Search for the Old City Continues

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Model of the Dom (church)
Model of the Dom (church)
  This time I had better luck in getting a feel for the size of the old city of Frankfurt am Main.  A wonderful scale model replica of the city is on display in the Frankfurt Historical Museum.  The model, built by brothers Hermann and Robert Treuner were made on a scale of 1:200.  They began working on this in 1926 but were interrupted by the devasting bombing of Frankfurt during WWII which totally destroyed everything.  (Well, everything except for one building–that's all that was left!)  Hermann Treuner finished what he could in 1955.  The model does not show the entire old city because the documentation of how it all looked was gone.  He could only finish what they already had to work with.
  Still, by comparing this model with maps showing the old city, it was much easier to get a sense of the size.  Everything still seemed close and easily within walking distance.
  The city model also showed dramatically how the St. Bartholomew Church (also known as the Dom) rose majestically above the rest of the city.  It's spire could be seen from anywhere in town.  This is the church where Leopold I was crowned Holy Roman Emperor when Maria Sybilla Merian was eleven years old.

Ice Sculptures in Branson

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carvingice Ice swordfish

My son-in-law and I spent the afternoon in Branson marveling at the creativity shown by all the sculptures there.  Watching the artists at work was fascinating!  The weather was way too warm, though, and made their job much, much more difficult.  The bright sunshine was a major hazard; even an overcast day would have been better for them.    I, however, was thoroughly intrigued watching how they added pieces and reattached parts that fell off.

Of all the tools the artists used–chainsaws, chisels, drills, etc.–the most unexpected was the ye ole household iron!  The combination of applied heated board to one surface and dry ice to another seems to act as a glue when the two pieces are then put together.

This was the first time I have seen such an event.  It will not be the last!

Frankfurt City Wall

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Frankfurtcitywall
Frankfurtcitywall
Since my research in Germany began with the city of Frankfurt am Main in the 1600's, I wanted to try and get a feel for the size of the old city that for centuries had been enclosed within stone walls.
Frankfurt today is a large, busy city with a skyline of shiny steel skyscrapers.  It is the second largest metropolitan area in Germany.  A far different size city from the one I was seeking.
I decided that perhaps seeing what was left of the old city wall would help.  I knew there was a portion of it still standing; I had seen a sign pointing in its direction.
At first I didn't even see the wall.  It was set back, bordering a small, scruffy-looking area full of weeds and trash.  A splash of color–of all things, graffiti, caught my eye.  Part of the wall had been opened up to allow traffic through.  It continued on the other side of the street as a back wall for what looked like a preschool playground.  Tall apartment buildings crowded in, overwhelming the little stone wall.
Not much left.  Very disappointing.
The city hurried through and around it scarcely acknowledging its existence.  A small plaque lets any visitors who might come this way know that this stone wall is all that is left of the grand, protective city wall from the 12th century.

Winter and I are Not the Best of Friends

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The sky today is uniformly gray.  Skeleton trees assembled along the streets of town look as rigid as soldiers standing inspection.  Icy winds swept through last night leaving frigid temperatures to invade personal spaces wherever they can force an entry.  I long for warm weather and sunshine.

Would I rather be snug in a warm cocoon and simply wait out the cold?  No, I want to be active, just active in a warmer climate.  Since I cannot transport myself to said climate, I am forced to struggle through the cold and the grayness.  I know the season will change…eventually.  But it seems like such a long time away.  I long for warm weather and sunshine.

The Winter Blahs

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Well, folks, it’s winter. Winter and I are not the best of friends. I don’t like the skeleton trees or the cold. I hate the short daylight hours and the insipid grey days. Sometimes it’s even difficult to think.

When it seems like there is not enough time for everything in the summer, I think that in the winter I can do more; especially since then there are no outdoor summer chores that need to be done. And then winter comes and I realize once again…

Pumped for Research

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I stepped off the plane at the Frankfurt airport full of eager anticipation.  Only two weeks to find out all I could in two cities.  Our exchange daughter, Anke, met me at the airport.  We dropped my backpack and suitcase at her apartment and she took me on a streetcar-train-walking tour of Frankfurt so I would have a basic idea of how to get where I needed to go.  I bought a week’s transportation pass which includes both the streetcar and train.

The next morning Anke went back to work, and armed with a city map and notebook, I set out to find the Römerberg.  It took me a couple of minutes to establish just where I was when I arrived streetside from the train (which runs under the city in that area).

The Römerberg.  I knew the three buildings comprising the Römer were the old city hall and designated places for official functions in the 1600’s, the time period  of my research.  Fanning out from the Römer was a large open space, which in earlier times was the main market place and where the twice yearly trade fairs were held.  This market area was the Römerberg, very much a misnomer.  I laughed when I realized that this slight uphill slant was called a mountain (berg).  But it did provide a natural ampitheater for viewing public events.

It was disappointing not to be able to see the exterior of the Römer.  The three buildings were covered with scaffolding and some kind of material as some kind of work was being done to them.  But there are plenty of pictures in books and on postcards that show the exterior.

Frankfurt is a very modern city.  Its skyline is often compared to that of New York City.  I knew that the only way I might get a sense of the 1600’s would mostly be in the various museums.

The Magic of Illustration

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I’ve had two vacations this summer, each one working its own magic of relaxation a bit differently.   But  the most magical time of this summer washed over me and engulfed me completely  while I was totally absorbed in a delightful new children’s book.  It began in Honderdland with a little boy named Matthijs.

I read it once for the story itself, enjoying and appreciating the author’s imagination.  Then I read it again with an eye for what would make a good illustration….

My hand reached for the mechanical pencil I use for sketching.  It seemed a bit slow at first–it always does–as I  sketched  a variety of faces for possible use.   Then an idea for an illustration came.  As I worked on that one, another  idea crowded in followed by others.   Soon I was very busy.

The creative process took over.  I am constantly amazed by it.  I start out with an idea; I’m in control of that idea…well, for awhile anyway.  Then suddenly the drawing, the illustration, the painting, demands to be changed.  It doesn’t want that bush, cloud, or color there, or it wants darker trees in the foreground; or it won’t stay just a small drawing, it refuses to be complete without more added to it.  Or it says no to all the color I had planned, or it cries out for more color than I had planned.  The details I worked so hard on just don’t fit or draw attention away from where it should be and have to be taken out.  The passage of time means nothing.   My whole focus is this emerging creation.  It’s an enjoyable challenge.  It’s my  high.

This particular project is now complete; it’s at the publisher.  Matthijs in Honderdland, by Inge de Graaf, illustrated by Nancy Dailey, will be out soon.   😀      Woohoo!

Dauphine Island

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I just spent a week on Dauphine Island off the coast of Alabama in the Gulf.  I was very curious to know what differences there might be between the Atlantic and the Gulf beaches.  I have to say I was very disappointed with the beach on Dauphine Island.  It is very narrow; there is a seawall farther out which keeps out the normal waves, so that is not as interesting.  There are a number of gas rigs out in the Gulf which means the view is not so great.  And there were practically no shells at all, much less in a variety of shapes and colors.  What shells there were were white.  It was very commercialized with people zipping around in motorboats and those seadoo thingys.  Lots of condos and people, not much nature.  It’s not for me.


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A Ten Sand Dollar Day

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This time we picked up the sand dollars right in the water as they were being washed ashore.  It looked as if they just glided in underwater.  Sometimes they were left on the sand, but other times another wave would take them back out, if you weren’t quick enough in picking them up, that is.  We did manage to get ten of them; that beats the previous record of eight.  (So, of course we ran into a family who said they found fifty on the beach at Ft. Clinch last April!)

I saw a little whitish shrimpy critter scurrying along the sand at the wave line with a little one hanging on to it.  But by the time I got the camera turned on and focused it dived into the sand and disappeared leaving a little hole.  Well, now I know what makes all those little holes I’ve been seeing.  Must be what the birds go after, too.

And then…as I came even with a group of people looking at what a boy caught while fishing from the beach, I saw that it was a sting ray.  It was off the hook and on the sand; the dad pulled it by the long spine back towards the water (apparently it’s a bit heavy) and then tossed it in.  It landed upside down so he waded in and turned it over.  And with a graceful undulation of its sides it headed for deeper water.   The way they move through the water is absolutely beautiful!  I had no idea that sting rays were so close to shore, I guess I had just assumed that they were much farther out there. 

The ocean is awesome.