Footnotes to a Conversation, November 13, 2023
I’ve been watching several home purchase/improvement programs on British television. What strikes me is that they discuss “properties,” and those properties could be a detached house, a duplex, a section of a terrace, or a portion of a large house. The property I’m currently living in is called Stable House and that’s exactly what it used to be. Beside it (and attached to it) is an old Methodist chapel and there’s another renovated chapel on the other side of the courtyard. It’s good to be reminded that there are so many alternatives. It doesn’t have to be a stand-alone house to be a home.
What the Walls Conceal
If you renovate an old house in England or New England, you may come across a shoe or a witch bottle inside the walls. There are many theories about why shoes are commonly found inside walls. It may have been placed there to catch the devil or as a token gift to placate a spirit. On the other hand, it may have belonged to a deceased loved one and has been placed in the wall to keep them close. “Witch bottles were filled with objects personal to the owner, including human hair, fingernail clippings, metal pins, and often urine (!), after which they would be sealed and placed somewhere in a house … the bottles were designed to trap a witch or at least deflect her spells.” [JSTOR Daily]
Reversal
An exhibit at the Prado in Madrid displays the backs of famous images and they hold some surprises. There’s a pornographic image, sketches, and a press cutting showing the artwork was stolen from a Jewish family by the Nazis. “Flipping the paintings allows the spectator to enjoy and understand them as objects rather than as mere images … Works of art are three-dimensional; when we focus solely on the image, which is a reproduction of a given moment frozen in time, we get some information, but we miss a lot when it comes to everything that the work means as an object. I like to say that when you see a piece and its back and its frame, it’s like standing before an archaeological discovery in which each layer has its own story to tell us.” [The Guardian]
Joy Kogawa
At 88, Joy Kogawa has published a new book of poetry. I so admire this woman and feels a certain sense of kinship as we both lived in Slocan for a number of years – although in her case it was not by choice. Here’s one poem that was shared in the article.
on memory loss
let’s not rush to retirement homes
while leaves and autumn still leave
in late November our limbs
less limber less sprightly though
not yet brittle not yet [The Tyee]
Murder Maps
Uncover the violent past of London, York, and Oxford by clicking on a pin on interactive Medieval Murder Maps where you can read the full story based on the original coroner’s records. You can search the maps based on weapon (e.g., sword, bow and arrow) or incident (accident, illness, church, prison). The incidents themselves reveal so much about life in medieval England, from a list of all a couple’s belongings, to murderers seeking refuge in a church, and deadly quarrels among thieves. [Medieval Murder Maps]
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.