View allAll Photos Tagged methodical
This one is from a couple grids ago, February's to be precise. This grid, H5, straddled Hwy 30 just east of the St. Johns Bridge. It was an odd grid, with off-limits natural gas plants in one part, Forest Park in another, and a small patch of residential neighborhood tucked away like an afterthought. I am not sure what it must be like to live on Hwy 30. It seems like it would be noisy and dirty and backing out of your driveway must require a specific sort of nerve, but there are a few dozen homes found along this stretch. Many of them are a block or so off of the highway itself, but several are right up on it, like this one. I am not sure what story of action and violence this splattered mud is a remainder of, but it caught my eye as I walked along the short stretch of highway that enjoys a sidewalk. I was testing out a Canon AF35M from the shop that day and had loaded it with some Lomochrome Metropolis film. The camera was potentially faulty and the film has not proven a favorite of mine, so I was allowing myself plenty of liberty in snapping off shots and not taking my usual slow, methodical, careful approach. It is nice to change it up now and then, just as the Grid Project has been nice in getting me off my beaten paths and into some other areas of Portland I do not explore much.
Canon AF35M
Lomochrome Metropolis
Grid H5 - Portland Grid Project
Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur, CA.
This rock formation is a photographer's dream. I arrived at Pfeiffer Beach while the sun was high above the rock, with photographers assembled like a small firing squad, shorter lenses up front, long lenses scoping from afar. As the sun began its golden hour dance, the photographers very methodically began to coalesce toward the center until finally one of Big Sur's visual treats appeared. The sun began to peak right through this window, straight down the middle (as its angle dictates during the earth's position in late Nov/early Dec) At this point we were all pretty mushed together, oohing and awwing at this awesome sight.
This towering barn is methodically being torn down. It's sad to watch this historical structure slowly disappear -- there are so few majestic barns that are this old left standing.
Ramva20 streaked toward Earth at near light speed flanked by Ramva3, 4, 19. They had begun decelerating to enter the outer atmosphere.
Avhal’s voice broke the silence. “Axiom5 is reporting heavy damage. She’s adrift. The strike came from our primary target. They are urging us to accelerate the assault.”
K’hall spoke, “Bext, are weapons charged to full?”
Bext responded without hesitation. “All systems green. Weapons at 100 percent. I have locked in the coordinates of the launch sites that hit Axiom5. I have no data on their defenses.”
K’hall nodded.
His voice crackled over the comm. “Ramva3, 4, 19— Offensive missile sites will be our primary. Defensive sites are secondary. Remember our cloak is compromised, and shields may fail to protect us. Form a line behind this ship to provide smallest return on their detection systems and follow us in. Stay tight. Starting our attack run now.”
He dropped his ship to ground level, skimming the desert at blistering speed, weaving through jagged terrain. The others followed straining to keep up.
At Site 39N, crews were finishing reloading the massive mobile launch vehicles. Long range radar indicated the mother ship they had attacked was now in distress. Another barrage could finish it.
The orb ships they detected had scattered but were now visible on radar thanks to recent upgrades that matched the cloaking frequencies used by the Arcturians None were nearby or appeared to pose an immediate threat.
The all-clear siren sounded in preparation for another missile launch. Soldiers jogged to bunkers situated around the site.
The sun glinted off an object in the distance. A shout rang out.
Before the alarm could sound streams of energy hit eight of the mobile launchers simultaneously detonating the missiles on the ground. The remaining four launchers and missile carriers followed. The desert erupted into a nuclear firestorm.
The strike was so swift, so precise, that only a handful of short-range missiles were fired aimlessly in response. They were neutralized instantly along with the launchers.
K’hall had delivered total surprise.
The orbs circled slowly, methodically, vaporizing everything spared in the initial attack, then turned and leveled the mound before laying in a course for a portal target.
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You can view Quantum Fold episodes in order from the beginning in her album titled, Quantum Fold:
www.flickr.com/photos/199076397@N02/albums/72177720326169...
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Mixed media: archival pigment prints, India ink prints, old post cards, sewing notions, antique lace, string, found, torn papers, pressed leaves, butterfly wing. Mounted on wooden tiles and blocks in a wood box. 9” x 12”
Just to give you an idea of what is involved in a piece like this, it took me about 20 hours to make it, not including the time I spent to take, develop, and scan my photos. This is not fast art. It’s slow, methodical, meditative. It’s more like a visual memoir.
There were two of these American Crows sitting on my back fence two days ago, 1 August 2016, making a whole lot of noise. Not sure, but I think both were juveniles. Or maybe not, as I've just read the information below, saying that "when Crows molt, the old feathers can appear brownish..." Caught this one just as it was ruffling up all its beautiful feathers. Grabbed my camera just in time to get two or three shots and off they flew. Local Crows used to nest in my neighbour's Spruce tree, but the last few years they have been nesting somewhere else.
"American Crows are familiar over much of the continent: large, intelligent, all-black birds with hoarse, cawing voices. They are common sights in treetops, fields, and roadsides, and in habitats ranging from open woods and empty beaches to town centers. They usually feed on the ground and eat almost anything – typically earthworms, insects and other small animals, seeds, and fruit but also garbage, carrion, and chicks they rob from nests. Their flight style is unique, a patient, methodical flapping that is rarely broken up with glides.
American Crows are all black, even the legs and bill. When crows molt, the old feathers can appear brownish or scaly compared to the glossy new feathers." From AllAboutBirds.
www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Crow/id
Monday was mostly a quiet day at home - it was a long weekend and I didn't really want to be doing a longish drive with a lot of traffic on the roads. Late in the afternoon, I did get out to see a pair of Swainson's Hawks and also drove to a local Osprey family, that I think has three youngsters still on the nest. Seeing the Hawks was quite an experience - I was dive-bombed three times in the two minutes maximum that I was there! A friend had told me about this family, but didn't have the same experience as me!
Yesterday and today, I have been without my vehicle, because it suddenly developed a really bad, noisy muffler problem. It was going to be a major expense ($4,660) to repair/replace the various parts and I have just heard back that one part is no longer available. To find one would mean being without my car for two weeks! So, I think I will collect the car and just drive within the few roads by me (groceries, etc.) with an extremely noisy vehicle. It looks like I will have to buy a new car - something that I have been thinking about the last few years, as the car is now over 17 years old. Not something I wanted to do on the spur of the moment like this, though. Unfortunately, I will have to cancel my plans to take my daughter to the mountains tomorrow. For years and years I have longed to drive there myself and finally plucked up courage to go with my daughter to help me navigate.
A graceful whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) methodically scans the shoreline, its long, curved bill poised for the perfect catch. With keen eyes and precise movements, this elegant shorebird probes the wet sand, searching for hidden crustaceans and marine invertebrates. Its beautifully streaked plumage blends seamlessly with the coastal landscape, a master of both camouflage and survival. Against the rhythmic ebb and flow of the tide, the whimbrel’s quiet persistence is a testament to nature’s timeless dance of predator and prey.
Fifteen past midnight, a friend reports 64V by Glenfield
Do some drowsy math, set the clock, acknowledge the odds
Up at four, after restless sleep—like a kid on Christmas Eve
Into the still summer night, heading east
Over Appalachian ridges, hollers filled with gossamer mists
Past townships named Mundys Corner, Nanty Glo, and Brush Valley
Night’s blackness yields to cobalt, then dusty mauve
Always, doing the math in my head, making myself believe
Over the mainline, then breaking south
I arrive, wondering if I’m too late, or too early
Hoping first light and train arrive in harmony
And I wait, as a new day washes gently over me
Then, it all comes together as I hear:
“64V, 258 Clear, One East, Out.”
88 hundred horses, pulling a hundred loads of Dakota crude
Lumber methodically up the West Slope
I live in Heaven, or close enough
AUSTRALASIAN YELLOW ORIOLE
The green oriole or Australasian yellow oriole, (Oriolus flavocinctus) is an inconspicuous inhabitant of lush tropical vegetation throughout New Guinea and northern Australia, including Cape York Peninsula, the Top End and the Kimberley.
Green orioles forage slowly and methodically through the mid and upper strata of dense forests, taking fruit in the main. Typically alone or in pairs, they sometimes form small flocks in the non-breeding season. They are often difficult to locate, as their yellow-green plumage blends with the foliage and only their deep bubbling musical calls can be heard. They are nevertheless common in suitable habitat: rainforests, mangroves, thickets along watercourses, swamps, and lush gardens.
Breeding takes place during the wet season (October to March). A neat, deep cup is constructed from strips of bark and vines, lined with rootlets, and slung between leafy branches, usually 5 to 15 metres up. They typically lay 2 eggs.
NITMILUK NATIONAL PARK
Nitmiluk National Park is in the Northern Territory of Australia, 244 km southeast of Darwin, around a series of gorges on the Katherine River and Edith Falls.
Previously named Katherine Gorge National Park, its northern edge borders Kakadu National Park. The gorges and the surrounding landscape have great ceremonial significance to the local Jawoyn people, who are custodians of Nitmiluk National Park. In Jawoyn, Nitmiluk means "place of the cicada dreaming".
Katherine Gorge, a deep gorge carved through ancient sandstone by the Katherine River, is the central attraction of the park. Katherine Gorge is made up of thirteen gorges, with rapids and falls, and follow the Katherine River, which begins in Kakadu.
During the Dry, roughly from April to October, the Katherine Gorge waters are placid in most spots and ideal for swimming and canoeing.
There may be freshwater crocodiles in most parts of the river, as they nest along the banks, but they are harmless to humans. Saltwater crocodiles regularly enter the river during the wet season, when the water levels are very high, and are subsequently removed and returned to the lower levels at the onset of the dry season. Thus, swimming in the wet season is prohibited.
Cruises of various lengths go as far as the fifth gorge.The gorges can be explored by canoe and flat bottomed boat. In the dry season the gorges become separated as the level of the river falls. They are interconnected in the wet. There is a visitor centre located at the Katherine Gorge, about 30 km east of the town of Katherine.
Freshwater crocodiles are widely distributed along the river year-round. During the wet season, rises in water levels may allow saltwater crocodiles to enter the gorge, where they are caught and relocated to lower levels when the dry season begins.
Birds that can be seen include ospreys, red-tailed black cockatoos, great bowerbirds, white-gaped honeyeaters and red-winged parrots. Part of the Yinberrie Hills Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance for endangered Gouldian finches, lies in the park.
This story actually happened a very long time ago.
Claire is not, or ever was, the girl in this story’s name. Other than that, the skeleton of the tale is accurately depicted as it occurred.
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Now, to start off, let us talk cemeteries.
To me, a proper cemetery has been around for several hundred years. With long, looming old headstones with eroded lettering that have been there so long, they appear to be part of the landscape. We grew up within walking distance to one like that. Full of history, stories, and suspected hauntings.
Like the witches' circle located in a secluded corner of what we at the time called the forgotten Cemetery...
The witches' circle was a circle of old tall slabs that contained the remains of a suspected dark magic practitioner and his followers. Their remains were laid to rest inside the circle.
My brother’s wife Ginny as a young girl had visited this area. With her was a young mother with her infant. The infant was sleeping peacefully in her mother’s arms until they passed through the circle. While inside the baby started fussing. Once out of the circle the baby was fine. Out of curiosity, the circle was entered again. This time the infant started crying until the outside was reached. Figuring that was quite enough, the group left the cemetery.
This particular evening We had been sitting (drinking) and telling ghost stories behind the forgotten cemetery that was located off of the wooded part of Abbot’s chase lane. We were within sight of the witches' circle, which that evening behaved.
Now Abbot’s Chase lane ends in town, stopping at a T in the road where our local pub, the Poet and Peasant is. The pub itself, with the skull of a 14th-century poet named Erik, sits upon a balustrade. So the pub can be a pretty spooky place in its own right...
But I transgress...
Claire’s story was told to a group of us that October evening by my twin Brother as his contribution to the evenings' ghost telling.
After he told it, we challenged him over it not being a proper ghost tale, more like Twilight Zone fodder actually.
But whether it is a spooky ghost story or not, I will leave it up to you, the readers to decide…
Enjoy
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Claire, an only child, received an antique ring from her Grandmother on her sixteenth birthday. It was a pretty thing, a large square sapphire stone surrounded by twinkling diamonds.
Claire truly felt blessed by this, for even though she loved her Grandmother, the old lady could be a mean and vindictive soul, who only did nice things in a begrudgingly way.
Her neighbors referred to her as ‘the witch’ for that reason. And for all Claire knew, so did her parents!
Claire knew about the witch label from a girlfriend whose family lived in that neighborhood. She also knew that her Grandmother’s favorite horse, Flitchrune was, when gossiping, referred to as witchbroom.
Just two months after receiving the gift, Claire’s 85-year-old Grandmother passed away unexpectedly.
After taking Flitchrune out for a bit of exercise, the 85-year-old lady had felt faint and went far a ly down. There they found her in bed, where she had died peacefully in her sleep of a heart attack.
Claire was out of the country at the time studying. Her parents, not wishing for her to cut her studies short, did not inform their daughter of her grandmother’s passing until she came back, two weeks after the funeral.
Claire understood completely, but she felt down deep that she had let her Grandmother down by not being at the service. So much so that she could not bring herself to visit her grave.
From the Grandmother’s estate, her parents gave Claire a small end cabinet that her Great, Great Uncle, a warden level Free Mason, a carpenter by trade, had made. On the backside of the cabinet(where it would be against the wall) was a secret drawer.
The drawer was empty, but Claire liked to imagine the secrets it once held.
It was inside here that Clair kept her case of good pearls, and the antique ring when not being worn for Church or some formal dress occasion.
One such formal dress occasion was the gala held for student’s graduation from university. This was event was coincidently held on the 1st month anniversary of her Grandmother’s passing.
For the occasion, she wore a long blue taffeta dress with a plunging neckline. She borrowed her Mum’s expensive diamond rhinestone necklace with matching earrings. She also was wearing her Grandmother’s ring.
Claire had a brilliant time there. Dancing and drinking the evening away. So much fun in fact that when the time came to be put out, a group of her friends decided to party on and Claire followed in their wake.
They started dancing at a dockside pub, the Poet and Peasant, where the ladies in Claire’s circle found themselves the centre of attention. Helped by the pretty way they were all attired.
in fact, Clare had such a good time, that she did not remember how she got home or putting herself to bed even.
That night she had some very strange dreams.
A riderless horse appearing in front of her as she walked through the heather by her Grandmother’s manor. She followed the horse as it led her through a ballroom, crowded with dancers. From there she found herself outside again, with the horse standing on the far bank of a river. She tried to find a way across but got lost in a cemetery. Off to one side was a building lit up by candles. Going inside she found herself in a room filled with men wearing bloomers, ruffled shirts, and sashes with strange metal symbols attached. They were not paying her any head, instead Looking at something in the centre of the room. She moved up close and saw it was her Great, Great Uncle’s cabinet, the secret door open.
Claire found herself being jostled over to it. Curiously she looked inside. Seeing something glittering she tried reaching in, only to be pulled back as the object was grabbed by a male hand. The drawer then slammed shut. The masons were angry with her. Yelling as she tried to free herself
From their grasp. She felt hands pulling and clawing at her. She felt her mum’s necklace being twisted around her throat as….
She awoke, realizing she was in her bed, still dressed, and wrapped in her comforter. It was 5:00 in the morning.
Strange, though, she never usually used the comforter like a blanket.
She, unsteadily, got up to survey the damage in the bathroom mirror. Deciding as she did that a cold shower was in order. She began by removing her Mum’s rhinestones.
She then gasped in real horror.
Her mothers’ jewelry was still all there, but not her Grandmother’s ring. It was gone from her finger.
She began a frantic search in and around the bed. Not finding the ring.
Sitting on the bed she tried to calm herself and think rationally.
She then began to methodically search the room, several times. Including the secret cabinet drawer, which she looked inside at least 3 different times. But to no avail.
She called her twin brother and he came over to help in the search.
He also searched the ancient cabinet, removing the secret drawer, and explored all its nooks and crannies, finding nothing but cobwebs and an old farthing.
They retraced her steps that evening, going to the dance hall and then to the pub. But again. To no avail. The ring simply had vanished.
A lost ad was even placed in the local paper. With no response.
A man had come forward at the pub and said he had run into her and her friends there last night. He admitted he had seen her home, along with a friend, walking both to the door from the cab.
She admitted to not remembering him at all. He chuckled, teasingly saying he remembered her very well. Then added. and Luv, you were still wearing the pretty ring as you so abruptly left me standing at the closed door.
She liked his manner of speaking, and apologized for not remembering much of last evening, then daringly gave him a peck on the cheek for seeing her home.
But sadly, No word or trace of the ring could be found, nor its disappearance explained.
A week later, still feeling tearful over the loss of the ring, she finally went to visit her grandmother’s grave. Apologizing profusely for not being there for her.
Someone had placed a stuffed small animal of a horse, and she petted it as she wept real tears, glad she was alone there.
But Claire felt no comfort, and the dead silence surrounding her was a bit disconcerting like she was being chastised and scolded by someone or something.
She looked down at the stuffed toy horse and thought….’Witchbroom?’
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Now for the ‘spooky’ bit
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Two months later
Taking a job in a city off the coast, Claire moved from her apartment and took a flat overlooking the ocean. With her went the antique cabinet with its secret drawer
Nine months later an invite came for the university alumni to attend the annual graduation gala. She contacted several of her classmates and they agreed to meet up and have a reunion there.
On a lark, Claire decided to wear the same blue taffeta gown she had worn to last year's Gala for her graduating class.
When the day before the evening dance came, she stopped at her parents to again borrowed her Mother’s rhinestones.
But sadly, there would be no lovely antique ring to wear.
With this thought in mind, Claire felt compelled to stop by her Grandmother’s gravesite.
Nothing had changed there, including the lack of fellow visitors. She hated being alone in a cemetery!
Still, she made her way to the grave and after laying down a single lily, sat on a nearby bench in silent prayer. She apologized in her mind, to her grandmother for carelessly losing the ring. And again for not being there when she passed on.
A crisp breeze came across the graveyard, chilling Claire who was not wearing a wrap. She rose and left the eerily silent cemetery.
That evening Claire partied deep into the night, with her group, again ending up at the Poet & Peasant Pub for nightcaps.
There she ran into the same charming lad who had seen her home after last year's gala evening.
This time she remembered him and was sober enough to actually quite enjoy his company.
After the last call, he again saw her back to her hotel. And this time Claire boldly gave him a proper hug and kiss goodnight.
She finally collapsed onto her bed and soon fell into a deep sleep, and into another nightmare.
Claire dreamed of her being back at the cemetery. It was a moonless night, yet shadows crept in towards her from every angle as she walked in and out of the ancient moss-covered tombstones,
She abruptly stopped and saw her Lilly laying upon a heap of black earth. But no tombstone. Instead, the ancient cabinet her Ancestor had built stood silent guard. She went over to it and searching, found the secret drawer. She began to pull it open, seeing something glittery in its dark depths.
But before she can properly reach inside, Claire was pulled away from behind. She is turned around and comes to face a looming stranger, his features hidden in shadows.
He begins to dance with her, briskly, powerfully.
Claire finds herself overwhelmed, struggling to get free from the towering terror.
She felt he wanted something from her.
She became aware of wearing her Mother’s rhinestones and tearfully hoped they would not disappear as her ring had.
Then, from behind she hears the stern voice of her Grandmother crystal clear.
“It’s ok dear..,”
Claire struggles to look back as her Grandmother continues ..,
“….let my Granddaughter go, I’ve forgiven the wretch and so leave us now, and make it right.”
Claire suddenly startled herself awake… panting and sweating. But she is alone. No one or no thing is in the room with her.
Suddenly a creeping chill ran up along her spine, freezing her on the spot.
“Make what right?”
She pondered this last bit from her nightmare.
Claire feels an overwhelming urge to go back to her flat right then and there. To again have a proper look inside the cabinets’ secret door.
But she decided to complete her visit home. For surely it was mere whimsey to think the lost ring would be there after all this time.
The rest of the weekend seemed to move slowly for Claire. Though she did enjoy her time with her brother and parents.
But when Sunday evening came and she found herself on the road, Claire lost no time in dashing back her ocean side flat.
When she got in the door Claire dropped her bags just inside the door and bolted to her bedroom.
Pulling the cabinet from the wall she opened the secret drawer and looked inside, heart pounding.
She froze in shock...
There, inside, was the antique ring belonging to her grandmother that had disappeared mysteriously 11 months prior. Sitting right next to her black satin pearl case as it had never left.
Claire picked up the sparkling ring and examined it, her hands shaking so bad she nearly dropped it. It was her Grandmothers ring, no doubt of that.
As Claire put it on her finger, once again mesmerized by its glitter, she could offer no credible explanation for the reappearance of the ring!
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Over ten years have since passed. The ring, when not worn by Claire on special occasions, still spends its time inside the secret drawer, next to the satin pearl case that holds her good pearls.
It has never shown any sign of going back to wherever it had disappeared to...
When water flows, and the wind blows.
You can feel the summer breeze,
playing with the autumn leaves.
The summer days are fading, as they must
From endless hours to short and fleeting light
I love to walk the pier at night
Like a duet they play,
the wind and water
moving in methodical rhythm
harmonious with my heartbeat
Surf sweeps gently as if imploring
for peaceful tranquility
Maybe the beach isn't for everyone
but for me
ah, it's Always great fun
but alas the colors of the beach blur
The sun seems low, a hazy orange sphere
Now reminiscing sweetly of the days
change is here
as the summer ends
its the return of cool Autmn winds
"Glorious St. Joseph, model of all who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work in the spirit of penance in expiation of my many sins; to work conscientiously by placing love of duty above my inclinations; to gratefully and joyously deem it an honor to employ and to develop by labor the gifts I have received from God, to work methodically, peacefully, and in moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from it through weariness or difficulty to work; above all, with purity of intention and unselfishness, having unceasingly before my eyes death and the account I have to render of time lost, talents unused, good not done, and vain complacency in success, so baneful to the work of God. All for Jesus, all for Mary, all to imitate thee, O patriarch St. Joseph! This shall be my motto for life and eternity."
- Pope Pius IX
"Free-standing two-story building with a rectangular floor plan with a gable roof and stepped gables as well as plastered masonry with profiled sandstone frames, Gothic, marked 1422, two-flight outside staircase to the market with a coat of arms, sandstone, early baroque, marked 1669; Equipment of the council chamber 1605.
Karlstadt is a town in the Main-Spessart in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of Main-Spessart (Kreisstadt), and has a population of around 15,000.
Karlstadt lies on the River Main in the district (Landkreis) of Main-Spessart, roughly 25 km north of the city of Würzburg. It belongs to the Main-Franconian wine-growing region. The town itself is located on the right bank of the river, but the municipal territory extends to the left bank.
Since the amalgamations in 1978, Karlstadt's Stadtteile have been Gambach, Heßlar, Karlburg, Karlstadt, Laudenbach, Mühlbach, Rohrbach, Stadelhofen, Stetten, and Wiesenfeld.
From the late 6th to the mid-13th century, the settlement of Karlburg with its monastery and harbor was located on the west bank of the Main. It grew up around the Karlsburg, a castle perched high over the community, that was destroyed in the German Peasants' War in 1525.
In 1202, Karlstadt itself was founded by Konrad von Querfurt, Bishop of Würzburg. The town was methodically laid out with a nearly rectangular plan to defend Würzburg territory against the Counts of Rieneck. The plan is still well preserved today. The streets in the old town are laid out much like a chessboard, but for military reasons they are not quite straight.
In 1225, Karlstadt had its first documentary mention. In 1236, the castle and the village of Karlburg were destroyed in the Rieneck Feud. In 1244, winegrowing in Karlstadt was mentioned for the first time. From 1277 comes the earliest evidence of the town seal. In 1304, the town fortifications were finished. The parish of Karlstadt was first named in 1339. In 1369 a hospital was founded. Between 1370 and 1515, remodelling work was being done on the first, Romanesque parish church to turn it into a Gothic hall church. About 1400, Karlstadt became for a short time the seat of an episcopal mint. The former Oberamt of the Princely Electorate (Hochstift) of Würzburg was, after Secularization, in Bavaria's favour, passed in 1805 to Grand Duke Ferdinando III of Tuscany to form the Grand Duchy of Würzburg, and passed with this to the Kingdom of Bavaria.
The Jewish residents of the town had a synagogue as early as the Middle Ages. The town's synagogue was destroyed on Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass, 9 November 1938) by Nazi SA men, SS, and Hitler Youth, as well as other local residents. Its destruction is recalled by a plaque at the synagogue's former site. The homes of Jewish residents were attacked as well, the possessions therein were looted or brought to the square in front of the town hall where they were burned, and the Jews living in the town were beaten.
Lower Franconia (German: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. It consists of nine districts and 308 municipalities (including three cities).
After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally reorganised and, in 1808, divided into 15 administrative government regions (German: Regierungsbezirke, singular Regierungsbezirk), in Bavaria called Kreise (singular: Kreis). They were created in the fashion of the French departements, quite even in size and population, and named after their main rivers.
In the following years, due to territorial changes (e. g. loss of Tyrol, addition of the Palatinate), the number of Kreise was reduced to 8. One of these was the Untermainkreis (Lower Main District). In 1837 king Ludwig I of Bavaria renamed the Kreise after historical territorial names and tribes of the area. This also involved some border changes or territorial swaps. Thus the name Untermainkreis changed to Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg, but the city name was dropped in the middle of the 20th century, leaving just Lower Franconia.
From 1933, the regional Nazi Gauleiter, Otto Hellmuth, (who had renamed his party Gau "Mainfranken") insisted on renaming the government district Mainfranken as well. He encountered resistance from Bavarian state authorities but finally succeeded in having the name of the district changed, effective 1 June 1938. After 1945 the name Unterfranken was restored.
Franconia (German: Franken, pronounced [ˈfʁaŋkŋ̍]; Franconian: Franggn [ˈfrɑŋɡŋ̍]; Bavarian: Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: Fränkisch).
Franconia is made up of the three Regierungsbezirke of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia in Bavaria, the adjacent, Franconian-speaking, South Thuringia, south of the Thuringian Forest—which constitutes the language boundary between Franconian and Thuringian— and the eastern parts of Heilbronn-Franconia in Baden-Württemberg.
Those parts of the Vogtland lying in Saxony (largest city: Plauen) are sometimes regarded as Franconian as well, because the Vogtlandian dialects are mostly East Franconian. The inhabitants of Saxon Vogtland, however, mostly do not consider themselves as Franconian. On the other hand, the inhabitants of the Hessian-speaking parts of Lower Franconia west of the Spessart (largest city: Aschaffenburg) do consider themselves as Franconian, although not speaking the dialect. Heilbronn-Franconia's largest city of Heilbronn and its surrounding areas are South Franconian-speaking, and therefore only sometimes regarded as Franconian. In Hesse, the east of the Fulda District is Franconian-speaking, and parts of the Oden Forest District are sometimes regarded as Franconian for historical reasons, but a Franconian identity did not develop there.
Franconia's largest city and unofficial capital is Nuremberg, which is contiguous with Erlangen and Fürth, with which it forms the Franconian conurbation with around 1.3 million inhabitants. Other important Franconian cities are Würzburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth, Ansbach and Coburg in Bavaria, Suhl and Meiningen in Thuringia, and Schwäbisch Hall in Baden-Württemberg.
The German word Franken—Franconians—also refers to the ethnic group, which is mainly to be found in this region. They are to be distinguished from the Germanic people of the Franks, and historically formed their easternmost settlement area. The origins of Franconia lie in the settlement of the Franks from the 6th century in the area probably populated until then mainly by the Elbe Germanic people in the Main river area, known from the 9th century as East Francia (Francia Orientalis). In the Middle Ages the region formed much of the eastern part of the Duchy of Franconia and, from 1500, the Franconian Circle. The restructuring of the south German states by Napoleon, after the demise of the Holy Roman Empire, saw most of Franconia awarded to Bavaria." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
Due to the methodically nonsensical approach I take to sorting photos, this shot of 210 has surfaced on Flickr before the rest of the photos taken on the same day... despite the fact I initially binned this photo off because I’d already uploaded one of 210. Then I un-binned it because this picture is actually pretty decent.
King Street, Nottingham
YD73 FSS
14.7.25
Between Here and There , Tim Lowly © 1988, tempera on panel, 24" x 35". Private collection.
I posted this painting on Instagram ( www.instagram.com/timlowly/ ) this morning and I was reminded by my friend Jeremy Botts that when I was making the painting I had very intentionally referenced Andrea Mantegna's painting "Lamentation over the Dead Christ". Incidentally the medium I was using–egg / oil emulsion tempera–at the time (roughly 1986 - 1999) was essentially the same medium Mantegna used. Tempera has a very methodical / constructive technical character. The resulting paintings sometimes have a rather stone-like quality: exemplified in Mantegna's work.
Wilson’s Snipes forage by methodically probing in muddy ground for earthworms and other invertebrates. Their heads move up and down somewhat like a sewing machine running at slow speed. Individuals usually sit tight until suddenly flushing near your feet and flying off in fast zigzags. Displaying males fly high in the sky and make a curious whistling noise (“winnowing”), created by air passing over his modified outer tail feathers.
Wilson’s Snipe live in muddy pond edges, damp fields, and other wet, open habitats. Typically these contain thick, low vegetation into which these well-camouflaged birds can disappear.
Info from Cornell "All about birds" website
It surprised me yesterday when I saw that the Great Blue Heron's strike is not quick like a Rattler's. It's methodical. Taking photos of Great Blue Herons catching fish, I have no excuse for jerking my camera. That does not mean that I can always hold a camera steady enough to avoid blur in long-distance shots. (Perhaps I can start by avoiding enough blur for the eyes of the fish to show up as eyes.)
Thank you for stopping by. Your visits and friendship are greatly appreciated.
Between Here and There , Tim Lowly © 1988, tempera on panel, 24" x 35". Private collection.
If you click on that + above you will able to see the painting at an extremely close vantage point.
Tempera (or, to be more precise, egg/ oil emulsion tempera) generally requires a very methodical approach. Tempera is very delicate; it can't be fussed with: previous layers will come off if you try to push the paint around like oil. The paint is applied in small strokes. In this painting that paint application is most evidently meaningful on the wall. Essentially the paint strokes have a sweeping wave-like movement on the wall. While I don't paint this way now I am no less interested in how a painting's making carries meaning.
"At the Mercy of Nature (Sisyphus Part X)" by Marius Ritiu (ROM)
location: Between Spuikom and Bredensesteenweg
Oostende, Belgium
(Beaufort24)
The artwork appears as though it’s from another universe – like a meteoroid that collided with various objects on its journey to Earth, and could as well have crushed us. Our destiny ultimately rests in the hands of nature. (...) Copper is a material that’s literally binding the world together because of its role in transport and communication. (...)
Copper repoussage involves an extremely labour-intensive, artisanal approach, akin to a variation of the technique used in crafting the Statue of Liberty. Marius Ritiu places copper plates around a stone, initiating a months-long process subjected to millions of hammer blows. Gradually, the plates assume the shape of the underlying object. Once the desired form is achieved, the metal is methodically dismantled, plate by plate, and then reassembled. (...)
Source & more info: www.triennalebeaufort.be/en/beaufort-mercy-nature-sisyphu...
I thought it was interesting to confront this black (one day greenish) meteorite-like block with the red twisted 'Rock strangers' from the seafront promenade.
Different techniques, different intentions, different story - and yet, a somewhat similar, out of this world, appearance.
Here's an elevated broadside view of Columbia River Belt Line Railway Locomotive #7, better known as "Skookum", as she rolls into the siding at Wheeler, OR, on the old Southern Pacific Tillamook Branch, which operates today as the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad. In the background, the beautiful Nehalem River.
Built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1909 as their builder's number 33463, this unusual 2-4-4-2 articulated, compound Mallet was intended for the Little River Railroad in Townsend, TN as their number 126. Unfortunately, that railroad quickly determined that she was too long for the tight curves on their line and she was returned to Baldwin. In 1910, Baldwin managed to resell her to the Columbia River Belt Line Railway in Blind Slough, OR, where she was put to work as a logging engine. That railroad typically named their locomotives rather than number them, and this engine received the name "Skookum", which is apparently a Chinook term, meaning large, powerful or impressive. She served the Columbia River Belt Line from 1910 through 1920, before being sold to the Carlisle-Pennell Lumber Company, where she acquired the number 7. After a four-year stint there, she served 4 other railroads, including the Deep River Logging Company, where her long career came to a sudden end in 1955, when she rolled over with a string of empty log bunks. Since that line was in the process of shutting down, no attempt was made to recover her and she was left in place.
In 1956, she was acquired by a man named Charles Morrow, who removed her from her wreck site in pieces....and she's spent the next 60 years in pieces, owned by several individuals and moved several different places. In 2005, she was acquired by Chris Baldo, who had her moved to the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, with the goal of restoring her. It's been a long road. Some pieces had been damaged when she was removed from the wreck site, and some pieces had been lost. Over the past 13 years, a restoration team has slowly and methodically restored her major components and re-assembled her into the condition you see here. She appeared in public for the first time at a Lerro Photography Charter in October of 2018, but alas, she was unable to perform for the photographers, because she still had some technical issues, including valve timing, which had to be tweaked and adjusted. After an additional 6 months of adjustments, repairs and break-in runs, she did make it out for the first of 2 photo charters organized by Trains Magazine, but alas, she still has some issues. She broke her second eccentric rod less than a week before the charter, and after additional repairs, suffered 2 tender brass failures during the charter. Each time, the railroad crews rapidly repaired her and she missed relatively little time during the event. Unfortunately, during her trip home on the second day, she broke her 3rd eccentric rod. Although repairs were initiated to get her ready for a second Trains event, the root cause of this issue had apparently not yet been found.
Taken in a shaft of sunlight. Hawfinches move around in a much slower and more methodical way than the other birds when foraging for seeds. They are of course much bigger than the other finches - but can sometimes be confused with a Chaffinch at a distance. If they sense something threatening overhead (such as the call of a Crow) they crouch down into the leaf litter blending in surprisingly well.
Winter is the best time to see them, numbers are increased by some migrant birds entering the country and they will often be feeding on the ground. In the spring they will change their diet to include insects and spend most of their time in the trees.
Took the morning off yesterday at the last minute on seeing some blue sky for a change!
2015! February already. Wow, time flies. Swat. I see the finalists for the mars colonization mission have been chosen, I didn't get an email so I guess I'm out. I'll just have to grace this precious blue orb for the rest of my glorious days with glee and wit wondering about the shimmering stars the same as you. I made the most of my sierra passions in 2014 with 5 trips. Although i have stayed away from the digital files for a bit while tending to other musical adventures and hillsides. Life can be so damn messy sometimes. I suppose our tidal life's trials and tribulations mimic the rising and falling of the sun in all its shortcomings, dull muted surprises and epic brain tingling explosions perfectly as only they could. Words escape me as of late. More often that not they go unspoken along the PCH each day, harmlessly dispersed from my subconscious meanderings. But, trust me, I'm still tending the garden. Deeply immersed in a pacific fog that comes and goes like a swinging pendulum, though now ever closer to the torn and stretched rope holding at bay my precious weight of the world. Tisk tisk. On a positive note, this is the year the tide returns. My precious spring moth has made a quick 2015 appearance although he hasn't stay just yet and the backyard swallows are soon to be on route. I'm starting to remember. NOW, despite Verizon lawless attempt at forcing me to pay for the same DATA in 3 places, which of course somehow includes my personal unwanted contributions to internet commercials that are a complete waste of my "MU%$A FU&$IN" time, my overall spring spirits are high. I actually cracked open my hard drive last night and looked into the recent past. Autumn 2014 to be exact. Enough non photographic rambling, lets get to it.
I spent about a hour at this tree. She was an unplanned yellow stop. I spotted her in the distance during a rather epic stormy road trip into the eastern sierra gateway this autumn. It was drizzling on and off that day, with classic rainbow weather conditions brewing. The rain was heavy in spurts and I did have to retreat from this image a few times because of that, but after a few compositions along the right and left shores and bridge top, my hope was soon justified by effort that proved there just might be something to call home about after all. Ring a ding dong. From the rickety overpass I was able to get a very centered mirror like image in the Yin and Yang style with converging stream lines leading to the subject which worked nicely, but how boring is that. The shoreline images however (left side seen here) had me dangling over the water like a circus clown in some yoga like stance, 2 tripod legs contorted in some archaic fashion, extended fully and planted in the sandy river bottom, both equally unstable in the heavy current of the flowing water. The third leg was crimped up, contorted and bent to it's absolute limit and crammed into a rock crevice on the shore for support and to keep me and the entire nonsensical contraption from falling into the river and flowing down stream with the rest of rainbow trout. I imagine I looked funny from the one or two passer byes that I now recall as I stretched myself out, perched and focused on not breathing, whilst barely skimming the waterline with my camera lens, manually focusing between quiet breaths, foreground to distance long exposure, Distance to foreground short exposure, so that I could capture the detail sharply throughout the exaggerated scene in all forms if needed. It's medicine to my soul. The hunt that is. The methodical process. The left shoreline stretch proved to be the winner in my opinion as it highlighted some rather long and more interesting underwater river vegetation, inadvertently creating some diagonal lines from the bottom corners of my frame which I found pleasing at the time. The long stretch and close proximity to the water surface also gives the illusion of me standing or hovering over the water which was a desired effect at the time, it was also the only way I could capture what was happening below the surface. A polarizer also helped in that respect, eliminating the foreground reflection quite nicely.
PS I guess mars will have to wait. Wonder if they are planning trips to jupiter?
Go Pats! Time to start thinking about a repeat repeat.
On June 10, 1944, Waffen SS soldiers carried out a military operation against the civilian population of the small town of Oradour-sur-Glane, in Central France. They methodically massacred all the residents they rounded up and destroyed the entire town with fire and explosives. In all, 642 men, women and children were killed. The operation had no strategic or tactical value and was therefore mostly gratuitous. The decision was made immediately after the war to preserve the entire village as it was found by survivors and rescuers. It stands today as its own memorial to all of its victims. I visited it on the anniversary of the massacre on June 10, 2017 and was greatly moved by the experience.
Schweiz / Berner Oberland - Eiger, Mönch und Jungfrau
seen on the way from Allmendhubel to Grütschalp
gesehen auf dem Weg vom Allmendhubel zur Grütschalp
The Eiger (German pronunciation: [ˈaɪ̯ɡɐ]) is a 3,967-metre (13,015 ft) mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends across the Mönch to the Jungfrau at 4,158 m (13,642 ft), constituting one of the most emblematic sights of the Swiss Alps. While the northern side of the mountain rises more than 3,000 m (10,000 ft) above the two valleys of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, the southern side faces the large glaciers of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, the most glaciated region in the Alps. The most notable feature of the Eiger is its nearly 1,800-metre-high (5,900 ft) north face of rock and ice, named Eiger-Nordwand, Eigerwand or just Nordwand, which is the biggest north face in the Alps.] This huge face towers over the resort of Kleine Scheidegg at its base, on the eponymous pass connecting the two valleys.
The first ascent of the Eiger was made by Swiss guides Christian Almer and Peter Bohren and Irishman Charles Barrington, who climbed the west flank on August 11, 1858. The north face, the "last problem" of the Alps, considered amongst the most challenging and dangerous ascents, was first climbed in 1938 by an Austrian-German expedition.The Eiger has been highly publicized for the many tragedies involving climbing expeditions. Since 1935, at least 64 climbers have died attempting the north face, earning it the German nickname Mordwand, literally "murder(ous) wall"—a pun on its correct title of Nordwand (North Wall).
Although the summit of the Eiger can be reached by experienced climbers only, a railway tunnel runs inside the mountain, and two internal stations provide easy access to viewing-windows carved into the rock face. They are both part of the Jungfrau Railway line, running from Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch, between the Mönch and the Jungfrau, at the highest railway station in Europe. The two stations within the Eiger are Eigerwand (behind the north face) and Eismeer (behind the south face), at around 3,000 metres. The Eigerwand station has not been regularly served since 2016.
Etymology
The first mention of Eiger, appearing as "mons Egere", was found in a property sale document of 1252, but there is no clear indication of how exactly the peak gained its name. The three mountains of the ridge are commonly referred to as the Virgin (German: Jungfrau – translates to "virgin" or "maiden"), the Monk (Mönch), and the Ogre (Eiger; the standard German word for ogre is Oger). The name has been linked to the Latin term acer, meaning "sharp" or "pointed".
Geographic setting and description
The Eiger is located above the Lauterbrunnen Valley to the west and Grindelwald to the north in the Bernese Oberland region of the canton of Bern. It forms a renowned mountain range of the Bernese Alps together with its two companions: the Jungfrau (4,158 m (13,642 ft)) about 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) southwest of it and the Mönch (4,107 m (13,474 ft)) about in the middle of them. The nearest settlements are Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen (795 m (2,608 ft)) and Wengen (1,274 m (4,180 ft)). The Eiger has three faces: north (or more precisely NNW), east (or more precisely ESE), and west (or more precisely WSW). The northeastern ridge from the summit to the Ostegg (lit.: eastern corner, 2,709 m (8,888 ft)), called Mittellegi, is the longest on the Eiger. The north face overlooks the gently rising Alpine meadow between Grindelwald (943 m (3,094 ft)) and Kleine Scheidegg (2,061 m (6,762 ft)), a mountain railways junction and a pass, which can be reached from both sides, Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen/Wengen – by foot or train.
Politically, the Eiger (and its summit) belongs to the Bernese municipalities of Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. The Kleine Scheidegg (literally, the small parting corner) connects the Männlichen-Tschuggen range with the western ridge of the Eiger. The Eiger does not properly form part of the main chain of the Bernese Alps, which borders the canton of Valais and forms the watershed between the Rhine and the Rhône, but constitutes a huge limestone buttress, projecting from the crystalline basement of the Mönch across the Eigerjoch. Consequently, all sides of the Eiger feed finally the same river, namely the Lütschine.
Eiger's water is connected through the Weisse Lütschine (the white one) in the Lauterbrunnen Valley on the west side (southwestern face of the Eiger), and through the Schwarze Lütschine (the black one) running through Grindelwald (northwestern face), which meet each other in Zweilütschinen (lit.: the two Lütschinen) where they form the proper Lütschine. The east face is covered by the glacier called Ischmeer, (Bernese German for Ice Sea), which forms one upper part of the fast-retreating Lower Grindelwald Glacier. These glaciers' water forms a short creek, which is also confusingly called the Weisse Lütschine, but enters the black one already in Grindelwald together with the water from the Upper Grindelwald Glacier. Therefore, all the water running down the Eiger converges at the northern foot of the Männlichen (2,342 m (7,684 ft)) in Zweilütschinen (654 m (2,146 ft)), about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of the summit, where the Lütschine begins its northern course to Lake Brienz and the Aare (564 m (1,850 ft)).
Although the north face of the Eiger is almost free of ice, significant glaciers lie at the other sides of the mountain. The Eiger Glacier flows on the southwestern side of the Eiger, from the crest connecting it to the Mönch down to 2,400 m (7,900 ft), south of Eigergletscher railway station, and feeds the Weisse Lütschine through the Trümmelbach. On the east side, the Ischmeer–well visible from the windows of Eismeer railway station–flows eastwards from the same crest then turns to the north below the impressive wide Fiescherwand, the north face of the Fiescherhörner triple summit (4,049 m (13,284 ft)) down to about 1,600 m (5,200 ft) of the Lower Grindelwald Glacier system.
The massive composition of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau constitutes an emblematic sight of the Swiss Alps and is visible from many places on the Swiss Plateau and the Jura Mountains in the northwest. The higher Finsteraarhorn (4,270 m (14,010 ft)) and Aletschhorn (4,190 m (13,750 ft)), which are located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the south, are generally less visible and situated in the middle of glaciers in less accessible areas. As opposed to the north side, the south and east sides of the range consist of large valley glaciers extending for up to 22 kilometres (14 mi), the largest (beyond the Eiger drainage basin) being those of Grand Aletsch, Fiesch, and Aar Glaciers, and is thus uninhabited. The whole area, the Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area, comprising the highest summits and largest glaciers of the Bernese Alps, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.
In July 2006, a piece of the Eiger, amounting to approximately 700,000 cubic metres of rock, fell from the east face. As it had been noticeably cleaving for several weeks and fell into an uninhabited area, there were no injuries and no buildings were hit.
Climbing history
While the summit was reached without much difficulty in 1858 by a complex route on the west flank, the battle to climb the north face has captivated the interest of climbers and non-climbers alike. Before it was successfully climbed, most of the attempts on the face ended tragically and the Bernese authorities even banned climbing it and threatened to fine any party that should attempt it again. But the enthusiasm which animated the young talented climbers from Austria and Germany finally vanquished its reputation of unclimbability when a party of four climbers successfully reached the summit in 1938 by what is known as the "1938" or "Heckmair" route.
The climbers that attempted the north face could be easily watched through the telescopes from the Kleine Scheidegg, a pass between Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, connected by rail. The contrast between the comfort and civilization of the railway station and the agonies of the young men slowly dying a short yet uncrossable distance away led to intensive coverage by the international media.
After World War II, the north face was climbed twice in 1947, first by a party of two French guides, Louis Lachenal and Lionel Terray, then by a Swiss party consisting of H. Germann, with Hans and Karl Schlunegger.
First ascent
In 1857, a first recorded attempt was made by Christian Almer, Christian Kaufmann, Ulrich Kaufmann guiding the Austrian alpinist Sigismund Porges. They did manage the first ascent of neighboring Mönch instead. Porges, however, successfully made the second ascent of the Eiger in July 1861 with the guides Christian Michel, Hans and Peter Baumann.
The first ascent was made by the western flank on August 11, 1858 by Charles Barrington with guides Christian Almer and Peter Bohren. On the previous afternoon, the party walked up to the Wengernalp hotel. From there they started the ascent of the Eiger at 3:30 a.m. Barrington describes the route much as it is followed today, staying close to the edge of the north face much of the way. They reached the summit at about noon, planted a flag, stayed for some 10 minutes and descended in about four hours. Barrington describes the reaching of the top, saying, "the two guides kindly gave me the place of first man up." After the descent, the party was escorted to the Kleine Scheidegg hotel, where their ascent was confirmed by observation of the flag left on the summit. The owner of the hotel then fired a cannon to celebrate the first ascent. According to Harrer's The White Spider, Barrington was originally planning to make the first ascent of the Matterhorn, but his finances did not allow him to travel there as he was already staying in the Eiger region.
Mittellegi ridge
Although the Mittellegi ridge had already been descended by climbers (since 1885) with the use of ropes in the difficult sections, it remained unclimbed until 1921. On the 10th of September of that year, Japanese climber Yuko Maki, along with Swiss guides Fritz Amatter, Samuel Brawand and Fritz Steuri made the first successful ascent of the ridge. The previous day, the party approached the ridge from the Eismeer railway station of the Jungfrau Railway and bivouacked for the night. They started the climb at about 6:00 a.m. and reached the summit of the Eiger at about 7:15 p.m., after an over 13 hours gruelling ascent. Shortly after, they descended the west flank. They finally reached Eigergletscher railway station at about 3:00 a.m. the next day.
Attempts on the north face
1935
In 1935, two young German climbers from Bavaria, Karl Mehringer and Max Sedlmeyer, arrived at Grindelwald to attempt the ascent of the north face. After waiting some time for the weather to improve, they set off, reaching the height of the Eigerwand station before stopping for their first bivouac. The following day, facing greater difficulties, they gained little height. On the third day, they made hardly any vertical gain. That night, the weather deteriorated, bringing snow and low cloud that shrouded the mountain from the observers below. Avalanches began to sweep the face. Two days later, the weather briefly cleared, and the two men were glimpsed a little higher and about to bivouac for the fifth night, before clouds descended again. A few days later, the weather finally cleared, revealing a completely white north face.: 225 Weeks later, the German World War I ace Ernst Udet went searching for the missing men with his aircraft, eventually spotting one of them frozen to death in what became known as the "Death Bivouac". Sedlmeyer's body was found at the foot of the face the following year by his brothers Heinrich and Martin Meier, who were part of a group looking for the victims of the 1936 climbing disaster. Mehringer's remains were found in 1962 by Swiss climbers below the "Flat Iron" (Bügeleisen) at the lefthand end of the second ice field.
1936
The next year ten young climbers from Austria and Germany came to Grindelwald and camped at the foot of the mountain. Before their attempts started one of them was killed during a training climb, and the weather was so bad during that summer that, after waiting for a change and seeing none on the way, several members of the party gave up. Of the four that remained, two were Bavarians, Andreas Hinterstoisser and Toni Kurz, and two were Austrians, Willy Angerer and Edi Rainer. When the weather improved they made a preliminary exploration of the lowest part of the face. Hinterstoisser fell 37 metres (121 ft) but was not injured. A few days later the four men finally began the ascent of the face. They climbed quickly, but on the next day, after their first bivouac, the weather changed; clouds came down and hid the group to the observers. They did not resume the climb until the following day, when, during a break, the party was seen descending, but the climbers could be seen only intermittently from the ground. The group had no choice but to retreat, since Angerer had suffered serious injuries from falling rock. The party became stuck on the face when they could not recross the difficult Hinterstoisser Traverse, from which they had taken the rope they had first used to climb it. The weather then deteriorated for two days. They were ultimately swept away by an avalanche, which only Kurz survived, hanging on a rope. Three guides started on an extremely perilous rescue attempt. They failed to reach him but came within shouting distance and learned what had happened. Kurz explained the fate of his companions: one had fallen down the face, another was frozen above him, and the third had fractured his skull in falling and was hanging dead on the rope.
In the morning the three guides came back, traversing the face from a hole near the Eigerwand station and risking their lives under incessant avalanches. Toni Kurz was still alive but almost helpless, with one hand and one arm completely frozen. Kurz hauled himself off the cliff after cutting loose the rope that bound him to his dead teammate below and climbed back onto the face. The guides were not able to pass an unclimbable overhang that separated them from Kurz. They managed to give him a rope long enough to reach them by tying two ropes together. While descending, Kurz could not get the knot to pass through his carabiner. He tried for hours to reach his rescuers who were only a few metres below him. Then he began to lose consciousness. One of the guides, climbing on another's shoulders, was able to touch the tip of Kurz's crampons with his ice-axe but could not reach higher. Kurz was unable to descend further and, completely exhausted, died slowly.
1937
An attempt was made in 1937 by Mathias Rebitsch and Ludwig Vörg. Although the attempt was unsuccessful, they were nonetheless the first climbers who returned alive from a serious attempt on the face. They started the climb on 11 August and reached a high point of a few rope lengths above Death Bivouac. A storm then broke and after three days on the wall they had to retreat. This was the first successful withdrawal from a significant height on the wall.
First ascent of the north face
The north face was first climbed on July 24, 1938 by Anderl Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg, Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek in a German–Austrian party. The party had originally consisted of two independent teams: Harrer (who did not have a pair of crampons on the climb) and Kasparek were joined on the face by Heckmair and Vörg, who had started their ascent a day later and had been helped by the fixed rope that the lead team had left across the Hinterstoisser Traverse. The two groups, led by the experienced Heckmair, decided to join their forces and roped together as a single group of four. Heckmair later wrote: "We, the sons of the older Reich, united with our companions from the Eastern Border to march together to victory."
The expedition was constantly threatened by snow avalanches and climbed as quickly as possible between the falls. On the third day a storm broke and the cold was intense. The four men were caught in an avalanche as they climbed "the Spider," the snow-filled cracks radiating from an ice-field on the upper face, but all possessed sufficient strength to resist being swept off the face. The members successfully reached the summit at four o'clock in the afternoon. They were so exhausted that they only just had the strength to descend by the normal route through a raging blizzard.
Other notable events
1864 (Jul 27): Fourth ascent, and first ascent by a woman, Lucy Walker, who was part of a group of six guides (including Christian Almer and Melchior Anderegg) and five clients, including her brother Horace Walker[
1871: First ascent by the southwest ridge, 14 July (Christian Almer, Christian Bohren, and Ulrich Almer guiding W. A. B. Coolidge and Meta Brevoort).
1890: First ascent in winter, Ulrich Kaufmann and Christian Jossi guiding C. W. Mead and G. F. Woodroffe.
1924: First ski ascent and descent via the Eiger glacier by Englishman Arnold Lunn and the Swiss Fritz Amacher, Walter Amstutz and Willy Richardet.
1932: First ascent of the northeast face ("Lauper route") by Hans Lauper, Alfred Zürcher, Alexander Graven and Josef Knubel
1970: First ski descent over the west flank, by Sylvain Saudan.
1986: Welshman Eric Jones becomes the first person to BASE jump from the Eiger.
1988: Original Route (ED2), north face, Eiger (3970m), Alps, Switzerland, first American solo (nine and a half hours) by Mark Wilford.
1991: First ascent, Metanoia Route, North Face, solo, winter, without bolts, Jeff Lowe.
1992 (18 July): Three BMG/UIAGM/IFMGA clients died in a fall down the West Flank: Willie Dunnachie; Douglas Gaines; and Phillip Davies. They had ascended the mountain via the Mittellegi Ridge.
2006 (14 June): François Bon and Antoine Montant make the first speedflying descent of the Eiger.
2006 (15 July): Approximately 700,000 cubic metres (20 million cubic feet) of rock from the east side collapses. No injuries or damage were reported.
2015 (23 July): A team of British Para-Climbers reached the summit via the West Flank Route. The team included John Churcher, the world's first blind climber to summit the Eiger, sight guided by the team leader Mark McGowan. Colin Gourlay enabled the ascent of other team members, including Al Taylor who has multiple sclerosis, and the young autistic climber Jamie Owen from North Wales. The ascent was filmed by the adventure filmmakers Euan Ryan & Willis Morris of Finalcrux Films.
Books and films
The 1959 book The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer describes the first successful ascent of the Eiger north face.
The Climb Up To Hell, 1962, by Jack Olson, an account of the ill-fated 1957 attempted climb of the north face by an Italian four-man team and the dramatic rescue of the sole survivor mounted by an international all-volunteer group of rescuers.
Eiger Direct, 1966, by Dougal Haston and Peter Gillman, London: Collins, also known as Direttissima; the Eiger Assault
The 1971 novel The Ice Mirror by Charles MacHardy describes the second attempted ascent of the Eiger north face by the main character.
The 1972 novel The Eiger Sanction is an action/thriller novel by Rodney William Whitaker (writing under the pseudonym Trevanian), based around the climbing of the Eiger. This was then made into the 1975 film The Eiger Sanction starring Clint Eastwood and George Kennedy. The Eiger Sanction film crew included very experienced mountaineers (e.g., Mike Hoover, Dougal Haston, and Hamish MacInnes, see Summit, 52, Spring 2010) as consultants, to ensure accuracy in the climbing footage, equipment and techniques.
The Eiger, 1974, by Dougal Haston, London: Cassell
The 1982 book Eiger, Wall of Death by Arthur Roth is an historical account of first ascents of the north face.
The 1982 book Traverse of The Gods by Bob Langley is a World War II spy thriller where a group escaping from Nazi Germany is trapped and the only possible exit route is via the Nordwand.
Eiger, 1983, a documentary film by Leo Dickinson of Eric Jones' 1981 solo ascent of the north face.
Eiger Dreams, 1990, a collection of essays by Jon Krakauer, begins with an account of Krakauer's own attempt to climb the north face.
Eiger: The Vertical Arena (German edition, 1998; English edition, 2000), edited by Daniel Anker, a comprehensive climbing history of the north face authored by 17 climbers, with numerous photographs and illustrations.
The IMAX film The Alps features John Harlin III's climb up the north face in September 2005. Harlin's father, John Harlin II, set out 40 years earlier to attempt a direct route (the direttissima) up the 6,000-foot (1,800 m) face, the so-called "John Harlin route". At 1300 m, his rope broke, and he fell to his death. Composer James Swearingen created a piece named Eiger: Journey to the Summit in his memory.
The 2007 docu/drama film The Beckoning Silence featuring mountaineer Joe Simpson, recounting—with filmed reconstructions—the ill-fated 1936 expedition up the north face of the Eiger and how Heinrich Harrer's book The White Spider inspired him to take up climbing. The film followed Simpson's eponymous 2003 book. Those playing the parts of the original climbing team were Swiss mountain guides Roger Schäli (Toni Kurz), Simon Anthamatten (Andreas Hinterstoisser), Dres Abegglen (Willy Angerer) and Cyrille Berthod (Edi Rainer). The documentary won an Emmy Award the subsequent year.
The 2008 German historical fiction film Nordwand is based on the 1936 attempt to climb the Eiger north face. The film is about the two German climbers, Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser, involved in a competition with an Austrian duo to be the first to scale the north face of Eiger.
The 2010 documentary Eiger: Wall of Death by Steve Robinson.
(Wikipedia)
The Mönch (German pronunciation: [ˈmœnç] German: "monk") at 4,110 metres (13,480 ft) is a mountain in the Bernese Alps, in Switzerland. Together with the Eiger and the Jungfrau, it forms a highly recognisable group of mountains, visible from far away.
The Mönch lies on the border between the cantons of Valais and Bern, and forms part of a mountain ridge between the Jungfrau and Jungfraujoch to the west, and the Eiger to the east. It is west of Mönchsjoch, a pass at 3,650 metres (11,980 ft), Mönchsjoch Hut, and north of the Jungfraufirn and Ewigschneefäld, two affluents of the Great Aletsch Glacier. The north side of the Mönch forms a step wall above the Lauterbrunnen valley.
The Jungfrau railway tunnel runs right under the summit, at an elevation of approximately 3,300 metres (10,830 ft).
The summit was first climbed on record on 15 August 1857 by Christian Almer, Christian Kaufmann (1831-1861), Ulrich Kaufmann and Sigismund Porges.
(Wikipedia)
The Jungfrau (YOONG-frow, German pronunciation: [ˈjʊŋˌfʁaʊ̯], transl. "maiden, virgin"), at 4,158 meters (13,642 ft) is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Jungfrau forms a massive wall of mountains overlooking the Bernese Oberland and the Swiss Plateau, one of the most distinctive sights of the Swiss Alps.
The summit was first reached on August 3, 1811, by the Meyer brothers of Aarau and two chamois hunters from Valais. The ascent followed a long expedition over the glaciers and high passes of the Bernese Alps. It was not until 1865 that a more direct route on the northern side was opened.
The construction of the Jungfrau Railway in the early 20th century, which connects Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch, the saddle between the Mönch and the Jungfrau, made the area one of the most-visited places in the Alps. Along with the Aletsch Glacier to the south, the Jungfrau is part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch area, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 2001.
Etymology
The name Jungfrau ("maiden, virgin"), which refers to the highest of the three prominent mountains overlooking the Interlaken region, along with the Mönch ("monk") and the Eiger ("ogre"), is most likely derived from the name Jungfrauenberg given to Wengernalp, the alpine meadow directly facing the huge northern side of the Jungfrau, across the Trummelbach gorge. Wengernalp was so named for the nuns of Interlaken Monastery, its historical owner. Contrary to popular belief, the name did not originate from the appearance of the snow-covered mountain, the latter looking like a veiled woman.
The "virgin" peak was heavily romanticized as "goddess" or "priestess" in late 18th to 19th century Romanticism. Its summit, considered inaccessible, remained untouched until the 19th century. After the first ascent in 1811 by Swiss alpinist Johann Rudolf Meyer, the peak was jokingly referred to as "Mme Meyer" (Mrs. Meyer).
Geographic setting
Politically, the Jungfrau (and its massif) is split between the municipalities of Lauterbrunnen (Bern) and Fieschertal (Valais). It is the third-highest mountain of the Bernese Alps after the nearby Finsteraarhorn and Aletschhorn, respectively 12 and 8 km (7.5 and 5 mi) away. But from Lake Thun, and the greater part of the canton of Bern, it is the most conspicuous and the nearest of the Bernese Oberland peaks; with a height difference of 3,600 m (11,800 ft) between the summit and the town of Interlaken. This, and the extreme steepness of the north face, secured for it an early reputation for inaccessibility.
The Jungfrau is the westernmost and highest point of a gigantic 10 km (6.2 mi) wall dominating the valleys of Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. The wall is formed by the alignment of some of the biggest north faces in the Alps, with the Mönch (4,107 m or 13,474 ft) and Eiger (3,967 m or 13,015 ft) to the east of the Jungfrau, and overlooks the valleys to its north by a height of up to 3 km (1.9 mi). The Jungfrau is approximately 6 km (3.7 mi) from the Eiger; with the summit of the Mönch between the two mountains, 3.5 km (2.2 mi) from the Jungfrau. The Jungfraujoch is the saddle between the Jungfrau and the Mönch and the Eigerjoch is the saddle between the Mönch and the Eiger. The wall is extended to the east by the Fiescherwand and to the west by the Lauterbrunnen Wall, although it follows different directions from the Jungfrau and the Eiger.
The difference of altitude between the deep valley of Lauterbrunnen (800 m or 2,600 ft) and the summit is particularly visible from the area of Mürren. From the valley floor, west of the massif, the altitude gain is more than 3 km (1.9 mi) for a horizontal distance of 4 km (2.5 mi).
The landscapes around the Jungfrau are extremely contrasted. In contrast to the vertiginous precipices of its northwest, the mountain's southeastern side emerges from the upper snows of the Jungfraufirn, one of the main feeders of the Aletsch Glacier, at around 3,500 meters (11,500 ft). The 20-kilometer-long (12 mi) valley of Aletsch on the southeast is completely uninhabited, and is surrounded by neighboring valleys with similar landscapes. The area as a whole constitutes the largest glaciated area not just in the Alps, but in Europe as well.
Climbing history
In 1811, the brothers Johann Rudolf (1768–1825) and Hieronymus Meyer, sons of Johann Rudolf Meyer (1739–1813), the head of a rich merchant family of Aarau, along with several servants and a porter picked up at Guttannen, first reached the Valais by way of the Grimsel, and crossed the Beich Pass, a glacier pass over the Oberaletsch Glacier, to the head of the Lötschen valley. There, they added two local chamois hunters, Alois Volken and Joseph Bortis, to their party and traversed the Lötschenlücke before reaching the Aletschfirn (the west branch of the Aletsch Glacier), where they established the base camp, north of the Aletschhorn. After the Guttannen porter was sent back alone over the Lötschenlücke, the party finally reached the summit of the Jungfrau by the Rottalsattel on August 3. They then recrossed the two passes named to their point of departure in Valais, and went home again over the Grimsel.
The journey was a most extraordinary one for the time, and some persons threw doubts at its complete success. To settle these, another expedition was undertaken in 1812. In this the two sons, Rudolf (1791–1833) and Gottlieb (1793–1829), of Johann Rudolf Meyer, played the chief parts. After an unsuccessful attempt, defeated by bad weather, in the course of which the Oberaarjoch was crossed twice (this route being much more direct than the long detour through the Lötschental), Rudolf, with the two Valais hunters (Alois Volker and Joseph Bortis), a Guttannen porter named Arnold Abbühl, and a Hasle man, bivouacked on a depression on the southeast ridge of the Finsteraarhorn. Next day (August 16) the whole party attempted the ascent of the Finsteraarhorn from the Studer névé on the east by way of the southeast ridge, but Meyer, exhausted, remained behind. The following day the party crossed the Grünhornlücke to the Aletsch Glacier, but bad weather then put an end to further projects. At a bivouac, probably just opposite the present Konkordia Hut, the rest of the party, having come over the Oberaarjoch and the Grünhornlücke, joined the Finsteraarhorn party. Gottlieb, Rudolf's younger brother, had more patience than the rest and remained longer at the huts near the Märjelensee, where the adventurers had taken refuge. He could make the second ascent (September 3) of the Jungfrau, the Rottalsattel being reached from the east side as is now usual, and his companions being the two Valais hunters.
The third ascent dates from 1828, when several men from Grindelwald, headed by Peter Baumann, planted their flag upon the summit. Next came the ascent by Louis Agassiz, James David Forbes, Heath, Desor, and Duchatelier in 1841, recounted by Desor in his Excursions et Séjours dans les Glaciers. Gottlieb Samuel Studer published an account of the next ascent made by himself and Bürki in 1842.
In 1863, a party consisting of three young Oxford University graduates and three Swiss guides successfully reached the summit and returned to the base camp of the Faulberg (located near the present position of the Konkordia Hut) in less than 11 hours (see the section below, The 1863 Ascent). In the same year Mrs Stephen Winkworth became the first woman to climb the Jungfrau. She also slept overnight in the Faulberg cave prior to the ascent as there was no hut at that time.
Before the construction of the Jungfraujoch railway tunnel, the approach from the glaciers on the south side was very long. The first direct route from the valley of Lauterbrunnen was opened in 1865 by Geoffrey Winthrop Young, H. Brooke George with the guide Christian Almer. They had to carry ladders with them in order to cross the many crevasses on the north flank. Having spent the night on the rocks of the Schneehorn (3,402 m or 11,161 ft) they gained next morning the Silberlücke, the depression between the Jungfrau and Silberhorn, and thence in little more than three hours reached the summit. Descending to the Aletsch Glacier they crossed the Mönchsjoch, and passed a second night on the rocks, reaching Grindelwald next day. This route became a usual until the opening of the Jungfraujoch.
The first winter ascent was made on 23 January 1874, by Meta Brevoort and W. A. B. Coolidge with guides Christian and Ulrich Almer. They used a sled to reach the upper Aletsch Glacier, and were accompanied by Miss Brevoort's favorite dog, Tschingel.
The Jungfrau was climbed via the west side for the first time in 1885 by Fritz and Heinrich von Allmen, Ulrich Brunner, Fritz Graf, Karl Schlunegger and Johann Stäger—all from Wengen. They ascended the Rottal ridge (Innere Rottalgrat) and reached the summit on 21 September. The more difficult and dangerous northeast ridge that connects the summit from the Jungfraujoch was first climbed on 30 July 1911 by Albert Weber and Hans Schlunegger.
In July 2007, six Swiss Army recruits, part of the Mountain Specialists Division 1, died in an accident on the normal route. Although the causes of the deaths was not immediately clear, a report by the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research concluded that the avalanche risk was unusually high due to recent snowfall, and that there was "no other reasonable explanation" other than an avalanche for the incident.
The 1863 Ascent
The Führerbuch of the Alpine guide Peter Baumann records an ascent of the Jungfrau made by himself with three men from England in July 1863. The foreign climbers were long thought to have been John Tyndall, J.J. Hornby and T.H. Philpott, until in 1958 the records were checked by the Alpine Club and the following conclusion was reached:
On July 23, 1963, Phillpotts, with James Robertson and H.J. Chaytor, climbed the Jungfrau (the entry shown in A.J. 32. 227 was wrongly transcribed by Montagnier, who says ‘T.H. Philpott’ for J.S. Phillpotts). The entry in Peter Baumann’s Führerbuch (facsimile in A.C. archives) says that the trio crossed the Strahlegg Pass and the Oberaarjoch, and then climbed the Jungfrau from the Eggishorn.
Tyndall, Hornby and Philpott were well-known Alpinists, but there is no record of their having attempted the Jungfrau in 1863. Robertson, Chaytor and Phillpotts were novices; they had recently graduated from Oxford University where they had all been keen members of the Oxford University Boat Club.
William Robertson (1839–1892), the leader of the expedition (wrongly called ‘James’ in the Note quoted above), was an Australian by birth, and the first non-British national to take part in the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. He later became a barrister and member of parliament in Australia. He and H.J. Chaytor (possibly the father of the medievalist Henry John Chaytor) were both members of the victorious Oxford team in the 1861 Boat Race. James Surtees Phillpotts (1839–1930) was the third member of the team; he would later become headmaster of Bedford School. The trio had three Swiss guides, Peter Baumann, Peter Kaufmann ("Grabipeter", father of Peter Kaufmann the younger) and Rubi.
A description of the ascent of the Jungfrau is contained in a letter dated Sunday 26 July which Phillpotts wrote to his friend Alexander Potts (later to become the first headmaster of Fettes College). The letter is now in the possession of the Alpine Club. The following extracts are from that letter.
The Virgin certainly did not smile on the poor "fools who rushed in" on her sacred heights, i.e. in plain British, we had the treadmill slog, the biting wind, the half frost-bitten feet and the flayed faces that generally attend an Alpine ascent.
We got to the Faulberg hole about dark, and enjoyed the coffee the longman (Kauffmann) made, as one would in a hole in a rock in a cold evening. The "Faulberg Nachtlager" consists of two holes and a vestibule to the upper hole. The Upper Hole in which we lodged just contained Chay[tor], the Guv [Robertson] and myself, stretched at full length on a little hay over a hard rock mattress, convex instead of concave at the point where one likes to rest one's weight. Chaytor was in the middle, and as we were very close was warm and slept. The Guv and I courted Nature's soft nurse in vain. At two we got up and methodically put our feet into the stocks, i.e. our boots, breakfasted and shivered, then started (unwashed of course, as the cold gave us malignant hydrophobia) a little after 3:30.
The hole was about 150 feet [46 m] up one of the loose stone cliffs one now knows so well. So we groped our way down it and over the moraine – the stars still lingering, as day was just dawning. We could not start at 1:30, the proper time, as there was no moon and we wanted light as we had to tramp the glacier at once. Rubi led, and off we went, roped and in Indian file, in the old treadmill way over the slippery plowed-field-like snow that lay on the upper glacier, for a pull without a check of one or two hours.
At last we came to the region of bergschrunds and crevasses. They seemed to form at first an impassable labyrinth, but gradually the guides wound in and out between the large rifts, which were exquisitely lovely with their overhanging banks of snow and glittering icicles, and then trod as on pins and needles over a snowbridge here and there, or had to take a jump over the more feasible ones – and we found ourselves at the foot of the mountain; trudged up on the snow which ought to have been crisp but was even then more or less fresh fallen and sloppy; had to creep over about three crevasses, and after a tiresome pull, dragging one leg after another out of ankle or knee deep snow, we got on a crest of snow at right angles to the slope we had just come up. That slope with its crevasses on one side, and on the other a shorter and much steeper one which led in a few steps to a precipice.
All along this crest went a snakelike long crevasse, for which we had continually to sound, and go first one side and then the other; then we got to the foot of the saddle. Some twenty or thirty steps, some cut, some uncut, soon took us up a kind of hollow, and we got on a little sloping plateau of some six feet [1.8 m] large, where we left the grub and the knapsack, keeping my small flask of cognac only. Then up a steep ice slope, very steep I should say, down which the bits of ice cut out of the steps hopped and jumped at full gallop and then bounded over to some bottomless place which we could not see down. Their pace gave one an unpleasant idea of the possible consequence of a slip.
Here we encountered a biting bitter wind. Peter Baumann cut magnificent steps, at least he and Rubi did between them, the one improving on the other's first rough blows. After Rubi came Chaytor with Kauffmann behind him, then the Guv, and then myself, the tail of the string. Each step was a long lift from the last one, and as the snow was shallow they had to be cut in the ice which was like rock on this last slope.
Suddenly there burst upon us, on lifting our heads over the ridge, the green and cheerful valleys of Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken, of Grindelwald and a distant view of others equally beautiful stretching on for ever in one vast panorama. On the other side in grim contrast there was a wild and even awful scene. One gazed about one and tried in vain to see to the bottom of dark yawning abysses and sheer cliffs of ice or rock.
Tourism
Named after the Jungfrau, the Jungfrau Region of the Bernese Oberland is a major tourist destination in the Alps and includes a large number of railways and other facilities. While the mountain peak was once difficult to access, the Jungfrau Railway, a rack railway, now goes to the Jungfraujoch railway station at 3,454 m (11,332 ft), therefore providing an easy access to the upper Aletsch Glacier and a relatively short access to the Jungfrau itself, the height difference between the station and the summit being only 704 metres and the horizontal distance being slightly less than 2 kilometres. As a result, in the popular mind, the Jungfrau has become a mountain associated with the Bernese Oberland and Interlaken, rather than with Upper Valais and Fiesch.
In 1893, Adolf Guyer-Zeller conceived of the idea of a railway tunnel to the Jungfraujoch to make the glaciated areas on its south side more accessible. The building of the tunnel took 16 years and the summit station was not opened before 1912. The goal was in fact to reach the summit of the Jungfrau with an elevator from the highest railway station, located inside the mountain. The complete project was not realized because of the outbreak of the World War I. Nevertheless, it was at the time one of the highest railways in the world and remains today the highest in Europe and the only (non-cable) railway on Earth going well past the perennial snow-line.
The Jungfrau Railway leaves from Kleine Scheidegg, which can be reached from both sides by trains from Grindelwald, and Lauterbrunnen via Wengen. The train enters the Jungfrau Tunnel running eastward through the Eiger just above Eigergletscher, which is, since 2020, also accessible by aerial tramway from Grindelwald. Before arriving at the Jungfraujoch, it stops for a few minutes at two other stations, Eigerwand (on the north face of the Eiger) and Eismeer (on the south side), where passengers can see through the holes excavated from the mountain. The journey from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch takes approximately 50 minutes including the stops; the downhill return journey taking only 35 minutes.
A large complex of tunnels and buildings has been constructed at the Jungfraujoch, referred to as the "Top of Europe". There are several restaurants and bars, shops, multimedia exhibitions, a post office, and a research station with dedicated accommodation facilities. An elevator enables access to the top of the Sphinx and its observatory, at 3,571 m (11,716 ft), the highest viewing platform of the area. Outside, at the level of the Jungfraujoch, there is a ski school, and the "Ice Palace", a collection of elaborate ice sculptures displayed inside the Aletsch Glacier. Another tunnel leads to the east side of the Sphinx, where one can walk on the glacier up to the Mönchsjoch Hut, the only hotel infrastructure in the area.
Apart from the Jungfraujoch, many facilities have been built in the Jungfrau Region, including numerous mountain railways. In 1908, the first public cable car in the world, the Wetterhorn Elevator, opened at the foot of the Wetterhorn, but was closed seven years later. The Schilthorn above Mürren, the Männlichen above Wengen, and the Schynige Platte above Wilderswil, offer good views of the Jungfrau and the Lauterbrunnen valley. On the south side, the Eggishorn above Fiesch also offers views of the Jungfrau, across the Aletsch Glacier.
Climbing routes
The normal route follows the traces of the first climbers, but the long approach on the Aletsch Glacier is no longer necessary. From the area of the Jungfraujoch the route to the summit takes only a few hours. Most climbers start from the Mönchsjoch Hut. After a traverse of the Jungfraufirn the route heads to the Rottalsattel (3,885 m or 12,746 ft), from where the southern ridge leads to the Jungfrau. It is not considered a very difficult climb but it can be dangerous on the upper section above the Rottalsattel, where most accidents happen. The use of the Jungfrau Railway instead of the much more gradual approach from Fiesch (or Fieschertal), via the Konkordia Hut, can cause some acclimatization troubles as the difference of altitude between the railway stations of Interlaken and Jungfraujoch is almost 3 km (1.9 mi).
(Wikipedia)
Der Eiger ist ein Berg in den Berner Alpen mit einer Höhe von 3967 m ü. M. Er ist dem Hauptkamm der Berner Alpen etwas nördlich vorgelagert und steht vollständig auf dem Territorium des Schweizer Kantons Bern. Zusammen mit Mönch und Jungfrau, deren Gipfel auf der Grenze zum Kanton Wallis liegen, dominiert der Eiger die Landschaft des zentralen Berner Oberlandes. Die etwa 3000 Meter über dem Tal aufragenden Nordflanken dieser Berge stellen die Schauseite einer der bekanntesten je als ein «Dreigestirn» bezeichneten Gipfel-Dreiergruppen in den Alpen dar.
Insbesondere die Nordwand des Eigers fasziniert sowohl Bergsteiger als auch Alpin-Laien. Durch dramatische Begehungsversuche und gelungene Begehungen dieser Wand wurde der Eiger weltweit bekannt und immer wieder ins Blickfeld der Öffentlichkeit gerückt – nicht zuletzt, da die gesamte Wand von Grindelwald und der Bahnstation Kleine Scheidegg aus einsehbar ist. Die Jungfraubahn mit ihrem Tunnel durch den Eigerfels ist seit ihrer Eröffnung im Jahr 1912 ein Touristenmagnet.
Namensherkunft
Die erste urkundliche Erwähnung des Eigers stammt aus dem Jahre 1252 – dies ist die zweitfrüheste urkundliche Erwähnung eines Schweizer Bergs nach dem Bietschhorn (1233). Am 24. Juli 1252 wurde in einer Verkaufsurkunde zwischen Ita von Wädiswyl und der Propstei Interlaken ein Grundstück mit den Worten «ad montem qui nominatur Egere» (dt.: Bis zum Berg, der Eiger genannt wird) abgegrenzt. Ein halbes Jahrhundert später wird der Eiger in einem Belehnungsbrief erstmals in deutscher Sprache erwähnt: «under Eigere».
Für die Herkunft des Namens gibt es drei gängige Erklärungen. Eine erste ist der althochdeutsche Name Agiger oder Aiger, wie der erste Siedler unterhalb des Eigers geheissen haben soll. Der Berg über dessen Weiden wurde deshalb Aigers Geissberg oder auch nur Geissberg genannt. Hieraus entwickelten sich dann im Laufe der Zeit die direkten Vorgänger der heutigen Bezeichnung. Die Herkunft des Namens könnte auch von dem lateinischen Wort acer kommen, woraus sich im Französischen aigu entwickelte. Beide Worte haben die Bedeutung scharf beziehungsweise spitz – in Anlehnung an die Form des Eigers. Die dritte Erklärung stammt von der früher gebräuchlichen Schreibweise Heiger, was sich aus dem Dialektausdruck «dr hej Ger» entwickelt haben könnte (hej bedeutet hoch, Ger war ein germanischer Wurfspiess). Wiederum wäre hier die Form des Eigers ausschlaggebend für seine Bezeichnung.
Im Zusammenhang mit dem Eiger wird auch des Öfteren die Namensähnlichkeit mit dem Oger, einem menschenähnlichen Unhold, genannt. In Anlehnung an das Dreigestirn «Eiger–Mönch–Jungfrau» gibt es die Erzählung, der Unhold Eiger wolle seine lüsternen Pranken auf die Jungfrau legen, woran er aber vom fröhlichen Mönch gehindert werde. Zu dieser Geschichte sind in Grindelwald alte Karikaturen und neuere Postkarten zu kaufen.
Lage und Umgebung
Der Eiger erhebt sich direkt südwestlich von Grindelwald (Amtsbezirk Interlaken). Die bekannte Nordwand ist genaugenommen eine Nordwestwand. Neben dieser existiert in der berühmten «Eiger-Nordansicht» auch noch die Nordostwand. Sie bildet die Basis für den scharfen Mittellegigrat, der vom Unteren Grindelwaldgletscher zum Gipfel zieht. Auf der gegenüberliegenden Seite begrenzt der Westgrat die Nordwand. Ihm folgt die Westflanke, in welcher sich der Eigergletscher und der Klein Eiger befinden. An diesen schliessen sich der Südwestgrat und noch ein Stück östlicher der Südgrat an, der wiederum die Südostwand begrenzt, welche bis zum Mittellegigrat reicht. Südöstlich des Eigers liegt der Grindelwald-Fieschergletscher.
In der Umgebung des Eigers befinden sich einige Viertausender des Aarmassivs. Im Osten ist er umgeben von Schreckhorn (4078 m ü. M.) und Lauteraarhorn (4042 m ü. M.), im Südosten vom Grossen Fiescherhorn (4049 m ü. M.), und im Südwesten ist der Mönch (4107 m ü. M.) durch das Nördliche und Südliche Eigerjoch vom Eiger getrennt. Zusammen mit dem Mönch und der Jungfrau (4158 m ü. M.) bildet der Eiger das «Dreigestirn», bei dem der Eiger den nordöstlichen und die Jungfrau den südwestlichen Endpunkt bildet. Entgegen der steil abfallenden Nordseite des Berges befindet sich im Süden des Eigers die Hochfläche und Gletscherwelt der Berner Alpen. Seit Ende 2001 gehört der Eiger zum Gebiet des UNESCO-Weltnaturerbes Schweizer Alpen Jungfrau-Aletsch.
Geologie
Der Eiger ist ein Teil des helvetischen Systems, das im Grossraum um den Thunersee die Decken des Alpennordrandes bildet. In einer späten Phase der alpidischen Gebirgsfaltung wurden die helvetischen Kalk-Sedimente von ihrer kristallinen Basis abgeschürft und in Form einer Abscherungsdecke nach Nordwesten verschoben. Während des Faltungsprozesses in der Alpenentstehung brachen die Kalkbänke auf und Kluft- sowie Faltensysteme entstanden, die später mit ausgefälltem Calcit geschlossen wurden. Wichtigste Bestandteile der Sedimente sind der Schrattenkalk der Kreidezeit und der Malmkalk. Als Füll- und Schmiermaterial dienten Mergel und Tonschiefer.
Die klar erkennbare Faltung des Helvetikums mit seinen gebänderten, plattigen Kalkschichten zeigt sich auch am Eiger. Das Massiv des Eigers besteht komplett aus Kalk der helvetischen Zone und schliesst die Flyschschichten und die Molasse des Grindelwaldbeckens steil nach Süden hin ab. Weil der Talkessel von Grindelwald so reich gegliedert ist, finden hier die verschiedensten Tiere einen Lebensraum.[6] Südlich des Eigers schliesst sich das Aarmassiv mit seinem Innertkirchner-Lauterbrunner-Kristallin an. Teilweise hat sich dieses über die Sedimente des Eiger geschoben. Im Bereich des Mönchs treffen die Sedimente auf Altkristallin. Die typischen Gesteine des helvetischen Systems im Bereich des Eigers entstanden während des Jura, dem mittleren Zeitabschnitts des Mesozoikums. Der vorherrschende Kalk ist dabei mit verschiedenen Gesteinen durchmischt. Es zeigen sich Mergel-Kalke und -Schiefer, Ton-Schiefer, Eisenoolith sowie kalkige Sandsteine.
Die Kalkschichten des Eigers lagern auf Gneis und sind um 60–70° nach Norden geneigt. Geprägt wurde die heutige Form des Eigers durch die Eiszeiten. Während der Riss-Kaltzeit reichte die Vergletscherung bis an den Fuss der Nordwand. In der Würm-Kaltzeit war die Mächtigkeit des Eises um 200 Meter geringer. Durch die Bewegung der Gletscher wurde die Erdoberfläche umgestaltet. Vom Eis überlagerte Landschaften wurden abgeschliffen, wohingegen unbedeckte Bereiche durch Verwitterung und andere Formen der Erosion verändert wurden. Mit dem Rückzug des Eises änderten sich auch die Druckverhältnisse im Gestein, was sich durch Entlastungsbewegungen formgebend auswirkte. Prägend für den Eiger und seine Form war die allseitige Umlagerung von Eismassen, welche für einen recht gleichmässigen und markanten Abrieb aller Wände sorgte. Darüber hinaus war die Nordwand durch ihre Exposition den Abtragungsprozessen wie Frostverwitterung mehr ausgesetzt.
Felssturz
2006 ereignete sich am Eiger ein grosser Bergsturz, der öffentliches Interesse auf sich zog. An der Ostseite des Berges, unterhalb des Mittellegigrates, war durch Felsbewegungen ein rund 250 Meter langer Spalt entstanden, der eine Breite von etwa 7 Metern erreichte.Danach senkten sich die äusseren Teile mehrere Zentimeter pro Tag ab. Eine Ursache dieser Felsabspaltung könnte sowohl das massive Eindringen von Schmelzwasser in den Felsen gewesen sein, als auch eine Instabilität des Gesteins durch den Rückgang des Gletschers unterhalb des Felsabbruchs infolge der globalen Erwärmung. Am 13. Juli 2006 um 19:24 Uhr stürzten rund 500'000 Kubikmeter Felsbrocken auf den Unteren Grindelwaldgletscher. Über der Gemeinde Grindelwald schwebte stundenlang eine Staubwolke. Bereits am Nachmittag desselben Tages war die sogenannte «Madonna vom Eiger» zu Tal gestürzt. Hierbei handelte es sich um einen ungefähr 30 Meter hohen schlanken Felsturm mit rund 600 Kubikmeter Volumen.
Seit diesen Ereignissen wird die Felsnase (Gesamtvolumen: ungefähr eine Million Kubikmeter Gestein), aus der die Gesteinsmasse abbrach, von der Universität Lausanne beobachtet. Die Beobachtungen ergaben, dass sich die Nase von Juli 2007 bis August 2008 auf einer nach Osten geneigten Gleitfläche um 15 Meter talwärts bewegte. Zusätzlich kippte die Gesteinsmasse um zwei Grad nach Nordosten. Die Kluft zwischen Berg und Felsbrocken betrug im August 2008 50 Meter. Immer wieder brechen Gesteinsteile ab und stürzen zu Tal. Gebremst und stabilisiert wird die Masse vom Gletschereis, in das die Felsnase gleitet. Dies verhindert, dass die Nase als kompakte Masse zu Tal stürzt. So gilt es als wahrscheinlicher, dass der Gesteinsblock in sich selbst zusammenfallen wird.
(Wikipedia)
Der Mönch ist ein 4107 m ü. M. hoher Berg der Berner Alpen in der Schweiz. Zusammen mit dem Eiger und der Jungfrau bildet er eine markante, von weit her sichtbare Dreiergruppe, ein sogenanntes „Dreigestirn“.
Seine Erstbesteigung fand am 15. August 1857 durch Christian Almer, Christian Kaufmann, Ulrich Kaufmann und Sigismund Porges statt.
Südöstlich des Mönch liegt die Mönchsjochhütte, eine 3657 m ü. M. hoch gelegene Berghütte wenig oberhalb des oberen Mönchsjochs, das den Mönch vom Trugberg trennt.
Höhenbestimmung
1935 wurde die Höhe des Mönchs mit 4099 m ü. M. bestimmt. Diese Zahl ist noch heute häufig in der Literatur zu finden. 1993 ergaben jedoch Messungen per Luftfotogrammetrie eine Höhe von 4107 m ü. M.. Daraufhin wurde der Wert auf der Landeskarte der Schweiz korrigiert. Mit einer Messung per GPS ermittelte man 1997 eine Höhe von 4109,4 m ü. M.; und bei einer erneuten luftfotogrammetrischen Messung von 1999 resultierte sogar eine Höhe von 4110 m ü. M.. Diese neuen Messwerte wurden jedoch nicht auf den amtlichen Karten berücksichtigt. Für diese abweichenden Werte sind nicht nur Messfehler verantwortlich, sondern auch die Tatsache, dass der Mönch eine Kuppe aus Firn besitzt, welche in den letzten Jahren gewachsen ist.
Name
Am Fusse des Mönchs befinden sich Alpweiden, auf welchen früher Wallache, sogenannte „Münche“, gesömmert wurden. So hat man den über den Münchenalpen gelegenen Berg Münchenberg genannt und schliesslich nur noch Münch oder Mönch.
Routen
Südarm des Ostgrates (Normalroute)
Schwierigkeit: ZS-, mit II. UIAA-Grad Felskletterei
Zeitaufwand: 2½–3½ Std. von der Mönchsjochhütte, 3–4 Std. vom Jungfraujoch
Ausgangspunkt: Mönchsjochhütte (3657 m ü. M.)
Talort: Grindelwald (1034 m ü. M.)
Südwestgrat
Schwierigkeit: ZS-, mit III-. UIAA-Grad Felskletterei
Zeitaufwand: 3–4 Stunden
Ausgangspunkt: Jungfraujoch (3454 m ü. M.)
Talort: Grindelwald (1034 m ü. M.)
Nordostarm des Ostgrates
Schwierigkeit: ZS, mit III+. UIAA-Grad Felskletterei
Zeitaufwand: 4–5 Stunden
Ausgangspunkt: Mönchsjochhütte (3657 m ü. M.)
Talort: Grindelwald (1034 m ü. M.)
Nordostgrat
Schwierigkeit: ZS
Zeitaufwand: 4–5 Stunden
Ausgangspunkt: Mönchsjochhütte (3657 m ü. M.)
Talort: Grindelwald (1034 m ü. M.)
Nordwestbollwerk (Nollen)
Schwierigkeit: S
Zeitaufwand: 6–10 Stunden
Ausgangspunkt: Guggihütte (2791 m ü. M.)
Talort: Kleine Scheidegg (2061 m ü. M.)
(Wikipedia)
Die Jungfrau ist ein Berg in der Schweiz. Sie ist mit 4158 m ü. M. der dritthöchste Berg der Berner Alpen und bildet zusammen mit Eiger und Mönch eine markante Dreiergruppe, ein sogenanntes «Dreigestirn».
Am 13. Dezember 2001 wurde die Jungfrau zusammen mit südlich angrenzenden Gebieten als Schweizer Alpen Jungfrau-Aletsch in die Liste als UNESCO-Weltnaturerbe aufgenommen.
Lage und Umgebung
Über den Jungfrau-Gipfel verläuft die Grenze zwischen den Kantonen Bern und Wallis. Der Berg ist ausserordentlich vielgestaltig. Im Norden und Nordwesten, auf ihrer „weiblichen“ Schauseite (vgl. Foto) sind ihr Wengen-Jungfrau, Schneehorn, das Silberhorn, das Chly Silberhoren und der „Schwarzmönch“ vorgelagert sowie die zerrissenen Kühlauenen- und Giessengletscher. Im Westen erhebt sie sich fast eisfrei volle 3250 Meter über dem hinteren Lauterbrunnental. Es ist dies (nach dem Mont Blanc) der zweithöchste direkte Abhang in den Alpen. Ihre Südwand erhebt sich über dem versteckten Rottalgletscher und ihre Ostwand über den Firnen am Jungfraujoch.
Die Pläne, auf die Jungfrau eine Bergbahn zu bauen, wurden aufgrund finanzieller Schwierigkeiten nicht realisiert. Die ursprünglich bis unter den Gipfel geplante Jungfraubahn wurde bis 1912 mit Endstation Jungfraujoch fertiggestellt.
Auf dem untersten Absatz des Nordostgrats haben die PTT einen Funk-Umsetzer auf 3777 m ü. M. installiert.
Geologie
Die Jungfrau liegt im nördlichen Randbereich des Aarmassivs, eines der sogenannten Zentralmassive der Schweizer Alpen. Ihre höheren Lagen (Silberhorn, Wengen-Jungfrau und Hauptgipfel) sowie ihre Westflanke bis hinunter zum oberen Ende des Lauterbrunnentals sind weit überwiegend aus kristallinem Grundgebirge (prä-triassische Gneise, Glimmerschiefer u. ä.) der Helvetischen Zone aufgebaut. Die Nordwestflanke hingegen, der ganze «Vorbau» (Schwarzmönch, Rotbrett und Schneehorn) besteht aus sedimentärem, überwiegend jurassischem und kretazischem Deckgebirge des Helvetikums. Eine Besonderheit der Jungfrau ist, dass dort zwischen dem prinzipiell autochthonen Gipfel-Kristallin und dessen Deckschichten ein Überschiebungs-kontakt besteht; somit ist das Grundgebirge geringfügig auf sein Deckgebirge überschoben worden.
Name
Der Name Jungfrau dürfte sich von der Wengernalp am Fusse des Berges ableiten, die – nach den Besitzerinnen, den Nonnen vom Kloster Interlaken – früher Jungfrauenberg genannt wurde. Einer anderen Quelle zufolge leitet sich der Name vom Aussehen des Nordhanges des Berges ab, der aus der Ferne dem Schleier eines Mädchens ähneln soll.
Nach dem Berg ist die Jungfrau-Region benannt, die Tourismusorganisation der Orte Grindelwald, Wengen, Mürren und Lauterbrunnen, ausserdem die Jungfraubahn Holding AG, die neben der Jungfraubahn selbst auch die anderen Bergbahnen in der Region betreibt.
Besteigungsgeschichte
Bergsteiger auf dem Gipfel im Jahr 1878
Erstbesteiger waren Johann Rudolf Meyer und sein Bruder Hieronymus mit den Führern Joseph Bortis und Alois Volken, die am 3. August 1811 vom Lötschental her den Berg von Süden erklommen hatten. Sie folgten ungefähr der heutigen Normalroute. Der Volksmund taufte daraufhin die bis dahin unberührte Jungfrau «Madame Meyer».
1874 erfolgte die Winter-Erstbesteigung durch die Alpinistin Margaret Claudia Brevoort.
Die Jungfrau gilt, obwohl leicht erreichbar, als unfallträchtiger Berg. Bei einem der schwersten Unglücke stürzten am 12. Juli 2007 sechs Rekruten der Gebirgsspezialisten-Rekrutenschule Andermatt vom Rottalsattel 1000 Meter auf den darunterliegenden Rottalgletscher in den Tod, nachdem sie eine Lawine ausgelöst hatten. Das urteilende Militärgericht ging von einem falsch eingeschätzten, heimtückischen Lawinenrisiko aus und sprach in der Folge die verantwortlichen Bergführer frei.
Routen
Rottalsattel und Südostgrat (Normalroute)
Schwierigkeit: ZS-
Zeitaufwand: 4–5 Std. von der Mönchsjochhütte, 3½–4½ Std. vom Jungfraujoch
Ausgangspunkt: Mönchsjochhütte (3657 m)
Talort: Grindelwald (1034 m)
Innere Rottalgrat
Schwierigkeit: ZS
Zeitaufwand: 6–7 Stunden
Ausgangspunkt: Rottalhütte (2755 m)
Talort: Stechelberg (919 m)
Nordwestgrat oder „Rotbrettgrat“
Schwierigkeit: S
Zeitaufwand: 8–12 Stunden
Ausgangspunkt: Silberhornhütte (2663 m)
Talort: Stechelberg (919 m)
Nordostgrat
Schwierigkeit: S+, mit IV. UIAA-Grad Felskletterei
Zeitaufwand: 8–10 Stunden
Ausgangspunkt: Jungfraujoch (3454 m)
Talort: Grindelwald (1034 m)
Kunst
Erwähnt ist die Jungfrau unter anderem bei Friedrich Schiller, Wilhelm Tell, Vers 628 (1804). Lord Byrons Drama Manfred (1817) spielt am Fuss und auf dem Gipfel des Massivs. Ferdinand Hodler hat die Jungfrau mehrfach gemalt, darunter die perspektivisch verfremdete «Jungfrau über dem Nebelmeer». Alex Diggelmann gab 1958 eine Lithographienmappe unter dem Titel Die Jungfrau, mein Berg heraus. Stephan Bundi gestaltete 2005 eine Schweizer Gedenkmünze mit dem Bergmotiv.
Im Januar 2012 wurde zum 100-jährigen bestehen der Jungfraubahn eine übergrosse Schweizer Flagge vom Lichtkünstler Gerry Hofstetter an den Gipfel projiziert. Zeitweise waren neben dem Schweizer Kreuz auch ein Porträt des Zürcher Unternehmers Adolf Guyer-Zeller sowie ein Bild von einem der Züge zu sehen.
(Wikipedia)
n. *Self-analysis
An independent methodical attempt to study and comprehend one's own personality, emotions, and behavior.
Introspective Behavior!, Rosemere, Quebec, Canada.
PixQuote:
"In the vaunted works of Art, The master-stroke is Nature's part."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
This moth is massive. Much bigger than typical garden moths and easily as large as an Oak Eggar. It flew into the house while I was setting up my Badger camera and it looked and sounded like a small drone moving slowly and methodically through the house, scanning each room. But what a curious name; Old Lady. Moses Harris in the Aurelian (1766) called it the Grave Brocade, and there are a number of moths called Brocade that resemble the rich fabric of the same name. This moth resembles the black outfit worn by Queen Victoria when she was in mourning, though the name Grave Brocade was first used 200 years earlier. The name Old Lady is an extension of this funereal idea as widows wearing sombre colours were usually old. Though the Dutch call this moth the Black Orphan (Zwart Weeskind). Its scientific name is beautifully alliterative; Mormo maura. Mormo was a mythical creature of Ancient Greece that would bite misbehaving children. Maura is an inhabitant of Mauritania, a Moor, like Shakespeare's Othello. But it wasn't named maura for its dark colouration as Linnaeus gave Mauritania as the type locality. In Britain it is not especially numerous but occurs throughout Britain, petering out in the north.
It's My Job
Early in the morning in Millennium Park in Chicago, I watched this man power wash the large plaza. Slowly and methodically he moved the grit down the plaza. The lyrics to Jimmy Buffett's song "It's My Job" were spinning through my head:
"In the middle of late last night I was sittin' on a curb
I didn't know what about but I was feeling quite disturbed
A street sweeper came whistlin' by
He was bouncin' every step
It seemed strange how good he felt
So I asked him while he swept
He said 'It's my job to be cleaning up this mess
And that's enough reason to go for me
It's my job to be better than the rest
And that makes the day for me'."
After watching for quite awhile, it was clear to me this man was dignified and proud of his job. His effort showed. It made me stop and think, that like this man, I love what I do as both an engineer and a photographer. As they say, when you love what you do you never have to go to work.
I'm thankful that I've never felt in my bones that a Wall Street banker is any better off than this man power washing the plaza. To me, the greatest tragedy of all is never discovering who or what you were meant to be.
Churlish Stories for Curious Children
The Remisier Caper
Acte Two
Quickly the two women move from the kitchen and up the back stairs, moving past the locked, still-silent, study, reaching the dimly lit corridor in the wing where the guest bedrooms are located
Lightening flashes outside, adding an ominous feeling to the already electric air.
As the pair stalked down the hall, Emilee instructed her friend as to where Cecelia hides her jewelry case.
Her diamond tiara is locked in the hidden safe inside Sir Reginald’s study.
Much to her dismay, Emilee will not be helping rob this room. Cecelia must not be made aware the French maid has had any part in this.
So Emilee asked a favour.
“In the wardrobe, a long-sleeved white satin blouse with the ruffles. Please Mon Ami?”
The thief had winked, pulling out the torch from her kit.
Reaching the target, the maid stands guard outside in the hallway as the thief carefully opens the door and slips inside.
Inside the room, turning on her torch, the thief sweeps the interior.
Cecelia is fast asleep in her bed, elegant in a long white satin nightgown, as she lays out upon the purple satin sheets.
Her pretty evening gown is over a high-backed velvet-covered chair.
Fire flashed from the diamonds hanging around the sleeping girl's throat. The rest of her diamonds lay in blazing glory, invitingly sprawled out upon the room’s vanity.
The thief approaches the bed, and the wind outside shrieks as a crack of lightning illuminates the room, waking the sleeping girl.
Her eyes sleepily open, then go wide as she sees the masked intruder at her bedside. The thief puts a finger to her lips, and motions the girl to come off the bed.
Cecelia, still not fully awake, limply obeys, and the thief leads her to the chair. There, using one of her victim’s long satin gloves, she is gagged and with a rope, her satin-clad figure is quickly tied up.
As the victim watched, paralyzed with fear, the thief pulls off a satin pillowcase and going to the vanity sweeps off her glittering diamonds down inside it.
Then, as Cecelia whimpered, the masked thief leans down and opens the drawers of her vanity.
Of course, looking back at her captive as she does, not wishing her snooty victim to miss the show.
Reaching the bottom drawer, the thief see’s Cecelia uneasily struggling against her well-tied ropes.
Smiling, the thief quickly pulls out the silky clothes on top. At the bottom lies the prize.
Quickly several velvet-covered cases are extracted and opened with their shimmery contents dumped out inside the pillowcase. Then the cases are carelessly discarded off to the side, adding to the silky underthings already littering the floor.
Hearing the tied-up Celia trying to talk with muffled unclear words, the thief turns and faces the poor girl.
“Don’t worry luv, after I’m done cleaning you out, I’m sure that maid I saw in the dining room will be in to clean it up for you.
Turning back, the thief opens the last, and by far, largest velvet case, a royally dazzling display of large emeralds and diamond set jewellery almost blinds the thief’s eyes.
The case is closed and then added to the loot.
Holding the pillowcase, the masked intruder goes to the wardrobe. Opening it she reached and begins pulling out and checking over the designer dresses and gowns inside. Casually casting them off to the side as she goes do.
Coming to the white ruffled satin blouse she sees there is a black onyx pin holding the high-necked satin bow in place. Perfect.
She takes it to a full-length mirror and holds the blouse up, seeing Cecilia’s wretchedness reflected behind her in the mirror.
She doesn’t feel sorry for the bound and gagged lass.
The thief, in planning this little caper, had learned about the spoiled Cecilia’s tyrannical attitude towards, well, everyone and everything. Her personal servants, as well as her horse, and the family pets, have the scars, both real and emotional, to prove it.
Stuffing the blouse inside the pillow case the thief moves over to the tied-up girl and lifts the diamonds hanging down around her throat. The thief sees the pricy gems sparkling in Cecelia’s wide-open eyes.
The thief then reached back with her free hand and undid the clasp. Saying to her squirming victim as she pulls off the necklace.
“Very nice my haughty lady. I doubt any of the other guest rooms will have anything this nice. Hopefully, I’m wrong.”
She tweaks the poor girl's cheek, then pats thoroughly down her satin-clad, totally compliant figure, deliberately feeling along every bump and bulge for any more of the young lady’s valuables. Nothing is found, but the thief is by no means disappointed.
The thief cuts off the torch’s beam. Pulling off the satin pillowcase from a second pillow, the thief leaves the room as another flash of lightning ominously lights up the bedroom.
Giving poor Cecelia a backside view of the departing thief carrying away the pillowcase full of her heirloom quality jewellry.
The weak-minded girl finally passes out cold from all the anxiety.
The masked thief heads out the door into the hallway where Emilee keeps watch, standing along the wall beside the door.
The thief nods as Emily licks her lips looking at the small bulge at the bottom of the satin pillowcase.
The thief opens it up, and Emilee gives a squeal seeing the blouse she had so coveted while seeing Cecilia wearing it the day before, as well as the bewitching jewelry piled inside the pillowcase.
The thief gently chided her partner in crime, saying as she jovially rubs her shoulder.
“Quit your droolin lass, plenty of work ahead of us this evening.
Lightening again flashes as they begin to scurry down the hallway.
Quickly the pair then enters each of the occupied guest rooms located down the hallway. With a methodical determination, each room is picked clean of any jewels, money, and small valuable items.
It is quick work, with the upstairs maid Emilee pointing out where the lady guest’s better jewels are kept, they both make a fast, quite accurate, job of it.
Like Cecelia, Rose Buxton had her valuable jewels hidden away at the bottom of a vanity drawer full of lingerie.
Lady Susan Macready had her better baubles in a soft-sided jewelry case under her bed’s Pillow.
Diane, Spencer’s fiancé, had a private room, and her good jewelry was in a case conveniently left open on her vanity.
Mrs. Marlene Cabot—Hinny’s overly expensive ‘borrowed’ diamonds from the jewelry shoppe, were found tucked inside a suitcase hidden under the bed.
Emilee grins as the jewels are located and added to the growing loot being added to the satin pillowcase she is holding, her mind going to the ladies in the Parlour downstairs, totally oblivious as to the robbing of their valuables that is occurring above their high held heads.
Cases of sparking jewels are located and dumped into the satin pillowcase. Purses are riffled, bedside drawers checked, and looted of valuables.
Each room entered is left picked clean with expert prowess.
Finishing plundering the last guest room, the pair slink past the study, to the master bedroom next door.
Both enter the stately outfitted room.
Standing as the thief sweeps her torches’ beam. All the light touches conveyed a sense of glamour and very upper-class level wealth.
As with the guest rooms, the pilfering is methodically fast and easy with the Maid’s help.
Quickly the thief is shown the large jewelry amour, and it is opened, showing off a massive collection of jewelry in all styles, and shapes, made with pricey metals and some set with mesmerizing gems. No costume jewelry here. Two pairs of hands begin pulling off from hooks and emptying small drawers, brim full of expensive baubles.
Madeline’s good jewels are kept in the study safe. Next on the list.
The vanity is also ransacked.
A gold mirror, brush and several silver compacts are taken. Several wallets are found, then quickly emptied of cash.
Everything is placed in the same pillowcase.
Last is lord Reginald’s nightstand. Cases of watches, rings, and cuff links are found and emptied. A gold clip with folded notes is found, as well as four billfolds containing notes. All added to the growing pile of loot.
The thief looks around, itching to be done here and tackle the study.
The lightning flashes outside, coming a little more frequently, are adding a feeling of impending foreboding to the thief’s intoxicating “cat burglar’s dance” this evening.
“Anything else? what about the closets, worth it in this room?”
“Oh yes, I Bet there are Lovely things in there that were not in the others… Here
Let me show you”
Emilee opens a double door exposing gowns dresses and other fine designer apparel of all makes and material
Emilee starts on one end, her partner on yet other. Feeling for any broaches or pins. They are treated for their efforts by finding a solid gold broach set with dripping pearls and a pair of diamond clips from a very pretty satin evening gown.
“That’s it then?”
Emilee nods her head yes.
“The rest is in the study safe, mon ami”
Her partner grins…
“Not safe for long then…”
They leave and head to the study next door.
Emilee unlocks the study door, opening it. The pair blink in the brightness of the room as they survey the scene displayed in front of them.
The thief smiled, picturing Emilee and herself as a pair of vultures, eagerly waiting to pick through the carcasses that were the bodies of the sleeping rich men strewn about the room.
Emilee showed her partner where the safe was.
It was actually a small vault, a full meter tall and half that wide, hidden in the wall behind a sliding bookcase.
Crouching down, the thief began the task of opening it.
Emilee took the now weighty satin pillowcase and went to each of the passed-out cold gentlemen in turn.
She skillfully began searching their figures. Almost like using a practice dummy, slipping her hands inside theri breast pockets, extracting handsome leather billfolds.
So it was a rather enjoyable, as well as profitable, undertaking going through pockets and searching in their clothes. Taking anything else of value, along with wallets… watches, rings, precious metal cigar /cigarette cases, tie pins , and cuff links were also nicked from the knockout-drugged male victims.
Emilee quickly located with methodical precision all of the unconscious males valuables, reliving the items from their persons, and plopping them inside the pillowcase.
To the man who had ordered “tea”, Emilee went to last, taking extra time over.
She slid him from the chair he was on and dragged him over to the open part of the bookcase. She place one hand on the lever that opened the bookcase to access the safe. Then she unzipped his trousers and stuck his other hand (after removing a gold signet ring) deep down inside his boxers. He did not stir during the entire ordeal.
None of them did, the knock-out drops that had been added to the gift bottle of brandy would keep them all out for hours.
The thief in the meantime had opened the safe and was stacking the contents on the floor beside her. Piles of banded notes, bonds, and 2 score of jewellery cases. Including 3 that held gem-encrusted tiaras, had all been found inside.
Emilee came to her partner's side and began opening the cases and spilling the contents inside the pillowcase. The notes, bonds. And a few other selected items were added on top.
As she was working on this, the thief moved off Lord Reginald’s desk and pilfered the drawers.
From behind her Emilee instructed.
“Bottom drawer, right. “
That drawer was opened, exposing a black military pistol.
The thief unloaded the cartridges, keeping one loaded in the chambre. She then stuck it in her belt.
The thief looked at Emilee...
“Done?”
She nodded
“Done, for the now we have coup de grâce… we go downstairs to the kitchen, then to the parlour…”
The thief nodded.
Emilee licks her lips. Tossing the masters keys to her partner
Catching them, the thief turns out the lights and locks the study door behind them as they leave
They head to the servants' stairs. As the pair reached them, Emilee puts a hand on her partner's shoulders.
“Juste une seconde..”
Emilee scurried done the corridore. Reaching Cecelia’s room she gives a polite knock.
“Maid, Mademoiselle Ceceylia?, ne vouliez-vous pas plus de sherri ?… more sherri Mademoiselle?”
Emilee turns to face her partner waiting patiently by the stairs. With a smirk, she shrugs her shoulders and scurries back. Passed the thief with a grin, then headed downstairs.
Grinning also, she follows Emilee down the back stairs to the kitchen.
Emilee takes the empty cart and heads down the hallway to the parlour
The thief lays the full pillowcase by the pantry door. With the other, still empty pillowcase, hanging on her arm, she leaves the kitchen and, from a distance, follows the maid down the hall.
The thief waits out in the corridor.
^^^^^^^^^^^
Back in calm maid mode, Emilee wheels in the cart and starts to collect dishes
Lady Madeline is talking about how hard it’s been this weekend being down to just a cook and their worthless slag of a maid, due to the bloody holidays. The fact that Emilee was trained to be an upstairs maid and not a sever is completely not a considerate issue here.
The hostess looks up at Emilee, knowing full well the maid heard every word. She gives her maid a lecture before issuing a command:
“Emilee, I’ve rung you 3 times now. Clear the glasses Then tell the men we would like them to join us at the conservatory .”
“Yes Mum, and Sorry, I was checking on jeune femme Cecelia upstairs. ”
Lady Madeline is clearly still not happy…
“No matter. I think you should pack your things tonight. I probably will want you out of here in the morning. “
Emilee nods dejectedly, then begins collecting the empty wine bottles and glasses.
Lady Madeline’s mother Marlene then arose and says she needs to go to her room and get her wrap since she finds the conservatory chilly.
Marlene adds, looking at Emilee, as she walks out the door
“Your maid shouldn’t be bothering Miss Cecelia, I will check on her myself.”
Marlene no sooner walked out, than she came back in.
Walking backward, hands raised as the thief had the gun trained on the broach hanging from her shiny gown’s midriff.
Over Marlene’s head, The thief snarled a command to the rest of the occupants in the room.
“All right ladies, all of you line up against that wall…NOW!”
The startled ladies obey, their long gowns fluttering along their figures as they miserably line up along the far wall by the windows.
Here now, I’ll have that. Using her free hand the thief unfastened the heavy diamond broach wedged between Marlene’s bulging breasts.
She tried to protest, but in shock, words failed her, and she only managed a high-pitched squeaking noise.
Marlene is then boldly told to turn around.
Given no choice, with the pistol now poking her in the back, Marlene is pushed to go to the end of the line.
Outside lightning cracked, illuminated the gardens outside, casting an eerie light inside the Parlour.
The thief takes a step back into the center of the room, facing the elegantly dressed ladies wearing valuably shimmering jewels, lined up against the wall, all with their gloved hands stretched up.
“Now listen to me you miserable lot. I don’t want you on my tail as soon as I leave. So let’s begin by having all of you strip off those lovely frocks and only your frocks. You too maid, lose that pretty outfit.”
As a group, the ladies begin protesting, including Emilee. The thief points the pistol at the mirror over Marlene’s head and fires the pistol
The loud report, and cracking glass, made everyone jump.
“That was not a request, Strip out of the bloody things …now.”
Then, as if on a movie director’s cue, another bolt of lightning streaks outside, followed by a flash and loud retort, literally making every one of the victims jump again.
The ladies, getting the ugly message, begin undoing their luxurious gowns, letting them drop to their feet.
Emilee has to help a few of them unzip and undress.
Soon their elegant silk nickers, other rich shiny undergarments, as well as a bit of naked flesh, are all exposed.
The thief motions the pistol at the gawking maid stripped down to her bra and nickers.
“You, collect those gowns and pile them underneath the window. Move it.”
Emilee quickly moved to the beginning of the line, and reaching down begins to pick up the discarded finery. Taking the pile to the end of the room, she threw them all down on the floor in front of the window in a slickly shiny heap.
Emilee, then turned around to face the room.
Seeing the thief motioning to her with a finger, she hesitantly approached.
The thief tossed the empty satin pillowcase to Emilee, pointing her pistol at Susan, only wearing a two-piece thin blue see-through slip and top, and is first in line.
“Here maid, take this, stand in front of the bluebird.”
Emilee catches the case and goes to Lady Susan Macready, holding open the pillowcase.
The thief addressed all of her richly jewelled-up victims. Pointing the pistol with menacing intent at each of the semi-naked, satin glove-wearing ladies lined up against the wall in turn.
“ In case it has not seeped in, this, ladies is a robbery. I’ll be having your jewels handed over. This will be over quickly as long as you lot don’t quibble. Your maid is holding the bag in front of you, I want you each to remove all, and I mean all, of your valuables. I’ve been watching from outside. So I know what jewels each of you fine ladies is wearing. Keep your hands up where I can see them until the maid reaches you.”
The thief waves the pistol along the line of desolate, rich ladies, ending up back Susan.
“Go one bluebird, time to pluck off those glittery feathers. Stop that whining. Let’s get going!”
Hands shaking, Lady Susan Macready begins removing her splendidly shimmering sapphire and diamond set jewels. Ears, throat, and wrists are all soon bare. As her last of four rings are pulled off, she steps back as the thief looks her dead in the eyes, the ugly black pistol pointed at her.
The thief speaks, looking at Susan
“Nicely done lady, now get those hands back up.”
Next in line is ravishing red-haired, impossibly large, emerald green-eyed, Diane, who is now only elegantly clad in an ankle-length crimson red half slip…and nothing above!
Standing there, half-naked, she sighs deeply, her face crestfallen.
The thief looks at her as if just noticing her condition of being half-dressed for the first time…
“You now, my perky red-breasted chick, I’ll be having those pearls.”
Diane lowered her hands and began slipping off her ropes of pearls and sadly dropping them inside the pillowcase.
As she was removing her necklace and working off her long earrings, then bending down to let them plop inside the open satin pillowcase, her naked breasts put on a show worthy of any French burlesque tease.
“And what is it about real pearls against naked skin that makes them look so sensuous ?”
Undoing her pricey bracelet last, she miserably watched it disappear inside.”
The thief calls out, startling everyone.
“I thought I said everything. The ring hunny bunny, now.”
Sadly Diane struggled, then finally managed to pull free her vulgarly large diamond ring, letting it drop inside the bag.
Emilee managed not to let her glee show, keeping her mouth tight, her eyes emotionally empty.
As Diane reassumed her position, raising her hands back up, points high and perked. The thief then turned the pistol to Lady Madeline.
Madeleine, wearing a full mint green taffeta slip, started to protest but was abruptly cut off by the thief.
“Zip it, don’t start lady, or I’ll remove those delicious emeralds your so richly wearing me self…”
lady Madeleine, use to being the one giving orders, not being ordered about, feels insulted.
Thinking any minute the men should be coming to their rescue. She says with a snarly voice only the very rich seem to be able to pull off
“My husband will be down any minute, let’s see how Insouciant you will be then…”
Annoyingly, the thief does not answer, only gives her a haughty look, and motions to the hanging satin pillowcase her maid is holding.
So with a sigh, she drops her hands, then begins to unhappily remove her emerald bracelet and rings from her green satin opera-length gloves, huffily tossing them into the pillowcase Emilee is holding.
She then pulls out her earrings, and finally, reaching up behind her neck, unfastened her long dripping-down necklace, plopping them all inside the makeshift bag in turn.
The thief points the pistol at her head.
“The diamond hairpiece, please. “
lady Madeleine tried to reason
“But it’s not real, surely you can see that..”
“Then I’ll take a chance on being a fool by taking it. Be a good rich girl and it over…”
Reluctantly the expensively flashy real diamond hairpiece is pulled out and added to the unseen collection inside the pillowcase.
Lady Madeline pulls her fallen hair back with an evil glare.
Rose is next to last in line.
Her petite necklace of diamonds flashes with a beckoning brilliance as her figure is tightly outlined by her stylish blue thin silk lingerie, her thinly covered breasts heaved up and down with the anguish she is feeling.
Emilee moved in from of her, and the thief also moved in behind, keeping the pistol trained on Lady Madeline.
The thief then moved the pistol to point at Rose. She begins addressing Rose, though her eyes never leave the stern-faced Madeline’s eyes. Much like a teacher keeps an eye on an insolent child as she resumes her lecture after being rudely interrupted.
“Okay my lady, remove those delicious diamonds and make it quick now.
Rose lowers her hands and begins working off all her lovely precious jewels. Plopping them piece by glittering pieces into the open pillowcase.
As she does, The thief spied Lady Madeline taking a glance towards the door.
The thief points her pistol toward her.
“Lady, I told you, helps not coming.”
Then points the pistol back at Rose
“Let’s hurry off with those rings, trust me, you don’t want me helping you!”
With a sigh, Rose pulled off the last ring from her sleek blue satin dinner gloves, then steps back and puts her hands up.
The thief, with unabashed attention, looks over Rose, her figure perked, points nicely outlined by thin blue silk.
“Thanks, lady, it looks to me like you are feeling a bit chilled. No worries, it’s almost over.
The thief then finally points the pistol at Marlene, clad in a stretched-out purple bra and knee-length half slip.
“Now as for you my plump purple bird, ripe for the plucking, so let’s prune off some of your shiny trimmings shall we…”
Marlene desperately pleads.
“The other’s jewels are real, mine are not. You already have my broach, The rest is worthless. Can’t you see? Don’t you have enough already? You’ll let me keep them then?”
The thief grins:
“Like I told the green bird, I’ll be the fool then, now be a luv and remove them.”
Marlene snaps;
“You’ll never get away with this.”
The thief walks up to her, leaning over Emilee’s shoulder she picked up Marlene’s long shimmery necklace.
The yanks it off her throat, dropping it In the pillowcase as the thief hisses with a snarky tone of voice:
“I do believe mum, I already am….”
Whimpering, Marlene stands stone-still. Shocked to the core
The thief snaps out an order.
“You, Maid, help the lady off with the rest. That’s the girl…”
Then, struggling not to show her glee over doing this, Emilee reached up with one hand and pulled free each of Marlene’s diamond earrings, plopping them one by one inside the pillowcase. She then went for Marlene’s glittering bracelet, slipped it off, and dropped it into the pillowcase. Then taking Marlene’s white satin gloves hands, works off the lady’s rings. Some of which were actually her own, and not “borrowed”.
Emilee looks back to the thief as she finishes. Thinking to herself how she would have loved to have done a bit of poking and prodding along priggish Marlene’s figure while removing her jewellery.
The masked thief, still training the pistol on the whining Marlene, beckons to Emilee with a free hand
“Good girl, now Maid, hand over the bag.”
Emilee did a neat little act of not wanting to give it to the thief. She looks at Lady Madeline as if for instructions.
The thief clicks her tongue.
“Don’t worry about your mistress, Let’s be a good girl now, hand it to me.”
Emilee hands it over, her back is to the ladies, and she winks as she does.
The thief keeps a stone face. Grabbing the dangling bag, she looks over the maid's head.
“Ok, Maid. Open that window.”
The thief, looking back down, spots the thin gold chain and cross the maid was wearing under her frock.
Come, come, now Maid…No holding out. I’ll have that gold crucifix of yours.
Unhappily Emilee removed it and reverently hands it over. The thief placed it on top of the loot inside the satin pillowcase.
Pouting, Emily turns and goes to open the window.
The thief then addresses them all, pointing the(now empty) pistol at the ceiling.
“Now maid, throw them clothes all out the window. And no shenanigans for the rest of you. I may or may not be a good shot. “
They all start to protest, but the thief waved the pistol at them, and they immediately shut up.
The Maid is forced to throw all the gowns and her outfit out the parlour window. The windows of the parlour are higher than the dining room windows, 3 full metres from the ground.
Everyone is watching Emilee. As the last shiny gown is dropped from the window sill, they all turn back to face the thief, only to discover she was already at the door, leaving the room with the pillowcase containing all of their nicked jewellery.
As the silent group watched. The thief turned off the lights, casting the room in darkness as she closed the door.
She then Locked the parlour door, turned, and made her way down the hallway to the kitchen.
In passing, she tossed the pistol and the keys on the cutting tables, then heads into the pantry.
She takes the empty Remisier brandy bottle, and adds it to the pillowcase she is holding.
Then picking up the first satin pillowcase, heavy with the upstairs haul, she heads outside into the yard. With the dark umbrella of rain-swollen clouds threatening overhead.
Outside by the door, the thief retrieved her rucksack.
Stuffing the pair of now full pillows inside she sprints around to the parlour window. Looking up she sees the shadows of her semi-naked victims moving about in the now-lit room above.
The thief quickly packs up the gowns, including the maid's costume, piling them inside her rut sack on top of the satin pillowcases. It fills up nicely.
Keeping an eye on the window as she does, but as earlier, no faces appear.
Flipping the happily full rut sack onto her shoulders she sprints from the shadows of the hedges and races across the yard as a bolt of lightning rips across the black swirling cloud-filled sky.
Rain starts pouring down as she reaches the treeline
The thief keeps a quick pace as she makes her way through the woods along the riding path she now knows by heart, having snuck up it several times over the last few months. Good thing too, since the dark sky and pelting rain are making visibility harder. She dared not lite up her torch. Going with the occasional lightning strikes to lite her way.
She safely made the almost 5-kilometer hike back to her hidden rental car without incident.
The journey of her escape had given the thief plenty of time to mull over the robbery…
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Little chance Emilee would be a suspect, she was a mere maid after all.
The thief thinks over the plan that had been put into motion for this evening, it had gone like clockwork.
She had bought the expensive Remesier brandy through a dealer and poured it into a secure decanter to celebrate with it later, just her and Emilee.
She had drugged a much cheaper high-quality brandy and poured it inside the empty Remesier bottle, resealing it. She wasn't going to waste good brandy on that lot.
Then had packaged it, written the note, and sent it to Sir Reginald.
They had also learned of how the unhappy upstairs maid was being treated by Lady Madeline and had paid her, through an intermediary, to give notice a week before the ball.
Emily applied and was accepted immediately.
She estimated that the entire takings from the robbery would be well over 8 mills.
By the end of the week, she would be out of the country, the mansion haul placed in her Swiss bank safety deposit box. Giving the hot ice time to chill.
As for the gowns, what she and Emilee didn’t want for themselves, would find their way to an OXFAM Shoppe Bin.
She was already planning on picking up a pretty leather skirt for Emilee to go with the lovely white satin blouse, imagining what a sexy outfit it would be as a distraction while on a future pickpocketing spree. That would be a delicious treat to help and watch her at “play” lifting fat wallets from leering males.
After Switzerland, the thief would then continue on vacation in Germany, Italy, and finally, France, where in a fortnight she and Emilee had already planned to meet up.
For it was in France that she had first met Emilee, actually more of an encounter…
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Our Thief, a few years before, had been in France to attend a wedding. The fact that she had not been invited was a trivial matter.
A few days before the weekend wedding, She had been walking down a street located in a busy shopping district. A well-dressed lady came out of a store carrying a large bag in her arm, talking to a female companion. On the wrist of the arm coddling the bag, was a fancy gold bracelet. As the lady’s head was turned to her companion, the thief had “bumped up against the lady, her fingers slipping easily up the long sleeve of her silk blouse, reaching the bracelet, and whisking it off her wrist in the process of apologizing to her in broken French.
As the thief had walked no more than a block away, a young long haired girl in a bohemian-style silk dress bumped into her. Realizing the trademark, the thief felt her pocket and realized the gold bracelet had been lifted. The stalker had been stalked herself.
The young stinker made her living robbing pickpockets.
The thief quickly caught up to the young girl, and keeping in step, began a guarded conversation, dropping enough hints to let this young version of herself know that there was a kindred spirit.
It worked and lunching over déjeuner woyj, wine, and Salade Niçoise, discussed their similarities. At first, the conversation was very guarded between the two, but by the end, it was one that fast friends would have.
Emilee had begun working the streets at a very young age. Using her looks and long fingers she found pickpocketing to be a pleasing and profitable profession to pursue.
Then she took it a level up and began robbing pickpockets of the items they had lifted from unwary victims. She soon was able to pick out the more professional thieves, accurately figuring out that they would be lifting from a richer class of persons.
Then she leaned the skills to be an upstairs maid. Using this to not only make a living but for herself to also level up into a better class of victims to use her nimble fingers on, discreetly of course.
For when a wealthy married male wanted a romp with an attractive, witty servant. Emilee played the seductress perfectly. And after a night satisfying the crétine (Pratt), if his wallet disappears, along with some of his wife’s jewels, well who was going to risk exposure by pointing a finger at her?
So over the course of a few months, as their lier (bond) grew, the thief introduced Emilee into her world of rich society, fancy dances, selections of wealthy victims, lifting of precious jewelry and wallets, as well as collecting information to rob mansions and other fancy dwellings of the ultra-rich.
Soon the pair as a team was doing quite well. Their adventure’s proving quite profitable. Emily only needed to work as a maid when the situation required it. Otherwise, she was the outside watcher for the inside cat burglar thief.
So how had tonight’s manor heist materialized?
^^^^^^^^^^^
While out on her own devices one evening, Emilee had taken a liking to a gold pendant worn by a boorish old lady she had spotted while “working” a reception.
She got close and as she watched the mesmerizing pendant, overheard what the lady was loudly droning on about, not caring who listened in, as long as they were impressed.
It appeared that she was claiming to be closely related to royalty, though her clothes and manner did not entirely back her story up.
But, smelling an opportunity, Emilee rolled the dice, changed tactics, and walking past the lady, easily lifted the wallet from the boorish lady’s designer purse.
She had contacted her cat burglar friend from wales to look into this, to see if this was a lead into something big.
It turned out it was the whole crux that lit the kindling which flamed up into the manor robbery scheme.
The boastingly boorish lady wearing the gold pendant's name?
Marlene Cabot-Hinny
And that would be the rest of the story.
Fini
In a certain respect, the difference between philosophy, theology and gnosis is total; in another respect, it is relative. It is total when one understands by "philosophy" rationalism alone; by "theology", the explanation of religious teachings alone; and by "gnosis", intuitive and intellective, and thus supra-rational, knowledge; but the difference is only relative when one understands by "philosophy" the fact of thinking, by "theology" the fact of speaking from a dogmatic point of view about God and religious things, and by "gnosis" the fact of presenting pure metaphysics, for then the genres are interpenetrating.
It is impossible to deny that the most illustrious Sufis, while being "gnostics" by definition, were at the same time to some extent theologians and to some extent philosophers, or that the great theologians were both to some extent philosophers and to some extent gnostics, the last word having to be understood in its proper and not sectarian sense.
If we wish to retain the limitative, or indeed pejorative sense of the word philosopher, we could say that gnosis or pure metaphysics takes certainty as its starting-point, whereas philosophy on the contrary has doubt as its starting-point, and strives to overcome this only with the means that are at its disposition and which do not pretend to be more than purely rational. But since neither the term "philosophy" in itself, nor the usage that has been made of it since the earliest times, oblige us to accept only the restrictive sense of the word, we shall not consider criminal those who employ it in a wider sense than what may seem to be opportune.
Theory, by definition, is not an end in itself, it is only - and seeks only - to be a key with a view to a cognition on the part of the "heart".
If there is attached to the notion of"philosophy" a suspicion of superficiality, insufficiency and pretension, it is precisely because only too often - and indeed always in the case of the moderns – it is presented as being sufficient unto itself. "This is only philosophy": we readily accept the use of this turn of phrase, but only on condition that one does not say that "Plat'o is only a philosopher", Plato who said that "beauty is the splendor of the truth"; beauty that includes or demands all that we are or can be.
If Plato maintains that the philosophos should think independently of received opinions, he is referring to intellection and not to logic alone; whereas Descartes, who did everything to restrict and compromise the notion of philosophy, reaches such a conclusion from the starting-point of systematic doubt, so that for him philosophy is synonymous not only with rationalism, but also with skepticism.
This is a first suicide of the intelligence, inaugurated moreover by Pyrrho and others, in the guise of a reaction against what one looked on as metaphysical "dogmatism".
The "Greek miracle" is in fact the substitution of the reason for the Intellect, of the fact for the Principle, of the phenomenon for the Idea, of the accident for the Substance, of the form for the Essence, of man for God; and this applies to art as well as to thought.
The true Greek miracle, if miracle there be (and in this case it would be related to the "Hindu miracle”), is doctrinal metaphysics and methodic logic, providentially utilized by the monotheistic Semites .
Frithjof Schuon
See Volume #2 here, and read the chapters associated :) Blake Baer did a great job carrying the torch.
"Footsteps quickened, and swords shone bare under the masked sun. Joshua’s heart raced, his feet pounding beneath him almost involuntarily. The moment had come, and he could feel nothing but the rough handle of the sword in his grip and the weight of his shield pulling heavily at his arm. The ground trembled under the pounding of the elephants and the charging line of armored knights. “Where are our brothers? Will they make it in time? With how many men?” were the last thoughts Joshua had before forcing it from his mind and gritting his teeth. With a deep, shaking breath he released his clenched jaw and joined the chorus of men; shouting in a united prayer as much as a battle cry before the hordes that awaited them.
Victoria glided effortlessly across the field, ashes swirling at her feet like a low mist. It was time to erase her past and paint a new future. To wash away the painful colors of life with the beauty of grey. Death knights advanced beside her methodically, without fear or urgency. Leading vicious scorpions and machines of war, they proceeded toward the line of hopeless men. “Hold nothing back! Your kindness is in your swiftness of execution. Remember you were once like them, clinging to a pathetic life before you were awakened to a new existence! Bring these desperate souls peace through our blades.” Victoria caught a glimpse of a face in the masses that rolled forward to crash with them, sending a ripple across the still, dark waters of her heart. For the briefest of moments something seemed to grow within her... what was it? The word came to her mind unwillingly, from some forgotten past. It was... a lily. Victoria clenched her fist, and the lily faded into ashes, steeling her current resolve. The war had begun."
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This is the end and compilation of Volume 1. Dont forget to read Volume #2!
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Its hard to see the detail from this picture alone, this is why I decided to break it down into 8 pieces. Thanks for following our story!! For those who are just joining us, look back at chapters 1-8 for the many intricate details. Thanks everyone for the fun journey, and support Blake as he helps us continue the story. I've seen his WIPs and they are very well done!
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This is a series that was built for the Mini Castle Contest at Classic-Castle. This is our entry as the first 8 chapters assembled together to create this volume.
Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.
Whilst her mistress is enjoying a weekend in Worcestershire, Edith, Lettice’s maid is using her time to give the flat a thorough dusting and airing. As she dusts the dining room, a noise she detests bursts into her quiet, methodical cleaning.
BBBBRRRINGGG!
The telephone in the drawing room starts ringing.
Edith looks through the double doors into the adjoining drawing room. “That infernal contraption!” she mutters to herself.
BBBBRRRINGGG!
She walks in and up to the black japanned occasional table upon which the silver and Bakelite telephone continues to trill loudly.
BBBBRRRINGGG!
“I should pull your chord out next time I’m Hoovering. Let’s hear you ring then!”
BBBBRRRINGGG!
Edith hates answering the telephone. It’s one of the few jobs in her position as Lettice’s maid that she wishes she didn’t have to do. Whenever she has to answer it, which is quite often considering how frequently her mistress is out and about, there is usually some uppity caller at the other end of the phone, whose toffee-nosed accent only seems to sharpen when they realise they are speaking to ‘the hired help’ as they abruptly demand Lettice’s whereabouts.
BBBBRRRINGGG!
“Come on now Edith!” she tells herself, smoothing her suddenly clammy hands down the apron covering her print morning dress. “It’s only a machine, and the person at the other end can’t hurt you, even if they are angry that you aren’t her.”
“Mayfair 432, the Honourable Miss Lettice Chetwynd’s residence.” she answers with a slight quiver to her voice. Her whole body clenches and she closes her eyes as she waits for the barrage of anger from some duchess or other titled lady, affronted at having to address the maid. A distant female voice speaks down the line. “Oh Mrs. Hatchett, how do you do. Yes, this is Edith, Miss Chetwynd’s maid.” Her anxiety lessens slightly, for even though Mrs. Hatchett is somewhat overbearing, she is a banker’s wife and therefore not born with a pedigree that finds talking to the staff offensive. She listens. “No. No, I’m afraid that Miss Chetwynd isn’t in residence Mrs. Hatchett.” She listens to the disappointed response. “She’s down at Wickhamford Manor in the Vale of Evesham.” She listens again. “It’s Worcestershire Mrs. Hatchett, so I’m afraid it would be a bit difficult for me to fetch her.” More bemoaning comes down the telephone from Sussex. “Monday. She’s there until Monday, Mrs. Hatchett. I’m expecting her home late Monday evening.” The distress down the phone is palpable. “I can take a message for you, if you like Mrs. Hatchett.”
After receiving an affirmative reply, she deposits the receiver next to the telephone with a trembling hand. It sounds as if Mrs. Hatchett’s arm might fall off in Lettice’s absence from all the moaning she is making. Yet Edith has had enough practice with her mistress’ clients by now to know that it will be some silly inconsequential matter about her interior design plans that she will want addressed. Edith brushes her clammy palms down her apron a second time and then picks up the pencil atop of the pad of paper that Lettice left for her to jot any messages on.
Picking up the receiver she says, “I’m ready for your message now Mrs. Hatchett. Please go ahead.”
She writes a message based on Mrs. Hatchett’s distressed response.
“Now, if you’ll just let me read that back to you Mrs. Hatchett. You’ve changed your mind about the Regency stripe for the soft furnishing covers, and you want chintz.” A further burbling comes down the phone. “You want blue chintz to match the walls.” She listens to Mrs. Hatchett’s confirmation. “Yes. Yes I’ll give her that message the very moment she comes through the door Monday evening, Mrs. Hatchett. Very good. Good day Mrs. Hatchett.”
Edith hangs up the receiver and sighs with relief. “Damn infernal contraption!” she says as she glares at the telephone shining brightly in the afternoon sun.
She re-reads her pencilled message and frowns. “Miss Lettice won’t like that. She hates chintz. Oh well!” She shrugs. “That’s her problem to solve.”
Edith returns to the dining room and takes up where she left off, hoping that the telephone won’t ring again until Tuesday at least, when Lettice will be back in residence.
The theme for “Looking Close… on Friday” this week is “telephone”.
I hope that this telephone, which kept people connected in the 1920s and keeps them equally connected today is suitable for the theme. This upper-class domestic scene is different to what you may think, for it is made up entirely of 1:12 size dollhouse miniatures including items from my own childhood. The telephone you see before you is only two centimetres wide and two centimetres high.
Fun things to look for in this tableaux include:
The black Bakelite and silver telephone is a 1:12 miniature of a model introduced around 1919. It is two centimetres wide and two centimetres high. The receiver can be removed from the cradle, and the curling chord does stretch out.
The vase of orange roses on the Art Deco occasional table is beautifully made by hand by the Doll House Emporium.
The pencil on the pad in front of the telephone is a 1:12 miniature as well, and is only one millimetre wide and two centimetres long.
Lettice’s drawing room is furnished with beautiful J.B.M. miniatures. The black japanned wooden chair is a Chippendale design and has been upholstered with modern and stylish Art Deco fabric. The mirror backed back japanned china cabinet is Chippendale too. On its glass shelves sit pieces of miniature Limoges porcelain including jugs, teacups and saucers.
To the left of the Chippendale chair stands a blanc de chine Chinese porcelain vase, and next to it, a Chinese screen. The Chinese folding screen I bought at an antiques and junk market when I was about ten. I was with my grandparents and a friend of the family and their three children, who were around my age. They all bought toys to bring home and play with, and I bought a Chinese folding screen to add to my miniatures collection in my curio cabinet at home! It shows you what a unique child I was.
The green tinged Art Deco glass bowl on the table in the foreground is a hand made miniature from Beautifully Made Miniatures in England.
The geometric Art Deco wallpaper is beautiful hand impressed paper given to me by a friend, which inspired the whole “Cavendish Mews – Lettice Chetwynd” series.
Please forgive me for revisiting this saga so soon. For the thoughts of that witnessed moment in time which planted a seed for a story, still remains, still ticklingly entices my imagination..
And I think most of us know what a bugger an inkling like that can be...!
And the Chatwick in me had a yearning, actually no, a compelling, need to appease, so to tell the same story in a bit different take on the observed actions of the young lad I called the Hugger Mugger… had to be forthcoming post haste …
And So we Have.....
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The Importance of paper mache Princesses
Lucidity of Providence
I first noticed the lass whom I came to call the paper mache princess, as she slithered and swished about in the quite devastatingly pretty gown she was so winningly wearing along her youthful, but yet well appointed figure.
The gown was dyed the shade of fresh spring lavender, the satiny material, probably soft as a new borne downy chick, freshly shimmering and glistening as she stunningly exhibited it whilst wriggled in from the serving room.
My fancy was tickled by this, for my Sister had once worn a very similar dress , and I carried quite pleasant memories of the fun we had had shared that particular evening…..
But I only noticed this new lass’s apparel briefly though, for once I had her properly in my sights, her adorning jewels(rhinestone?) totally commanded my full and undivided attention.
For, see in my humbled opinion, it was silly for one so obviously saturnine, so quite gullibly young, to be wearing such shimmering sparklers! Though to truthfully admit, I had no real issues along those lines!
The sparkling jewels consisted of a thin silver plated necklace, matching dangling earrings and a thin bracelet worn around her satin gloved clad wrist.. , all were set with the fiery brilliance of (rhinestone?) diamonds.
Twas a pity someone darkly moody like that would be in possession of jewels so pretty.. She obviously had no inkling or care about em, in my observation of her, she probably could care less that she was wearing them, and probably had whined miserably about putting them on!
A hallowed mockery of all that is truly feminine.
An aloof paper mache princess who deserved to look more of a pauper in me own personal opinion...!
And that thought, I found to be quite enticingly entertaining on a personal level! Admittedly though, at that time, I was finding a great deal of my surroundings to being quite vexing.
But there was also a reason for my interests, for I will have to admit to possessing a bit of a rascally bird like, Magpie keen, interest in all things shiny!
And my curiosities had already been at peek height due to several other observations I had made upon my first arrival at the wedding reception: Including one subject in particular!
First off, the wedding was definitely upscale, and the wealthy Bride had chosen a rather unique venue for her reception.
Located in a rather daringly wrong side of the tracks area. The place was the site of an old brick, eel tinning factory that someone had cunningly restored and was princely offering as a uniquely posh reception venue for those rich enough to pay out the nose for something out of the ordinary. To me it looked like someone had extravagantly decorated up an old slummy red brick alleyway.
And as to why I was there..?
Well my friends, that’d be another whole tale in the tellin....
So, only tellin one tale at a time then......
Anyhows, there I was, dressed up in my best, and starting to do a bit of visually opportunistic prowling about amongst the well heeled guests who were making merry in the venues’ rather dubious surroundings…. When I saw him...
Him, the laddie, a young male of about 13, scampering happily about at the reception hall .
Something about his mannerisms drew my mind to him, so I discreetly asked around.
I soon found out he was the son of a single mother, both the bride’s sister and maid of Honour. So he was pretty much being left to himself, which explained things a bit.
The lad was also obviously across the threshold of young puberty: as was witnessed by some of his antics, not only with the touchy teasing of the younger girls present, but also in the way he was treating certain poshly dressed adult females, especially in sneaking up and giving his darling grandmother hugs from behind.
She though, thought it was cute and just laughed, and squealed happily, “look another drive by hugging”, or “thanks for the warm hugging honey, just lovely”, encouraging to no end the youth to keep his voyeuristic advances up.
But the grandmother was a short lady, his size, and I knew what was going on, even if the silly twit didn’t have a bloody clue.
The Lads arms, as he hugged his grandmother’s warm figure before running off, were brushing just under her perk breasts, molded nicely by the tight fitted mother of the bride gown she was attired in.
I also knew that , along with copping a titillating feel, he was also enjoying the tingling sensation from the slick thicke material of the lengthy, swishing gown the rather youngish ,stylish grandmother was wearing…
I watched, the lad as he performed this trick several times, holding onto the warm sweaty figure of his still perky, grandmother, before I would finally admit to the fact, I was jealous!
Jealous, for she was wearing some rather pretty jewelry of diamonds, real ones too judging by the fiery pinpricks of flashes they was giving off. Grandad must have spent a bloody mint on them.. For an Anniversary or an apology? There laid the rub..
And I would have given anything for a closer gawk at the ladies finer points, if one gets my drift, eh ?
Nudge, nudge... as they say...
It was while watching the lad yet again going and performing his hugger mugger routine from a bar stool, that my I first laid my eyes on the young paper mache princess in the lavender gown and wearing her own set of diamonds( rhinestone?). I don’t know when she had entered the reception’s proverbial stage, but she was one of the last lot to be leaving the room where the food service was laid out.
She was all of 16 years old, probably bitter sweet, and most definitely, caustically, immature!
She was with a second girl, 14 years I would guess, possibly a younger sister, clad in a thin dress of red silk that poured out dancingly below a matching jacket of velvet. She was wearing a glistening set of, faux?, pearls, and a (rhinestone?) brooch on her jacket, the bauble shaped like a colourful humming bird set with coloured gemstones.
They both stopped at the doorway, watching the dance floor with a peaking interest .
The live band had started up, and a group was upon the floor, swishing and swirling about in a quite pretty display of both colour and glitter that was being caught up in the dim incandescent lighting of the olde re-imagined factory.
I allowed my interest to follow this action for a bit, before curiously allowing my eyes to again seek out the pair of lasses.. Sneaking in close by the bar for a better, keener look over as I did so.
When I found them I saw that they had been joined by the huggy strap of a lad. He was standing close to them, and I caught him gingerly sliding his hand up behind the paper mache princess , chubby fingers tentatively rubbing along the waistline of the slick lavender gown being worn so winningly by the vixen of a sixteen year old.
She giggled and turned to him, her eyes giving an “oh, its you” look to the lad. Oblivious to the look, he started talking the pair up, and I saw them both shake their heads no at whatever he must have been suggesting.
Both girls petite earrings’ swaying in the light as their heads moved side to side . The Paper Mache Princess’s inset diamonds of her earrings sparkling madly, while her smaller friends bobbling earrings of Faux pearl gleamed a glistening pure white.
The pair turned dismissively back to the dance floor, and he stared them down from behind their glimmery sleek dresses for a few seconds, before he walked away, head bent down like something of an admonished puppy!
I felt sorry for the young git, red faced, as he was walking away,.
Then I suddenly realized that his course was taking him right past me.
Not sure why at the time, but suddenly I wanted to capture this lad’s attention. For I was Bored and feeling peevishly mused to try and do something to quell those copious desires I had been mulling..!
So I played it by ear... Something which in my profession that I tend to do a lot of!
Now, since, sleight of hand and misdirection are a couple of me talents, I reached into my pocket , thoughtfully fingering one of my ever-present coins of the realm.
As the lad , sad head down, sauntered droopily by me, I caught his attention by dropping a penny.
He obligingly retrieved it for me, and as he handed it back, I turned down my wrist, then took my hand to his ear, appearing to change the penny into a twenty pee piece… Which I handed the coin to the amazed lad for keeps. Thereby also gaining his full and undivided attention.
“Want to see another?” I asked, and he shook his head yes eagerly. I pulled out an also ever-present deck of cards, and had him ruffle them up a bit. Talking it up to him as I did.
The simple card trick would allow me to banter and hopefully my words would thus stoke the id of his sexually driven impulses whilst the ego thoughts in the lad’s head where following the cards. With my intents to flaring up the lad’s super – located in the deep recesses of his mind were certain male thoughts are often guiltily , forcibly, kept alone to themselves.
The first trick was an easy one that had him picking his own card from a group laid out on the bar. It was as I went through the motions, and watching his focus on the cards, I mentioned how pretty I had thought some of the dresses worn by the girls here were.
That opened him up royally...
I soon had him chatting away, eating out of my hand as I told him a subtly suggestive story of my youth, centering around the true enough episode where I had danced with my sister who had been wearing a dress very similar to the one worn by the paper mache princess....
A tid bit of a description that I knew would send his little pubescent desiring mind whirling .
I then, also with casual finesse, asked him quite a few questions about himself, about the reception, and particularly centered around finding out a bit more about the paper mache princess.
He readily came out with the fact that the paper mache princess, the one I had truthfully said was dressed like me sister had been , was nothing more than his cousin. He also volunteered tid bits about her that led me to believe that she could be a bit fey, but liked to pretend and daydream.
He also chimed in that he liked to play games like hide an seek with her and her friend’s, when she allowed him to!
Not playing now I asked? Seeing a light opening up at the end of a certain tunnel of my thoughts.
No he said, she said that she did not want to get dirty, her friend either.. Too interested in acting like proper ladies, dancing and watching, he added sadly..
“Quite boring.. he also added quite drearily ..”
That was all I needed to hear! So, agreeing with the boring part, I drew him close in the confidence of a co-conspirator.
Tells you what kiddo, let me explain how we used to play tag games when I was your cousins age.
I bet she will change her mind to play this version with you today! ( Actually, I know she would have no choice but to play his game once we were done with her!)
Really, he said, his eyes wandering and latching onto the two swaying young vixens, looking them up and down as I spoke.
Certainty ‘Mon garçon’ I said, and began to explain, taking certain inventive liberties with the details to ensure capturing this young man’s burgeoning lusting fantasies !!
I explained that as lads we would play tag by having the crooks steal something, then the person who was robbed would chase us like a copper until we either got away, or placed in “prison”
Cops and robbers see.. ever hear of the game.?
He nodded his head assuredly that of course he knew the game..!
I could also see I had grasped a craving interest within him, so I then happily continued on
“Now, the girls in our group would sometimes dress up and wear ‘cheap’ play jewelry, like your cousin and her friend over there. “ I lied convincingly.
He turned to watch the pair of proper appearing princess wanna-bees, both with eye appealing resplendence in their gowns, jewels and fine frills..
“Then us boys would sneak up and try to distract them, so we could teasingly come away with some of their play jewels without them catching on to what we were on about.
Then we would point out their loss after a bit, and the girls would give chase to us trying get them jewels back !”
He smiles, liking the idea.
I could see he was chewing on my words while still Drooling over the two pretty young lasses and their shiny frocks and ample shimmering jewels.... rather convenient having the real thing in sight when telling my stories I devilishly thought.
I had captivated his interest, and could see that he was earnestly watching his cousin ( whose necklace I should mention, was quite invigoratingly rippling small sparkles of fire around her throat as she was swaying to the music.)
I began with renewed relish, allowing the seed I had planted to grow, by explaining in detail how to draw his pretty lass of a cousin into the “Game”!
Both his and mine!
Using as an example, a story on how I had played this same game I was proposing on, while dancing with me own lavender gown wearing sister for reference. Actually it was a true enough story, only the young lass I had played it out on had not been me sister, and the gown, which most definitely had been soft as a new borne downy chick, had been of a shiny ripe peach colour!
I explained in simple detail how to approach his cousin, and what words would work best in convincing her that a dance was in order.
Then once they were into the dance, I explained in easy detail, the next steps to be taken to ensure his cousin would be a player for the next phase of the game, namely the catchy, touchy, tag part of it.
I could see the laddie was doing quite well, grasping the rudimentary idea of it all. And as he shook his head vigorously yes when I asked if ready. I gently pushed his back, propelling his quite noticeably Horney figure loose towards his innocent victim.
Go get em tiger....
I watched with growing anticipation as the lad moved in, eagerly approached his victim, then again sliding a hand on along her waist, successfully prying and fully capturing his cousins attention away from the dance floor. He started talking affably and I could see her dart a look back to the dancers,then to her 14 year old friend, then finally back to her cousin. Her jewels nicely sparkling in the low lights as she carried out this performance.
Then, bless the faux pearl laden pixie, for as I watched, the paper mache princess’s young friend most advantageously helped out our cause. Chirpily chiming in her two cents worth. saying something excitedly as she tugged at the cousins dress whilst pointing to the lad and the dance floor!
And ‘Bob’s your uncle!’ a few minutes later the pair of them were on that polished wooden dance floor, looking exceptionally cute as a couple, as they danced to a romantic slow tune whose name has since slipped my mind. The young darlings mimicked the adults around them by embracing closely against one another.
I waited and watched with baited breath, so many things could go wrong, and there was no good reason they shouldn’t. I began to think my ideas had been quite folly. Draining my drink, I made my plans for a quick get away to avoid any attention and have to answer rather awkward questions if things went awry.
But they didn’t!
As he had been directed, he bided his time, no hurry.
I watched with baited breath as finally his hand cunningly started the process of snaking up along the back of her sensuous dress, a bit quick perhaps, but maybe his partner was feeling his hormones actively running wild and was responding in kind.
For she had no issues dancing close, and no notice of the shenanigans of the creeping male fingers nimbly reaching up her back. I could see that her own gloved hands were firmly grasping her dance partners waist. The diamonds on her thin bracelet merrily winking back at me!
She seemed so happy, her eyes closed shut as she was into what ever fantasies young sixteen year old paper mache princesses, wearing pretty gowns and flashy jewels, have going on!
But I was also fairly certain that those fantasies of hers did not dwell any where’s near the reality of what was being played out on her in real life at that moment!
I looked around, Nor were any of the adults paying the pair any heed..
Even the Sixteen year old’s young Faux pearl wearing pixie of a friend was watching something away from the dance floor, her own fingers idly playing with the shimmery rhinestone brooch on her velvet jacket as she, with no shyness, was ogling a bloke in a tux snogging with one of the bridesmaids in a secluded corner!
I perked up, setting my empty glass down, casually picking out a handful of pub nuts from a jar at my elbow, I thought, this trick may actually bloody work!!
His fingers finally reached the victim’s primed objective, the one I had suggested, namely the thin gem studded necklace. The pretty jewels that laid flickering around the high, glossy neckline of his victims gown. That fiery necklace had been dangling and moving about with an easy sliding fluidity along down the smooth satin of its’ wearers gown, making it a fairly easy pluck for any amateur’s game!
The gem stones were set in a finely woven silvery chain, there should be no telltale snagging, no matter how jerky the chubby fingers were in making the attempt the lift them!
Obviously I had been thinking this through as I had been carefully watching my pretty paper mache princess. And just as obviously I was now vicariously living those day dreams through the lads antics!
So it was with an unabashed delight, that I watched as his fingers glided along the pretty baubles chain till the necklaces hook in eye clasp was located, and pulled up ever so lightly!
He did fumble a bit with the clasp,( his first time after all) but I saw him carefully peeking over her shoulder for a better look, and using one hand he managed to delicately unhook the two ends on his second attempt.
The fraternal twin ends lay loose there, glimmering for a few seconds, as they hung freely unclasped down her back. His fingers slipped back over her shoulder and slyly lifted a sparkly end up.
He then methodically began to slide the long necklace up along the front of his dance partners rich, lubricious, satin gown! It was easily slipped away, slither inly over her shoulders’ satin sleeve and free fell down behind her back where it dangled for a few precious seconds in his chubby fingers, before the lad secreted the shimmering thing of beauty into his pocket ..
I released my breath not realizing I had been holding it.. He had gotten away with it, pretty as one pleases. His fantasizing, gorgeously dressed cousin, hadn’t a bloody clue as to what had just transpired as she and her glittery necklace were naughtily being parted!
And just as important, no one else had noticed my little hugger mugger in action either!
His victim still had her eyes blissfully closed, and was leaning her head back in what can be best described as dreamy happiness.
Her earrings and bracelet sparkled on, as noticeable in their positions, as the place her necklace had been, now was not!
Her male partners eyes were wide, and darting around. I was worried that he may end up alarming the girl, so I rose, and managed to catch his gaze, and smiled giving a thumbs up. This made him grin, and settling down a bit, grasped his partner close and twirled on.
I smiled, feeling rather excited meself, for watching the lad in action had been like reliving the somewhat similar, long past, incident that I had used as an example, lying to him that I had played the game on me sister!
^^^^^^
Well , they finally finished the dance, it seemed like an eternity, but it was thrilling to try and catch glimpses of the cousins’ now bare neckline!
Finally they broke apart and he walked off with her to the opposite edge of the dance area from where they had started. I held my breath again, but he seemed to inherently realize that as part of the game, he didn’t want her suspicions raised by being quick to leave. God bless his natural budding adult male like deviousness!
When he finally left her and came over , he was grinning ear to ear like some Cheshire Cat.
“Well done lad, you played that brilliantly! Fun Like I said it would be” I praised and questioned?
He nodded , quite pleased with himself, and that pleasure was evident in more places than just his face!!
He most definitely was getting a “titillating feel” for the playing the game. A feeling I could very well understand from me own personal experiences!
I turned him around to face his cousin, his back now to me.
The young paper mache princess was back to aloofly standing, watching, on the outer rim of the dance floor. As we watched, we saw her young friend returning, regaining a position up alongside her
I gripped my hand upon the lads shoulder, speaking into his ear as he conveniently faced away from me..
I explained that he needed to go up and do next ..
Sneak up and hug his cousin from behind( I could tell he liked that!) , then as you tickle her a bit, say something like “now catch the tickle thief” , and then, see that door just off the loo?
He turned his head over to where I was pointing.
I knew that the door was an exit, leading upstairs, then outside to a small park.
“Break away before she can catch you,, and RUN! through that door, then out into the park .”
I turned him back around to face me , I wanted to really drive home the last bit…
I was smiling mischievously in his eyes, which brightened up as he warmed up to the ideas I was planting.
“Then in the woods you can hide and touch tag as she tries to get her necklace back!”, and I tapped his pocket with my free hand, jingling the contents.
“But remember laddie, the trick is not to show her what you took. Make her chase you, and if she finally catches you, make her search you for it, or have her cry Uncle before handing it over!”
“And as she is so occupied, try for an earring or bracelet to keep the game on. Or if her friends is close enough then snatch…..”
But I stopped, I could see all too well in his wide eyed glazed over look, that he had caught onto the gigs gist, and there was no need to say more with out risking my hugger mugger to become too prematurely excited before playing it out.
I looked up over his head to make sure the stage was still set…
I suddenly stiffened....
Ere now, look lad, I think your game is beginning, she is noticing the loss.
We both looked, the young friend of the sixteen-year-old was pointing to the paper mache princess’s bare throat. No need to hear the question.
Then as We both gawked ,the cousins gloved hand shot immediately up to her throat ,fruitlessly feeling around as her face contorted up in a horrifying gasp.
“Now lad I said turning him back around so he was facing the dance floor., quickly toddle up behind and give your cousin that hug to start it off! That’s a good lad!”
“I guarantee you she is going to play into your game now.” I said, sending the words off after him as he scurried stiffly off.
He was definitely carrying off with him a quite “hard” vested interest in the game at hand.
He approached the pair, both of whom were now looking about their feet for the missing necklace.
I saw him readily grasp, then pull up his Cousin into a slippery hug..
She jumped a bit ,alarmed!
But no blaming the sullen looking lass. Worries about her missing necklace combined with someone unexpectantly grasping her from behind, then feeling something hard being pressed up against her, would cause a bit of inherent distress for any poshly attired damsel!
Startled as she was, she stood stiffly in her fast waning shock, as her male cousin whispered into a bejeweled ear, then letting her go, the lad dashed off towards the exit as planned.
The two girls looked at each other questioningly, the pixy was holding her faux pearled necklace, the cousin a hand to her bare throat. They then stared at the fleeing cousin, before, in a shimmering, swishing, fluttering, flurry, taking off after the escaping lad.
I turned away and watched as he disappeared through the exit door by the loo.
The female cousin and her similarity dressed young friend, were following almost upon the lad’s heels, gowns whirling , and they too slipped through the closing door. I, probably for the last time, admired her taunting bracelet, as it flashed and sparkled, while she gripped to hold open the closing exit door..
All three had now disappeared from the venue without anyone a noticing.
I believe free booze, and the length of drinking time that the adult guests had been imbibing played a rather big part in that the trio of escapees were not paid any heed!
Babes in the woods, going beyond the security of the pale. I thought, making my way through the thronging crowd of merry guests .
I headed out towards the main exit located on the opposite side of the building from the restrooms.
Just before taking my permanent leave I looked around the venue again. The dim lighted red brick lined walls of the old ell tinning factory did indeed resemble an olde alleyway. And one can just imagine the types of mischief that would be going on in olde alleyways!
Reaching the outer walk I forced meslf to meander on till I had safely gained some distance, stopping as I came up to a patch of woods.
Where, next to an ancient Wytch Elm tree with its grotesquely reaching branches, started a thin path leading off amongst the trees towards the other side of the olde eel tinning factories building..
I stood there, and after checking around me, Pulled a chrome flask from a vest pocket.
I took a good long swig of ginger brandy in celebration of the moment!
“The path less travelled today mate! .”
Replacing the flask, I reached a hand in my suit coats pocket for me pipe and tobacco, .
Feeling as I did the now cold hardness of the quite genuine, quite expensive, diamond necklace that I had so quite easily lifted from the youths jacket pocket ( pickpocketing - another of my skills)
As I packed my pipe and then cupped my fingers as I struck a match to get it going, I allowed my mind a quick remembrance….
I played out how pretty that young lass had been in her peach satin gown. We both had been around 14 years, socially awkward as youths that age can be.. She had suggested the dancing, and I was amazed at the feel of her in my arms. Never had I felt anything so warm, so incredibly soft. And how sparkling her necklace had been. As we danced, and as I secretly admired her necklace, I remember meself subtly lifting the pretty thing up from her throat. Then it had suddenly unclasped, and I found meself pulling it off from around her throat and stuffing it in a pocket. She had had no clue, and I and me mates had used it’s loss to tease her before giving it back.
It had been a most satisfying newly acquired feeling for me at that age.... Which I had gambled would be the same feelings my young hugger mugger lad would also feel.
With a wry smile I wondered what my hugger mugger lad’s reaction would be as he would finally was made to give back the necklace. And what the overall reaction of the group would be when instead of the paper mache princess’s pricey diamonds in his pocket, he finds the small bits of pub nuts I had switched out with the necklace.
What I would have given to be able to witness that moment in time I thought , as I threw away the match and began puffing smoke from the lit pipe. I imagined what the three youths puzzled, gasping expressions would be like..!
Indeed, whose game had they been playing at?
I wondered if anybody would ever figure it out, or would it remain a mystery?
After a few puffs I looked in the direction of the park.. where I imagined the three were have gleeful adventures, for a bit anyways., and hopefully no further mis adventures...
I gave another long , thoughtful pull at me pipe...
Now, Just down that path would be that very park where at that very moment, a young lady clad in sleek lavender satin and sporting the remains of her dazzling collection of expensively brite sparkling diamonds ,was running about willy nilly in the woods.
Her eye catching gown and glistening, baiting jewels unsuspectingly openly exposed to the wilds outside, and fully unprotected by any observable means...
Not to mention there is also a spare, herself fetchingly attired in red silk and velvet. Herself wearing spiffen faux pearls and a glistening rhinestone hummingbird brooch!
It could very well be like taking away the proverbial candy from silken clad Babes...
Hmmm, a rather treasure trove of an opportunity indeed!
After a few minutes ponderings, I finally Let out an exasperated puff of smoke, as I regrettably shook my head NO..., no teasing my recently bestowed acte of providence, not by this Bloke.... and certainly not this evening !!
One in hand, I scolded meself ..
So, let it be Cheerio, I thought nodding down the side path of the woods towards the park in a solemn’ fare thee well’ salute..
And walking out into the glooming twilight of the evening, strode down the side walk to disappear into the misty aire..
Taking the smoking pipe from me mouth, I began Whistling the tune ...
‘Who put “Bella in the Wytch Elm”?
After all, who does not like coming up across a mystery?
“vade ad victor spolia”
Fini
A Blue-winged warbler snatches a nice morsel out of the leaves. The way in which this guy methodically worked its way down on the branches in search for breakfast was quiet astounding. This warbler also mates with the Golden-winged warbler producing the Brewester's and Lawrence's warbler
"They forage in deciduous canopies where they can be difficult to find among the green leaves. They move slowly and methodically, carefully scanning leaves above and below for their favored caterpillar prey. However, their habit of near-incessant singing in summer, even in the heat of midafternoon, helps draw attention to them." Cornell
Fall on our work-pocked farm was marked by fallen leaves skittering across fading lawns urged along by gusty fall winds. Early darkness ended our days and a season of change was in the air as large fields of soybeans were methodically combined and corn was harvested.
In the early 1960s in our part of Minnesota, corn pickers were still the main method of harvesting corn either by pickers that were pulled by a tractor and run by a power-takeoff or were mounted self-propelled units.
In a few short years, most two-row pickers were superseded by corn harvesters that not only removed the ears off of corn stalks but also shelled the kernels from the ear of corn, thereby saving a whole lot of work for individual farmers who no longer had to employ a corn shelling crew in springtime to get the corn ready to truck into the local co-op elevator to sell.
Today, few people recognize immediately who you are referring if you would say the name Louis Marshall Jones. But, mention a nickname given to him when he was 22, “Grandpa Jones”, and most folks recognize the entertainer who had a career that started when he was just a young fellow in a family of 10 kids on a tobacco farm in Kentucky in the early 1900s.
Older folks remember the television program “Hee Haw” that produced some amazing talented country music singers and songs. Grandpa Jones was a fixture on that program along with Minnie Pearl and others.
In 1964, Jones wrote a song called Falling Leaves that contained these lyrics: “Fallen leaves That lie scattered on the ground The birds and the flowers that were here now can't be found All my friends that I once had are not around They are scattered Like the leaves upon the ground ”
Deserted farm places, abandoned barns and silos along with fields without fences now dot the countryside where many of us were born and raised during our formative years.
Much of what we once experienced and those we experienced it with are now not around and are scattered like the leaves upon the ground.
(Photographed near Mora, MN)
First posted on September 25, 2012
- Parque das Nações, Lisbon, Portugal -
The building was under construction and behind a huge multi-story sheet of gauze (it is not a texture) used presumably to keep the debris and dust from falling on passers by. I watched her from a distance for a time as she methodically worked at polishing the brass railing. All the while she seemed lost in deep thought ... perhaps, I imagined, worrying about some troubles that she faced after work? It's a strong memory even though it is a photo from years ago.
Running into these tiny birds always make me happy. They always travel in flocks of a dozen or more and constantly make tiny lisping calls to one another to keep in touch. They specialize in eating small insects off of trees, and if you watch them for a while you'll see them methodically travel from one tree to the next, scouring each in turn.
The green oriole or Australasian yellow oriole, (Oriolus flavocinctus) is an inconspicuous inhabitant of lush tropical vegetation throughout New Guinea and northern Australia, including Cape York Peninsula, the Top End and the Kimberley.
Green orioles forage slowly and methodically through the mid and upper strata of dense forests, taking fruit in the main. Typically alone or in pairs, they sometimes form small flocks in the non-breeding season. They are often difficult to locate, as their yellow-green plumage blends with the foliage and only their deep bubbling musical calls can be heard. They are nevertheless common in suitable habitat: rainforests, mangroves, thickets along watercourses, swamps, and lush gardens.
… Continued from Part 1
He could hardly believe his eyes that morning when he saw her through his upstairs bedroom window. Young and beautiful she was with generous curves in all the right places, her hair sparkling and her flawless skin glowing in the morning sun. She looked breathtaking and she was perfect for the project he wanted to work on next.
He observed her from the shadows as she walked through his workshop and when she was engrossed going through a box of satin ribbons he pulled the lever that opened the passageway behind the curtain leading to his private laboratory. As soon as she noticed the beckoning glow of his machines and gave in to her curiosity, just as he hoped she would, he rushed to the entrance to his workshop and locked the door before placing an "Away On Business" sign in the shop window.
Now here she was in his arms into which she collapsed, and he carried her over to his workbench. He carefully laid her on top after elbowing a few stray tools out of the way and checked her vital signs. The special blend of narcotics that he injected her with was intended to keep her paralyzed and in a deep, coma-like sleep. Once he was satisfied that she was in no distress, he jumped to action and swiftly cut her garments away with a pair of sharp scissors, before grabbing a scalpel and with practiced hands went to work.
He's been laboring for hours, deeply focused on his task, ignoring the passing of time and the occasional distant sounds of brief knocking on the locked doors to his workshop. People never lingered once they noticed the sign. The large laboratory was filled with the sinister buzz of electricity and the rhythmic squelching sounds of the pump that was replacing her blood with the alchemical concoction he invented, which will keep her body from decaying and have it function indefinitely.
He methodically removed all her inessential organs like those used for food processing and kept only the ones meant to circulate, filter and recycle the new fluid. He also carefully removed both her eyes and then filled her eye cavities with the alchemical brew he knew would soak into her brain and the rest of the soft tissues of her head. With a few incisions on her cheeks and jawline, he changed her appearance, knowing that her new "blood" would repair her skin swiftly, and finally, he affixed a permanent mask to her face by sewing it to her head.
When after several long hours he was finished with his main task he stood back, powered up his workbench and watched as her newly saturated body quickened, her arms and legs twitched, bent at the elbows and knees and her head turned from side to side. "Marvelous!" he exclaimed turning the power back down before being galvanized into motion. He washed his hands then quickly put his waistcoat on to cover up his blood-spattered shirt. He gathered her discarded organs and belongings into a bundle and rushed off to his cellar to burn them in his massive coal furnace. Only after all evidence of her past life was destroyed, did he go back to stuff the cavities of her missing organs with a special blend of dried herbs and alchemical paste, and then sealed up her body.
Finally, he began to dress her.
To be continued…
DARK PURPLE - The Clematis Viticella (variety "Tuczka"?), commonly known as "Italian leather flower", "purple clematis" or "Virgin's bower", is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family of genus Clematis; it is native to Europe. The genus name is from Ancient Greek clématis, ("a climbing plant"). Over 250 species and cultivars are known.
The clematis, despite being present for thousands of years in European territory, appeared in our gardens only in the Middle Ages ... and right at the return of the crusaders. Probably the more or less professional growers (a nice piece of land was a coveted reward for those who retired from their arms) thought of reproducing the pavilions that were made with jasmine in the East with the clematis. Clematis is perfect and only shadows when needed, that is, in the middle of summer. So it was grown in abundance and the peasants got into the habit of cutting off its branches and adorning their fields, ensuring that this favored the crops. In England it was even nicknamed "joy of the traveler" because it also grew freely in the woods and at the edges of the roads.
Alpine clematis, also called blue, although the color tends to veer towards violet, is currently one of the most widespread, because the mountain dwellers were among the first to cultivate this flower in the garden, given that they used its leaves to treat the sores difficult to heal, ulcers and even ulcerated skin tumors, both for men and for pets. Too loved in the Middle Ages not to end up at the stake of witches in the so-called Age of Reason! By studying methodically it was found that the plant belongs to the ranunculacee family, and is therefore potentially poisonous.
The clematis that grow in our gardens today (which no one uses to treat wounds anymore), all come from America, from Siberia, if not even from China, because, after three abundant centuries of oblivion, they were reintroduced as exotic ornamental plants , exclusively for the suggestion of colors.
Sources: Wikipedia; Mary Falco, "The Garden of Astarte - Clematis".
Sony a6000 with Selp18105g and Polaroid CPL filter. Natural light. Minimum edit in Adobe Lightroom.
#flower; #violet; #purple; #green; #black; #dark; #bloom; #five; #star; #nature; #soft; #silky;
#fiore; #viola; #verde; #nero; #fioritura; #scuro; #cinque; #stella; #natura; #soffice; #setoso; #clematide; #medioevo;
Year 2088.
A revolutionary leap in advanced rocket propulsion had shattered old frontiers. Humanity, no longer bound by the confines of the Solar System, began reaching outward—toward the stars. The great powers turned their gaze to neighboring systems, launching expeditions with relentless ambition.
The Russian nuclear space fleet advanced methodically, planetoid by planetoid, laying down autonomous research outposts like breadcrumbs across the void. Each mission, another step into the unknown.
Sergey was just another crew member—an astronaut trained more by circumstance than destiny. He and a small team had been deployed to a nameless, rock-strewn world. It didn’t even earn the dignity of a name, only a five-character alphanumeric code. But it had an atmosphere—and in deep space, that alone was enough to warrant interest.
Above him, the sky ignited with the light of departing ships—bright arcs carving through the dark as the fleet accelerated toward the next target. Sergey trudged across the desolate stone wastes, unaware that just beneath his boots, something ancient and alive stirred.
Unaware that fate had chosen him—a quiet man from Bryansk—for a moment that would forever divide human history into two eras: Before Contact… and After.
[Twitter] -- [Website] -- [Facebook] -- [Blog] *NEW*
Canon 5DmkII + Canon 17-40mm f/4.0L USM
ISO640, 30sec, f/4.0 @ 17mm
I went to bed early last night, and for once I managed to wake up to my alarm at 2am. Of course, knowing that there was fog predicted for this intended destination does wonders for the motivation.
So I head out and start shooting by 3:15, the moon light keeping exposure down to a decent 8 minutes. methodically I work my way through a list of shots I'd already planned in my head. This shot, the one I liked the most from the morning, was simply a product of chance and opportunity. On another note, i really need to learn how to stay more still for these 30 second exposures.
Kamera: Nikon FE2
Linse: Nikkor-O Auto 35mm f2 (1970)
Film: Kodak 5222 @ ISO 250
Kjemi: Rodinal (1:50 / 9 min. @ 20°C)
John Lennon: Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (1971)
A SONG FOR ALL YOU BASTARDS
***
HRF Files Criminal Complaint in Italy Against IDF Soldier Israel Yitzhki for War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, and Genocide
Brussels / Rome – 15 December 2025:
The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has filed a criminal complaint before the Italian judicial authorities against Israeli soldier Israel Yitzhki, a member of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), for his alleged involvement in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide committed during Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
The complaint was submitted to the Procura della Repubblica on the basis of universal jurisdiction, following confirmation that Yitzhki is currently present on Italian territory. Under international and Italian law, Italy is legally obliged to investigate and prosecute individuals suspected of grave international crimes when they are found on its soil.
Why Italy Has a Duty to Act
Italy is a State Party to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the UN Convention Against Torture. These instruments impose a clear obligation on States to search for, investigate, and prosecute individuals suspected of grave breaches of international humanitarian law, regardless of nationality or where the crimes were committed.
The complaint explicitly invokes:
* Article 146 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which establishes mandatory universal jurisdiction over grave breaches;
* Article 5(2) of the Convention Against Torture, requiring prosecution when a suspect is present and not extradited;
* The principle of aut dedere aut judicare — extradite or prosecute.
As the filing makes clear, States cannot lawfully become safe havens for suspected perpetrators of international crimes.
The Context: Gaza as a Crime Scene
The complaint situates Yitzhki’s actions within the broader context of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, which UN bodies have repeatedly characterized as involving systematic violations of international law.
* Over 70,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 20,000 children;
* More than 170,000 people have been injured;
* 92% of homes, 88% of schools, 81% of roads, and 80% of commercial infrastructure have been destroyed or damaged;
* Hundreds of civilians have died from starvation and malnutrition, caused by the deliberate obstruction of food and humanitarian aid.
UN agencies, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court have all confirmed the seriousness of these crimes. Arrest warrants have already been issued by the ICC against Israeli leaders Benjamin Netanyahu (b. 1949) and Yoav Gallant (b. 1958) for crimes against humanity.
Alleged Crimes by Israel Yitzhki
According to HRF’s investigative findings, Israel Yitzhki served in the 432nd Battalion of the Givati Brigade and participated in operations involving:
* Extensive destruction of civilian property without military necessity;
* Attacks on undefended towns, residential buildings, and civilian objects;
* Arson and controlled demolitions of homes and shelters;
* Occupation and destruction of schools used as civilian refuges;
* Unlawful detention and humiliating treatment of Palestinian civilians, including the publication of images showing detainees blindfolded, handcuffed, and kneeling.
The complaint argues that these acts constitute war crimes under Article 8 of the Rome Statute, including:
* destruction of property not justified by military necessity;
* attacks against civilian objects;
* illegal detention of protected persons;
* outrages upon personal dignity and degrading treatment;
* and, potentially, torture and inhuman treatment.
Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide
Beyond individual war crimes, the filing asserts that Yitzhki’s actions may also qualify as crimes against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute, including extermination, unlawful imprisonment, torture, and other inhumane acts committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against a civilian population.
Crucially, the complaint also addresses genocide. It argues that the systematic destruction of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure — homes, schools, water systems, healthcare facilities — amounts to:
* causing serious bodily and mental harm; and
* deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Palestinian population, in whole or in part.
These conclusions align with findings issued in September 2025 by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which determined that Israeli authorities are committing genocide in Gaza.
Request for Urgent Precautionary Measures
Given the gravity of the allegations and the risk that Yitzhki may leave Italy, HRF has requested that the Italian authorities consider urgent precautionary measures, including:
* seizure of passports and travel documents;
* preservation of digital evidence.
The filing also formally requests notification of any prosecutorial decisions, including extensions of investigations or potential dismissal, in accordance with Italian criminal procedure.
Abou Jahjah: No Safe Haven in Europe
This filing is part of HRF’s broader strategy to ensure that no European country becomes a refuge for perpetrators of atrocities committed in Gaza.
"International law is meaningless if it stops at borders", HRF General Director Dyab Abou Jahjah (b. 1971) stated.
"When those suspected of war crimes and genocide enter Europe, States must choose between impunity and justice. There is no third option", he added.
The Hind Rajab Foundation will continue to pursue accountability across jurisdictions until those responsible for crimes in Gaza — perpetrators, accomplices, and inciters alike — are brought before competent courts.
Source: Hind Rajab Foundation - HRF Files Criminal Complaint in Italy Against IDF Soldier Israel Yitzhki for War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, and Genocide (Publ. 15 Dec. 2025)
***
HRF Seeks Arrest of Israeli Soldier in Spain Over the Destruction of Beit Hanoun
Barcelona / Brussels – 3 December 2025:
The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has filed a criminal complaint in Spain against Israeli soldier Benayau Nahum for his alleged responsibility in genocide and serious war crimes committed during Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, particularly in the northern town of Beit Hanoun.
The complaint was submitted after confirming that the suspect was present on Spanish territory, triggering Spain’s obligations under international law to investigate and prosecute grave international crimes. HRF has formally requested the urgent arrest of the suspect to prevent his departure and to ensure accountability.
The Accused and His Military Unit
Benayau Nahum served as a soldier in the 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion of the 900th Kfir Brigade. This unit has a long record of serious human rights violations, including:
* The killing of unarmed civilians,
* Abuse and torture of detainees,
* And the systematic destruction of Palestinian property.
The battalion has previously been implicated in internationally condemned cases and has repeatedly operated in occupied Palestinian territory with near-total impunity.
*** [ [Personal note: I can confirm this based on what I personally saw during my 2007-2011 UN-affiliated service in the Occupied West Bank. The worst criminal Israeli IDF "military" units by far are certainly the Kfir Brigade and the Nahal of the Nahal brigade.
These two units in particular - their history and all their members ought to be intensively investigated all the way back to 1967 and beyond. Consisting of predominantly jewish fundamentalists, religious zealots, zionists, criminals, kahanists, no-goods and madmen they certainly would be akin to any former member of the Nazi Waffen-SS in my eyes.
You have to be quite oblivious to history if you cannot see the similarities between Nazi Germany and these Israeli paramilitary / military groups represented by the Kfir, the Gadna and the Nahal. Israel is through and through a jewish supremacist militaristic fascist society.] ] ***
Its presence in Gaza formed part of Israel’s large-scale ground operations in the north of the Strip.
Destruction of Beit Hanoun
Between late 2024 and early 2025, Beit Hanoun was subjected to near-total destruction as part of a broader military strategy aimed at emptying northern Gaza of its population. Entire neighborhoods were set on fire, leveled by heavy machinery, and erased from the map.
The evidence in HRF’s possession places Benayau Nahum directly on the ground during these operations. It shows his participation in systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure, including homes and public buildings, at a time when Beit Hanoun was already largely depopulated and defenseless.
The scale of destruction in northern Gaza during this period rendered vast areas uninhabitable and made return impossible for most of the displaced population.
Legal Qualification of the Crimes
The complaint accuses Benayau Nahum of:
* Genocide, for contributing to conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of part of the Palestinian population;
* War crimes, including:
- Extensive destruction of civilian property not justified by military necessity;
- Attacks against civilian buildings and undefended towns;
- Participation in the forcible displacement of a protected civilian population.
Under international humanitarian law, civilian objects are strictly protected. The large-scale, methodical destruction documented in Beit Hanoun cannot be justified by any lawful military objective.
Spain’s Obligation to Act
Spain is bound by international law, including the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute, to either prosecute or extradite individuals suspected of committing genocide and war crimes when they are found on its territory.
Given the presence of the suspect in Spain and the lack of genuine proceedings elsewhere, HRF has requested:
* The opening of a criminal investigation;
* The immediate detention of the suspect;
* And the adoption of urgent measures to prevent his escape.
Breaking the Wall of Impunity
This complaint is part of HRF’s broader effort to dismantle the system of impunity protecting perpetrators of crimes against the Palestinian people. It sends a clear message that:
Participation in genocide and war crimes carries personal criminal responsibility, wherever the perpetrator may attempt to hide.
HRF continues to pursue similar cases across multiple jurisdictions and will not relent until justice is served.
Source: Hind Rajab Foundation - HRF Seeks Arrest of Israeli Soldier in Spain Over the Destruction of Beit Hanoun (Publ. 5 Dec. 2025)
***
Why Bar Associations Must Act: The Dutch Debate on Complicity and the Responsibility of Lawyers in International Crimes
3 November 2025:
On 2 December, the Dutch Bar Association (NOvA) [Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten] will hold an extraordinary assembly to address a question that is rapidly becoming unavoidable across the global legal profession:
What is the responsibility of lawyers when their work intersects with a state committing international crimes?
The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) welcomes the participation of its co-founder, Haroon Raza, a criminal defence attorney with more than twenty years of experience, in this meeting. Mr. Raza's contribution focuses on a reality many in the profession have long avoided confronting — that legal advice, corporate structuring, and financial facilitation can play a direct role in sustaining Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The Professional Environment: A Legal System Intertwined with Global Capital
The Netherlands stands at the centre of a dense network of financial and corporate structures. Tens of billions of euros connected to Israeli entities — including companies tied to the military, surveillance, technological development, and settlement expansion [ *** Personal note: For instance American Airbnb and Dutch Booking.com - just to mention a few! *** ] — flow through Dutch holding companies, investment funds, and advisory firms.
Lawyers are involved at every step: drafting corporate agreements, approving investments, advising on compliance, structuring acquisitions, and legitimising transactions.
When these structures are linked to a state perpetrating mass killing, starvation, forced displacement, and systematic destruction of civilian life, the role of the legal profession must be examined with honesty rather than ritualised neutrality.
Motion 3: An Attempt to Define Professional Boundaries
At the centre of the upcoming assembly is Motion 3, a proposal seeking to address precisely this challenge. The motion calls for the establishment of an independent committee within the Dutch Bar Association to evaluate the responsibilities of lawyers involved in high-risk transactions — particularly those connected to situations where there is a serious risk of contributing to war crimes, crimes against humanity, apartheid, or genocide.
Its purpose is straightforward:
* to articulate clear due-diligence requirements in high-risk contexts,
* to identify warning signs of potential complicity,
* to define professional standards of conduct, and
* to provide guidance on when lawyers must decline or withdraw from engagements.
Motion 3 is not a political statement. It is an attempt to bring the profession’s established principles — independence, integrity, and the duty to avoid unlawful conduct — into alignment with the realities of modern global practice. Comparable standards already exist for sanctions regimes, anti-money-laundering responsibilities, and other areas where legal services intersect with international harm.
The question is why similar principles have not yet been applied to Israel’s actions in Gaza, despite the scale and severity of the crimes.
A Profession Confronted With Its Own Infrastructure
Large law firms and corporate practices in major financial centres — London, New York, Paris, Frankfurt, Singapore, Dubai, Toronto — routinely advise clients with direct or indirect links to Israeli institutions, military industries, and settlement enterprises.
[ *** Personal note: A huge amount of these settlements are funded directly from the USA and needs to be examined most thoroughly - Example: The US 501(c) tax-exempted Hebron Fund ! Like WTF!? ]
In many cases, risk assessments are superficial or absent. The assumption that “legal advice is neutral” has become a shield against accountability.
This assumption is no longer tenable.
Speaking ahead of the assembly, Mr. Raza addressed the profession with unusual clarity:
"When a legal opinion, a contract, or a corporate structure helps sustain a system committing genocide, the lawyer involved cannot hide behind claims of neutrality. Our profession must recognise that routine legal work can become a vehicle for atrocity. Motion 3 is about safeguarding the integrity of the law — and ensuring we do not enable Israel’s crimes in Gaza."
His statement reflects a broader shift: lawyers are beginning to acknowledge that their professional activities can contribute materially to the functioning of systems responsible for mass violence.
The Broader Context: Accountability Beyond the Battlefield
The Hind Rajab Foundation’s work has repeatedly demonstrated that atrocity crimes do not occur in isolation. They are supported by corporate supply chains, financial networks, investment portfolios, digital infrastructure, and legal advice. Israel’s genocide in Gaza is no exception.
Legal professionals occupy a crucial position within these systems. Without their services, many transactions linked to military procurement, settlement construction, surveillance systems, or economic extraction simply cannot proceed.
The question for bar associations worldwide is not whether their members have political opinions. The question is whether their work strengthens — knowingly or unknowingly — the machinery of genocide.
A Necessary Evolution in Professional Self-Regulation
Motion 3 offers a model of what serious professional self-governance can look like. Bar associations across Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia should consider similar mechanisms:
* independent oversight bodies,
* mandatory due-diligence frameworks,
* explicit standards on complicity,
* and training on international criminal liability for legal advisors.
Such measures are not symbolic. They reflect the reality that the legal profession is now deeply embedded in the structures that make international crimes possible.
The Moment Ahead
Israel’s actions in Gaza — mass killing, destruction of civilian infrastructure, systematic starvation, and the targeted annihilation of families — constitute genocide. In this context, the legal profession’s responsibilities cannot remain undefined.
The debate within the Dutch Bar Association is a signal to bar associations everywhere:
The age of pretending that legal work exists outside the world’s worst crimes is over.
The credibility of the profession depends on its willingness to recognise this moment — and to act accordingly.
Source: Hind Rajab Foundation - Why Bar Associations Must Act: The Dutch Debate on Complicity and the Responsibility of Lawyers in International Crimes (Publ. 24 Nov. 2025)
***
We spent a lot of time on the beaches of Harris - it is an incredible landscape. This was taken predawn as I was searching for a good composition - the tide was coming in fast and in the end I left this location for another beach down the road. Some of the beaches have lovely white sand - I quite like this one as the sand has some texture and definition and adds a certain degree of balance to the shot. I am trying to become much more analytical and methodical when on location - this is an area I really need to work on throughout 2015. Two Key words I need to remember - "SLOW DOWN" !
I spent many hours waiting for low tide in the heat but it was worth it! Apparently five fledglings had left the nest a few days before but we only spotted two. First green heron for me and it was co-operative!
'These rather uncommon birds hunt for fish and other small aquatic creatures in dense marshes and along sheltered shorelines. They are slow, methodical hunters and therefore quite secretive. Green herons are superb stalkers who hunt around the clock. Adults are about 43cm (17") in size.'
Thanks for the visits!
The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta is a photographer's playground. Yes, I specialize in landscapes, but sometimes it is fun to cut loose and do something completely different. Well, the Balloon Fiesta is certainly that.
During the early morning "Dawn Patrol" event back in 2022, I came upon this colorful scene. Now, if I were shooting landscapes, I would have done hours of research, set up my tripod, and methodically adjusted my settings. But in this case, I was just walking around with my camera, shooting handheld shots at 1/125th of a second with my ISO set to Auto. The result was this shot at ISO 8000, which I would have considered a travesty in my landscape work, but since I was shooting for fun, I just went for it. Thankfully, modern cameras and Topaz DeNoise can work wonders...even in situations like this.
To make it even better, this shot ended up winning 2nd place in one of the Fiesta's Photo Contests. Sometimes, a trip down an unfamiliar path has benefits!
Cheers!
Jeff
A small, dark heron arrayed in moody blues and purples, the Little Blue Heron is a common but inconspicuous resident of marshes and estuaries in the Southeast. They stalk shallow waters for small fish and amphibians, adopting a quiet, methodical approach that can make these gorgeous herons surprisingly easy to overlook at first glance. Little Blue Herons build stick nests in trees alongside other colonial waterbirds. In the U.S., their populations have been in a gradual decline since the mid-twentieth century.
Source: Cornell Lab of Orinthology
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen!
We expect a strong reaction from the world to today's Russian terror. We expect the reaction of partners. We expect the reaction of friends - not just observers. We expect the reaction of all those who really recognize the UN Charter.
We are doing everything possible. Ukraine presented the Peace Formula. The world heard it.
10 points - how to restore the full power of the UN Charter violated by Russia, and guarantee the safety of Ukraine, the safety of Europe and all the peoples of the planet who suffer from the consequences of Russian aggression.
In response to our Peace Formula, Russia is following the steps of its formula of terror.
The very next day after I proposed the Ukrainian Peace Formula at the G19 summit in Indonesia, we received ten Russian missiles per each point of the Peace Formula.
The strikes continued.
We liberated Kherson - and as soon as the Russian army fled from there, it began to methodically destroy this city. Strikes every day.
This night – another missile attack on the Zaporizhzhia region, on the hospital – on the buildings where the maternity ward was located. Russian terrorists took the life of a baby - the child was 2 days old when it was killed by a Russian missile!
And then again - dead, dead, dozens of wounded. In the city of Vyshhorod this afternoon, a residential building was hit, 35 people were injured, 4 were killed.
This is one of the main points of the Russian formula of terror - missiles.
Only today - almost 70 missiles. Against our energy infrastructure.
Unfortunately, a residential building was also hit.
Hospitals, schools, transport, residential areas - everything was affected.
Russian terror led to a blackout – and not only in Ukraine. The light also went out in neighboring Moldova.
But the understanding of what Russia wants to achieve with such strikes should not disappear anywhere in the world.
Energy terror is an analogue of the use of weapons of mass destruction.
When the temperature is below zero outside, and tens of millions of people are left without electricity, heat and water as a result of Russian missiles hitting energy facilities, this is an obvious crime against humanity.
Ladies and Gentlemen!
Among you are representatives of a state that offers nothing to the world except terror, destabilization and disinformation. Any Russian formulas do not provide for anything else.
And that's why I emphasize once again - it's time to support the Ukrainian Peace Formula!
There must be no opportunity left for terror in the world!
That is why we are turning to our partners for support to protect our skies. We need modern and effective air defense and missile defense systems, and I thank everyone who is already helping.
What can a representative of a terrorist state tell you now? That civilians do not suffer from their missiles? Everything is obvious. It's all too obvious.
And I urge you to take concrete steps to protect humanity and life!
Russia has long been trying to turn the UN Security Council into a platform for rhetoric. But the Security Council was created as the world's most powerful platform for decisions and actions. This is what we can demonstrate.
The Security Council should provide a clear assessment of the actions of the terrorist state in accordance with Chapter Seven of the UN Charter. Ukraine proposes that the Security Council adopt such a resolution condemning any forms of energy terror.
Let's see if anyone in the world will be able to say, along with Russia, that terror against civilians is supposedly a good thing.
I confirm the invitation from Ukraine regarding the mission of UN experts to critical infrastructure facilities of our country that have been or may be hit by Russian missiles.
It is necessary to give a proper assessment of damage and destruction. It should be stated that these are strikes against the very infrastructure that ensures the lives of tens of millions of people.
And finally, justice must be restored within the UN structures themselves.
The terrorist state should not participate in any voting on the issues of its aggression, its terror.
It is a stalemate when the one who caused the war, the one responsible for the terror, blocks any attempt by the UN Security Council to fulfill its mandate.
This is nonsense that the veto right is reserved for the one who is waging a criminal war.
It is necessary to lead the world out of this impasse.
It is absolutely possible.
The world should not be held hostage by one international terrorist.
Russia is doing everything to make the electric generator a more powerful and necessary tool than the UN Charter. We must and can return real meaning to all things - and above all to the UN Charter.
Your decisions are needed!
Thank you for the opportunity!
Thank you for your attention!
Glory to Ukraine!
A Tea for the Tillerman
Acte 4
A Most Curious Conclusion
A slow sinking feeling came over me as I saw the distraughtly gutted look in Ginny’s eyes as she realized the fancy necklace she had been wearing had somehow fallen away and had been lost.
We both immediately began to look down around her feet.
Finding nothing Ginny looks up at me with worried eyes, her fingers still stroking her sheath dress’s high neckline. I tell her soothingly…
“Need to retrace your steps luv, since the last time you knew it was still there. That’s probably the best course of action.”
“I don’t remember…” she said panic-stricken.
I thought hard, not an easy thing to do with the after-effects of a bit too much alcoholic drink. Then my eyes lit up as I hit upon it.
You still had it on when I left you at the pagoda to visit the loo.
“I left there when I started looking for you, Cade. Cor Blimey, been back to the house, and everywhere in between since haven’t I?” She told me this with a miserably unhappy sigh. “I would really hate to have lost that .”
Taking her arm we then began retracing her steps in backorder, searching the ground in vain until we finally, now quite dejected, made it back to the still deserted pagoda.
We began to search the area in a now desperate manner. But nothing sparkled that would have given away the lost
necklaces hiding spot.
Ginny came over to me.
I watched, her black satin Qipao sheath dress with the green lining flowing elegantly along her figure, the rhinestone dragon with the emerald eyes shimmering. It was a shame that someone looking that pretty should be so sad I thought with pity.
“Would Cleo have gone off with it?” I pondered aloud as I squatted, peering under the steps.
“That Estella scared him off,” Ginny said from the other side of the pagoda.
“Estella?” I asked
“ She was with Claire, and that odd lady who I told you was taking to Cassie.”
“Estella had intentionally scared away poor Cleo and then went chasing after the poor thing.
What about” Wood Bead Lady? I asked
Ginny half-heartedly snickered. “ I like that name.”
Then went on…
“She sat down, literally right next to me. Claire reached over wanting me to hold her. Which I did. We chatted for a bit. Estella came back alone, and stood behind me teasing Claire.”
“It was then I decided to head off to find you. Leaving your “Wood Bead Lady, whom I handed Claire back to, and Estella there.
“That lady sure is an odd one, Dontcha think?” Ginny commented.
I arose, agreeing with her, my mind racing. Something was nagging at it, but for the life of me, I couldn’t think of what it was. All I could focus on really was trying to help my friend find that errant necklace of hers.
“It’s not here, is it?” Ginny said with a miserable tone of voice.
I went over and reassuringly hugged her.
“ Let’s go find my mum. Maybe someone found it and turned it over to her. Wouldn’t it be funny if we spent all this time looking and she had it all the while?”
This cheered her up, and we began to walk back, a bit more happy and hopeful.
==========================
We passed the lady in purple silk who was drinking wine as she chatted away with several other ladies.
Gone was the “Wood Bead Lady” and her gang of followers.
The ladies turned to us as we passed.
I stared with an open mouth…
Gone also was the lady in purple silk’s diamond and sapphire necklace!
The other two were surprisingly not wearing necklaces either, and one, wearing an old satin and lace wedding dress, I could have sworn had been wearing a rather handsome pearl choker!?
“Cheers, “ they said to us
“Cheers” Ginny answered back half-heartedly
But I didn't answer. My attention had been pulled away, as the several things I had observed recently tried to click together in my mind, but it was like trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces.
We were almost at the table when Cassie caught up with us and greeted Ginny. I was looking away, watching mum straighten a few things at the tables. Her necklace sparkled as she bent over.
Then I spotted Estella carrying Claire over to mum.
Claire reached out her arms to be picked up. Mum stopped what she was doing, reached down, and lifted her. Then she was hugged and patted by my mum as she spoke to the caterer. While sneaky Estella watched from alongside them.
Claire’s mother Clarice had just then come up to join them.
I gasped upon seeing that little Clair had that quickly unclasped and was now holding the ends of mum’s diamond necklace in one hand.
As her mother pulled her away, Claire let go and I saw the necklace fall inside the front of my Mum’s dress. She was wearing a full silk slip which must have prevented her from feeling it siding down.
I saw it plop out and fall to the ground between her shimmery silver sandals.
With relief, I saw Estella bend down to the ground behind mum to retrieve it.
Relief turned to horror as I then saw Estella, instead of handing the diamond necklace over, quickly walking off with it, unnoticed by the others.
I gasped, hand to my throat, too frozen in disbelief to act.
Estella disappeared behind a tall hedge that blocked the portable toilets the guests were using, from sight.
It was then I saw the “Wood Bead Lady” coming from around the side corner of our house. And also disappeared behind the same hedge.
Then, that quickly the Wood Bead Lady appeared from the hedge on the side Estella had entered.
Remembering the game, I assumed that Estella had handed the diamond necklace off to her. The lady’s actions appeared to confirm that.
She had stopped, and I could see her looking at Mum, who was still chatting away, clueless as to what was going on.
Then the “Wood Bead Lady” saw me gaping at her.
With a start, she held up her skirt turned, and moved off across the green towards the gardens. I knew then she was heading for the thicker ring of woods that borders our property on the other side.
No one except me has been paying any attention to what was happening.
Wood Bead Lady” had almost entered the gardens before I finally was able to give a warning voice to Ginny over the situation.
“Hurry, she may be getting away with them” I snapped, grabbing a puzzled Ginny by the arm.
I started to apologize to Cassie that we had to go when suddenly I was gobsmacked. Cassie no longer was wearing a necklace either!
From behind me, I heard a bewildered Ginny ask...
“Who is getting away with what?”
I turned and nodded in the direction of the fleeing lady.
“Wood Bead Lady, No time to explain” I yelled behind me as I pulled Ginny away.
We began weaving in and out of quests, leaving bewildered ladies in our wake.
I saw Mrs. Shannon directly ahead and gently moved her away.
“Hello Cade, what's up?”
“Explain later” I called out over my shoulder
I looked back at her and gulped, Mrs. Shannon was no longer wearing what had been her rather expensive ruby necklace. Nor was Gabriella wearing hers…
I swore under my breath as I remembered what I had seen by the wrought iron bench in my secret garden. I pictured the lady we were pursuing, Estella, and little Claire playing what I had thought was a game of keep away using their necklaces...
“Bloody hell am I a twit, it had not been a game played merely to amuse a young child.” Claire had been a pawn, groomed to be the necklace-lifting “Finger Smith” to use an old pickpocketing term. I was now swearing to myself not to have caught on sooner.
“Perfect gambit. If wee Claire was caught removing your necklace, the assumption was merely a young child playing and accidentally undoing my necklace. . The victim would twitter to the tyke teasing her as you silly dickens, while the necklace was retrieved and the young miss Claire would be hugged for being so precious.
Buggers, if I haven’t seen them play acting in the secret garden, I’d have thought the same if it had been me. But I probably would not have been one to catch on, and have lost my necklace as a result, as Ginny had.“
I thought all this as Ginny and I was scurrying our way through the garden as fast as our heels would let us.
We reached the outer edge of the garden, a green space of about 28 meters, only to see the thief had run into the woods ahead. I caught a glimpse of her using the well-worn dirt path that led through them. The path would eventually be ending up in an old cemetery with the road(Abbots Chase Lane)on its outskirts.
When we finally reached that path and entered the cool woods, all was quiet. No sound or sign of the lady thief. We removed our heels and slowed to an uncomfortable walk...
I warned Ginny as she walked beside me.
“Keep your eyes open”
“So could you at least tell me now what's going on? She asked
“I think that Wood Bead Lady has mum's necklace, and I strongly suspect she has yours also. Along with the Shannons and who knows how many other necklaces she got that Mum’s guests were wearing. I told her in between gasps of now quite labored breaths.
Ginny stopped me with a gasp, a hand to her breast...asking...
“Cadence, are you saying my necklace was not lost but nicked?”
I nodded, “ By the Wood Bead Lady I repeated.”
“ How did she manage all that?” Ginny asked, her turn to be gobsmacked.
“She had a helper. “
I moved Ginny on, continuing the pursuit, slow as it was. I explained in a hushed voice what all I had observed, as we walked on.
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After what felt like an hour, but only had really been ten minutes, we finally reach the cemetery. Looking around we see nothing moving. All is eerily still and silent.
We had just begun moving in along the path when suddenly Ginny swore very loudly and grabbed my shoulder. “Bloody well twisted an ankle!” She wailed quite loudly.
I led her off to the side of the path. “Here sit on this bench,” I instructed her as I helped her down.
“Go on..” she screeched aloud, wincing In pain massaging her ankle.
I went on alone, cautiously, leaving my whimpering friend behind.
I felt a bit more vulnerable now that some of the excitement of the chase appeared gone, and I was now alone. Though my adrenaline was still making my heart beat fast.
I passed by a mausoleum, catching my reflection in the mirror.
“All dressed up and alone.” I thought fearfully to myself. “What a wicked turn of events.”
Reaching an open gate on the other side I go out onto a small parking lot.
Which lets out on the paved road that intersects the road our house is on. I hear a car's tyres screech off in the distance.
Miserably I admit to myself
“I think we lost her”
And with her had gone mums diamonds Ginny's pendent, Mrs. Shannon's and her daughter rubies, that innocent lady's sapphire necklace, Cassie’s diamond garnet necklace, and who knew what other guests had lost their expensive necklaces to Claire's seemingly innocent hugs...
If only I had been quicker on the uptake I sighed as with my mind's eye I pictured little Claire hugging mum and the terribly unsettling aftermath.
Now totally feeling both dejected and depressed, I turn and make out way back to Ginny waiting alone in the cemetery.
>>>>>>>>
I made it back to the stone bench, only to find it empty
I hear a familiar voice whimper close by…
It was Ginny!
I move off and from behind a tree saw down into a small gully
There I see the “Wood Bead lady” holding a knife to Ginny's chest as her free hand was eagerly removing my friend's remaining emeralds.
She had already taken Ginny's emerald earrings and was now gleefully stuffing her emerald bracelet, down inside her purse. As I saw them. She then began working off Ginny's pretty ring, saying wickedly to her victim in the process.
“ Find the catered private parties, I always say, they have nice stuff with easy pickings, like this one, wouldn't you agree dearie?
Heard about this one from two school girls flapping their whiney lips on a city double-decker about having to work here as caterers.
Then I found that simply precious little one and her gullible sneaky friend, who I was able to use in acquiring several of these rich twits necklaces. Yours was the first my sweet. Didn’t feel a thing did you? Well, none of ‘em did, so engrossed in playing with the young ‘un weren’t they now. When I finished that game by playing it on that Shannon broad, I left the tyke in the hands of Estella. Then I paid a “visit” inside the house to find the ladies' bedrooms. That’s where the good stuff usually can be found. Pity the Hostess was wearing the good diamonds, but I found enough in her jewel case to compensate, and in her cheeky daughters also. Cleaned them both out., did it I ” she cackled with delight.
I gasped inwardly, heart sinking, remembering I had left my case open. All my jewellery, including the rings and bracelet I had taken off, had been stolen. And all of my mum’s pretties also….
The “Wood Bead Lady“ continues as she finished working off the emerald ring from Ginny’s finger and plopped it into her purse. She began to methodically paw a shaking Ginny over checking that nothing had been missed as she happily smirked to herself…
“Was quite hard to pass up the opportunity of acquiring that far too lovely diamond necklace the Hostess was so alluringly wearing, just begging to be plucked off. Funny, when I was going through her bedroom, I was fantasizing that she would have to come into the house for something so I could…but she didn’t. So I had to have one more look at the pretty things before leaving…Didn’t I?… Wait now….What was that?”
As I listened in, with a deep sinking feeling, I move back, my expression shows that I’m desperately thinking of a way out of this.
I end up stepping on a twig in the process, the sharp crack it makes giving me away.
The Wood Bead Lady” stopped talking and immediately looked towards the source of the sound she had heard.
Seeing me, “Wood Bead Lady” grabs Ginny. Pulling my struggling friend tightly up against her, now holding the knife to Ginny’s throat.
“Wood Bead Lady” snarls at me, her lip raising like a bulldog. Her words dripping with a coveting wickedness
“Welcome here my pretty one. Should have let me go. Come down now and join your friend my sweet and let me have
another close peek of your pretty party dress.”
She beckons me to come down with the knife.
“Then I'll make you a bit more comfortable. It must be hot walking around weighed down with all those lovely jewels your a wearin! “
I took a step back, Ginny smirks, giving me a wink as the “Wood Bead Lady” continues.
“Don't run away love. I have your friend, and if you don’t want any harm to befall her…”
She left her sentence dangling, her focus now entirely on me, and off from her now still captive.
A bit encumbered by the tight-fitting Qipao dress, Ginny had slowly positioned her legs. I saw her take a deep breath, and in a fluid motion grabbed the lady's arm and with a yell that resounded loudly through the cemetery, neatly backflipped her, In a perfectly executed jit Jitsu move.
The knife had flown from the thief's hand clattering against the side of a gravestone.
Not at all surprised, I had kept my wits, As I quickly moved down into the gully and quickly snatched it up.
Walking over to her prone, dazed figure, I spit out my words with a great deal of relief and satisfaction as I pick up her weighty purse...
“Wood Bead Lady’s” eyes were opened wide, watching me while she lay sprawled out on the ground. as I spoke.
“If you hadn't been such a greedy bitch, luv, you would have gotten clean away with your little scheme. You went “a bridge too far” as the saying goes by having Estella going for me Mum’s diamonds. That’s when My cheeky ass finally caught on, otherwise, you would have got away scot-free with the jewels!”
Ginny comes over and hugs me. I opened the “Wood Bead Lady’s” purse and hearing the lady thief moan, I continued…
And really ‘DEARIE’ was it worth it being unscrupulous enough to take the jewellery from innocent children like Claire and Gabriella! Ginny figured you would hide like the coward you are, and came up with the idea to fake the hurt ankle. Figuring she would present an easy-looking victim, the kind you obviously prefer, whose shiny emeralds would be a far too tempting lure to bring you out of hiding. Ginny is a pretty damn good actress wouldn't you say!?”
The lady just moans more. I open the purse so Ginny and I can have a look.
Our eyes bulged as we take in the not small pile of expensively glistening jewelry inside.
At that moment We all hear the tyres of a car crunching in the parking lot. Soon I hear the welcome voices of papa and my brother calling out.
It must have been his car I head heard the screeching of it’s tyres off in the distance.
It was a happy reunion, and a relief to see the “Wood Bead Lady” being led off wearing papa’s cuffs.
As an addendum, I have to admit I had it wrong.
It was discovered that the weaselly Estella, had indeed been helping the “Wood Bead Lady” with her scheme by standing behind a lady holding Claire, waiting to snatch up the dropped necklace.
But, when the “Wood Bead Lady” had disappeared after taking Mrs. Shannon’s rubies ( to break in and pilfer our bedrooms) Estella then started to use Claire’s game to her own advantage. First to acquire Gabrielle’s ruby necklace, then apparently boldly upping her game by going for Mum’s diamonds.
This became clear after it was discovered that Mum’s Diamond necklace was not inside the “Wood Bead Lady’s “ handbag.
Estella was questioned, caught in a lie, and eventually admitted she had sold both necklaces in a pawn shop for £25. They were both recovered.
So it was just a coincidence that the two passed by each other behind the Hedge.
A coincidence that I happened to have seen, and was probably the only reason the “Wood Bead Lady” was caught red-handed with the jewels.
Fini