salvaging church wood

The other night, i went to a lecture about local church architecture given by Tim Barrett. Recently, two former Anglican churches were demolished on Euclid Avenue. The land now belongs to the ever expanding Cleveland Clinic. I mentioned a brewery between St. Emeric's and the West Side Market, having some of the woodwork from Emmanuel (later Transfiguration) Anglican/Episcopalian. A fellow behind me, said yeah, he works there. Sean said their aging room has the pew ends on the wall [supra].

Sometime ago the church had a lightning strike, which caused some fire damage. While the building was taken down, some of the woodwork was salvaged. The brewery is still mounting the wood. Andrew (who is a tour guide there) showed me the filigree carving of Veronica's veil or sudarium.

Earlier some pieces were mounted on these doors behind the bar.

the counter

on the grass

Andrew Wyeth. Christina's World. 1948. New York City.  Egg tempera on gessoed pane.

photograph. 2018. Cleveland.

 

Hungry and Thirsty

Saturday, i was downtown for the "March for Our Lives" rally and march. Across from Public Square, there is Presbyterian Old Stone Church. They had a new statue on their doorstep. 'Hungry and Thirsty' by Timothy Schmalz. I think, there will be a dedication this Easter Sunday.

Then shall the just answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee drink? — Matthew xxv. 37.
 And the king answering, shall say to them: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me. — Matthew xxv. 40.

Warner & Swasey Observatory revisited

It has almost been five years since i photographed this observatory [click]. The vandalism has gotten much worse. The inside is filled with worthless, artless spray can graffiti; and the outside has been sprayed too. There was one mattress inside, and some trash brought in with visitors. Some doors and window mullions were attacked. One piece of charred wood was on the roof.

The brick work is excellent. The complex has been looted of almost everything. There is the winter's ice and snow compacted with dirt inside, and stepping should be done gingerly. To the eye, what is interesting are the skeleton of the domed roofs.

'V' is for voting

Voter apathy is dangerous, if you believe that most people have humanity in their souls and that peaceful change is possible, especially since those motivated to do evil will act to do so with vigor. Lexi the Airedale's owner knows this. Cleveland Public Square 24th March 2018.

March for Our Lives — Cleveland

 On Cleveland's Public Square, Catholic Workers gave some Christian witness.

View from the stage, more than an hour before the start of the speech making at 11 o'clock. The big sign quotes from David Bowie's song, Changes:

And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're going through

Mother Jones quoted, "Pray for the dead — Fight like hell for the living".

Another sign reads, "I did not become a teacher to carry a gun".

 "Going to kindergarten this fall. Safe schools please."

 "Hey, Hey NRA. How many kids did you kill today?"

In front of the old Post Office Building, on a hillock speakers spoke into a microphone, while police surrounded the square with horses, bicycles, motorcycles, and a bear in the air. Cleveland's mayor, Frank Jackson spoke, as well as several students, and a mother of a Parkland Florida student.

The march went north on Ontario, turned on Lakeside (above), then right on E. 6th, then Superior to the Square. A lot of people, a lot of signs, and escorted (corralled) by police. Very few spectators to encounter on Saturday noon, and no counter protesters.

tree comes down

An old tree is diminished, slice by slice. [see click for previous story]

 

People came by to be photographed with the remnants of the tree, while it was still possible.

 One cookie programme has elves making cookies inside a tree. They looked, and no Ernie or Jefferson Beauregards were in residence.

Inside this mail/milk box is a chunk of cement that was pumped into the then existing cavity.  Through some corrosive action of the lime in the cement and further decay, more void was created.

There was a doctor of treeology involved.

Patricios, part II

 "Spiderman, Spiderman does whatever a spider can..."

It is more fun before people march, many like to socialise and pose. Here is a group of comic book heroes. The one on the far right, is Groot, a walking tree. Cassius did not know what to think, Groot might have been lucky Cassius did not give him a rear leg salute. Superman is from Cleveland, i didn't see him.

A parade is good to see animals, but no more circus parades. There were dogs and horses, and alpacas. This group has a well groomed leprechaun. And sneaking in on the far left is Finnegan, the most famous dog in Lakewood. He proudly marches in the Spooky pooch parade. There was a wolfhound named Finnegan too.

Besides Irish Setters, and Wolfhounds, there were other domesticated wolves. [supra] Siberian Huskies, and [infra] the dreaded pit bull mix representing his tribe from the city kennel. Dogs need homes, and should not be jailed. I marched with two English Greyhounds.

Costumed players from Star Wars were first-timers. Stormtroopers hunting rebels. That runs against the current in Irish history.

 This year, there were two Ghostbusters' vehicles and players.

When groups begin to march toward the parade start, they sometimes pass other groups. Here was Saint Patrick's West Park.

Here outside the Federal Reserve Bank, in the sun was good viewing. In front of Brinks, in the shadow was not a good spot for comfort, but there was much space.

I have a cheap camera set up. This dude has a halo flash around his lens, anyone can 'splain?

'P' is for Patricios, part I

It is the rare year when the Saint Patrick's Parade is not the most attended event in Cleveland Ohio. There are many Irish in this section of Ohio, but not that many. It is an opportunity to be seen, and it has to be the largest parade in the state. 

This started out as a religious procession on the west side many years ago, and without much surviving documentation. Recently, it was re-discovered that it was years older in Cleveland than thought. This is not unusual, Catholics and their parishes have outdoor processions for Easter, for Corpus Christi, for their patron saints, for favorite saints...  Also, certain nationalities celebrated their national saints. So the origin story is easily discernible.

Over time, less processions continued publicly. Civic organisations also had processions. For many places across the country, Independence Day was the largest parade. After wars military parades happened. Some parades expanded their military and quasi-military police and safety forces participation.  Labor had parades, and often had to struggle against the police forces to have them. 

In Cleveland, all these came together. So, the Saint Patrick's Day Parade became part of the commonweal. Besides the Irish Catholic units, there are other Catholic units, other nationalities, other organisations, politicians, high school marching bands, businesses and other groups. There are units that have marched for an hundred years, or just many, and few. Some march on occasion, and some only once.

The best time for photography is before the parade starts. [supra] The mascot for the largest college football programme in the state poses with two Lithuanian girls. It is the first time the Lithuanians marched, they are celebrating their 100th year of statehood restoration.

 A Ukrainian dance troupe makes a return appearance.

The Chinese have made this an annual participation. They march to promote the Asian Festival and the Confucius Institute. The Dragon dance and the panda mascot is naturally popular. Why the one guy has a Kiss mask on, i dunno...perhaps, the parading has a masquerade flavour/

This float celebrates the Irish Americans: John L. Sullivan, the first gloved heavyweight boxing champion of the world, and Ed Sullivan the television presenter (and former boxing reporter, with a short temper). A kid "guarding" the float told me The Beatles were Irish. John, Paul, and George would not be surprising; they had Irish surnames, and Liverpool was a port of entry for the Irish across the Irish Sea; but Ringo (Richard) was Jewish.

St. Joseph, actor of much

Wedding

  Visitation

Nativity

To-day is St. Joseph's Day, a very big holiday for several nations. Joseph the spouse of Mary, and foster father of Jesus, and Joseph the Worker are some of his roles. If he was a stage actor, he would win "best supporting actor". For example, walk through Immaculate Conception Cleveland and see how many windows Joseph appears in. He is a supporting figure. 

Here is part of a window in which, Mary visits Elisabeth. Joseph is there, but not highlighted, and in the background.

Flight

      Labor    

Death

This vignette is the Death of Joseph. This is a Mayer (which later absorbed Zettler) window at St. Stephen Cleveland.