Winter Scene in Wisconsin © 2015 Bo Mackison
What do the trees know?
Buds can weather ice and snow.
Dark gives way to sunlight’s glow.
Strength and stillness help us grow.”
~ Joyce Sidman
A Tree in Strength and Stillness – A Winter Scene
February 19, 2015 by 3 Comments
Be Still! Be Still! – A Lesson from the Trees
February 11, 2015 by 1 Comment
Tree Line @ 2015 Bo Mackison
A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live.
When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from [the eternal] mother and home. But every step and every day lead you back again to the mother. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.
~ Hermann Hesse in Betrachtungen und Gedichte
Barn and a Sky of Weathered Tin
February 10, 2015 by 2 Comments
Barn with Tree © 2015 Bo Mackison
…after a time the trees stood skeletal against a sky of weathered tin. The land lay bled of its colors. The nights lengthened, went darker, brightened in their clustered stars. The chilled air smelled of woodsmoke, of distances and passing time. Frost glimmered on the morning fields. Crows called across the pewter afternoons. The first hard freeze cast the countryside in ice and trees split open with sounds like whipcracks. Came a snow flurry one night and then a heavy falling the next day, and that evening the land lay white and still under a high ivory moon.”
~ James Carlos Blake in Wildwood Boys
Quilt of Snow, So Snug, Go to Sleep
February 9, 2015 by 3 Comments
Wisconsin Barn in Winter © 2015 Bo Mackison
“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.”
~ Lewis Carroll in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
Thirty One Thresholds – Architectural Spaciousness at the Wisconsin State Capitol
December 14, 2014 by 1 Comment
Rotunda of Wisconsin State Capitol © 2014 Bo Mackison
This building, the Wisconsin State Capitol, was once one of my frequent winter hang outs. A perfect place to explore. Spacious. Filled with architectural delights and period art, and recently renovated, it is a beauty.
Perfect in my quest for thresholds, for there are a multitude of nooks and crannies to explore.
Dome, Wisconsin State Capitol © 2014 Bo Mackison
The current Wisconsin State Capitol (the third Capitol building constructed on this site) was built from 1906 – 1917 at a cost of $7.25 million.
Wisconsin State Capitol Interior © 2014 Bo Mackison
Because of financial limitations and the need for immediate government office space, the construction was extended over several years and emphasized building one wing at a time. A time of true fiscal responsibility!
Stairways, Wisconsin State Capitol © 2014 Bo Mackison
The Capitol was constructed of 43 types of stone from six countries and eight states. The exterior stone is Bethel white granite from Vermont – the largest granite exterior dome in the world.
Wisconsin State Capitol © 2014 Bo Mackison
The rotunda is constructed of marble from Greece, Algeria, Italy, and France, plus Minnesota limestone, Labradorite, and Wisconsin red granite.
Marble Beauty in Wisconsin State Capitol © 2014 Bo Mackison
The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2001.
Always Something to See in the Wisconsin State Capitol © 2014 Bo Mackison
I believe that one of the true wonders of this building is there is always something new to see. The architectural detail, the construction, the art — there is always something new to notice with awe and amazement.
