Milwaukee Art Gallery

Each time I visit a North American city I scout out three things right away: the Episcopal Cathedral, the Ballpark and the Art Gallery. During that dull and dreary week at the end of September I escaped from my home in beautiful Cobourg to the resort village of Lake Geneva, about half way between Chicago and Milwaukee. It was just as dull and dreary there, but I was on holiday and that was what mattered most.

I had visited the Brewers Ballpark once before without ever getting as far as the downtown, so I passed on that. There was no way I could get to the Cathedral for a Sunday morning service, so I just poked my head in at the end of day and joined two other men in the chancel for Evening Prayer - no time for pictures. But the Art Gallery I did get to and with all sorts of time to admire it inside and out. The addition, which I took all the photos of, is both startling and beautiful, designed as if it were a ship sailing out onto the lake.

And here are some of my favourites from the work housed inside.

Northumberland Ploughing Match

I'm just recently back from a few days in Wisconsin, the Dairy State, so it was appropriate to head out to the farms of Northumberland today. I did not get to see the cows but the horses and tractors. Of course, I have lots of pictures from Wisconsin, though none from farms, but I haven't found time to sort through them yet. So here are a few from today.

This is perhaps my favourite, as the boy gives his father a shove as he sets off to create a new furrow.

This girl was working extremely hard as she learned the single-furrow plough (I think). But she appeared to be enjoying it!

A multi-furrow plough with hydraulic operation - by far the most complex one I saw there.

The teams seemed to work wonderfully together and to need very limited direction. I couldn't really tell whether they were enjoying it or not! Gentle giants indeed.