June 28 '03
Volume 369
Van Gogh’s
Moonrise July 13, 1889
I suppose
the
first painting I think of at the mention of the impressionist artist, Vincent
van Gogh, is his vase of sunflowers. The next painting of his that comes
to mind is one titled, "Starry Night." In his lifetime van Gogh produced
more than two thousand paintings and sketches. One particular painting,
Moonrise or Rising Moon, has art historians and astronomers
excited this year.
Moonrise was painted by van Gogh after he committed himself to a monastery
asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in southern France, during the summer
of 1889. Van Gogh also painted Starry Night that same summer. It seems
that many of van Gogh’s paintings can be dated by his letters to his
brother, Theo. A letter survives in which van Gogh mentions Moonrise
as a work in progress, but there was no date on the letter and the envelope
is missing. Yet, since Moonrise and several other paintings were received
by Theo in September of 1889, art historians have long known the
Moonrise painting was painted that summer.
Van Gogh’s attention to detail has enabled astronomers at Southwest
Texas State University to determine the exact date and time depicted in the
landscape. The moon is almost full, as it rises above a mountain range that
includes oddly shaped cliff. In the foreground is a wheat field, filled with
golden stacks of wheat.
The team of astronomers from Southwest Texas State University flew to southern
France and was able to locate the monastery and the oddly shaped cliff. Since
the scientists knew van Gogh arrived at the monastery in May and the painting
was in his brother’s possession in September, they used lunar tables
and computer software to determine that the full moon rising over the cliff
in the painting must have been seen by van Gogh in either May or July of
1889. Because the wheat is golden, they concluded the month had to have been
July. Additional calculations enabled the scientists to establish 9:08 p.m.,
local time, July 13, 1889, as the moment in history when van Gogh saw the
rising moon over the oddly shaped cliff.
As it happens, the folks of the Netherlands are celebrating the 150 anniversary
of van Gogh’s birth this year. Centuries earlier a Greek astronomer
discovered it takes 19 years for the moon to reappear in a given spot and
be at the same point in its cycle as if was at the start. 2003 marks the
completion of the 6th Metonic cycle (named after the Greek astronomer)
since van Gogh painted Moonrise. All of which, helps make this July
13th very special, in that art lovers, astronomers, and the rest
of us can view the moon in southern France almost the exact same spot as
did van Gogh one hundred fourteen years ago.
I won’t be traveling to Europe this summer to witness the rising moon,
but I will be, Lord willing and weather permitting, sitting in my driveway
shortly after twilight on July 13th, in hopes of seeing a full
moon rising above the cypress trees in my backyard. I’ll be sipping
a Coke and enjoying the idea that one hundred fourteen years ago the moon
rose over the same spot, minus the cypress trees and other vegetations that
were not there six Metonic cycles ago, and I may even offer a toast to the
impressionist artist, Vincent van Gogh. You can join me if you like.
How Secure
Travel The Friendly
Skies
John Scott was delegated the task of picking me up at the airport in Champaign
and getting me to the motel in which those of us in the employ of Supervalu
would be staying for the two-day meeting held the first week of June. We
talked for about an hour while awaiting the arrival of two more individuals
flying in from Atlanta.
John asked the usual questions, "Did you have a good flight? How was the
weather?" and one that is more common these days than prior to September
11, 2001, "What about security?"
"I thought I’d never get through in Memphis," I responded and recounted
the multiple stops I made on my way to the waiting area after the minor hassle
of checking one bag of luggage at the point of check-in.
"Well, let me see, John," I began, "I had to show my boarding pass and photo
ID twice before going through the metal detector. I got through just fine,
but my computer bag held me up. They stopped the line when my computer passed
through the x-ray unit, and I heard the observer shout, ‘bag check,’
three times before anyone responded. My laptop was swabbed for traces of
explosives and opened to verify it was not a dummy device. But even then
I had to show my boarding pass and ID again before I was cleared to enter
the gate area."
John and I are both aware of the greater security precautions at airports
than we once knew. He showed me a medical card he keeps in his billfold to
show airport security that there’s a reason he sets off the metal detectors.
His hip replacement surgery left him with a lot of metal in his hip. John’s
concern is that such a card could be easily duplicated and a terrorist might
use something similar to avoid detection, especially in light of the fact
he only has to show the card to pass the checkpoint.
I felt pretty good about the thoroughness of the security in Memphis until
I was at the Champaign airport for my return flight. My computer was not
scrutinized as closely, but a close inspection of my computer bag revealed,
I was transporting a device not allowed. It’s was pocket sized
multi-function tool, my brother Fred gave me last year. He is retired, but
he still works part time for Badcock, a national furniture distributor, and
he presented me with one of the complimentary tools that happens to contain
a small knife blade as well as pliers and other assorted tools that fold
neatly into a compact carrying case. I was unaware the tool was in my bag
and had I looked for it a week earlier, I’d have accused my daughter
of moving it off my desk at home in one of her rearranging episodes.
I’m probably lucky I didn’t get strip-searched or questioned as
a possible terrorist. Instead, I was told I could return to the check-in
area and stow the tool with my luggage. Of course, after doing so, I had
to go through the checkpoint again but there were no suspicious devices found
the second time through.
I don’t know how the folding tool was overlooked by the folks at the
Memphis airport, but it may have been the result of their interest in the
computer itself rather than the contents of the bag, plus, in Memphis I was
not asked to remove my computer from the bag at the time it was scanned.
As long as passengers are allowed to take bags on board a flight there will
always be some risk involved that a contraband item may make it aboard and
be used for sinister purposes.
I suppose I’ll be required to attend more meetings in Champaign or other
place that requires me to travel by air. However, the next time, I’ll
make certain I don’t try to board an aircraft with a tool deemed
inappropriate.
Grisham’s
Gripe First Published In '98
John Grisham, the novelist, caused quite a stir around these parts recently
when he wrote a letter to the editor of the Oxford Eagle. I have not
read the article, but I have read several reactions to his complaint. There
was an article in the Delta Democrat Times of Greenville, MS and the
most recent response I read was a column by Rheta Grimsley Johnson and published
in the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.
Mr. Grisham apparently has a gripe with the lack of zoning laws and regulations
in Lafayette County. Novelist, John Grisham has quite a spread located
approximately four miles from Oxford, MS. He purchased a large tract of land
with high visibility along MS Highway 6. I don’t know all of his neighbors,
but a mile or so down the road is the home of Johnny Vaught who coached the
Rebel football team during the "glory years."
I suppose the Grisham estate had been built for 3 or 4 years before I learned
he was the owner. It has an impressive, wooden fence that rises perhaps ten
feet and runs the length of his property (1/4 mile plus) that borders the
highway. The cost of the fencing alone would have been enough to build me
a pretty fine house. An iron gate and brick gatehouse protect the entrance
to the property from curiosity seekers. The Grisham children love horses
so the property has accommodations for the animals. Mr. Grisham has coached
little league baseball and his devotion to the game inspired him to construct
a ballpark in the northeast corner of his property. The Grisham house sits
atop a hill, perhaps a quarter of a mile from the highway, at the end of
a paved driveway. The house is a wooden, two-story structure with a wrap
around porch. It is not my style, and I wouldn’t have built it if I
had Mr. Grisham’s money, but then I wouldn’t turn it down if someone
gave it to me to live in.
About a year ago someone began to push dirt around on the acreage that is
found on the east border of the Grisham estate. Since I use Hwy. 6 as my
main route from Pontotoc to Greenville, I have seen the metamorphosis of
the land from rolling hills to leveled, beveled, paved, graveled, parking
lot flat terrain. I remember telling Barbara the land preparation had the
look of a future site for a mobile home dealership. Sure enough, a mobile
home dealer soon had doublewides covering the entire lot. It also occurred
to me that John Grisham probably wasn’t too happy over the development
just east of him. However, I imagined the mobile home dealer figured it would
be easy to advertise where he was located, "Look for Sam’s Manufactured
Housing, only a stone’s throw from John Grisham mansion on the hilltop,
just outside Oxford’s city limits." or something similar.
From all accounts, John Grisham was more than a little unhappy with the
situation. You would think a lawyer would know about things like zoning
ordinances or the lack thereof (I almost used one of the made up words of
my former preacher and wrote "or the lackness thereof"). Mr. Grisham
should have made certain his investment would be protected from commercial
development before he ever signed a land deed or building contract. If he
was not aware of the absence of zoning ordinances, then, at least, his attorney
should have advised him of his lack of protection. Anyway, Mr. Grisham chose
to address his grievances with the County after the fact, and by means of
a letter to the local newspaper. I understand he threatened or implied intent
to sell his property and move outside of Lafayette County. He also mentioned
how a hog farm might be a more appropriate use for his property, which is
now adjacent to the mobile home dealer.
In the article by Ms. Johnson, which I mentioned earlier, she noted that
Mr. Grisham may have forgotten that the very people who purchase manufactured
housing are the same sort of folks who buy John Grisham novels. Though the
editor of the Greenville article misunderstood the letter and thought Mr.
Grisham’s complaint was rooted in a low-income mobile home park in his
high rent neighborhood, still he showed little sympathy for the plight of
the novelist. However, I am not completely unsympathetic for I faced a similar
situation though assuredly on a lesser economic scale a year ago when someone
began developing the property directly across the street from me. People
in my neighborhood feared we would be neighbors with persons occupying a
low-income apartment complex, but that turned out to be an unfounded rumor.
Nonetheless, it was unsettling to imagine the wooded lot replaced by an apartment
complex.
Regarding the gripe of Mr. Grisham, I am reminded of a bit of Scripture.
Jesus, in expounding on the role of His believers, noted, "A city set on
a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel."
To me, John Grisham set his house on the hill for the same reason men set
a city on a hill and do not put a candle under a bushel—he did so for
the purpose of it being seen of men, not hidden—he did so in order that
less financially secure individuals might admire his success and envy his
riches. If so, he is not alone in this respect. The world is dotted with
the possessions of rich and famous individuals who pride themselves in their
accomplishments, and who, for many, fail to give God any credit for the success
they claim for themselves. I cannot say with certainty Mr. Grisham is such
a man, but his actions lead me to consider the possibility.
I have also considered another obvious reason a man builds a house on a hill
is to enjoy the view from the heights, to survey his kingdom, if you please.
Mr. Grisham must have known when he built his house; the view was subject
to change. Surely, with his millions, he could have purchased the property
adjacent to his estate as well as the land across the highway for as far
as the eye could see, which, in the hills, isn’t all that far. Such
a move would have secured his aesthetic investment for the rest of his life.
Maybe, it’s not too late, Mr. Grisham could buy the mobile home dealership,
relocate it, then reshape the land to suit his needs, maybe even rip up the
pavement and gravel, throw down some sod, and establish several soccer fields.
Note: Depending on my work load, this may or may not concludes, the
series of articles reprinted from 1998 for the purpose of helping celebrate
RRN’s
seventh birthday. I've shared four this month but I'm considering seven,
due to this being the seventh anniversary of
RRN
Bodock Beau
Reasons To Smile
I don't know about you, but of late there's not been much in the news to
make one smile. And, in case you need a reason to smile, Linda Thomas shares
the following 22 reasons to smile.
1. How Do You Catch a Unique Rabbit? Unique Up On It.
2. How Do You Catch a Tame Rabbit? Tame Way, Unique Up On It.
3. How Do Crazy People Go Through The Forest? They Take The Psycho Path.
6. What Do Eskimos Get From Sitting On The Ice too Long? Polaroids
7. What Do You Call a Boomerang That Doesn't work? A
Stick.
8. What Do You Call Cheese That Isn't Yours?
Nacho Cheese.
9. What Do You Call Santa's Helpers? Subordinate
Clauses.
10. What Do You Call Four Bullfighters In
Quicksand? Quatro Sinko.
11. What Do You Get From a Pampered Cow?
Spoiled Milk.
12. What Do You Get When You Cross a Snowman With
a Vampire? Frostbite.
13. What Lies At The Bottom Of The Ocean
And Twitches? A Nervous Wreck.
14. What's The Difference Between Roast
Beef And Pea Soup? Anyone Can Roast
Beef.
15. Where Do You Find a Dog With No Legs?
Right Where You Left Him.
16. Why Do Gorillas Have Big Nostrils? Because
They Have Big Fingers.
17. Why Don't Blind People Like To Sky Dive?
Because It Scares The Dog.
18. What Kind Of Coffee Was Served On The
Titanic? Sanka.
19. What Is The Difference Between a Harley
And a Hoover? The Location Of The Dirt
Bag.
20. Why Did Pilgrims' Pants Always Fall
Down? Because They Wore Their Belt Buckle On Their
Hat.
21. What's The Difference Between a Bad
Golfer, And a Bad Skydiver? A Bad Golfer Goes, Whack, Dang! A Bad Skydiver
Goes Dang! Whack.
22. How Are a Texas Tornado And a Tennessee
Divorce The Same? Somebody's Gonna Lose A
Trailer.
Golfer's Advice - Stay Out Of The Rough
A man staggers into an emergency room with a concussion, multiple bruises,
two black eyes and a five iron wrapped tightly around his neck. Naturally,
the doctor asks him what happened.
"Well, the man says, "it's like this. I was playing a quiet round of golf
with my wife, when at a difficult hole, we both sliced our balls into a pasture
of cows. We went to look for them, and while I was rooting around, I noticed
one of the cows had something white on its rear end. I walked over and lifted
up the tail, and sure enough, there was a golf ball with my wife's monogram
on it¾ stuck right in the middle of the cow's
butt. That's when I made my big mistake."
"What did you do?" the Doctor asks.
"Well," the man replies, "I lifted the cow's tail and yelled to my wife,
'Hey, this looks like yours!' I don't remember much after that."
Contributed by Floyd McCullough
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