“Look for something positive in each day, even if some days you have to look a little harder.”
— Unknown
Source: quotemadness.com
“If drama and stress always seem to find you, maybe it is time to re-evaluate your life, the people in it, and the choices that you make.”
— Unknown
What if you are trapped?
Source: quotemadness.com
A Farewell Nesting Feathursday
It is late September and breeding season has come to an end for most bird species in our area, nests are abandoned, and the breeding colors of some species are beginning to revert to their winter plumage. to commemorate another successful breeding season we present three birds common to our area, along with their nests and eggs: the American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis), Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula), and Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus).
These images are from Nests and Eggs of Birds of the United States by Thomas G. Gentry and published by J. A. Wagenseller of Philadelphia in 1882. This lavish tome includes chromolithographs of around 50 paintings of North American birds, eggs, and nests by the American naturalist painter Edwin Sheppard. While southeastern Wisconsin is technically within the winter range of these species, their ubiquitous abundance in summer is greatly diminished as the days get shorter, and by winter, if they are still around, we are not aware of it. The bright-yellow goldfinch will soon be loosing its luster, but for now we still see them in their yellow jackets, and that brings us good cheer for the beginning of autumn.
View more Feathursday posts.
“Don’t hurt someone who cares about you like that. You’re not the only person in the world who’s ever been hurt. Don’t be cruel. Don’t go breaking someone else’s heart in the hope that you’ll feel better. Because you won’t.”
— Alison McGhee
“Never trust your tongue when your heart is bitter.”
— Samuel J. Hurwitt
My tongue can seldom be trusted.
Partly Hand Colored Ambrotype of African American Soldier of 33rd Missouri Regiment, Benton Barracks, Saint Louis Missouri, circa 1863.
I believe my great great grandfather might have been in this regiment. Will have to check it out.
I have the choice of being constantly active and happy or introspectively passive and sad. Or I can go mad by ricocheting in between.
— Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath
Too many choices
Map of Derinkuyu, an ancient, underground city that was found in Turkey. The city goes 60 meters down and could accommodate 20,200 people. It was discovered when a Turkish resident found a mysterious room behind a wall in his home
Secretary bird - Sagittarius serpentarius
I love me some secretary birds. They’ll up and stomp a snake just for gettin’ in their territory. And don’t come at them when they’ve got eggs! Breeding season is year-round depending upon food supply, so you never know when you’ll be smacked down!
Their name is thought to be because of their quill-feathers, resembling a secretary with a quill pen behind their ear, as was common at the end of the 18th century, when the bird was first described by a European.
While they’re one of only two terrestrial birds of prey (the Caracara of Central America and northern South America being the other), secretary birds fly easily. They’re about 4.5 ft (1.4 m) tall, and primarily hunt small animals. Mice, hares, crabs, and lizards make up the bulk of their diet, but they’ve been known to hunt snakes, tortoises, baby gazelle, and even baby cheetah at times.
Album of Abyssinian Birds and Mammals. Entries by Louis Agassiz Fuertes. Published by the Field Museum of Natural History [Chicago]. 1930.
Alice & Latin
This post was written by Lyonas Xu, an intern from the Classics Department
Recently, I have been wondering how many people are suffering from a miserable life like I do. Sleeping or staring at the ceiling to kill the time, while this coronavirus grounding everyone with a lethal excuse. Though I am physically restrained, my mind is free, daydreaming to wherever I wish. Speaking of daydreams, we all know the mistress of this specialty who unveiled a wondrous dreamland to the world—Alice, the most remarkable character designed by Lewis Carroll (or specifically, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson).
Alicia in Terra Mirabili, is the Latin translation of Alice in Wonderland. The first Latin version of this worldly renowned childhood’s book was translated by Canadian translator Clive Carruthers and published in 1964. It is not modern scholars’ first attempt to translate English classics into Latin, but this is definitely one of the most delightful ones. Just think about reviving both the wonderland characters and an ancient language—what a spark they light!
Beginning with the book cover (above), an exquisite illustration of the iconic figure in wonderland, the white rabbit, is embossed in golden color. I was captivated by the delicacy of the cover already, but the inner artworks are on another level. For example, the picture adjacent to the title page (right) depicts the courtroom in wonderland, with all sorts of living things. The appearances of the king and queen of hearts resemble their classic designs in the playing cards and the readers can even tell the “flatness” of the attendant’s garment at the bottom left.
Another notable setup is the end papers (left), which are printed with a mind-map of Alice’s adventure. Following the thread and starting with the upper right corner, there are “initium somnii” (the beginning of the dream), “cuniculi cavum” (the rabbit hole), “stagum lacrimarum” (the pool of tears) and so forth. Although the “index capitum” (right), the table of contents (distinct from the mind-map), is provided by Carruthers, I personally enjoy the game-board-like one, which is more playful as well as enables its readers to easily connect the Latin title and the picture aside.
I never expect quarantine to be interesting, but neither does it mean I will surrender to boredom. Surely, I can find great pleasure through spending time with Alicia and her terra mirabili!
Sources:
Carroll, Ludovici. Alicia in Terra Mirabili. Translated by Clive Harcourt Carruthers, St Martin’s Press, 1964.
Herald, Times. “Alicia in Terra Mirabili.” Washington Post, 16 October 1964, p. A20.
Schnur, Harry C.. Review of Alicia in Terra Mirabili, liber notissimus latine redditus ab eius fautore vetere gratoque, translated by Clive Harcourt Carruthers. The Classical Journal, May 1965, p. 378.
