Day 19.241: Hammond Castle miscellany

A few more things from our visit to Hammond Castle:

A list of John Hays Hammond Jr.'s music-related patents - not what he's most famous for, but music is a large presence in the "castle"

A remarkable pipe organ including some of his innovations

There are more than 8000 pipes back there

Some musical characters carved in panels up on the balcony

One of only a few claviharps in the world - part of his eclectic collection

He is more famous for his work on remote control. Here is another list of patents (there were at least two other categories with large lists as well)

A remote-control dog that was actually a proof of concept for a guided missile

This massive painting shows a fictional naval battle in which his remote controlled torpedoes won the day

Sitting in a faraday cage with the subject of a series of experiments into whether electrical fields could enhance or suppress ESP.

The rooms in the house are similarly eclectic

Although each one has a cohesive charm

And then there are the pieces used to decorate - acquired from all over the world like these carvings

and this

and this

and this bull

This chap looks like he's holding the building up at significant personal cost

whereas this guy is either wise and thoughtful or just cheesed off

Really - anything goes.

What a fascinating place and a remarkable man who created it.

Day 19.240: The Peabody Essex Museum

Here are some of the things we saw at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA.

Our first priority was to visit Yin Yu Tang: A Chinese Home. It's an 18th century two-story home built around a central courtyard.

The house is open to the elements (it is undergoing some maintenance for damage caused by the cold Massachusetts winters but the most obtrusive work had finished before our visit)

Exile #2 says she was not as shocked as it looks when being told about this device to keep a toddler out of trouble

Another bit of childcare equipment - a little chair with a tray in a hexagonal enclosure

The original stairs (not the ones we used)

The bedrooms had been decorated at different times in different styles

The narrow passage on the upper floor between the rooms and the courtyard

It was a wonderful experience.

After that, we went to the witch trials exhibit which I talked about briefly on the day.

This exhibit: On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America was one of the best I've ever seen - a thoughtful look at Native American identity and colonialism. It was engaging and challenging and - delightfully - includes currently active Native American artists and their work 

Anila Quayyum Agha: All the Flowers Are for Me (2015)

We enjoyed the Korean art exhibit...

...including this chair, which had possibly my favorite explanation panel from any museum...

It reads: "We know this chair was displayed at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, but almost everything else about it is a mystery. It does not resemble traditional Joseon-era chairs but appears to blend features of officials' ceremonial chairs, sedan chairs, and ritual chairs that held spirit tablets in ancestral shrines. Its back splat even evokes European and American styles, Was this a makeshift creation specifically crafted for the fair? If so, why, and what was it meant to convey?". I love a museum that admits to not knowing all the answers!

A large Korean fan

An even larger leatherback turtle (caught nearby in 1885)

Kiss-o-Meter. Here are the ratings:
-10: Ice Cold
0: Clammy
10: Sour
20: Sloppy
30: Amateurish
40: Sweet
50: Tender
60: Thrilling
70: Exciting
80: Passionate
90: Naughty
100: Hot Stuff
Sadly, it seems that this was all judged based on grip strength rather than any actual kissing.

A giant clam

It's a large, varied and delightful museum.

Day 19.239: Birds at Halibut Point

Here are some birds I photographed on our two trips to Halibut Point State Park (Wednesday morning and Friday afternoon).

These were at the quarry:

Almost the first bird we saw was this green heron

We disturbed it a couple of times as we moved around the quarry, but only ever saw it flying away from us

Sleepy mallards

Great black-backed gulls bathing in the center of the quarry pool were a constant presence

They were joined by ring-billed gulls (and herring gulls) from time to time

Ring-billed gull

Great black-backed gull

Laughing gull

At the coast:

Laughing gull

Common eiders

Double-crested cormorants, American herring gulls and great black-backed gulls

Common eider

Double-crested cormorants

Elsewhere:

Wild turkeys

We saw many flycatchers - most probably eastern phoebes.

Some looking less tidy than others

This one is a least flycatcher

We heard at least one eastern wood pewee nearby, so I can't rule out that some of these were also pewees as they were all silent as far as I noticed

At one point I believe we had at least ten separate flycatchers in this area by the visitor center

We also saw quite a few cedar waxwings around the visitor center

...as well as in other places 

...sometimes in the same pose apparently

Northern mockingbirds

Blue jay

Downy woodpecker

Yellow-rumped warbler

He was very fast-moving and I was pleased to discover that I got a few good shots

House sparrow

Brown thrasher

Eastern towhee

Gray catbird

Red-eyed vireo

Red-eyed vireo - there were two but we only saw them once

House finch