One of my favourite times of year. The trees are starting to bloom!
It was another unseasonably mild spring day. I'm not sure if the temperature actually got up to the forecast high of 25C, but it was very pleasant.
I ran in the morning, with my usual companion. Today's segments were about the presidential election of 1860, when Abe Lincoln won it for the Republican Party. Douglass walked a fine line, sometimes criticizing the party for its excessive pragmatism and failure to whole-heartedly embrace the abolition cause, while ultimately supporting it as the far lesser of two evils. He's not at all optimistic about what Lincoln's victory will mean, and fears scenarios in which it could make the plight of black slaves worse.
Lincoln's election victory was followed almost immediately by South Carolina seceding. Douglass recognizes that this may ultimately be a good thing for abolition, but still has no inkling of how quickly things will change. Somewhat depressingly, in the midst of the "secession crisis," Northern anti-abolitionists step up their campaigns of violence and intimidation against abolitionists. I left off with a Boston abolition meeting that turned into a three-hour melee between the two sides, with violence and name calling - finally broken up by the police.
On my run, I noticed a fabulous magnolia tree in front of a little brick cottage on Empress Ave. where it runs into the river. It was budding, with a few blossoms fully out. I resolved to come back with camera and photograph it. And did.
In the afternoon, Karen and I set out together to the library where she was returning books and picking up reserves. I took the books for her and headed for the river, while she went off on her preferred route along old north streets.
The magnolia on Empress Ave. was further out than it had been in the morning. That's what mild sunny weather will do for you. Let's hope it doesn't get frost-nipped. It doesn't look like cold weather is imminent, though. Here are the pictures I took of it.
I also found a star magnolia around the corner, nicely set off against a white clapboard house.
I've been a busy little photographic bee today. I also did more work on my winter 2016 pictures. We're still in Lisbon. Ralph and Pat have gone home. We continue our exploration of the Alfama neighbourhood. The day after our visit to the National Pantheon, we return have a look at the Monastery of St. Vincent Outside the Wall, a large monastery, still operating as such, with interesting architecture and artwork - including a temporary exhibit of majolica tile murals illustrating the fables of Montaigne.
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| A vestry (I think) - this is a stitched-together vertical panorama, which explains the distorted perspective |
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| Montaigne illustration |
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| View of National Pantheon from roof of monastery |
The next day, we took the train to Cascais, a beach town north of the city that Shelley Boyes recommended. It was...a pleasant outing. We had a picnic lunch on the waterfront and then wandered about the city until it was time for our train back to the city.
On one of our last days in Lisbon, at sunset, we walked half a block up the hill from our flat for a last look out over the city from the Miradouro da Senhora do Monte (the lookout point of our lady of the mountain). Today, I was able to salvage this shot of young people enjoying the sunset. It was badly under exposed. It's still not a great picture, certainly not technically, but it gives some feeling of what the place is like.
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