We lasted through some of the worst ice and wind storms we've had down here in a while. but all it took yesterday was a light drizzle in calm winds, and everything went dark. I was just finishing up with Januda, a piano student. He was on the last page of a piece by Debussy. I held the flashlight while he finished it. My next student arrived with her mom, but I had to send them back home (their house was dark, too, but mom thought it might come back on as they drove here). So I have some more teaching to do tonight, rescheduled from yesterday. Even though it was pretty mild yesterday (around +1 C), after 90 minutes of having no working heating system the house temp dropped from 68 to 62 F. But then the power came back on, and life resumed.
Our Detroit day was last Tuesday. I had to return a pile of empty beer bottles, ones I had purchased returning from NM last September. I also had two classic SF novels waiting at the Dearborn mailbox. We dined at La Shish, splitting an epic portion of Rice/Almond salad, and topping it with a side of baba ganoush. An inexpensive lunch, and delicious. They certainly don't stint on the slivered almonds, either. Then it was off to yet another new coffee shop, this one on Michigan Ave. not far from the old Tiger Stadium. A totally decrepit 2-story building has been completely renovated. The cafe is upstairs, with large windows offering fantastic views towards downtown. I enjoyed the house Costa Rican coffee; Deb had a Kenyan peaberry pour over, which was really delicious and bodacious! We split a vegan chocolate raspberry granola bar thingy, made it Detroit. Filling and delicious!
Deb's new eyeglasses were ready, so on the way home we stopped and picked them up. She is able to read again! She is currently reading a book by John Sladek called "The Reproductive System." It's a very funny SF book, one of the Avon/Equinox series. I am reading a book by E.C. Tubb, covering the first 35 years of colonizing Mars.
On to art: The Detroit Institute of Arts currently has over 60,000 of its objects on-line. This means that paintings that are not currently on show can be seen on-line, as well as many other things, too. Such as graphic arts. Prints, drawings, and the like rarely go on exhibit, and when they do it is usually for a brief period. This is due to their fragile nature when exposed to light. So browsing the graphic arts department is a lot of fun, and I will be including many of these images as long as I continue this blog and art project.
If you visit the DIA website, and find "Search the Collection," and type in Winter, you get over 100 things that have the word "winter" in it somewhere. There are some lovely artworks in this category, including today's image. Hope you enjoy it!
Large version.
Winter Morning, Walter Koch, ca. 1900. Woodcut, 37cm x 26 cm. Detroit Institute of Arts.
Full image version.
This is one of the more beautiful winter images I have ever seen, and that would include many Japanese woodblock prints. Koch captures the quiet beauty of being in the woods on a slightly foggy day. It reminds me of where Deb and I snowshoe, when there is enough snow. So far this year, we have not had enough snow.
Mapman Mike
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