another clock from Prague

This clock is in the old town square in Prague. As with many of the sights of Prague, this clock both fascinates and disgusts me. It was built in the early 1400's. There are four figures shown on the clock represents four attributes to despise and fear: Vanity, (a man looking at himself in a mirror), Greed ( a Jew holding a moneybag ), Death (the skeleton ), and an Infidel (figure wearing a turban). The beginning of the Jewish Quarter is just steps away from this clock.

You can just see the feet of the two figures for Vanity and Greed in this photo To be honest, at the time i took the photo I was concentrating more on the face and only later found out the significance of the figures.

I'm fascinated by the artistic beauty of the face of this clock as well as the intricacy of it and the various ways it measures time. The inner astronomical clock moves around based on the sun's position during the year. The outer 24 hours measure what we typically think of as hours of the day. The curved lines measure the unequal "hours" that divide the day and night - 12 periods of night and 12 periods of day, where the amount of time in each period varies during the year depending on the length of a day. It shows the path of the sun, of the moon, and many other things that are just at the edge of my comprehension and beyond my understanding.

But what I really don't understand how someone can make something so beautiful, how they can be so advanced and knowledgeable in order to be able to build this, and at the same time be so fearful and hateful of people living just steps away.

more about time

This clock runs backwards - see the Alef, 1:00 at the position that 11:00 would be. This photo was taken in the Jewish Quarter in Prague a little over two years ago. My son and I were there for a few days of vacation after a conference. We were talking about this trip today, so I thought i'd find a photo from the trip for tonight's post.

What you don't see in this photo is another clock, high above this one, that uses roman numerals and runs forward. They are both run from the same single clock mechanism. So does that mean time is going both backwards and forwards? Wouldn't that make it stand still?

I find it a little ironic that I'm now contemplating time, but as it is after midnight and I have to go to work tomorrow, it's too late; I have no more time to follow this thought.

orange and purple flower

I love the colors of this little flower - I don't know exactly what knd of flower it is but I found it earlier this summer and planted it in my garden. And it's been in bloom most of the summer.

Well - this time there's a really good reason I didn't post for a few days. The teapot in the previous post is a big hint. I spent the next few days mostly sleeping, sucking cough drops and drinking tea. Got better just in time for Rosh Hashanah services last night. This morning I chanted the V'ahavta during the morning service. I was a little afraid my voice wouldn't hold up, but it was fine. It's been bouncing back and forth all day - I can talk, then I can't, then I can again. But I feel like myself again.

tea

I started the day with a little bit of a sore throat and ended with a full blown cold. So tonight's photo is something I am right this moment very thankful for - steam and tea. I stood in front of this teapot for quite a while breathing in the steam, then made a big thermos full of tea. I'm also sucking down the cough drops like they are going out of style but I figured the teapot would make a better photo. And I must say that standing in front of that teapot and inhaling the steam is the best I've felt all day - if I could figure out how to sleep like that I would try it.

a new year

Rosh Hashanah is just a few days away. A new year, new beginnings, possibly new hope?

time

Time is on my mind these days so I thought this photo would be appropriate for tonight's post. How is it possible that time can simultaneously move so quickly and so incredibly slowly?

This is a photo of the Wrigley Building clock. For the first 7 or 8 years of working at SPSS, my office window looked directly out onto this clock. It took me years to get out of the habit of looking out of the window to see what time it was!

apple picking

Today I went apple picking - so I had to post a photo of one of the apple trees tonight. I picked a big bag of apples today - many different varieties. And of course I had to try one of each different variety to decide if I wanted to pick some of those. So now I have lots of really wonderful apples and a bit of a stomach ache.