Miscellany of a Cheshire Cat

In an unscientific poll of some people over on LJ, I discovered I’m not alone. That’s right, other people keep stashes of clothes that don’t fit in hopes that they will someday fit!

What prompted this was a fairly major purge of my closet over break. I ruthlessly went through my stash and only kept a few things. Really! Some things had been in the pile for 5+ years which means I probably moved them twice without wearing them. Large piles are destined for new homes and getting the heck out of my closet.

This poll was comforting in many ways. First, pants were revealed as the most common thing in all our stashes. I purged an embarrassing number of pairs of pants and jeans from my stash. So embarrassing I’m not even going to tell you because I was too scared to count. Really. Now all that’s left in my pile is a couple of shirts that are the Right Color Green and Too Soft To Part With and several (okay, 6) pairs of pants and jeans. I didn’t ask any questions about the volume of people’s stashes – that’s way too personal.

Second, for some reason I didn’t expect guys to keep stashes too. Stashing clothes fits so well with the female psyche that I didn’t expect it also in the male psyche. In fact, of the guys who answered the poll, most of them kept stashes too. I guess it’s human nature to hang onto something that’s still perfectly serviceable but that only a few pounds or pesky trends in fashion are keeping us from wearing. Of course, that stash grows as a few pounds becomes a few more pounds and fresh “just a few pounds” items get added.

If you’re a procrastinator (like I am), that means eventually you end up with a stash of epic proportions that really just isn’t worth cluttering your closet with. I do in fact still have a beautiful green chamois shirt that’s just waiting for me to shrink a little and for embroidered yokes to come back in. I really should send it on, but I love it so. (Triple whammy: “just a few pounds”, waiting for it to come back into style, and emotional attachment. I’m doomed to keep this shirt forever.)

It’s nice to have a large chunk of the shelf space in my closet back. For my next trick maybe I’ll cull my shoes.

cleaning, closets, clothing, stashing

An icy branch
Originally uploaded by cce_photography.

It’s slightly artificial Winter, but it’s Winter all the same! The morning after the Yule bonfire we found beautifully iced trees. Water sprinklers had been setup (and moved around) to keep the brush and scrubs damp to lessen the chance of additional, accidental fire. The ice storm effect was simply a bonus. Today it was 70° F out side. It is still January, right? This weather is absurd. I’m wearing wool socks as a protest.

Speaking of socks, was la Befana good to you this year?

Epiphany morning is the last hurrah for the holiday season for Italian children. Since the Middle Ages children have eagerly anticipated la Befana’s goodies. Epiphany also happens to be the 12th day of Christmas when everyone shows up at the stable to say ‘hi’ to Jesus-in-the-manager.

Who is la Befana? Well, that depends on whom you ask! I was introduced to la Befana when I lived in Italy. She’s a witch that travels around the night before Epiphany (aka the eve of January 6th) and fills children’s socks with toys and candy. She leaves coal for the bad kids of course. She comes down the chimney, just like another stocking stuffer we know, and families leave treats out for her to snack on as well. Okay, she’s not exactly a witch but she does ride a broomstick, has a big nose with an ugly mole on it and wears a lot of black. She might even sweep the floor on her way out because she’s just that flavor of OCD. And children might see a hand print left by la Befana if they look carefully at the ashes in the fireplace.

According to legend, la Befana provided the Wise Men a place to stay during their trip to find Jesus-in-the-manger. She couldn’t actually provide them directions but she did put them up in a fabulously neat house. (Alright, according to some versions of her story she actually thought they were so silly she provided them the wrong directions!) Being kind gentlemen, they asked her if she’d like to come with them. La Befana declined saying she had too much housework to do. Realizing her mistake later, la Befana set out after the Wise Men. She didn’t actually catch up to them nor did she find Jesus-in-the-manger. She wanders and seeks them still, leaving good children treats in their socks because you never know which might turn out to be Jesus-in-the-manger!

Important detail: Children hang out both socks for la Befana, not just one.

One reason la Befana is cooler than Santa: The Italians leave her a bit of wine and bread or cake instead of cookies and milk. Of course, this may be why she doesn’t make transatlantic flights to fill socks here in North America.

Other origins of la Befana: And don’t tell the Catholics, but this traditional is also likely derived from pre-christian rites around the beginning of the new year. An old woman, symbolic of the old year, bestows gifts upon the children for the new year – nah, that doesn’t sound pagan at all. In European folklore the 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany are a period during which magic, witches and the other-worldly are more real. In the pre-christian calendar, this was the period at the changing of the year when the old year (often represented by a wicker old lady doll) was burned and the new year was welcomed in.

folklore, italy, la befana, photographs, photography, weather, winter

Giraffes are insincere…?

Originally uploaded by cce_photography.

Clearly this giraffe takes issue with the lyrics to that Simon & Garfunkel song. Note the sincerity inherent in his wrinkled brow.

The giraffe’s at the Philadelphia Zoo are particularly lovely. Okay, I don’t have a lot of giraffe experiences to compare to, but the Philly giraffes are great. There are 3 of them wandering about in their enclosure one of which, Puzzles, has a growth on his neck that looks rather like a goiter. (Puzzles, while sweet and lovely, is not pictured here but he’s the only one whose name I know.) The keepers are training him to walk into the x-ray machine voluntarily so that they can begin treatment on his rather pronounced problem without undue stress. If I were Puzzles I’m not sure I’d trust the keepers.

Part of what attracts me to giraffes is their natural grace and beauty. For such a tall and large animal they move with astounding fluidity even when running. Plus they have some of the most expressive faces! Did you know that the giraffe only has 7 cervical vertebrae? Yes, that’s the same number as humans. I’m sure I would not be as graceful if I had so few points of articulation of such height. Giraffes are the tallest of all land animals, unsurprisingly, and those beautiful eyelashes protect their eyes from dust and wind. They looked pretty content in the mild weather too.

And my weakness to giraffes’ charms may also have something to do with a certain giraffe stuffed animal I’ve had since forever that had a zipper pocket for a music box. I came upon the little guy over the holidays when, as promised, I did some weeding in my closet at my parents’ house. He still lives there, bagged with several friends. He’s still soft and love-worn and the zipper is still stiff as it ever was. His head is quite oversized for his body and he has the prettiest eyes, though they too have taken some wear over the years… and years.

In other news, from the my closet in Maine I pulled photographs from a trip to Austria/Germany/Czech Republic from college and the slides from my year in Italy from high school. In the interest of getting the highest quality scans for minimum investment (so that I don’t have to rescan all this stuff in the next 5 years), I’m looking for a fabulous scanner that will handle prints, slides and film. I have not purchased a scanner in … um… well, the last one I bought was SCSI. If you don’t remember SCSI, just laugh at me for being archaic and keep reading. If you do remember SCSI, commiserate with me and keep reading.

Currently 2 Epson scanners are at the top of my list: Epson Perfection V350 Photo Scanner ($145) and Epson Perfection V700 Photo Scanner 6400DPI 4.0 DMAX ($519). The V350 comes well recommended but I’m wondering if the extra DPI from the V700 is worth it to get archival quality scans. I really do not want to re-scan this stuff later in life.

Does anyone have any opinions, recommendations, etc. when it comes to slide-capable scanners?

giraffe, zoo, philadelphia zoo, scanners, technology, photographs, photography

Another photo from the zoo. Humboldt penguins are pretty cool little creatures. They’re native to Peru but this one is clearly looking rather upset that the winter is so mild at the moment. “Where’s my snow and ice?” says his sad little penguin face. True, some penguins were frolicking in the mild weather, but not all of them! This one is clearly heartbroken!

That’s right, it’s January and we have yet to see much for serious winter weather here in Philadelphia. This is annoying to me and the penguins. Not to mention the polar bears! I’m a big fan of winter and I love snow. This balmy weather and piddling rain is getting old. It’s January! Time for the deep, dark, depths of winter to take hold! People should start to wonder if they’ll ever feel warm again! But noooooo… here we are, January 3rd and it’s terribly, terribly comfortable outside. There’s no chilly weather in the forecast either.

humboldt penguins, penguins, weather, winter, photographs, photography

A bit of cuteness to ease you into your week… (Click on the thumbnails to see larger versions.) The Philadelphia Zoo has 3 young male snow leopards. The snow leopards are part of the Big Cat Falls exhibit which re-opened new and improved last spring. They came to Philadelphia from the Cleveland Zoo and the Denver Zoo.They are, in fact, pretty darned cute. Yes, these guys were napping in the middle of the day but at least they have the excuse that they’re nocturnal.

They are pretty darned irresistible, aren’t they? They are asleep on top of their rock wall which even has a waterfall. Yes, the one has his tail barely dipping into the top of the waterfall. These guys are waiting for some winter weather to come to Philadelphia so that they can make good use of their fur for warmth and camouflage. And a lot of snow – they are clearly looking to use those big feet on some serious snow drifts!

(When am I going to get my winter? Maybe I should nap more while I’m waiting…)

Hopefully these very friendly cats haven’t caused too much cuteness overload!

And tomorrow I’ll have to figure out why the formatting on these posts don’t like multiple images or images at the end of the post. HTML is not behaving as nicely as I’d like it to. New blog, new technical incantations and hoops to choreograph.

big cats, philadelphia zoo, photographs, photography, snow leopard, zoo

Happy New Year and welcome to digital-tree.com! May your 2007 be bright and filled with warmth.The photograph here is from the Yule celebration I stopped at while doing my holiday road trip this year. (Click on the image to see a larger version.) We lit the bonfire about 3 p.m., fed it through the evening and let it calm down towards the end of the night. In the morning we woke to find a large, hot bed of coals. I love fires on cold, crisp mornings: cool air, warmth from the coals, sun on my face. That combination is almost as good as coffee to get me going in the morning. The only thing that would make it better would be fresh snow underfoot.

I’m Carla and I’ll be your tour guide. I’ve started this blog to share photos, adventures and general randomness. And, of course, digital-tree.com will serve as an additional procrastination device for one and all. Please feel free to chime in with comments and suggestions at any time!

My academic background includes a degree in Medieval English which of course means I work in the IT realm as a technical project manager. What else would I do with my extensive knowledge of Middle English pronunciation? I’m also an avid photographer, cat-person, procrastinator and wordsmith. As you might have guessed, I’m also a tree-person.

Welcome to my newest procrastination device!

bonfire, introduction, new year, photographs, photography, welcome, yule