Jan 22 2023 - Chinese New Year

 

Chinese New Year this year brings the year of the rabbit.  I wonder if we will be present to this after today.   There are a lot of traditions - more than I imagined. And a lot of time to celebrate them in - since the mid-1990s the Chinese have been given seven consecutive days off work.  As there are 15 days of  traditional celebrations, they will need to double up..  What are the celebrations? I took a look to find out and realize how little I know about the traditions and legends.  Just the first few days: It says the first day is "Birthday of Chicken" where the oldest and most senior members will be visited. The second day is "Birthday of Dog" where people will burn the picture they welcomed on the New Year's Eve, and traditionally married women will visit and pay respect to their birth parents. Since the day is characterised by the birthday of the dogs, pets and strays will be fed well. The third day is "Birthday of Pig" where families who had an immediate relative deceased in the past 3 years will not go house-visiting as a form of respect to the dead. The third day of the New Year is allocated to grave-visiting instead. Some people conclude it is inauspicious to do any house visiting at all, as it is believed that evil spirits roam the earth this day and hence it would be bad luck to be outdoors. We skip ahead to Sheep, Ox, Cattle, Horse, and at day 7 are at the "Birthday of Men". This is the day when human beings were created.  We still have to get to Day 15, so there are lots of celebrations yet to come.   Some of the traditions are taboos such as no hair cutting, no using scissors, knives and other sharp  things, no arguing, swearing, saying unlucky words (death, sickness) and no breaking things.  And then there are articles on what to wear, typical Chinese New Year greetings, and so on.  One in five people in the world is Chinese. Shouldn't Chinese New Year be a part of our lives in some way more than a one day celebration around the world. Its traditions seem so separate from  "western culture."   Raindrop s on windshield pictures. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Pothole Season So Soon!

Potholes are emerging.  Traditionally potholes develop in later winter / early spring when nighttime temperatures are below freezing and daytime temperatures are above freezing.  The temperature cycle results in several freezing-thawing that causes potholes.   So our mild winter is like spring, and we can look forward to an extended pothole presence.  In 2019, the City of Toronto fixed a record 110,595 potholes in time for spring.  The "Pothole Promise" is that the City will repair potholes in four days from the date they are reported  on the busiest roads.   There are large potholes in the landscape.  I found a picture of a large pothole at Foster's Flats in the Niagara Glen. "This Pothole was formed in the ancient Niagara River Bed, now Wintergreen Flats. Later the rock layers around it were undercut causing it to fall to the terrace below." The most famous is the Devils arch. Claims of the largest glacial Pothole comes from Eynon, PA - found by miners in 1884. It is located in the Archbald Pothole State Park. It is 38 feet 11.6 m) and 42 feet (12.8m) wide.  Right near WilkesBarre are the Seven Tubs - a series of potholes.   Back to roads, I went looking for the largest potholes ever. Britain' Guardian led the headlines with a pothole so large that the council road repair van became stuck in it. It was 10 feet long.   Then there's Detroit's claim of Pothole patrol:  We find the biggest and deepest.  They sent junior journalists out to find and measure the biggest. A novel approach to potholes comes from Russia a few years ago with Russian activists painting mocking caricatures of local officials over gaping potholes.  Here's the link HERE.  They call it "road shaming". Our pretty picture comes from my workshop a few years ago, learning to do macros of water drops.

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