what about the plastic animals?

Little Abe On A Little Horse

Ha!  The weather was beautiful Saturday and I was in the mood to get out of town so off I went to Connecticut.  The "Circuit Rider" sculpture by Anna Hyatt Huntington is proudly displayed by the Bethel Public Library at one of the busiest intersections in town.  This was a small version of the sculpture.  It was maybe half the size, or smaller, than the versions in Syracuse, Lincoln City, Oregon, and at work.

Huntington donated the sculpture to the library in 1967.  Her studio was on a nearby estate owned by her husband, Archer M. Huntington.  After Anna's death in 1973 the estate was given to the state for use as a state park.  The entrance to the park, named after Archer's adoptive father, railroad magnate and ship builder Collis P. Huntington, is marked by two Anna Huntington sculptures:  A bear with two cubs and two howling wolves.

That's all the versions of the sculpture that I know about.  If anyone sees another one let me know.

Killed by ye Bloing up of ye School houfe

Young Richard Bernham of Hartford, Connecticut had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  The British Parliament repealed the hated Stamp Act in May 1766.  Later that month there was to be a celebration.  Gunpowder and fireworks were stored in the brick schoolhouse.  There was an explosion and Richard Bernham along with five other men were no more.  Bernham is buried at the Ancient Burying Ground in Hartford.

Doctor Nathaniel Ledyard was among those killed.  His tombstone, which I didn't notice, has this poetic epitah:

Excerpt from The Magazine of American History (Vol. 7, 1881) found via Google Books.

Three Gargoyles

More hints to answer yesterday's quiz question.  Surely someone can name at least one newsworthy person who, over the course of three years, might have often walked by these themed gargoyles.

Sleeping and Talking

Today's quiz:  Name at least one newsworthy person that would have walked underneath these sculptures for about three years.

Newtown, Connecticut

Edmund Town Hall, Newtown CT

Meeting House, Newtown CT

I stopped in Newtown looking for a doughnut.  I didn't find one but the general store did have a really tasty homemade crumb cake. 

The town hall pulls double-duty as the village's movie theater.  I liked that.  According to Wikipedia, the theater is the only $2 theater in Connecticut.

The rooster weather vane on top of the meeting house was used as target practice by French troops before they headed toward Yorktown in 1781. 

At the intersection between the town hall and meeting house is a 100-foot tall flag pole erected in 1876 to celebrate the nation's centennial.  I didn't take a photo so you'll have to take my word that it is impressive.

Other fascinating facts about Newtown:  The game of Scrabble was invented here;  the town was a stop on the Underground Railroad; Charles Goodyear was born here; and decathlete Bruce Jenner and actor Anthony Edwards were raised in Newtown.

Turkey Dinner in Connecticut

That's the open faced turkey sandwich at the Cromwell Diner in Cromwell, Connecticut.  The turkey and potatoes were fine.  The vast sea of yellow gravy was unexpected.  In the upper right can be seen the daily vegetable special.  What possessed me to order "Hawaiian" carrots is a mystery as I knew they would be awful.  Drowning baby carrots with a sickly sweet pineapple coating is not a good idea.

The sunset outside the Shell station more than made up for the icky vegetables.  A few minutes later, when I was on the interstate and couldn't safely take a picture, the yellow had gone out of the sky and the clouds were a brilliant scarlet.

Mushroom Hunting in Connecticut

Putnam State Park, Connecticut.

"Wildman" Steve Brill identifying a mushroom.

Don't eat these!  The big orange mushroom glows in the dark.

The edible bounty.

Getting sauteed.

Ramps.

On Sunday I joined several friends for a wild mushroom hunt in Connecticut.  The foraging was led by "Wildman" Steve Brill, who is more famous for his Central Park foraging tours.  After all the rain we've been having you'd think that there would be lots of mushrooms but there weren't.  Between six of us we found enough mushrooms for dinner but not the bounty we had anticipated.  We did gather lots of ramps, a wild and pungent relative of the leek and onion.

The ramps were used in a ramp-potato soup.  The alpha chef sauteed the mushrooms separately from all the other food so we could better taste them.  They tasted like mushrooms with a bitter, soapy aftertaste.  The hunt was mildly fun, but in the future I'll stick to store bought.