We are experiencing an “Orkan” in northern Germany today. According to my translation program, on “Orkan” is a hurricane. I found out that, in German, a hurricane is: a) tropical storm, b) cyclone, c) a whirlwind, or d) a tornado. Can you imagine not differentiating between each type of storm? There are specific words for each of these storms types, but the weather channel just says, “Orkan Warning!” and then they expect us all to know that the winds will blow, the rains will pelt, and only an idiot would be caught outdoors.
Yet, people still do go outside during such gales and do the most silly things: like ride their bicycles to work (Limpet), or try using umbrellas to staid off the storm (my neighbor), or walk down streets littered in projectile broken branches and flying objects (Nature Girl). All they have to do is just open their eyes and draw some intelligent conclusions about the safety of being outdoors, but many don’t seem capable of doing this.
It is truly as though, the weather just does not exist in their personal grand scope of things. I’ve been told such behavior is common in many European countries. You can see it by the fact that many homes or buildings lack: central heating, air-conditioning, or proper isolation.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if everyone got a chance to experience one winter in Manitoba (cold, wind, snow), one spring in Montana (ice and snow spontaneously melting), one summer in Montreal (staggering heat and humidity), and one autumn on the Gulf of Mexico (hurricane season)? Surely they’d then become sensitized to the powers of nature. Hopefully, once back home, when the weather channel said, “Orkan Warning!” they would batten down the hatches, snuggle under their duvets, pull out a good book, and listen to the howling winds through the security of their double-pane windows.
It has been an exciting evening. Nomad Son and the rest of the over a hundred teenagers and their four teachers and the one doctor are stuck somewhere in mid Germany because of the weather conditions They were due to arrive this evening back from their ski trip in Austria, but now they will come tomorrow, the gods and weather permitting. There were 200 km/h winds.
All the trains have been halted and everyone is staying overnight on their trains, or if possible in hotel rooms. Though I imagine the “hotel room” option will only be extended to the old and weak, or the young and hysterical. Nomad Son and co. will, hopefully, be quite content to snuggle down on the floor and live the adventure to the fullest.
Yet, people still do go outside during such gales and do the most silly things: like ride their bicycles to work (Limpet), or try using umbrellas to staid off the storm (my neighbor), or walk down streets littered in projectile broken branches and flying objects (Nature Girl). All they have to do is just open their eyes and draw some intelligent conclusions about the safety of being outdoors, but many don’t seem capable of doing this.
It is truly as though, the weather just does not exist in their personal grand scope of things. I’ve been told such behavior is common in many European countries. You can see it by the fact that many homes or buildings lack: central heating, air-conditioning, or proper isolation.
Wouldn’t it be interesting if everyone got a chance to experience one winter in Manitoba (cold, wind, snow), one spring in Montana (ice and snow spontaneously melting), one summer in Montreal (staggering heat and humidity), and one autumn on the Gulf of Mexico (hurricane season)? Surely they’d then become sensitized to the powers of nature. Hopefully, once back home, when the weather channel said, “Orkan Warning!” they would batten down the hatches, snuggle under their duvets, pull out a good book, and listen to the howling winds through the security of their double-pane windows.
It has been an exciting evening. Nomad Son and the rest of the over a hundred teenagers and their four teachers and the one doctor are stuck somewhere in mid Germany because of the weather conditions They were due to arrive this evening back from their ski trip in Austria, but now they will come tomorrow, the gods and weather permitting. There were 200 km/h winds.
All the trains have been halted and everyone is staying overnight on their trains, or if possible in hotel rooms. Though I imagine the “hotel room” option will only be extended to the old and weak, or the young and hysterical. Nomad Son and co. will, hopefully, be quite content to snuggle down on the floor and live the adventure to the fullest.
Otis tiles now in stock!
Their work is wood fired in a down-draft kiln and the surfaces show the natural deposits of ash along with shino and celadon glazes. The results are quite stunning and make each tile incredibly unique.
These tiles won't be in stock for long, so swing by the gallery today for the best selection.
Loving my bird tiles
Before I use new glazes, I had to make the test tiles because whatever you do it is almost impossible to fix. It toke me about a month between firing the bisque, documenting the color, applying, firing for the second time and finally having them available as a reference for painting.I used a combination of different textures, opacity and colors, the only thing they have in common is the firing temperature. Maybe in the future I'll play with an additional firing with metallic glazes. For now I'm very happy with my birdie tiles, and as always showing the beautiful color and texture of the terracotta.
No comments:
Post a Comment