Next to last Pieta

As he neared death at age 85, Michelangelo could no longer sleep at night.  He produced this work with his face on Nicodemus and his long best friend in life, Vittoria Calonna's face on the Madonna.

Pieta(s) by Michelangelo

 Created when the artist was 21 yrs ..the only work he ever signed.
His interest was in beauty.

Done in later years at age 87...his interest was in religion. He died about 89.

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about those trees in your yard

jpr: The ten (10) acres behind my house is half woods and half meadow (which is kept mowed as a lawn). There are several trees in eastern end of this field. A female black snake has been noticed climbing one (1) particular tree early  on several days. Seems she’ll roost up high on her favorite branch while digesting her night’s gain.

Personal Heros.

Sir Nicholas Winton died his week a 106, one of the great unsung heroes of the holocaust.  Acting on his own, without government support or money, he went to occupied Czechoslovakia as the outbreak of World War Two loomed.  He organized the rescue of almost 700 Jewish children destined for concentration camps by getting volunteer British families to sponsor a child for 50 pounds, considerable money in those days.  War broke out as the last train left.  Those children  were murdered.  He never spoke of the events and his heroism was forgotten until 1988 when his wife discovered his files in the attic. He was subsequently knighted. His death occurred on the 76th anniversary of the rescue. RIP.

Joke

First the doctor told me the good news: I was going to have a disease named after me.

-- Steve Martin

Moondog

Charles is not home less and has monthly benefits. He is so beloved that he officially closes the city's annual Christmass parade.

Born September 18, 1958, Moondog is a Wheeling, WV native and one of several children born to Mamie Walker and Charles Waldrum. He attended Wheeling schools and worked “at least 15” jobs before he became a full-time vigilante.

“He rides around town and looks for suspicious activity,” Sheryl Small says. His “beat” is the entire city of Wheeling, which Moondog patrols from midnight until daybreak.

“We call him Moondog because he takes a bite out of crime,” says Lance Miller, owner of Neely’s Grocery, one of the Wheeling businesses that Moondog keeps an eye on at night.