culture and history – Page 52

Aftermath, Stuttgart

January 1, 2016August 20, 2017 Cindy at enclos*ure7 Comments

So much of any year is flammable. . .*

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What we have learned since about 4 p.m. yesterday is that Stuttgarters really like their (self-administered) pyrotechnic devices on New Year’s Eve.

Sitting at home, the noise was terrific, particularly from about 10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Venturing downtown this foggy afternoon, I was a little surprised to see everything — or anything — still standing.

The ground was littered with fireworks debris and broken Sekt bottles, but only this Konigstrasse shelter showed any real damage.

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We went inside the Alte Schloss (Old Palace) courtyard for the first time during the Christmas season, and I admired the trees on the columns and star lights.

Have a happy 2016!

*From “Burning the Old Year” by Naomi Shihab Nye.

Waterford, Ireland

December 19, 2015July 18, 2017 Cindy at enclos*ureLeave a comment

Christmas tree wagon of William Power & Sons, merchants of seeds and trees. Photo taken at Waterford, Ireland, courthouse on December 16, 1929, via National Library of Ireland Commons on flickr.

There’s another good photo of this little girl (possibly a Power) and another loaded company wagon here.

To be
Brought down at last
From the cold sighing mountain
Where I and the others
Had been fed, looked after, kept still,
Meant, I knew — of course I knew —
That it would only be a matter of weeks,
That there was nothing more to do. . . .

— James Merrill, from “Christmas Tree“

The Sunday porch: Pleasant Hill, N.C.

December 13, 2015December 13, 2015 Cindy at enclos*ure5 Comments

Pleasant Hill, Vance County, North Carolina, 1938, by Frances Benjamin Johnston for the Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Pleasant Hill,cropped, N.C. F.B. Johnston, Library of Congress — Detail of photo above.

The plantation house, later known as Rivenoak, was built sometime between 1750 and 1780 by Philemon Hawkins, Jr.

A 2011 view of the house is here. Unfortunately the stone columns are gone.

Münster gardens, Basel

December 9, 2015April 11, 2016 Cindy at enclos*ure2 Comments

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The simple garden behind the Münster of Basel, Switzerland, features a bronze replica of the church and its cloisters.

The building — constructed from the 13th century to 1500 — was originally a Roman Catholic cathedral and is now a Reformed Protestant church.

To scroll through larger versions of the photos, click on ‘Continue reading’ below and then on any thumbnail in the gallery.

The harp at Nature’s advent strung
Has never ceased to play;
The song the stars of morning sung
Has never died away. . . .

The blue sky is the temple’s arch,
Its transept earth and air,
The music of its starry march
The chorus of a prayer.

So Nature keeps the reverent frame
With which her years began,
And all her signs and voices shame
The prayerless heart of man.

— John Greenleaf Whittier, from “The Worship of Nature“

‘Tis the season, Stuttgart

December 5, 2015August 20, 2017 Cindy at enclos*ure9 Comments

Almost every German city and town puts on an elaborate Christmas market during the Advent season.

The Stuttgart market — held since at least 1692 — is an excellent one. It made The Telegraph’s top 10 list this year.

As I walked around it on Thursday, taking these snapshots with my phone, I wished that I could also capture its wonderful smells: bread and pastry, sausage, and hot spiced wine (Glühwein).

Click on any thumbnail below to scroll through all my (larger) photos and captions.

Looking down Königstraße, a 1.2 km. pedestrian shopping avenue, which begins at the main train station.

Two parallel rows of pollarded plane trees are a feature of the avenue.

A Christmas tree seller.

The trees set in half-log stands.

The Stuttgart Christmas Market, 2015, enclos*ure

I bought one of these little trees and carried it home via U-bahn and bus.

The seller was also carving decorative items on the spot.

In this area, most of the stands were selling flowers and greenery.

A wreath seller.

Cut long-stem amaryllis flowers.

Boxes of small apples for decoration.

Ornamental kale.

I meant to buy a pot of two of these amaryllis, but the seller had closed by the time I walked back that way — which is just as well; I could never have carried them and the little tree. A good reason to go back.