (pesca de atunes durante su viaje de migración, a través de un cerco de redes), en la que sus habitantes se especializaron con gran fortuna, siendo sus habitantes conocidos en el arte del calado de almadrabas en toda la costa mediterránea, desde Rosas hasta las costas atlánticas de Marruecos, hasta aproximadamente 1950-60, aunque la almadraba de Barbate en Cádiz aún es propiedad de descendientes de Benidorm.
En la guerra de independencia, las tropas napoleónicas profanaron el cementerio y ocuparon el castillo que después fue parcialmente destruido por los ingleses al finalizar el conflicto.
Durante el siglo XIX continuó el crecimiento y se comenzaron tímidas aventuras turísticas como fue la inauguración del Balneario de la Virgen del Sufragio. Aunque en los años posteriores mejoraron las comunicaciones con Alicante y con Madrid, los demás sectores económicos locales no estaban pasando por un buen momento, pues la marina mercante entraba en crisis con la pérdida de las últimas colonias ultramarinas en 1898 (Cuba, Puerto Rico y Filipinas) y poco después el boom de la agricultura de la vid (vino y pasas) se fue al traste con la llegada de la filoxera a principios del siglo XX. Esta desaceleración económica se conjugó con una cierta emigración hacia Cuba, el barrio marítimo de Barcelona y la costa de Cádiz.
Durante estos años, se produjo la ampliación del puerto y, en 1925, la construcción de los primeros chalets en la Playa de Levante. Tras la Guerra civil, poco a poco se fueron recuperando las actividades socioeconómicas, con la pesca (de nuevo) como ramo productivo más destacado. Sin embargo en la década de 1950 se dieron los pasos para producir una verdadera transformación. Por un lado, en 1952, se cerró por bajo rendimiento en capturas la Almadraba más importante, algo traumático para muchas familias. Sin embargo, por otro lado, en 1956, durante la alcaldía de Pedro Zaragoza Orts, el Ayuntamiento aprobaba el ordenamiento urbanístico de la villa con la finalidad de crear una ciudad concebida para el ocio turístico, a base de calles bien trazadas y amplias avenidas siguiendo la configuración de las playas, modelo urbanístico pionero en la época en que fue realizado. A partir de entonces, se produjo un fuerte desplazamiento de las actividades tradicionales (pesca y agricultura) hacia el sector servicios originado por el turismo, que se convirtió desde entonces en la base de la prosperidad de la ciudad. El turismo español comenzó a compartir el espacio con los visitantes de otras partes de Europa, primero llegados con su vehículos y luego, con la entrada en funcionamiento del aeropuerto de Alicante-Elche en 1967, llegados en vuelos chárter. Actualmente, Benidorm es una de las primeras ciudades turísticas de toda la costa mediterránea
Two Eurasian Collared-Doves gossiping in our Magnolia tree.
In the Garden of Benign Neglect.
North Morro Bay, ca.
Central Coast, California.
Recitare è dolore,
estasi del movimento,
affettazione del divenire,
occultazione del presentare.
Recitare è entrare nel personaggio e uscire,
entrare e uscire, avanti e indietro,
e non vorrei andare oltre in questa similitudine...
(Roberto Benigni)
Ahahahah!!!
La posa della prima pietra dell'abbazia avvenne il 23 febbraio 1003 alla presenza del vescovo d'Ivrea Ottobiano, di Arduino marchese d'Ivrea e re d'Italia e di sua moglie Berta degli Obertenghi.
Fondatore di Fruttuaria fu Guglielmo da Volpiano. Essa venne eretta nei possedimenti del feudo di famiglia di Guglielmo, in una località denominata fructuariensis locus. Secondo alcuni si trattava di un luogo destinato alla riproduzione degli agnelli, dal latino medievale fructus ("frutto", "parto"); altri ritengono che il nome si riferisse alla fertilità del terreno, ma potrebbe derivare dal luogo di edificazione, la pars fructuaria di una villa tardo-romana.
L'edificazione dell'abbazia è frutto della sua sapienza architettonica: Guglielmo infatti, tra la fine del X e l'inizio dell'XI secolo, oltre che figura religiosa di primo piano, fu costruttore e restauratore di alcuni dei più importanti edifici religiosi di Francia e del Piemonte.
Arduino d'Ivrea, che aveva appoggiato la costruzione dell'abbazia, vi si ritirò negli ultimi anni della sua vita e vi morì nel 1015.
Fruttuaria seguiva la regola benedettina affiancata da consuetudini di matrice cluniacense. Nel 1027 Giovanni XIX, con bolla pontificia, pose l'abbazia e tutti i suoi beni sotto il controllo diretto di Roma.
Le consuetudini seguite a Fruttuaria ispirarono il vescovo di Colonia, sant'Annone, che la visitò nel 1070 e dalla quale portò via alcuni monaci, per la sua riforma monastica che va sotto il nome di Riforma di Siegburg, dal nome della prima abbazia ove Annone mise in pratica la sua riforma.
Il periodo di massimo splendore di Fruttuaria si colloca nei secoli XII e XIII: nel 1265 l'abbazia possiede 200 tra chiese e celle in Italia e altre 30 in Germania e Austria. Oltre a chiese e monasteri gli abati governano direttamente quelle che vengono comunemente dette "le quattro terre abbaziali", ossia gli attuali comuni di San Benigno Canavese, Montanaro, Lombardore e Feletto, e le terre di Fruttuaria battono anche moneta in una zecca installata in una delle torri del castello di Montanaro.
Il declino inizia nel XIV secolo e giunge al suo culmine nel 1477 quando i monaci perdono il privilegio di nominare l'abate, che viene sostituito da un abate commendatario (non residente nell'abbazia) di nomina papale. Da quel momento Fruttuaria viene diretta da un vicario. Nel 1585 papa Sisto V decreta la soppressione del monastero, sostituito da una collegiata di preti secolari. L'ultimo monaco muore nel 1634.
Nel 1710 Vittorio Amedeo II, duca di Savoia, occupa militarmente le "terre abbaziali", occupazione che termina nel 1741 con la rinuncia papale al controllo su quelle terre.
Nel 1749 diviene abate commendatario il cardinale Carlo Vittorio Amedeo Ignazio delle Lanze che, dopo la sua candidatura al soglio pontificio nei conclavi del 1769 e del 1774-1775, intende riportare Fruttuaria al suo antico splendore facendone una piccola Roma. Nel 1770 fa quindi abbattere ciò che rimane della chiesa e del monastero romanici (unico a salvarsi è il campanile) per edificare (1770-1776) una nuova chiesa, la cui struttura interna vorrebbe ricordare la basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano. Il progetto è affidato agli architetti Vittone e Quarini, che realizzano la nuova costruzione in uno stile a cavallo tra il barocco e il neoclassico, definito per l'appunto benignista.
La serie degli abati terminerà nel 1848. La chiesa diventerà una normale parrocchia della diocesi di Ivrea e il palazzo abbaziale verrà affidato nel 1879 a don Bosco e ai suoi salesiani.
Dal 1952 il parroco di San Benigno riottiene dal papa il privilegio del titolo di abate.
Nel 1979, durante i lavori di posa dell'impianto di riscaldamento, fortemente voluti dall'allora abate parroco don Pier Giorgio Debernardi (divenuto in seguito vescovo di Pinerolo), viene alla luce un pregevole mosaico risalente al 1066 raffigurante due grifoni. La Soprintendenza Archeologica del Piemonte esegue un grande scavo sull'intera superficie della chiesa e in seguito, tramite sondaggi, sul sagrato, portando al ritrovamento di altri mosaici, delle fondazioni della chiesa romanica e di reperti archeologici di notevole interesse.
Il 19 marzo 1990 l'abbazia di Fruttuaria viene riaperta ai fedeli alla presenza di papa Giovanni Paolo II che concelebra la messa in diretta televisiva nazionale.
Nel maggio 2004, finalmente conclusi i lavori di restauro, è stato aperto al pubblico, dalla Soprintendenza ai Beni Architettonici e per il Paesaggio del Piemonte, il percorso di visita che si snoda al di sotto del pavimento. Nel 2008 altre scoperte archeologiche vengono fatte nel chiostro settecentesco.
La posa della prima pietra dell'abbazia avvenne il 23 febbraio 1003 alla presenza del vescovo d'Ivrea Ottobiano, di Arduino marchese d'Ivrea e re d'Italia e di sua moglie Berta degli Obertenghi.
Fondatore di Fruttuaria fu Guglielmo da Volpiano. Essa venne eretta nei possedimenti del feudo di famiglia di Guglielmo, in una località denominata fructuariensis locus. Secondo alcuni si trattava di un luogo destinato alla riproduzione degli agnelli, dal latino medievale fructus ("frutto", "parto"); altri ritengono che il nome si riferisse alla fertilità del terreno, ma potrebbe derivare dal luogo di edificazione, la pars fructuaria di una villa tardo-romana.
L'edificazione dell'abbazia è frutto della sua sapienza architettonica: Guglielmo infatti, tra la fine del X e l'inizio dell'XI secolo, oltre che figura religiosa di primo piano, fu costruttore e restauratore di alcuni dei più importanti edifici religiosi di Francia e del Piemonte.
Arduino d'Ivrea, che aveva appoggiato la costruzione dell'abbazia, vi si ritirò negli ultimi anni della sua vita e vi morì nel 1015.
Fruttuaria seguiva la regola benedettina affiancata da consuetudini di matrice cluniacense. Nel 1027 Giovanni XIX, con bolla pontificia, pose l'abbazia e tutti i suoi beni sotto il controllo diretto di Roma.
Le consuetudini seguite a Fruttuaria ispirarono il vescovo di Colonia, sant'Annone, che la visitò nel 1070 e dalla quale portò via alcuni monaci, per la sua riforma monastica che va sotto il nome di Riforma di Siegburg, dal nome della prima abbazia ove Annone mise in pratica la sua riforma.
Il periodo di massimo splendore di Fruttuaria si colloca nei secoli XII e XIII: nel 1265 l'abbazia possiede 200 tra chiese e celle in Italia e altre 30 in Germania e Austria. Oltre a chiese e monasteri gli abati governano direttamente quelle che vengono comunemente dette "le quattro terre abbaziali", ossia gli attuali comuni di San Benigno Canavese, Montanaro, Lombardore e Feletto, e le terre di Fruttuaria battono anche moneta in una zecca installata in una delle torri del castello di Montanaro.
Il declino inizia nel XIV secolo e giunge al suo culmine nel 1477 quando i monaci perdono il privilegio di nominare l'abate, che viene sostituito da un abate commendatario (non residente nell'abbazia) di nomina papale. Da quel momento Fruttuaria viene diretta da un vicario. Nel 1585 papa Sisto V decreta la soppressione del monastero, sostituito da una collegiata di preti secolari. L'ultimo monaco muore nel 1634.
Nel 1710 Vittorio Amedeo II, duca di Savoia, occupa militarmente le "terre abbaziali", occupazione che termina nel 1741 con la rinuncia papale al controllo su quelle terre.
Nel 1749 diviene abate commendatario il cardinale Carlo Vittorio Amedeo Ignazio delle Lanze che, dopo la sua candidatura al soglio pontificio nei conclavi del 1769 e del 1774-1775,[6] intende riportare Fruttuaria al suo antico splendore facendone una piccola Roma. Nel 1770 fa quindi abbattere ciò che rimane della chiesa e del monastero romanici (unico a salvarsi è il campanile) per edificare (1770-1776) una nuova chiesa, la cui struttura interna vorrebbe ricordare la basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano. Il progetto è affidato agli architetti Vittone e Quarini, che realizzano la nuova costruzione in uno stile a cavallo tra il barocco e il neoclassico, definito per l'appunto benignista.
La serie degli abati terminerà nel 1848. La chiesa diventerà una normale parrocchia della diocesi di Ivrea e il palazzo abbaziale verrà affidato nel 1879 a don Bosco e ai suoi salesiani.
Dal 1952 il parroco di San Benigno riottiene dal papa il privilegio del titolo di abate.
Nel 1979, durante i lavori di posa dell'impianto di riscaldamento, fortemente voluti dall'allora abate parroco don Pier Giorgio Debernardi (divenuto in seguito vescovo di Pinerolo), viene alla luce un pregevole mosaico risalente al 1066 raffigurante due grifoni. La Soprintendenza Archeologica del Piemonte esegue un grande scavo sull'intera superficie della chiesa e in seguito, tramite sondaggi, sul sagrato, portando al ritrovamento di altri mosaici, delle fondazioni della chiesa romanica e di reperti archeologici di notevole interesse.
Il 19 marzo 1990 l'abbazia di Fruttuaria viene riaperta ai fedeli alla presenza di papa Giovanni Paolo II che concelebra la messa in diretta televisiva nazionale.
Nel maggio 2004, finalmente conclusi i lavori di restauro, è stato aperto al pubblico, dalla Soprintendenza ai Beni Architettonici e per il Paesaggio del Piemonte, il percorso di visita che si snoda al di sotto del pavimento. Nel 2008 altre scoperte archeologiche vengono fatte nel chiostro settecentesco.
Wikipedia
Just less than a year ago a good friend who is a wonder at growing Cactus dropped off about a three foot "cutting" for me. Basically stuck it in the ground in the Garden of Benign Neglect and surprise, it didn't drop dead.
Now, within the last couple of days it has set froth a bud.(?) Which is now looking like it is going to...gasp! Flower!
I'm so excited.
"Ella si va, sentendosi laudare,
benignamente d'umiltà vestuta,
e par che sia una cosa venuta
da cielo in terra a miracol mostrare" [ Dante Alighieri, 1290 ]
- Iceland (august, 2016)
For more than half an hour I’d moved over the beach carefully, treading only on the boulders to preserve the pristine sand. There were just three of us there, Lee somewhere up on the rocks to the left, a lady perched behind her tripod on the third stop of her day trip here from distant Somerset, and me, hopping about the dinosaur eggs with intent, wondering where that shot might be. I’d been here plenty of times before of course – who wouldn’t keep coming back to a spot like this after all? – but it was rare that my visit had timed so neatly with an outgoing tide. I’ve wanted to shoot the beach at low tide for all too long; nowadays it’s so easy to open up the Magic Seaweed app on your phone to answer such concerns, so I’m not really sure what was keeping me from making the short journey at the right moment up until now. The Clear Outside app had also convinced me that the area around Land’s End promised to be our best bet for some golden hour light on what was proving to be yet another dreary and oppressive grey day thirty miles up the road at home, and I used this late bulletin to convince my partner in crime that Porth Nanven was the place we should head for. Happily, he seemed to be in agreement.
Before pulling the camera from the bag and setting it on the tripod, I did what I like to do best; sitting on a boulder sipping coffee from my flask and trying to make sense of it all. Not the crisis at the Ukrainian border or the alarming inflation rate – the big questions are for greater minds than mine – but the ever-changing landscape in front of me. As the tide receded, new boulders continued to emerge from the sea near the water’s edge. The lady from Somerset had taken advantage of our initial foray onto the rocky outcrop above the beach and made straight for the prime position that I’d had my eye on, where the stream runs down from the Cot Valley and over the boulders and sand to the left of the big slab of rock that some of you know well, and into the ocean. After further coffee and consideration, I finally made my move, noticing that the stream was also running to the right side of the rock. I checked to make sure I wasn’t blundering into her composition and shuffled down to my vantage point, congratulating myself on wearing wellies and walking along the stream to preserve the untouched sand. There are so many reasons to keep a pair of wellies in the back of the car for moments like these, and no advantages whatsoever in leaving them at home in the porch.
Everything was perfect. The sun was smiling weakly through translucent clouds, bringing a soft veil of yellow diffusion to the south western sky. The benign sea delivered just enough energy to add a sense of adventure to the scene, and then there was that gorgeous rarity in the pure white sand that still showed not the slightest sign it had been walked upon in the last million years. Isn’t it wonderful how those twice daily tides are like hitting a giant reset button in the sky? Of course, I was about to spoil that by planting my tripod on the beach, but I wasn’t getting in anyone’s way after all – I’d already checked that carefully. Besides which, it would only be a few hours until the night sea would steal across the sand to wash away my indiscretions and briefly restore the purity.
As I reached for my camera and attached it to the tripod, I heard a new sound behind me. Sounds in fact. Inwardly I groaned as I turned around and confirmed what I already knew was about to come as two excited dogs charged across the beach and into the composition in front of me. Suddenly there were paw prints where a few moments earlier there was only perfection. Suddenly the shot I was about to take was going to need an awful lot of content aware fill in Photoshop later on. Ironically, a day or so earlier I’d chuckled as I’d watched Tom Heaton on YouTube cursing dog walkers and joggers, branding them the enemies of photographers, even though he himself owns a dog. A couple of days ago I hovered between hilarity and horror at Stuart McGlennon’s difficult encounter with a belligerent dog walker who seemed hell-bent on provoking our hero and his two friends into a bout of fisticuffs at Scarista Beach on the Isle of Harris.
I should stress at this point that I love all things furry – well most of them anyway - I'd rather the eight legged ones kept themselves to themselves if you don't mind. I’ve never owned one myself but Ali and I regularly collect a pair of dogs belonging to rather more time pressured members of her family and take them for walks along the beach. It’s the ideal place to let them run around and wear themselves out, especially in winter when they’re not going to career over the ground at breakneck speed, spraying sand into your Auntie Maud’s cucumber sandwiches and Uncle Derek’s opened can of Watney’s Pale Ale as they make for the shoreline. We photographers have no business dictating to others of course. We don’t own the outside world after all - even though we sometimes think we ought to when we’re attempting to create meaningful magnificence behind the viewfinder. In fact, you may own one yourself – I know that some of you who will read this are dog walkers as well as photographers. Lee himself regularly arrives at our door early on a Monday morning demanding to be entertained while his twin Schnauzers are pampered beyond recognition at “Pimp up your Pooch,” a dog grooming establishment just along the road from us. There’s little you can do of course, you just have to swear silently to yourself, suck it up and recompose the image – which was what I did now. No need for the spot removal tool in this composition. I did like the soft grey tones and three little crests chasing each other into the sea and the incoming splash waiting to meet them.
The rest of the afternoon found me moving further and further to the right hand side of the beach, where there are only huge cobbles and no sand to speak of. The dogs had gone, and although the odd person came and went, the three of us who were here already continued in our own little worlds of contentment, steadily adding new compositions to the day’s collections as the tide continued to ebb away from the cobbles. The light changed and the sky coloured, gradually fading and deepening as the blue hour came and went. Three more photographers arrived, one of them setting up close to me near the left hand side of the beach where I’d decided to end the day standing in the stream. Another dog appeared, a black labrador laying what remained of the unsullied sand to a messy wasteland. I already had a bonanza of raw files to pore over later. It was time to go.
We decided to eat out, awarding ourselves a roast at the immortal Smokey Joe’s. It seemed an excellent way to end a productive afternoon. As we left the famous truck stop, one of the occupants of the forest of articulated lorries that were filling the car park engaged us in conversation, starting amiably enough with a satisfied review of the menu, with which we agreed. Deciding he’d found kindred spirits, he offered “I’ll bet you two are the same as me – started working in your teens, not like all the lazy b******ds who can’t be arsed to do anything for themselves?” It seemed we had one of those crusading pub philosophers on our hands – the ones you always try to avoid eye contact with as you see them nodding at you across the bar when you order a couple of pints of Sea Fury before repairing to a quiet corner to hide. Not for the first time today I groaned inwardly and swore silently to myself as our new friend began a tirade about anyone who couldn’t trace their roots at least as far back as Ethelred the Unready and which Siberian outpost he thought they should be sent to. It wasn’t the time to tell him I was one of those idle b******ds who didn’t have a proper job until I was 22 and retired as soon as I could possibly afford to because I thought there were more interesting things to be doing with my life. I’m always nervous of people who are so certain of their views on world issues. The only things I’m sure of are that a beach looks better on an outgoing tide when there are no paw prints on it, and that you can achieve so much more in wellies. Why on earth he thought we shared his world view I really can’t say – I only have a shaved head because even a bucket load of Regaine wouldn’t revive the few remaining wisps on top of it. Maybe he can solve the Ukraine crisis and the surging rate of inflation. Perhaps we should have asked him to use his talents to end the ongoing issues between photographers and dog walkers at the seaside. People like that are usually full of answers after all. We nodded and made appropriate noises as we backed away through the darkness towards the sanctity of the car, leaving him to seek out another hapless victim to engage in his one way conversation.
It had been an excellent day, albeit one with the odd strange encounter to contend with. The quiet hours on the empty beach had been worth those passing moments of discomfort after all. There's something rather magnificent in just sitting among those cobbles, watching the way the incoming waves washing around them and creating patterns that linger in your soul after the dogs and the angry men have gone.
King of the Garden of Benign Neglect. In his own mind anyway. This is definitely a take control hummer. If something he doesn't like comes in the yard he will dive bomb and chitter at said thing. Be it human, other hummers, cats, individual birds it doesn't like.....etc. etc, I am proud that I have passed the multiple exams and am now tolerated.. (I also fill the feeders)
M’hai fatto provare quella sensazione tremenda che, come me, nel mondo ci sono solo io, e che però ero uguale a te.
E che io e te eravamo uguali a tutti.
- R. Benigni
One would not think to find a Mannolia tree in Morro Bay, but one exists in the Garden of Benign Neglect. A former owner is responsible, but I have been cleaning up the blankety blank leaves for close to 30 years. Just when I start to entertain thoughts of having it removed it does this. Ah well.
42°32'28.5"N 8°46'07.0"W
Madre tan pïadosa, de tal benignidad,
que en buenos e malos face su pïadad,
debemos bendicirla de toda voluntad:
los que la bendissieron ganaron gran rictad.
Las mañas de la Madre con las del que parió
semejan bien calañas qui bien las conoció;
Él, por bonos e malos, por todos descendió,
Ella, si la rogaron, a todos acorrió.
Gonzalo de Berceo, Milagros de Nuestra Señora, s. XIII
MÚSICA: William Byrd - Ave Verum, interpretado por The King's Singers
One of the "House Sparrow" gang checking on the menu items in the remains of the Garden of Benign Neglect.
Apionicus of Aalsmeer was a popular figure in The Netherlands, so much so that his outrageous astronomy pamphlets, "satanic" cat and his not very secret love affair with an armadillo were benignly overlooked by the Church. However, after he laughed at the Cardinal when his hyacinths got greenfly, he was excommunicated and his gardens confiscated. Reduced to poverty, he was forced to sell his precious notebooks and telescope to Gallileo.
We're Here: Metaphysical Leper Colony
happy day beckons on benign shore as sea's lacy skirt rests but a brief while over a waiting shore...
The car park at Sainsburys came as no surprise. It seemed I’d picked my moment well though, as one motorhome space had just been vacated as I arrived, and despite the mass of humanity milling over the concourse between their vehicles and the entrance to the superstore, I reversed into it without issue and went in. Here was Christmas, right in front of me, people scowling at each other in the annual bunfight for the last pack of pigs in blankets and chasing about the place in search of cranberry sauce. Does anyone buy cranberry sauce at any other time of year? When did you last have brandy butter with your eggnog in August? I was only here because neither of us had summoned up the nerve to go shopping recently, and I needed something for lunch. It wasn’t my finest ever piece of pre-togging preparation, but some time later I emerged with a sandwich, a bag of crisps, a bottle of something that was allegedly full of pulped red berries, and a fruit salad that had been reduced in price before it started to grow fur. Quite why I resisted a flaky steak pasty from the Cornish Oven just along the road, I really can’t say. I waited for a gap in the mayhem and pulled away from the car park - away from the madness in my escape to sanity.
I used to like the fact that Christmas delivered ten or eleven days away from the office, but now that I don’t work anymore, the one big plus that the festive season brings no longer applies. In fact now that almost everyone else is at leisure too, it’s merely a big noisy headache, full of the same collection of tedious earworms being played at me on an endless loop by people who claim to enjoy all of this enforced jollity. Much to our mutual relief, Ali and I have stopped buying each other presents. We much prefer to spend our money on holidays. All those anxious years of wondering “how much should I spend?” or “how many presents should I get her?” when I knew that she was having exactly the same struggle. Neither of us misses trying to guess at what the other neither needs nor desires each year. All we really want is an untapped supply of cheese and chocolate, and if one of us has a burning desire for a new lens or a sewing machine, we get it when we can afford to. We don’t miss trudging around busy shopping centres in a state of unbridled panic either. Call me Mr Grinch, but I really don’t care. This year I opened junior ISA investments for my two tiny grandchildren, my children each received a copy of “Tales From the Edge,” my photobook of stories from Cornwall (whether they liked it or not), other family members and a very small number of friends received a copy of the Dom Haughton Photography 2024 calendar (again, whether they liked it or not), and that was it. All from my PC in a safe and quiet place where no strangers would invade my personal space and reach past me to grab a bottle of Bucks Fizz before supplies run out. Besides which, we don’t have any Bucks Fizz in the house. Not even at Christmas.
Where I was heading now, things would be much more to my liking. I knew more or less where I wanted to take my shots from, and although it would only be a couple of hours until sunset, it was a place where only a few would venture on an afternoon in deepest December. And finally, after a number of foiled attempts in recent visits, I managed to find somebody who could help me register as a local resident and park here for free. If you live in Cornwall, wander into the hotel reception with your driving licence and they’ll help you save a small fortune in parking charges. Don’t say you never learned anything useful here. Well not if your home is west of the Tamar at any rate.
A few years ago I came to the cliffs between Land’s End and Sennen Cove at more or less the same time of year, no doubt for exactly the same reasons, to take a long exposure of the sunset glow, and despite somehow having left my ball head at home, I balanced the camera on top of the tripod and improvised. Somehow I got a reasonable result that day, but it was a composition I felt was worth returning to. Except I didn’t quite return to it because I was drawn into a telephoto view instead. Sheltering from a stiff breeze in the shadow of an enormous granite boulder, Longships Lighthouse became the focal point once again, as did the sense of depth offered by the waves cracking over the cluster of rocks at the edge of the mainland and the reef in between. I did try a few longer exposures, but the breaking water and the endless movement of the gulls were winning me over. Even on a relatively benign day, there was plenty of action to keep me interested, but I made a mental note to come and sit in the lee of this rock again when things get tasty out there.
Across the land to the east of me, those endless Christmas tunes were being piped into homes and bustling supermarkets, whether the occupants wanted to hear them or not, but here I was safe from the excesses of my fellow humans. And while I would have to rejoin the rest of the world tomorrow and do Christmas stuff, today was all about headspace. Personal space too for that matter - apart from the provisions stop at Sainsbury’s in Penzance on the way here. It was only later, as I opened the not yet furry fruit salad, that the sky put on a technicolour extravaganza. But that’s another story for next time.
(For those of you not familiar with Willy, he has a couple benign growths on his chinny. Keepers say they are in no way a health issue and trying to remove them is unnecessary)
- Carl Sagan.
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Another shot of the mighty San Juan mountains from one of the many county roads leading out to Ridgway. I encountered this viewpoint as we came round a corner and suddenly it looked like the snowcapped peaks were just jutting out of nowhere with the dirt road leading straight up to it. If you have followed my stream, you will recognize this theme often when I am around mountains, something about mountains and roads just seems irresistible to me. Often these are such fantastic and easy shots that result in brilliant scenery.
The Umbria Studios are located in Papigno abandoned calcium carbide factory. Popular with Roberto Benigni, who used it for three of his movies: La vita è bella, Pinocchio and La tigre e la neve.
Pueblo del Perigord,construido entre el acantilado y el rio Dordogne,goza de un clima tan benigno,que se cultivan plantas propias del Mediterraneo.
Por su situación,fue una plaza impenetrable durante La guerra de los Cien Años y las de religión.Las calles serpentean por las laderas entre nobles mansiones.
Precioso lugar.
A Moth paid the Garden of Benign Neglect a visit. Fortunate to be there, just soaking some rare sunshine.
To celebrate Spring’s arrival I went to my chest, trying to find something that would represent an happier season and that would help ilifting our somber mood.
On that errand I’ve found this shot of my preferred beach – “Praia da Ursa” (“Bear Beach”) that I decided to metaphorically title “Under Siege”, as when I took it I was literally surrounded, just as we are today, although by then the seawater looked as a slightly more benign enemy than the one surrounding us these days... But, as I had to face the mighty sea and survived 😎, so we will in winning this battle and crushing the virus!
Be well and have an excellent weekend, my friends!
*******
Praia da Ursa, Portugal
© All rights reserved Rui Baptista. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.
This was taken a few weeks ago before my surgery. It’s a fresh frond of my Crocosmia that is about to bloom. I chose to post this tonight because it made me think how inflamed my spine must look right now. After putting me in a cage like contraption to keep me upside down for an 8 hour operation; my whole back is on fire some days without good pain management. The surgeon had to remove bone, fuse bone, put in rods and screws and carefully cut away the tumour that was flattening my spinal cord like a pancake but also it was wrapping around a secondary nerve coming from the cord. I was in a hospital 4 hours away from home for 8 days. It wasn’t until I got home that my hubby was able to help me manage the pain much better and get some strength back in my back so I could at least sit up for longer periods of time. I doubt I will have the strength yet to hold a camera nor to type much. I must take care of the precious spine first. The great news is the tumour was definitely benign and I walk better than before the surgery with no pain in my legs. I just wanted to thank friends who have sent positive vibes for my recovery. It’s working! I just need more time. Keep clicking. I look forward to seeing your images once I turn my computer on again.
This is one of the most common grasshoppers in eastern North America, and under the right circumstances one of the most damaging. In large groups this creature is capable of consuming significant amounts of grass crops, like alfalfa.
In the context of an early morning in a patch of wildflowers it struck a more benign pose - watching me through the grasses, and reluctant to fly ( it flies very fast and covers up to twenty metres at a time) because of the presence of avian predators all around us: a Merlin, Flycatchers, and a Red-eyed Vireo.
A series of images taken after heavy morning rain - normally peaceful and benign streams turned into rapid, noisy flows.
© i see the moon photography
I have not forgotten the way, but a little.
I waited in the blue to lie there, and be still—
refusing to mourn the Winter, and how one
is so much like another. Something was burning
in the sky but that was so far above
I barely had to blink to clear it from the lens.
And under, the cold was a Kingly comfort—
tender hands poised in the green growths; benign water-princes
that will spread until the water silences their songs—
The great echoing halls of Silence have long laid undisturbed. You foolishly enter the great vault's door, waking those who have lived within for centuries. A wraith-like figure glides menacingly toward you. It is a Shadow Faerie.
Shadow Faeries: When the world broke in ancient times, much of the good spirits of the world were lost, or... corrupted. Among them were the Faeries. Once peaceful and benign, they became malevolent shadows of their former selves. Endowed with the power of darkness and the hatred of thousands of years, these ghastly spirits are far deadlier than anything you have battled before.
Health: 38
Well, I had an adventure - not sure about Minnie. We followed a sheep path up a very steep slope from the sea to a cliff-top. It was an extreme gradient with (as I got higher) a huge drop straight on to the shore below. I didn't get jelly knees but did have the fear in the pit of my stomach (those of you who have experienced it will recognize what I'm talking about) and then just as I was near the top, Minnie started whining (she was already there) and was jumping about above me so that I couldn't make the last step to safety. She was definitely sensing my fear. Whew, it took a while to recover!
I did take a picture of where I had climbed but it looks very benign from above.
E464.540 traina il RV3225 Torino PN-Cuneo mentre transita a forte velocità fuori dalla stazione di San Benigno di Cuneo, il cui segnale di protezione è visibile sul lato sinistro.
Italian class E464.540 haulin fast regional train RV3225 Torino-Cuneo, passing San Benigno station, whose entering signal is visible on the left side
Before I set off for Shetland I spent some time on the web looking for places I might want to visit. Top of my list were the spectacular cliffs at Eshaness (I also hoped to see moonwalking pony).
I made two visits, on the first it was so foggy I could barely see 10ft. I encountered far more benign conditions on my second visit. Clear, warm and with hardly any breeze I took a walk along the tops of the cliffs. No ponies though.
Driving back to Lerwick I did encounter a pony. Unfortunately it seemed more interested in a bag of jelly babies I had in the car than performing a song and dance routine.