Month: August 2016

Summer 2016 Guttenberg Iowa

New Photos from my midsummer vacation in Northeastern Iowa…

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I hiked from the river to the bluff at Pikes Peak State Park. The photo above shows the Wisconsin River as it meets the Mississippi.

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This was a good year for birds! We were entertained by Cedar Waxwings flying back and forth hunting insects…

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White Pelicans were in abundance…

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I have heard but never seen the Eastern Wood-Pewee…

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Finally there was this little Downy Woodpecker by the side of the road feeding on Mullein seeds. The first day I saw him I only had my iPhone. I got some pictures but nothing great. The next day I was prepared and there he was, ready for his photoshoot…

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Little guy let me stand ten feet away with no apparent concern!

Ephesus Museum, Turkey

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For obvious reasons the finest artifacts have been removed from Ephesus and placed in a museum in a nearby city. The bust above is of Marcus Aurelius (Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 CE). [Gallery] The image below shows a Satyr pursuing a nymph or maiden.

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There were two statues of Asclepius (the god of healing). Unfortunately neither one is intact. [Notice the single snake on his staff, the symbol of medicine.]

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At the ruins we saw a line of eroded Bull’s Head Column Capitals. In the museum we got to see a better example up close! I love the anatomic detail including the bulging veins!

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The penultimate artifact was found carefully buried nearby (to hide it from vandals?), but did not originate there. This Statue of Artemis was originally housed within the Famous Temple to the Goddess (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World!).

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To say this Fertility Cult figure is bizarre is to put it mildly! I can’t remember seeing an object with so much symbolic detail. One obvious question is “are those all breasts?” Our guide said they were thought to be Bulls’ Testicles (that’s right, testicles!). Lions, griffins, winged humans, bees and the signs of the zodiac are just some of the decorative motifs. [Gallery]