A morning at the Boston Metro Hi-Railers Train Club

At the invitation of Trevor Hartford, the son of long time friend Marty Hartford, Marty, Alex and I went out to visit the Boston Metro Hi-Railers, a train club.  They had an open house, and it was great to watch Alex get so excited.

One of the layouts at the club.

This was amazing.  A trestle, assembled by hand, stick by stick.

It will be moved into place upon completion

A detail showing the construction.  

I swear to you, Alex was excited.  Honestly!

A snowplow, for blizzards.  Impressive. 

Thank you so much, Trevor, it was great to visit your club. 

Glen, Heritage, Harvard Art Museum

We had our annual visit to Heritage Gardens in Sandwich, which is all about lights for Christmas; Glen came to visit and Erin arranged a dinner in Burlington;  I took Mark Slawson to see the Harvard Art Museum, and focused on faces, reflecting on what the expressions might be saying.

The lights at Heritage Plantation

Susan, Alex, Cheryl, Carter in the cold.

Jackson, Erin, Ken, Oliver, Alex, Scott, Glen, Carter  (thank you, Barbara!)

"I wonder if he remembered his trombone?"

"Bust of a Bodhisavatti Surrounded by a Monk and Divas"

Wall Painting, Chinese, 8th. century

"Please, please, remember your pills!"

(Kneeling Attendant Bodhisattva)

Chinese, Tang dynasty, 7th. century

"A greeter at Walmart"

Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768

"Bodhidharma (Daruma)"

"Style is everything, my dear!"

Mask (go ge)

Liberia, Mano, late 19th century

"I am always thinking faster than I can speak!"

Head with feathers

Liberia or Republic of Cote

"The sight of anyone in good health fills me with rage!"

Master of the Catholic Kings

"The Presentation in the Temple" (detail) c.1500

"Youth is wasted on the young!  Why, in my day..."

Tilman Riemenschneider

"Saint Anthony Abbot"  C. 1510

"What did I do with my I-phone?"

Joos van Cleve

"Saint Jerome in His Study" 1521

"The Sopranos had a serious argument about pitch with the tenors"

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

"Fortitude" 1559

"Well, it could be played that way!" (quoting Ron Baron)

Workshop of Lucas Cranach the Elder

"Martin Luther"  1546

"Oh! How I love the sound of my bass trombone!"

Krishna playing the Flute

India, 13th-14th century

"You payed WHAT for that bottle of wine?!"

Alexei von Jawlensky

"Head of a Woman" c. 1911

"Now I know where the term 'nutcracker' comes from!"

George Grosz

"Nutcracker"  1931

"Why the hell does the cat sit on his lap?!

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

"Self-portrait with Cat" (detail) 1920

Catching up, Thanksgiving, celebration 1

A few fall pictures, and the "group" shot at our celebration of Thanksgiving, with both sons, wives, grandchildren.  What a great holiday.

The Taunton River near Bridgewater, shortly after a tornado siren sounded.

Pratt Farm, Middleboro

Susan on a fall walk 

"Grandparents Day" at St. John's Academy, with Jackson playing host

to Doug, Susan, and Trish and Russ Duthoit

A Northern Harrier, very far away.  

The family photo, Thanksgiving, outtake 1

Outtake 2

Outtake 3

Thank you, Lord!

Harvard Art Museum

Barbara and Bill's first visit to the new Harvard Art Museum coincided with meeting up with
Bruce and I in Cambridge.  She was particularly interested in an exhibit on animal-shaped vessels, and it was fascinating.
The HAM is a small but very perceptive collection of a few masterpieces by most of the great artists of the 19th. and 20th. centuries.  It must be a great teaching museum because of its huge range of arts represented.  It is a great day's visit.

Stirrup-spout bottle in the form of a puma attacking a prisoner

Peru, 350-850 CE

Beaker with the forepart of a crested and winged lion

Iranian, 6th century BCE

Amphora pitcher with monster-shaped handles

Achaemenid, 480 BCE  Bulgaria

detail of above

Lion-headed mug

Attributed to Douris

Greek, Attic, early 5th. century BCE

Rhyton with the forepart of a griffin

Achaemenid, 5th-6th century BCE

Diana and stag automaton

Joachim Fries c. 1610-20 CE

This was a wine server, which rolled around the table offering wines to guests

Ram head mug depicting a symposium

Attributed to the Syriskos Painter

Greek, Attic, c. 460-470 BCE

Rhyton  with the forepart of a zebu bull

Seleucid or Parthian 2nd. cent. BCE

Iznik tile

How delightful to find some Gustave Moreau.  When Barbara and I visited the Moreau museum in 

Paris, it was a revelation. 

Joseph and the Angel

Salome

and a Canaletto!

Paul Klee

"Dried Up Cataract"  1930

detail

Wassily Kandinsky

"Jocular Sounds"  1929

Fangyi Wine Vessel 

Chinese 

Shang or Zhou period

10th - 11th. century  BCE

Paul Klee

"Hot Pursuit"  1939