Footnotes to a Conversation, August 28, 2023
“Never underestimate the stimulation of eccentricity.” – Neil Simon
Scuttlebutt
David Grann, author of The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, says history shapes us, even when we’re unaware of it. He points to the many words, such as “cat out of the bag,” “turn a blind eye,” and “feeling under the weather” which date back to seafaring in the 18th century. [CBC]
Castle in the Rockies
Tales of the Banff Springs Hotel from the Ghost Bride whose gown caught fire on her wedding day to the hand-carved angels in Mount Stephen Hall. In the 1930s, guests “didn’t just come for a few days or a couple of weeks. Rather, they spent the entire summer at the hotel, providing that they could guarantee that they had at least $50,000, which equates to about $1.4 million today.” [Photo Journeys]
A Tough Outdoor Life
It’s fun to roam around a park discovering new sculptures at every turn, but I’d never given much thought to the sculptures themselves. For the sculptures on display at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, it’s a tough life with toxic bird poo, shifting tree roots, greasy human fingers, sunlight, moss, bat nests, and sheep. “Keeping millions of pounds of sculpture safe and in pristine condition, and making the park visitable and accessible to 400,000 visitors a year, is a mammoth task. ‘It’s not something you can study for, honestly,’ says Lilley, as we pile back into the cow-licked car. ‘We’re learning the whole time. It’s fun!” [The Guardian]
Arts & Music in the Gardens
The flower sculptures in the photographs were on display at the 2023 Arts & Music Festival in the Gardens at the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific.
Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I also post occasional articles on other dates, including frequent book reviews and travel tales.
If you share my love of nature, check out EcoFriendly West, an online publication encouraging environmental initiatives in Western Canada, and Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces
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