Chinese Bridges

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I recently happened upon an article in The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities - Bulletin 75 published in 2003 about two Chinese bridges. One was built in 1594 and the other in 1640. Both still fulfil their original function.

Bridges somehow draw my attention.

  • Perhaps because they represent people working together on a project that required combined talents and skills…as physical manifestation of the level of communication humans are capable of.

  • Perhaps because their continued existence indicates that relationships have been sustained since bridges are often the first to be destroyed in war.  Since these bridges are 100s of years old that is significant.

  • Perhaps the artistry of the construction – the arches – over water (or low places) is their appeal.

Whatever it is – enjoy this week’s eBook pick for this article and others in the same volume. Quite of few issues of this periodical are also available on Internet Archive.

Thinking about Bridges

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As I look at old books (on Internet Archive), the images of bridges always catch my attention. Why is that?

Perhaps I see them as a historical connection leading to social media of today….driven by our desire to communicate faster and to more people. Constructing bridges still helps us get from one place to another (usually over water); we do not think of the communication aspect of bridges so much anymore because there are so many other ways we can communicate; however, if there is a bridge destroyed by war or shut down by structural failure/renovation, we again become aware of how critical bridges are in our lives. Historically, as more durable bridges than a log across a stream were constructed…and longer bridges that could span a bay or connect islands to a continent…they must have resulted in cultural shifts locally. Were they as profound as the ones we experience now with social media? If so, the scale was smaller. Maybe there were some that realized the faster and broader communication is not always better…..that communication can foster division as well as consensus.

Or maybe they are symbols of our need to modify the world to meet our needs. We don’t always think through the impact of a bridge…the enabler it is to further development. For example, consider a bridge to a barrier island; that implies a road on the barrier island and then maybe beach houses or high-rise hotels with associated water and sewer infrastructure…dune and beach erosion, problems for structures when the island naturally wants to erode and rebuild.

Bridges are functional forms of art. They reflect the structural prowess of architects/engineers and the aesthetics of the culture and location where they are built.

Enjoy these pictures of bridges from some books I’ve browsed recently!

Siren, Osvlad. Histoire des arts anciens de la China vol.4 L'Architecture, 1930.

Carpenter, Frank George. Japan and Korea, 1926.

Maxwell, Donald. Unknown Essex, 1925.

Hale, Louise Closser; Hale, Walter. We discover the Old Dominion, 1916.

Phillipotts, Eden. My Devon Year, 1904.

Peixotto, Ernest. The American Front, 1919.

Ryan, Lorna M. When I was a girl in Australia, 1932.

Road trip to London, Ontario (and back)

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When my daughter told me about a conference she was attending in London, Ontario in early October, I volunteered to go too – doing half the driving. Flying directly to the place was expensive and flying to Toronto necessitated some form of transportation from there to the smaller city (rental car, bus, or train). She liked the road trip idea, and I booked a room in the same hotel where she had. We opted to make the 14-hour drive over two days with the 1st day being the long one in each direction. Her employer provided a rental car.

My husband took us to pick up the rental car on the morning we were leaving. My daughter forgot her coat (and the forecast in Canada indicated she would need it) so a stop by her house delayed us a little…but I had an opportunity to enjoy the fall roses near her driveway and

The spectacular pods on her magnolia. Maybe we can harvest some of the pods when they have the red seeds in them to use in December decorations.

The first-day drive was a long slog – over 9 hours – and we passed from Central to Eastern time. We arrived at the hotel at sunset.

We had chosen a restaurant for dinner…but it had closed about 20 minutes before we got there! Fortunately, there was another one nearby that worked out just as well.

The next morning, we were up early. My daughter splurged on a huge cinnamon roll from the hotel’s breakfast. I had my usual dark chocolate then ate the rest of the carrots I had brought for the road (finishing everything that needed to be kept cool). We stopped at the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory and Belle Island Aquarium…on the island in the Detroit River (more about that in subsequent posts). We had lunch on the patio at Ivy Kitchen in Detroit (Jefferson Street) afterwards. My daughter ordered a mimosa and was challenged for the rest of the lunch with wasps taking an interest.

We made it to London, Ontario by about 4PM having crossed into Canada at Sarnia and unpacked in our home-away-from-home for the next week. Since the rooms had kitchens, we bought a few groceries.

A week later, we go up before the sun. I took a picture of the sunrise just before I headed down to the parking garage with my luggage.

Google Maps routed use toward the border crossing between Windsor and Detroit rather than reversing our previous route. The route was like an interstate the whole way! A few things were different: the road number was on a crown rather than a shield, the ‘food’ symbol on signs included a cup/saucer with the familiar knife and fork, the speed limits were in KM and the gas plumps dispensed L of gas!

My daughter was driving so I was able to take pictures of the Detroit skyline while we went over the Ambassador Bridge back into the US. There was more traffic at the Windsor-Detroit crossing and it took longer than the Sarnia crossing a week earlier, but the ETA that Google had calculated for us must have taken it into account since we arrived at our hotel only a few minutes ‘late.’

The route crossed Michigan, Indiana and into Illinois. We were back on Central time.The next day was a shorter day and we got off early…arrived home in Missouri by noon! Both of us were keen to do laundry and otherwise get back to ‘normal.’

More posts over the next week about what I did in London, Ontario!

Maryland to Missouri – a road trip as passenger

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I’ve been making road trips between my home in Maryland to Missouri on my own until recently when my husband went with me to see the house we are buying. It was so different to be a passenger rather than driving myself!

The route was familiar and there were no cold weather hazards this time. More daylight made it possible for us to start the drive before 7 in daylight – leaving behind the fading blooms on the cherry and plum tree in the front of our Maryland home.

The first day of the trek was the easiest; it was cloudy with mists and sprinkles…occasional sunshine.

The daffodils were still in full bloom at the South Mountain rest stop; the elevation makes a difference; the flowers have already faded at hour home closer to Washington DC/Baltimore.

I took a few extra minutes at Sidling Hill to photograph the road cut. It is awesome.

There were plenty of rest stops along the way – a quick walk to the facilities through the damp.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

And the bridges at Louisville KY.

We stopped for the night at a hotel in Corydon, IN that has a historical marker in its parking lot!

The next day was harder after we were about halfway through the drive – very heavy rain. The early rest stops still held some beauty – trees on ridges, violets and spring beauties and dandelions.

It was safe to take pictures of the arch at St. Louis because I wasn’t driving!

The pictures taken at the rest stops in Missouri were through the window because of the rain. For some reason the fire hydrant near a picnic table tickled me.

And then we were at our hotel…glad that the heavy rain did not include lots of thunder/lightning and high winds that had been part of the forecast.

Mt. Pleasant – November 2020 (part 2)

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The Davis Branch was serene as usual in the rocky beach area. A family with children was at the water’s edge so I focused more on the shed with beech trees still retaining a few leaves, the upstream and downstream view, and the path up the hill.

I noticed that the treey with the damaged trunk (maybe from a lightning strike) had been cut at the top. Or perhaps the top fell and it was the sawed pieces that I photographed were facing the path.

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A path that was mostly grown over last year at this time is now a clear track…maybe a little too close to the stream, but everyone likes it too much to close it off. I enjoyed some colorful leaves along the way back toward the stone wall.

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There is now a new bridge across the Davis Branch! I had missed that news and found it by accident. There are riffles right at the bridge then deeper water. I hope the little trees planted around the bridge survive. It is a great vantage point now and will get better as the trees get bigger.

Overall – our little field trip to Mt. Pleasant was too short to do everything. Maybe we’ll go again some weekday morning ….when there will be fewer people around.

Images of Bridges – October 2020

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I gleaned paintings/photographs of bridges from the slideshow collections I enjoyed from Internet Archive back in June….as a themed perspective into 8 artists. Clicking on the artists name will access the slideshow on Internet Archive (i.e. more than just bridges!).

The artists were capturing moments of the world in which they lived. Bridges are part of the architecture they observed. The materials were varied – stone, steel, concrete, wood – depending on the time, place, and function of the bridge. I noticed that the bridges were either empty or painted with people (except for one that includes cattle and a man riding a horse). In one a person is walking in the rocky creek under the bridge.

Enjoy the color and beauty of these bridges!

Gustave Caillebotte (1848 - 1894)

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Art of Bridges – September 2020

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Bridges in art is the theme for this post. I’ve collected the images over the past month as I browsed through art slideshows on Internet Archive. The post on the same theme in August can be found here. These images give me the idea of doing more photographing of bridges once I start traveling again; it’s a relatively easy thing to do on a road trip when my husband is driving….and the windshield is relatively clean. Of course, there are other – sometimes more dramatic – view of bridges from the side rather than the bridge surface. Maybe we’ll make a point to find vantage points of complex bridges…a short stop for a few pictures!

There are 12 artist featured this month – from showing different countries, time periods, and styles. The bridges are made of stone, concrete, steel and wood – and they are not always crossing water! The artist name/link is to the slideshow where more of their work can be seen. Enjoy these images…and look at the other paintings from these artists in the Internet Archive entry on their work.

Wayne Thiebaud (1920 - )

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Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Cool morning….breakfast adjustment. I like smoothies but when the outdoor temperature is in the 50s, I want something warm. The past few mornings I’ve started out with hot tea with coconut almost milk and a few pieces of dark chocolate. At mid-morning (when I was having a smoothie with the consistency of soft-serve ice cream because of all the frozen ingredients), I have something that is decidedly more lunch-like. I’m changing the name of the light meal from 2nd breakfast to 1st lunch! A bowl of potato soup  with lots of good veggies from the CSA tastes so good on a cold morning!

Art of Bridges – August 2020

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Bridges in art is the theme for this post. I’ve collected the images over the past month as I browsed through art slideshows on Internet Archive. Sometimes bridges are a location for action – the people or vehicle on the bridge drawing the eye. At other times – the bridge itself is the main feature of the painting…as architecture. Most of the time there is a permanence to the structure – stone and steel. The bridges of wood sometimes leave a different impression.

The artist name/link goes to the slideshow to see more of their work. Enjoy these images…and take a look at the other paintings from these artists.

Edvard Munch (1863-1944)

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Unique Activities for Yesterday:

After the rain. We had blustery rain in the late afternoon. The following morning, I discovered one of the tie backs on the deck drapery had come loose and used that as a prompt to unfurl all of the drapes to make sure they could thoroughly dry.

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Cat on the Deck. Our cat likes to be outdoors on the covered/screened deck for naps. He generally is outdoors with me in the early morning. Temperatures have been in the mid60s the past few days between 6 and 7 AM…and he curls up for a good snooze.

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Later in the day – the naps are shorter…and he is easily disturbed. When I went out to take a picture of the unfurled drapes….I didn’t realize he was there until he started moving. He wasn’t happy with me and headed inside to complain to my husband.

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3 Free eBooks – January 2020

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Starting out the new year…I selected 3 books with an art and history skew from my accumulation of reading this month.

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Dillon, Edward. Glass. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. London: Methuen and Co. 1907. Available from Project Gutenberg here. The book is a history of glass (up until the early 1900s) with illustrations of pieces in museum collections. I paid more attention to the illustrations than the text. I’ve always been interested in ancient glass because it points to the step beyond basketry and pottery in our manufacturing expertise. It a material we think about as being ‘breakable’ but is often very enduring.

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Whitney, Frederick. Blackboard Sketching. Springfield, Massachusetts: Milton Bradley Company. 1909. Available from Internet Archive here. Written at a time when many students were learning to write and draw with blackboard slates and slate pencils…it provides an idea of how students were taught. Early classrooms used a lot less paper!

LaFontaine, Bruce. Bridges of the World Coloring Book. Dover Publication. 1994. Available from Internet Archive here. The bridges are organized chronologically. The sample image I show below is the colored version (as the end page of the book) of page 10…a bridge from China built about 1100. The book includes short descriptions the design features and technologies the bridge builders utilized. Obviously, these bridges have proven to be very durable.

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Enjoy these 3 online books!