A LITTLE KNOWN "FACT" ABOUT THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL SCULPTURE

This is the LINCOLN MEMORIAL in WASHINGTON, DC. Take a GOOD look at ABRAHAM LINCOLN's HANDS..........

Got it?

What do you see?

Has anyone ever told you the meaning of the placement of his hands?

After I published a Blog post (July 4, 2019) about our recent EVENING TOUR OF WASHINGTON DC MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS, a friend  (thank you DONNA!) emailed me and said "Did you notice ABRAHAM LINCOLN's hands?"  I had no idea what she was talking about.  

She explained to me that the sculptor, DANIEL CHESTER FRENCH (1920) designed Lincoln's hands to display AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE - his left hand is an "A" and his right hand is the "L" - as he's looking at it, his hands form his initials.

Now THAT is something, isn't it?!

JOAN

From Wikipedia -

Sculptural features[edit]

The sculptor's possible use of sign language is speculated, as the statue's left hand forms an "A" while the right hand portrays an "L"

The sculpture has been at the center of two urban legends. Some have claimed that the face of General Robert E. Lee was carved onto the back of Lincoln's head,^[26] and looks back across the Potomac toward his former home, Arlington House, now within the bounds of Arlington National Cemetery. Another popular legend is that Lincoln is shown using sign language to represent his initials, with his left hand shaped to form an "A" and his right hand to form an "L", the president's initials. The National Park Service denies both legends.^[26]

However, historian Gerald Prokopowicz writes that, while it is not clear that sculptor Daniel Chester French intended Lincoln's hands to be formed into sign language versions of his initials, it is possible that French did intend it, because he was familiar with American Sign Language, and he would have had a reason to do so, that is, to pay tribute to Lincoln for having signed the federal legislation giving Gallaudet University, a university for the deaf, the authority to grant college degrees.^[27] The National Geographic Society's publication "Pinpointing the Past in Washington, D.C." states that Daniel Chester French had a son who was deaf and that the sculptor was familiar with sign language.^[28][29] Historian James A. Percoco has observed that, although there are no extant documents showing that French had Lincoln's hands carved to represent the letters "A" and "L" in American Sign Language, "I think you can conclude that it's reasonable to have that kind of summation about the hands."^[30]

A MOM-MEMORY and LIFE LESSON 20+ YEARS LATER

Just last evening, I was sharing a MOM-MEMORY and LIFE LESSON with my GIRL (and CLOVER!!!'s Nanny) NICHOLE, about when my mother was dying (we knew she was terminal for 2.5 yrs). 

MOM and I were extremely close - BEST FRIEND - UNCONDITIONAL LOVE and RESPECT........ I had always been a serious "WORRIER" and was asking her how I was ever going to survive her death..... She told me to "LIVE IN THE NOW" - to forget about the past because it can't be changed and don't worry about the future because it most likely will be different from what I imagine anyway. Simply "LIVE IN THE NOW". A very ZEN approach to life.

She also told me to PAY ATTENTION and that she didn't know how now, but she WOULD find a way to COMMUNICATE with me from BEYOND.

This conversation (and others) helped to get me through the worst of my grief. I think of this particular LESSON regularly and continually appreciate her WISDOM and PHILOSOPHY!

So, how about this for a "COINCIDENCE"??!! This morning (just hours after talking with NICHOLE about this) my daily message from NEALE DONALD WALSCH arrived in my email box and it reads as follows:

• "Everything is perfect Right Here, Right Now and Right Here Right Now is all there is. Forget about the past. It does not exist except in your memory. Drop it. And stop worrying about how you're going to get through tomorrow. Life is going on Right Here, Right Now --- pay attention to that and all will be well. Embrace the present moment with gratefulness and wonder, and you will turn it into whatever you have been waiting for."

This confirms to me (once again) that GOD, THE UNIVERSE, ANGELS and "AFTER-LIFE" SOULS all exist and continue to communicate HIGHER LEARNING to us..... as long as we remain ALERT and RECEPTIVE to it all.

We are BLESSED to receive these remarkable MESSAGES. 

So much to LEARN in so little TIME......... 

..... yet so MUCH to be GRATEFUL for!!

JOAN

PAINTING - VERMEER's "GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING"

For the longest time, I've been enamored with the painting, THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING by JOHANNES VERMEER (c. 1665)!! I had never given it a thought that I could actually see it in person - until I was planning my trip to THE NETHERLANDS for this year. BINGO! I could arrange for us to drive to the MAURITSHAUS, an art museum in THE HAGUE, where it's housed. 

Thankfully we got there in plenty of time (despite going around the block(s) 2-3 times to find parking). There was not a big crowd around it and we were able to "GET RIGHT UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL" to look at it at our leisure. WOW!!! 

Notice that her eyes follow you in each direction that you stand, just like the eyes of MONA LISA in THE LOUVRE.

This painting is everything I had hoped it would be in person. It's not teeny-tiny. And the BLUE!!  THE BLUE is gorgeous, the PEARL is notable and I now LOVE the painting even more!

We had some extra time to mozy through the rest of the MUSEUM. It's a fairly small building, as you saw from the photo of the exterior.

Here is another VERMEER painting. His TALENT with LIGHT!!

 View of Delft 1660-1661

The MAURITSHAUS also owns paintings by the DUTCH MASTER, PETER PAUL REUBENS. This first one (quite different in style from the second one), he did not paint to be sold; instead, he retained possession of it, probably to be used as study material for pupils in his studio.

 Old Woman and Boy with Candles - c. 1616-1617

Modello for the Assumption of the Virgin - c.1622-1625

Paintings by some additional DUTCH artists coming up....... 

Except for the first one below, "BRAWLING PEASANTS" by Adriaen Brouwer (c. 1634-1637), you begin to see a similar DUTCH ARTIST painting "STYLE" - a STYLE that I really LOVE and ADMIRE.

A Boy Blowing Bubbles by Casper Netscher - 1670

Joseph Explaining the Dreams of the Baker and the Cupbearer 

by Jan Mostaert - c. 1500 

Ice Scene by Hendrick Avercamp - c. 1610

DETAIL (right side) of Ice Scene by Hendrick Avercamp - c. 1610

 Merry Company on a Terrace by Willem Buytewech - c. 1616-1617

DETAIL of (right side) Merry Company on a Terrace by Willem Buytewech - c. 1616-1617

The interior of the MUSEUM is exquisite.

Looking out a MUSEUM window on that cloudy day......

"Last, but not at all least", some paintings by REMBRANDT in a special EXHIBITION at the museum. 

His PORTRAITS are "OUT OF THIS WORLD"!!

 Portrait of REMBRANDT with a Gorget - after c. 1629

 The Laughing Man - c. 1629-1630

 Study of an Old Man - c. 1650

 SELF-PORTRAIT - 1669

 Study of an Old Woman - after c. 1631

Portrait of an Elderly Man - 1667

Our visit to the MAURITSHAUS to see VERMEER's "GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING" was a HUGE THRILL for me. And the extra time to wander the rest of the museum was an unexpected surprise.

JOAN

BOOK - THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON (2001) (NO SPOILERS)

I liked this book, but I have to admit that it was somewhat confusing for me with multiple twists and turns - love, murder, mystery. Some books do that to me and I'm not sure what it is. Is it because the story is told backward? Or are there too many characters with unfamiliar names that start with the same letter - like F or B or J......?!! Because of this, I was getting the characters mixed up from time to time and forgetting who is who. Maybe I've been eating too many carbs.......

The CEMETERY OF FORGOTTEN BOOKS (introduced in the opening chapters) is a clever concept and did build some real intrigue for me, and obviously for that 10-year-old-boy, DANIEL, who narrates the story.

I could totally relate to what DANIEL said about after his mother died - a very empty and frightening experience.

• On that June morning, I woke up screaming at first light. My heart was pounding in my chest as if it feared that my soul wanted to carve its way out and run off down the stairs. My father hurried into my room and held me in his arms, trying to calm me. "I can't remember her face. I can't remember Mommy's face," I muttered, breathless.

If you are like my friend LISA, who likes a book that is ALL TIED UP IN A BOW AT THE END, this one is for you. No unanswered questions - which actually helped me to make sense of it all and to enjoy and appreciate it more, when I think back and piece it all together.

The author describes things so creatively. I feel compelled to share some terrific passages.

Page 17

     The Ateneo was - and remains - one of the many places in Barcelona where the nineteenth century has not yet been served its eviction notice.

Page 20

     I swallowed, feeling my pulse race, and gave silent thanks there were no eyewitnesses to my blushing, which could have set a cigar alight a foot away.

Page 44

     "You do speak well, sir. It shows that you've been to that Sorbet university."

     "The Sorbonne," he would answer, gently correcting her.

Page 71

     "I don't know. People tend to complicate their own lives, as if living weren't already complicated enough."

Page 90

     "Nobody knows much about women, not even Freud, not even women themselves."

Page 92

     "Daniel, you're as white as a nun's buttock. Are you all right?" he asked, giving a worried look.

Page 185

     "A good father?"

     "Yes. Like yours. A man with a head, a heart, and a soul. A man capable of listening, of leading and respecting a child, and not of drowning his own defects in him. Someone whom a child will not only love because he's the father but will also admire for the person he is. Someone he would want to grow up and resemble."

Page 186

     "So that I can deserve her. You cannot understand such things right now, because you're young. But in good time, you'll see that sometimes what matters isn't what one gives but what one gives up."

Page 203

     "You know what kids are like. Deep down, God has filled them with goodness, but they repeat what they hear at home."

Page 209

     " Is it true you haven't read any of these books?"

     "Books are boring."

     "Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you," answered Julian.

Page 363

     Miquel Moliner suffered from that affliction of those who feel guilty when not working; although he respected and even envied the leisure others enjoyed, he fled from it."

Page 366

     "Paris requires more than two days," said Julian. "It won't listen to reason."

Page 371

     "Making money isn't hard in itself," he complained. "What's hard is to earn it doing something worth devoting one's life to it."

Page 484

     "Bea says that the art of reading is slowly dying, that it's an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day."

JOAN

MY FIRST VISIT INSIDE THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL

In high school, when I visited my best friend who lived in the WATERGATE APTS in WASHINGTON, DC (that's crazy, isn't it?!), I always passed the WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL, but never stopped to tour the inside.  I finally had the opportunity to do so last week.  WOW! 

We had the most interesting guide, RUTH ANN, who is a retired teacher from the private Girls' School next door.  She taught there for 47 YEARS!  She was full of humor and interesting stories.

GEORGE WASHINGTON conceived the idea in 1791. The location (the highest ground) was finally identified in 1896 and in 1907 the FOUNDATION was laid.

All major DC FUNERALS and WEDDINGS are held here. There is a seat in the front row RESERVED for the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and FIRST LADY.  

MARTIN LUTHER KING preached his last Sunday service here and RUTH ANN was seated in the very front row on the side!

While we were waiting for our tour, we walked around the outside of the building and passed this sign explaining that the outdoor construction was repairing damage from the 2011 EARTHQUAKE that really shook the whole WASHINGTON, DC area. I actually felt it here at home, 3 hours north.

Drawn to SCULPTURE, I was fascinated by the tops of columns on the exterior decorated with intricate sculptures; each one telling a story.

This one, in particular, caught my eye, because it was so TINY!

The OUTBUILDINGS (with their beautiful flowers) surrounding the CATHEDRAL are charming.

Naturally, the FRONT DOORS of the CATHEDRAL are intricately designed.

And when you enter the CATHEDRAL you need to STOP, to take it all in.........

An interesting story that RUTH ANN shared with us.......

Three of the ASTRONAUTS who landed on the moon had children in her school. One of them, ASTRONAUT MICHAEL COLLINS, brought back a piece of the moon and donated it to the CHURCH. If you look very closely, in the CENTER of the TOP CIRCLE (the MOON), you will see the piece that he brought back.

Some additional BRILLIANT and COLORFUL STAINED GLASS windows -

DAVID AND GOLIATH are featured in this TAPESTRY.

Colorful handcrafted NEEDLEPOINTS are everywhere.

HANDCARVED WOOD decor........

Statues of GEORGE WASHINGTON and ABRAHAM LINCOLN are stationed near the entrance to the CATHEDRAL.

And here is an example of the EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE to the interior floor.

 Beautiful ALTARS.

We ended our tour with an elevator ride to the 7th Floor - the TOP FLOOR of the front TOWER. Can you see the WASHINGTON MONUMENT in the center of this window view?

The TOWER HALLWAY is marvelous!

Thus ends our WASHINGTON NATIONAL CATHEDRAL tour. After visiting multiple GRAND CATHEDRALS in Europe, it's ABOUT TIME that I visited the interior of this one!!

JOAN