A Mosaic House of Cheer

In my prior blog post I showed some of the poignant 9-11 memorials I've seen in New York City and this house at 108 Wyckoff Street in the Boerum Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn is in a way another one.  It is the home of artist Susan Gardner.  After all the sad events of 9-11 Garner began gluing pieces of shells, beads, buttons, jewelry, tiles, mirrors, broken cups/dishes and much more into a large mosaic flower on the outside wall of her brownstone house. She wanted the mosaic to be a celebration of life, and to share it with her neighbors and people who passed by to cheer them.

Gardner like the initial mosaic flower so much she began to add more and more mosaic designs to the house, and has been adding more to it every summer since 2001, with the hopes of someday covering the entire building facade.

Gardner says that the neighborhood has embraced and encouraged the project and even leave her bits of materials, such as a broken cup or mirror. 

All photos can be enlarged to see more detail by clicking on them once, and then again when they open on a new page.

Some of the house's mosaic details.

A portion of the ground in front is also a mosaic.

The fence is covered with mosaic pieces....

.....and so are the window guards.

The mosaics reach up to the second floor windows, and so about half of the brownstone's exterior is covered.

As well as being an artist Ms.Gardner teaches painting and sculpture as the head of the Studio Program at Yeshiva University.  You can see some of her paintings and more photos of the house on her website.

She hopes her mosaic house will cheer and amuse all that see it.  I think it does just that! What do you think?


I'm linking to Mary at the Little Red House blog's Mosaic Monday.  Please visit Mary today to see her beautiful photo mosaics and the links to all the blogs participating today!

September 11 - A Day of Remembrance

Every day in New York City we are reminded of the terrible events of 9-11. The gap in the skyline where the towers once loomed was most evident, but now there is the bustle of construction activity going on at "ground zero" where the World Trade Center complex once stood.

The construction of One World Trade Center, also known by the name Freedom Tower, has really begun to show progress as it rises into the sky, but there are many sightings everywhere in New York which make us all pause and remember.  I'd like to show a few formal memorials, community memorials, places and objects that have acquired memorial symbolism and homemade memorials made by individual New Yorkers in honor of the people that died on 9-11.

Three hundred and forty three firemen lost their live on 9-11 and many firehouses have a plaque on their wall that memorializes the firemen from that firehouse that lost their lives that day. This plaque was located outside Firehouse Engine 4 & Ladder 15, located in the Financial District, New York City at 42 South Street, in Manhattan.

The plaque is located on the wall to the left when facing the firehouse.

The 10 Truck Ladder recently on it's way to a call.  The Engine 10 Ladder 10 Company is located at 124 Liberty Street in Manhattan -- just south from where World Trade Center Tower 2 stood. It lost six firemen that day.

The outside firehouse wall  became the repository for a beautiful memorial 56 foot long brass plaque dedicated to the 343 New York City firemen that were killed in the line of duty on 9-11.

To read more information about this memorial and to see more photos of it, please read my prior blog post about it by clicking here.

Some of the companies that surrounded the World Trade Center complex lost employees in the attack and have memorials to them.  The American Express Memorial to the 11 employees the firm lost on September 11 is in the lobby of the American Express headquarters at the World Financial Center across the street from the World Trade Center site. A 600-pound, tear-shaped Brazilian quartz, carved with 11 sides (one side for each employee lost), is suspended at the center of the memorial. The quartz hangs from 11 thin cables over the center of an eleven sided black granite pool. The names of the victims are inscribed on the sides of the pool.

A close up of one of the victims name in memoriam.

This is "Angel's Circle" located in the NYC borough of Staten Island.  You can see more photos of this memorial and read the story about it on my prior blog post by clicking here.

A close up of the inscription at the bottom of the angel statue.

Staten Island was one of the hardest hit communities on 9/11, losing nearly 270 loved ones in the terrorist attacks.

I saw this touching home made memorial next to a private house in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

Seeing the faces of the victims really increases the impact. 

A chunk of the marble facade of World Trade Center building 7, the last building to collapse from the destruction on the World Trade Center, and a lost fireman's photo attached to it, was also in the display case. The company my husband worked for at the time was located in WTC 7. Thankfully no one from his office was lost that day.

This is a memorial traffic triangle bound by Fillmore Avenue, Avenue T and East 57th Street in Brooklyn, NY.  It is one of the thousands of properties throughout the city called "Greenstreets," which belong to the Department of Transportation and are beautified by the Department of Parks. This triangle stands in testament to the life of Firefighter Gregory Saucedo. 

The plaque on the triangle explains that firefighter (1969 - 2001) lived his entire life in this neighborhood of Brooklyn, and played near this triangle as a child, often waving to the fire trucks that drove by on a call.  To read more about him go to this link.

This is another homemade memorial I spotted outside a house also in Brooklyn last 9-11. It contained 343 American flags in memory of the deceased firefighters. 

Many of the firefighters lived in the boroughs outside of Manhattan and after 9-11 there were many sad funeral processions that lined the streets while bagpipes played a mournful melody. Seeing and hearing that is a memory that I will never forget.

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden contains two long rows of Liberty Scarlet Oaks, planted in memory of 9-11.

The informational plaque about the trees.

The World Trade Center Cross, also known as The Ground Zero Cross, is composed of cross shaped steel beams, and was found amidst the debris of the World Trade Center, following the September 11, 2001 attacks. It stood at "Ground Zero" for a few years but is now off site due to construction.

A informational plaque about the cross. You can read some more about it on this post.

St. Paul’s Chapel is located on Church St. between Fulton St. and Vesey St., opposite the east side of the World Trade Center site.  This Episcopal church, was home to an extraordinary eight-month volunteer relief effort after September 11, 2001

It became known by the nickname "The Little Chapel That Stood."  You can read more about the chapel and see the photos I took of memorials inside the chapel on my blog post at this link.

I saw this sign awhile ago attached to a fence of a house in Greenwich Village neighborhood in Manhattan. It says: "If we all do one random act of kindness daily, we just might set the world in the right direction."  ~Martin Kornfeld 

I like to think of this as a response to 9-11.  Isn't it better to fill our hearts with love and positive purpose because of 9-11, than with hatred and revenge?  Wouldn't we all like to work towards making the world a better place?

That is why I am in full support of the September 11 National Day Of Service and Remembrance. This group actively encourage all Americans, and others, to voluntarily support charitable causes, perform good deeds and engage in other service activities in observance of the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. If you can't actively do a good deed or charitable work this year you can donate to a cause that you support by doing a search on this link.

We can all make a difference!  We can all do good in memory of those that perished on 9-11 and honor them in this way.

I'm linking with Beverly at the blog How Sweet The Sound for her 9-11 Memorial supplement to her usual Pink Saturday event.  Please join her on Saturday to see her post and links to all the participating blogs. Thank you Beverly!

Muir Woods, California

There is so much more I could show you about the days we recently spent in San Francisco, but I'll save it for a future date. Now it's time to cross over the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County, California.  I felt fortunate to have had one day that was absolutely cloudless during our five day stay in San Francisco, so that I could get these wonderful photos of the bridge. (all photos will enlarge when clicked on, and then again)

A splice of bridge cable was on display at a look out point, that has some interesting facts about it on the sign.  I overheard someone asking why the bridge is called the "Golden Gate," when it is actually orange in color, and I found the answer on this fact page about the bridge which states: "The real "Golden Gate" is the strait that the bridge spans. It was first named "Chrysopylae," meaning 'golden gate,' by Captain John C. Fremont in 1846."

We left San Francisco in the early morning, and the bridge was shrouded in fog that morning.  It was fun to drive through the fog!

We drove to the Muir Woods National Monument, which is located 11 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge.  On January 9, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt used the powers of the Antiquities Act to create Muir Woods National Monument. William Kent, who donated the land for the monument, requested that it be named for noted conservationist John Muir.

John Muir described the majestic coast redwoods of Muir Woods this way: "This is the best tree-lovers monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world."

It was a cool and quiet place the morning we visited. We walked along the paths under the trees in awe of their size, age, and beauty.

They towered over us; majestic trees that have lived hundreds to thousands of years!

It can be hard to grasp their size from photos until you see how insignificant this one made me!

We took the time to walk on a 1 1/2 hour loop trail that wound up and around the park.

It allowed us to enjoy the splendor of the trees and the diversity of the insects, wildlife, flora and fauna in the forest.  It was so peaceful!

  "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

~John Muir

"Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky" ~ Kahlil Gibran

An information placard about the Kent Tree, which was once the tallest tree in the park. A storm damaged it and it ultimately fell in 2003.

The Kent Tree is now feeding the forest and the cycle will continue.

A slice of a tree that was 1,021 years old when it fell. The inscriptions show events that happened in history during different ages of the tree.

An interesting informational placard about the tree slice (double click to enlarge to read).

I felt very safe and loved in the shelter of this tree!  Muir Woods is a beautiful place to visit.

Later in the day we drove on to the vineyards of Sonoma County. Just look at all the luscious bunches of grapes waiting to be harvested, practically dripping from the bottoms of the vines!

Join me again very soon to see more about this area of the wine country in California.


I'm linking this post to Susan's "Outdoor Wednesday" on her blog A Southern Daydreamer, and Cathy's "Adventure Express" on her blog A Bit of the Blarney, and Jenny Matlock's Alphabe Thursday Summer School --the color today is violet -- I think those luscious grapes qualify, don't you?  

Please visit all the blogs mentioned to see their contribution and links to all the blogs participating in the events!  Thanks Susan, Cathy, and Jenny!