Hartford — Page 25

A Thank You & Winding Down

May 23, 2013 at 8:56 am by Claudia

feather

I found this feather smack dab in the middle of a city sidewalk. It’s about 4 inches long. Is it from a Finch? A Baltimore Oriole? What do you think? It’s going home with me.

Edited to add: It’s from a Northern Flicker (Yellow-Shafted) – which is in the Woodpecker family!

Oh my! Thank you, thank you for the incredible conversation we had yesterday. For those of you who missed it, you can read it all here. I had no idea as I was wrangling with this topic yesterday morning that it would elicit such a strong response from all of you. Obviously, it struck a chord. The blogging world is ever changing. Some of the changes are wonderful; some not so wonderful. I’ve always compared blogging to being in high school and I’ve said that time and again on this blog. Wonderful friendships can be made, creativity can be encouraged and rewarded. But there are cliques. There are the ‘popular’ girls. There are mean girls. There are those who do their own thing, regardless of what is deemed popular. I had a great time in high school, but I was not one of the in crowd. I was in the theater/music crowd. I was never going to be a cheerleader and that was fine. I thrived where I was and found myself in the process.

Same thing for blogging, don’t you think?

Anyway, thank you. I found your comments stimulating and wise and funny and profound. Many of you raised points that I hadn’t thought of. What a great conversation!

carousel

Two more days in Hartford. One last Preview performance tonight and then Opening Night tomorrow. Once again, I failed to ride the carousel. What can I say? And once again, I didn’t tour Mark Twain’s house or Harriet Beecher Stowe’s house. But, I’ll be back again in about 7 weeks. I’ll do all of it then. (Fingers crossed.)

Today I have to find a pair of shoes to wear tomorrow night. (I really hate shopping for clothes or shoes.) I’m hoping that I find something quickly because I have to be at a short rehearsal at 2:30. All I want is a comfortable pair of black shoes. I’ll let the younger members of the cast wear the strappy high heels.

It feels like a Friday to me, but Happy Thursday.

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On The Road: Hartford’s Ancient Burying Ground

May 16, 2013 at 9:02 am by Claudia

buryinggroundchurch

The Ancient Burying Ground is just a block or two from my apartment. The city has grown up around it, so it is surrounded by tall buildings, the hustle and bustle of city life, horns honking, sirens blaring. (I call Hartford the City of Sirens. Honestly. I’ve lived in several big cities and I’ve never heard as many sirens as I do here. Even in Manhattan.)

buryingground1

I visited another graveyard much like this one last year. I’m fascinated by these sacred places, by the stories that the old and crumbling headstones tell. The Ancient Burying Ground was in use from 1640 to 1803. It was also used as a grazing pasture for horses, cattle and sheep. As in England at the time, graves were dug and people buried, not in family plots, but anywhere a space could be found. As the numbers grew, people were buried on top of each other. Eventually, a church was built on the land – over many graves – but this was the custom in England, where many were buried within churches and that was considered an honor.

buryingground2

What I find remarkable is that this plot of land has over 6000 graves. Only a few headstones have survived. I imagine most people couldn’t afford a headstone.

The church you see is Center Church, erected in 1807. It replaced the original church, which was built in 1636.

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buryinggroundfoundersstone

That obelisk honors the founders of Hartford.

buryingground4

I love the carving on the stones. As is often the case, many of the stones commemorate women who died young, most likely in childbirth.

This story is especially poignant.

buryinggroundfather

Here lies a young man who died at the age of 29 in 1803. He drowned in the Connecticut River. (Note the spelling of drowned at the time – drownded.)

Then you look to the left of the stone, and you see this:

buryinggroundson

His son, just a baby when the father drowned, died 3 years later. What a terrible loss for Eliza Watson.

buryinggroundfirstshot

As you stand there in the cemetery, birds chirp and fly among the headstones, trees are in bloom, grass grows.

buryinggroundafricanamer

I had no idea, as I took these photos, that there were 6000 people interred in the grounds.

You can read more about the Ancient Burying Ground here.

buryinggroundblossoms

A little bit of Hartford for you.

Happy Thursday.

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Playing With Blocks

May 15, 2013 at 8:58 am by Claudia

That sneaky scamp, Scout, took over my blog yesterday! I don’t know how she did it. But she’s a Border Collie and they are very smart, indeed. Thank goodness I’ve taught her some manners; she responded to all your comments in her inimitable, slightly sassy, way.

I finished all the blocks yesterday, then, on a rehearsal break, laid them out on the carpet. Then I climbed on a chair and stood on the kitchen counter to take this photo:

blocks1

This is my home-away-from-home version of a design board. I’ve found that taking a photo helps me to see any problems with the layout.

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The nice thing about being in this apartment is that I can do something I never could at home. I can leave the blocks on the carpet. No dog hair, no curious Scoutie walking all over them. Since I don’t have my own space at home that I can contain with a closed door, this is a refreshing treat! I kept glancing at the layout throughout the evening and found I didn’t like the concentration of vivid red at the top of the photo, so I kept playing around with block placement. The vertical row of blocks on the left will actually be the top of the quilt.

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This is what I ended up with. Although now that I look at it here, I’m going to tweak a couple of blocks.

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There. I tweaked it. It’s almost impossible to get a good photo in this space, but this gives you an idea of the look I’m going for.

The finished quilt is supposed to measure 63 inches by 74 inches. As you know, we don’t have a lot of wall space in our home, due to an abundance of windows and the sloped-attic-type walls upstairs. I started to wonder whether I should go with the 5 blocks by 5 blocks layout or make it 4 blocks by 5 blocks. Now is the time to make that decision. So I called Don and had him measure the available space on the staircase wall. When we first moved in to the cottage, I had a quilt hanging there. It’s sort of the perfect place for a quilt.

Turns out there is just enough room. I don’t want this to be a throw. I really want to hang it because the colors are so wonderful and they really go with the colors in our living room and kitchen – as well as in my studio. And the great thing about hanging it in that space is that I will also be able to see it from my studio. I like the simple, graphic quality to it and the patterns and colors make me happy. (Hopefully, I’ll still feel the same way when I’ve finished it!)

The next step is to start sewing the blocks together. Today, however, I will have to be at the theater most of the day. Final tech rehearsals in the afternoon and evening, then the first preview tomorrow morning. Morning, you say? Yes. For the life of me I cannot figure out why the first preview is a student audience at 10:30 in the morning. That means we lose another afternoon to run through the show before an evening preview. Believe me, if I was still an actor, I would not be happy about teching until 10 or 11 tonight and then having my first performance at 10:30 in the morning. For students. I do not know a single actor who likes morning performances.

dogwood

Tomorrow I will have a post about my visit to Hartford’s Ancient Burying Ground, which was in use from 1640 to 1803. I took lots of pictures.

Happy Wednesday.

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A Thank You & Winding Down

On The Road: Hartford’s Ancient Burying Ground

Playing With Blocks

claudiahillsparks

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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