I need orange: July 14 -- Reading Terminal Market, and art museum

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The part of the view out our window, on a rainy day.

Reading Terminal Market.

As I was taking pics of the flowers, a young man told me that "girls like it" when he posts pics of flowers to his facebook page.

Well then.

I expect I gave some sort of noncommittal response like "Hmmm."

He asked me where I was from, and when I told him "Ann Arbor," he said it was a big football town. I said I didn't care much about football. Forgetting for the moment that I was in Pennsylvania, I said at least the Michigan football program hadn't been caught doing the things Penn State's football program allowed.

He said that was sort of a sore subject, and went on to say that he always knew, from the moment he heard anything about it, that where there was smoke, there was fire.

He said he was in favor of "sudden death" -- just shut down the whole football program for four years, and start over from scratch after that. (Note all of this was before the NCAA announced the sanctions against Penn State for allowing the football program to ignore the fact that one of its senior staff was raping children......)

I said that I thought every single person who knew about it, and didn't call the police, should be charged as accessories to the crimes.

We continued in that vein for a while, then took some more flower pics, and went our separate ways. You never know what sort of conversation you're going to have with a random stranger!

I think the little golden plums I loved at our farmers' market may have been Early Golden plums, like these. These were yummy.

When we were last in Philadelphia (I think it was 1996), Amish women were making and selling these sweet rolls.

This time Amish women were still selling them, but Hispanic men were making them.

The last pecan sticky roll I had was made by Zingerman's bakehouse. It was the best I'd ever had -- the "sticky," especially, was delicious.

I remembered these as tasty, from 1996, but didn't expect they'd be as good as Zingerman's. In fact, I wouldn't buy them again. Alas. They suffered too much in comparison. And had a bitterness, somewhere. Not-so-good pecans, maybe?

Ah well.

Easier to resist temptation, when I have tasted and not loved.....

Having been to the fermented-vegetable tasting just before leaving home, I was intrigued by this stuff. In the end I didn't buy any -- I think for the same reason I didn't buy olives in Carcasonne. This stuff is just too ... wet. Much harder to deal with than, say, a bagel, when one is traveling.

All the same, I'd like to have tried one of these tomatoes, and some of their sauerkraut. This vendor was closed, most of the times I went to the market. Maybe I would have tried some of their wares, if I'd had more opportunity.

Because of the rain, I decided to go to the art museum. It is huge.

Fitting, that the first work I encountered (getting off the Phlash bus/trolley/thing, and entering by the west entrance) is this enormous painting. I don't think I've ever seen a bigger painting in a museum......

Before we launch ourselves into the museum, I would like to note that I messed with the color/lighting in essentially every pic I took there. The lighting was WAY yellow......

I've adjusted, as well as I could, to what I remember, or what seems reasonable to me, but I make no claim to properly represent what I saw..........

Lots of colonial/revolutionary stuff in this museum. Amused by scientist/inventor Ben, with cherubim and seraphim (or whoever those guys in the background may be).

This museum has a LOT (A *LOT*) of functional work. It also has more rooms-brought-from-somewhere-else than I think I've ever seen in one place before. I mentioned yesterday that the Powel house's front parlor's interior was moved here. That was one of dozens(?) of recreated spaces, including a Japanese tea house (complete with surrounding area), an Indian temple, a Chinese temple, etc, etc, etc.

Love this dresser.

1710-1730. Walnut and lightwood with oak, tulip poplar, and yellow pine inlay. Probably made in Philadelphia.

I saw these pieces after seeing a lot of earlier work, and was sort of jarred. Modern! Then I remembered that the museum wasn't alllll about colonial/revolutionary times.....

Love these silver pieces. The shapes............ Both of these pieces were made in the first quarter if the 20th century.

So excellent, the way the handle is thicker in the middle.....

Love these..... 1880, Tufts and Company.

She reminds me of Ziva (only without the widow's peak).

Alexander Calder, broach, c 1950.

Rookwood, 1907. Love the crows against the moon(?) and sky......

Copper vase (less than 6" tall), 1884, Mary Louise McLaughlin.

The contraption at left is a stove. (!!)

I mentioned conspicuous ostentation yesterday. Here's some more. Really, do we need a room so big it can comfortably house that eNORmous mirror thing? The chair is normal size, for comparison......

At the other end of the scale, in size and in ostentation, here's a mass-produced (though hand made) ceramic flower pot. With excellent hand-painted decoration. I'm glad to see beautiful humble things like this in an art museum!

And this, too. Carved wooden bird, the size of a cardinal, maybe, c 1850.

This platter was probably about 18" across.

"1778. Lead-glazed earthenware, with slip and sgraffito decoration. Made in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Possibly made by Abraham Hubener, American. Inscribed (translation): There are three flowers on one [stem] and do not take them. 1778"