Art Therapy #4

Yes... Art Therapy continues... with a few bumps. One week we both completely forgot and my favorite postcard got lost in the mail.

This is my second favorite of mine. I was finishing my Spring cleaning of my office and remembered I had to do that week's postcard. I decided to make a postcard with things I found as I cleaned. This one is called Foggy with a Chance of Snow. These were photos I had taken. The back of the card has a white corrugated board. It also gave more white texture. And on this piece I knew when to stop. Not always true.

Here is Nancy's postcard from that week. She was pondering thoughts of solitude and writing about it. Savaswati is her favorite Hindu goddess. She has a room of her own. And also has unusual white skin.

Getting a postcard from Nancy is always a treat. I get excited with a kraft envelope arrives in the mail. I generally send mine in a shimmery gold one.

This is my favorite so far. And this is the one that is lost in the mail. That makes me sad because once again the scan does not do the glitter justice. I like how loose this one is. Unfortunately I worked hard for that loose look. My plan is to turn this postcard into an art piece of maybe 6 or 9 teacups. I have a collection of my mother's, so that will be the inspiration.

This looks like a postcard but it is the cover of a 'zine that Nancy produced. I love these women, I think they could be a nice poster.

More Art Therapy in a couple of weeks.

Art Therapy #2

Week 3... Dreams

I think I suggested we share a dream. Mine had been haunting me. What better way to put this one to bed.

Week 4... what do you like about Winter?

I don't like Winter. In protest I never seem to wear real Winter clothes. Since that is not working for me I decided I would be happier if I was toasty. I got 3 nice Woolrich flannel buffalo print shirts. I got them big so I can layer under them which I never do either. So far, this seems to be working.

Unfortunately my scan does not do this postcard justice. I can't capture the translucency. This is my favorite one yet. Great job Nancy!

Ice Quakes

I had no idea what ice quakes were until moving to the shore of Lake Monona. We were quite surprised. There are varying sounds. A small one sounds like the front door slamming hard. A bigger one sounds like a heavy dresser upstairs fell over. The really big ones sound like a boom and the condo shakes. My desk is about 25' from the lake. So I have a ring side seat.

Interesting recent Cap Times article.

This is what it initially looks like. A crack in the ice.

Ice quakes happen when the ice expands and contracts. The ice cracks and one layer comes up and over the other layer. This year there has been a crack very close to our condo. I took all these photos from inside.

Here you see two pieces of ice. Ice is probably 15" thick now.

Madison.com article from Feb. 2008.

Apparently the big one was on January 15, 1948.

The American Journal of Science published this short note:

American Journal of Science, vol. 246, no. 6, page 390. Charles C. Bradley.

MENDOTA QUAKE

On Jan. 15, 1948, at 11:40 A.M. an earth tremor jolted the University of Wisconsin campus. It was of sufficient intensity to shake some plaster off the ceiling of an office and to crack the sewer drain of one fraternity house. Otherwise little damage was done.

The quake was felt by many students. One saw his books shaken off a stool and drop to the floor. Others heard windows vibrate and dishes rattle. Still others felt only a barely perceptible motion as they sat quietly studying.

The quake occurred opportunely for the beginning class in geology. They were studying earthquakes that week. When the class met the next day the instructor placed a map of the city on the board and called for a show of hands of those who had felt the tremor. Each student in turn related where he was at the time, what he was doing and what he felt. Using the modified Mercalli Scale of Intensity the isoseismal lines of the quake were plotted on the board, the results being approximately as indicated in the accompanying map.

As a classroom exercise it was very successful, increasing many-fold the students' interest in this aspect of geology.

They had not been aware that the tremor was occasioned by an ice fracture on Lake Mendota resulting from a warm day of expansion following a protracted period of cold. The position of the isoseismal lines, however, indicated the approximate focus of the quake. Following the lecture several students visited the "fault zone" where they found a four-foot overthrust in ice 1 1/2 feet thick.

The Wisconsin GNHS Report, 1984, also reported that this event was an icequake.

a foggy sunday morning...

 

we have had days of warm weather (in the 40s) and fog. So we headed out Sunday morning to take a few pictures.

winter, hopefully the second half

 

I really, really hope that Winter is half over. By the calendar it should be, but this year who knows. Sunday we had a rare sort of warmish day and decided to take a walk on the lake. Never fear I would think by now the ice on the lake should be at least 2' deep.

From in our condo we can see this little forest out on the lake with little ant-like people walking around it. I've seen it other years but in a different place on the lake. It appears that someone gathers up old Christmas trees and creates a little forest you can walk around and through. I think of it as an art installation.

There is a little desk and you can take a strip of cloth and write a message and attach it to one of the trees. I think these stay until Spring. We always wonder if they just sink into the lake when it thaws. I guess this year we will find out If you want to wander on out I'd suggest accessing the lake from Morrison Park on Morrison St. on the near East side here in Madison. It is maybe half a mile from the shoreline there.

ice fishing

   

yes I went ice fishing. A first. Ryan and his buddy Chad and John fished about 100 yards off our shoreline. So I layered up and went out to see what this was all about.

I was shocked at how thick the ice was. Certainly shows that we are a long way from Spring.

Also surprised that the 4 of us could all fit in the ice shanty. And that we were nice and warm in there as it was a windy day. But then I was wearing so many clothes I could barely move.

I then came home and let the boys be boys with my long held belief confirmed that men go sit in these tents to drink beer and get away from their women. And that is a good thing.

At least this mystery is solved.

winter

 

If you are into that sort of thing. Winter is wearing me down. But February is half over and today it will be 40. So there is hope.

weird winter wisconsin weather

 

strange weather this week... ice storm, followed by 55 degrees today, snow tomorrow and then freezing temperatures. And in the time it took to take these pictures and post them all the whiteness is gone and it is completely clear out. The above photo was the view from my desk.

We have been having daily ice quakes which I have written about here and here. They are caused by extreme changes in temperature. We are wondering if the ice quakes are what causes the ice on the shoreline.

And here is a surprising photo. One of our neighbor's boulders is sitting on the ice. These are massive and too heavy for someone to have moved it there. I guess it is just Mother Nature at work.