Sunset at Bloubergstrand beach.
The blue mountain (Afr. “Blouberg”) with its flat top is Cape Town’s iconic Table Mountain, of course.
Merry Christmas 🎅🏻
[Image generated with Apple’s Image Playground app with text descriptions as input].
Tuesday morning/ arrival into Cape Town ✈️
Here is our flight path south on Monday night and into Tuesday morning. We were directly over Tunis (capital of Tunisia) after crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Later on we were at 39,000 ft (the plane’s cruising altitude) over Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Windhoek (Namibia).
We landed at Cape Town International at 7.30 am local time (it’s an Airbus A350-900) and were bused into the terminal.
The shark tank dive billboard 😱 is from the pedestrian underpass to the rental car companies at the airport.
Monday night/ to Munich, and south ✈️
A few weeks ago Lufthansa cancelled the direct Frankfurt to Cape Town flight I had reserved. They rebooked all of us on a short hop to Munich, to catch the Munich to Cape Town flight from there.
Pictures:
I ran into several more billboard pictures of “Venus” in Terminal A. Would you like to see all of them? (Of course you do. The “merivaglia” in the slogan “Open to merivaglia” is an Italian word that means “a wonder” or “beauty”).
That’s a Boeing 787-9 at the gate at Terminal A that took us to Munich. It’s a 45-minute flight due east.
Sunday/ in Frankfurt 🏙️
Here are a few pictures from today, as well as a few clippings from the Sunday newspapers.
“Ich spreche nur ein wenig Deutsch” (I speak only a little German), I said. It was a little noisy to carry on a conversation, anyway. As I got up, she pointed to my phone and said “Dein Handy” (your cell phone). Cute word— and appropriate— that handy thing called a “Handy” in German.
“WELL, ONE CAN SPOT THEM EASILY, BIG AS THEY ARE .. “
” .. BUT THEY CAN STILL BE ASTONISHINGLY DIFFICULT TO FIND”
[Cartoon by Naomi Feam for newspaper Tagesspiegel]
Christmas can be a pretty stressful time. We have baked cookies, made the Christmas wreath, drunk mulled wine at overcrowded Christmas markets— and what now? Now the time has come. The extended family is about to arrive. Or: you find yourself in a crowded train traveling across the country and have to split your time between Christmas Eve and Christmas Holiday because your parents are separated. Grandma Inge wants to see you again, and Uncle Bert and his new girlfriend have invited you to dinner. Once you have managed all of that, New Years Eve follows. You should be totally festive here, as well— but now with sparklers and a glass of champagne in hand. And heaven forbid it’s not a great party! In short, December is a seemingly endless series of social, personal and societal expectations and gatherings that could send you straight into end-of-the-year burnout. How the hell is one supposed to survive all of that?
“Are these all returns? Rejected by the electorate? And what is inside yours?”
“Candidates for chancellor”.
[Cartoon by Stuttmann for Tagesspiegel newspaper]
Saturday/ the Christmas market 🎄
Hey, on this winter solstice day I made it to the Christmas market at Römerberg. It was cold and raining, though, and I did not stay very long.
(It did seem that the inclement weather increased the glühwein sales volumes!)
Pictures:
Entrance hall to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (main train station). There was a strong of police presence at the station. Hauptbahnhof station looked a little more ragged and rundown from the last time I saw it— especially the floors leading to the U4 & U5 subway lines’ platforms.
Poster for Messe Frankfurt (exhibition center) close by Hauptbahnhof station.
It’s two stops on the U5 subway line (turquoise train car) from Hauptbahnhof station to Römer/ Dom station to where the Christmas market is. The U5 is getting a 2.7 km (1.7 mi) extension that will open in 2027.
Last picture: the S9 regional train (red train car) arriving to take me back from Hauptbahnhof station to Flughafen (airport) station where my hotel is, a 14-minute ride.
Friday/ to Frankfurt ✈️
We took off from Seattle-Tacoma Airport’s South Terminal almost an hour after the scheduled departure time. (The inbound flight from Frankfurt was late). The flight went without incident, though— always a good thing— and we made up the lost hour on the way.
Recognize the woman on the Italian tourism billboard? She must be Venus from Sandro Botticelli’s famous painting called The Birth of Venus.
Thursday/ my bags are packed 🧳
My bags are packed for my trip to South Africa, with two-night stayover in Frankfurt, Germany.
That way I can check in on the Christmas market, at the historical Römerberg market square in Frankfort.
(I bought this wallet in Hong Kong in August 2011 at the Sogo department store. Just the day before, my leather wallet was stolen out of my backpack ON MY BACK, and while I was on the escalator in an upscale shopping mall. One pickpocket distracted me by ‘bumping’ into me, and at the same time, his accomplice must have zipped open the pocket in the backpack to steal the wallet. I believe they watched me withdraw cash from an ATM just ten minutes before, and saw me put the wallet in my backpack. By the time I could notify American Express, the thieves had already gone on a shopping spree and spent some $7,000 on luxury items. American Express immediately cancelled all the transactions on the card. Several lessons here, of course, and all well-known: keep out an eagle eye when drawing money from an ATM anywhere; don’t let strangers in get too close to you; don’t carry your wallet in an easily accessible place.)
Wednesday/ another rate cut 📉
Fed Cuts Rates, but Projects Fewer Reductions Next Year
Federal Reserve officials projected just two rate cuts in 2025. Markets shuddered at the assessment, with the dollar soaring and stocks plummeting.
– Headlines from the New York Times
Inflation has eased notably, but remains above the Fed’s 2% target rate (2.7% as of November, up slightly from 2.6% in October).
Unemployment is at 4.1%, relatively low. Mortgage rates are going to stay in the 6 to 7% range through 2025, say most analysts.
[Graphic from CNBC]
Tuesday/ rain ☔
It has rained all day in Rain City.
It will rain on and off all week here, in the run-up to winter solstice.
Monday/ holiday cheers🎄
The five amigos went to the Irish pub called The Chieftain on 12th Avenue for a beer and a bite tonight, but found it closed for the night.
We ended up right next door, at the German beer hall-and-restaurant Rhein Haus Seattle, where we found this cheerful Christmas tree.
Sunday/ school’s out 🏫
Here is today’s cartoon from South Africa’s Sunday newspaper Rapport.
The summer school holidays are underway in South Africa, and with it the exodus of the binnelanders* to the coast.
*Afrikaans word for those that live ‘inside’ the country— far away from the coast.
“I want to look up those words that dad will use on the road.”
About the car’s license plate: VAALIES = Old South Africa (pre-1994) nickname for inhabitants of Transvaal province, home to Johannesburg, and which is now called Gauteng (GP) province.
[Cartoon by Dr Jack for Rapport newspaper]
Saturday/ elements on stamps ⚛️
Here are stamps issued by South Africa that would be candidates for a themed collection of elements on stamps.
Given South Africa’s large mining industry, it is somewhat surprising that relatively few stamps with a mining theme have been issued.
1961 First Definitive Issue
Issued May 31, 1961
Perf. 14 | Photogravure | Wmk Coat of Arms
201 113 2c Ultramarine and yellow | Pouring gold
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Part 1, British Commonwealth 1997]
Steel is primarily composed of iron, with most types containing around 98% to 99.5% iron, with the remaining percentage typically made up of carbon and trace elements depending on the specific steel grade.
1978 50th Anniversary of ISCOR* (South African Iron and Steel Industrial Corporation)
Issued Jun. 5, 1978
Perf. 12 | Design: Hein Botha | Litho. | No Wmk
441 225 15c Multicolored | Steel rail
*In the early 2000s, Iscor was sold by Thabo Mbeki’s government as his administration sought to run a tight ship and right the country’s finances. The name Iscor disappeared for good in March 2005.
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Part 1, British Commonwealth 1997]
1980 World Diamond Congress, Johannesburg
Issued May 12, 1980
Perf. 14 |Design: A.H. Barrett |Litho. |No Wmk
478 20c Multicolored | Cullinan II diamond*
*Yes, a diamond is nothing but a lump of carbon. The Cullinan II is a 317.4 carat cushion-cut diamond that is the second-largest cut from the original Cullinan diamond. It is also known as the Second Star of Africa and is the most valuable stone in the Imperial State Crown in the Tower of London.
The Cullinan Diamond is the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found, weighing 3,106 carats (621.20 g), discovered at the Premier No.2 mine in Cullinan, South Africa, on 26 January 1905.
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Part 1, British Commonwealth 1997]
Titanium (22)
Vanadium (23)
Chromium (24)
Manganese (25)
1984 Strategic Minerals
Issued Jun. 8, 1984
Perf. 14 x 14¼ | Design: Hein Botha | Litho. | No Wmk
558 11c Multicolored | Manganese
559 20c Multicolored | Chromium
560 25c Multicolored | Vanadium
561 30c Multicolored | Titanium
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Part 1, British Commonwealth 1997]
1986 Centenary of Johannesburg
Issued Sep. 25, 1986
Perf. 14 | Design: J. van Niekerk | Litho. | No Wmk
607 30c Multicolored | Gold bars
[Source: Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Part 1, British Commonwealth 1997]
Friday/ rainy and dark ☔
Happy Friday the Thirteenth.
It was rainy and dark all day outside (but not quite as dark as in the forest from The Nutcracker in the picture below).
A ballerina from Pacific Northwest Ballet performs “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker” on Wednesday evening at McCaw Hall in Seattle. [Photo by Kevin Clark / The Seattle Times]
Thursday/ high school is done 😃
The second major update to Apple’s iOS 18 for the iPhone is out (iOS 18.2), and with it, the first Apple Intelligence image generation features, ChatGPT integration with Siri, and a few other changes and bug fixes.
I experimented with Image Playground a little today. (Image Playground came bundled with iOS 18.2 and is an app for creating stylized images based on prompts, and images of you and your friends).
The original photo was black and white, so the image generator had to guess my hair color (actual color: light brown), the color of the school blazer (actual color: also green, great guess), and tie (actual color: green).
The source photo had a blank background and I added a ‘Party’ effect stipulation before generating the image.
Wednesday/ a philatelic table of the elements 🔲
This sounds like a very interesting project: find postage stamps of the world that point to an element in the Periodic Table, directly or indirectly.
That is exactly what Larry G. French from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, had done, and writes about here and says:
“A premium was attached to identifying stamps on which element names and symbols or some other chemical notation appeared. I also attempted to include as many nations as possible while ensuring a good blend of people, places, applications and scientific fields was represented. For some elements (typically those with great economic significance such as gold and aluminum) there were many options to select from. Conversely, the frustratingly chemically similar lanthanides and actinides and the ephemeral super heavy weight chemical division posed a more significant challenge, one requiring deep digging and a creative license“.
At first blush, I know of several stamps in my South Africa collection that refer to gold or have the mineshafts of gold mines on them. There is also a set of South African stamps from 1984 with symbols for chromium, manganese, vanadium* and titanium on.
*Atomic number 23, and the stamp appears in the table above.
Here are the descriptions of the stamps in the table:
1 Hydrogen – North Vietnam
Test of Chinese hydrogen bomb;
nuclear chemistry in hydrogen bomb
2 Helium – U.S.S.R.
Tokamak fusion reactor
Will fusion ever become a viable clean energy source?
3 Lithium – Bolivia
Salar de Uyuni Salt Flats; Lithium resources for battery production/resource development in underdeveloped economies
4 Beryllium – Brazil
Emeralds; Legal battle over ownership of 180,000 carat Brazilian Bahia emerald
5 Boron – Turkey
Colmanite CaB3O4(OH)3 H2O; boron production
6 Carbon – Austria
Petrochemical industry, carbon compound; energy, carbon emissions, global warming
7 Nitrogen – France
Alkaloids, quinine discovery;
medicines from plants, malaria
8 Oxygen – Switzerland
Ozone; protective effects of ozone layer, ozone depleting chemicals, atmosphere
9 Fluorine – France
Moissan discovery of fluorine; role of fluorine in the Manhattan Project, uranium enrichment
10 Neon – U.S.A
Las Vegas neon sign; neon lights
11 Sodium – Turks and Caicos
Salt Cay; Importance of salt mining in history of Caribbean nations
12 Magnesium – France
Victor Grignard; Organometallic chemistry, Nobel Prize
13 Aluminum – Greenland
Cryolite Na3AlF6 Hall-Heroult process;
history of aluminum & aluminum refining
14 Silicon – Swaziland
Havelock Asbestos Mine; health impacts
15 Phosphorus – Nauru
Phosphate Mining; resource utilization in underdeveloped economies
16 Sulfur – Poland
Sulfur Production; Ottoman “Gunpowder Empire”
17 Chlorine – Cambodia
DDT Insecticide; pros and cons of DDT use throughout its history, malaria
18 Argon – Sweden
Argon compounds in Crab Nebula
Noble gases are not inert; detection of chemical species in outer space
19 Potassium – East Germany
Justus von Liebig; plant nutrients, law of the minimum
20 Calcium – Aden
Lime burning; manufacture of building material
21 Scandium – Russia
MiG-29; alloys aerospace applications
22 Titanium – Senegal
Titanium dredging; resource utilization in underdeveloped economies
23 Vanadium – Rep. S. Africa
Vanadium production; steel additives
24 Chromium – Zimbabwe
Chromite; stainless steel
25 Manganese – Gabon
Manganese production in Moanda;
resource utilization in underdeveloped economies
26 Iron – India
Iron pillar of Delhi; rust resistant
Back to top
27 Cobalt – Canada
Cobalt-60 radiation therapy; radioisotopes in medicine
28 Nickel – New Caledonia
Garnier and nickel mining; resource utilization in underdeveloped economies
29 Copper – Cyprus
Copper mine; copper production in ancient Cyprus
30 Zinc – Belgium
Jean-Jacques Dony; zinc discovery & refining
31 Gallium – U.S.S.R.
Mendeleev’s notes; history of periodic table
32 Germanium – U.S.A.
Transistors; use in electronic components
33 Arsenic – Germany
Ehrlich Salvarsan Arsenic Drug Syphilis; “magic bullet” concept in medicine
34 Selenium – Sweden
Berzelius selenium sample electron microscopic view; new battery technologies
35 Bromine – Israel
Dead Sea Works, world’s largest bromine supplier; chemistry of bromine production
36 Krypton – France
Metric system centennial; krypton emission line definition of metre
37 Rubidium – East Germany
Kirchhoff discoverer of rubidium; spectroscopy in discovery of elements
38 Strontium – Liechtenstein
Strontianite SrCO3; fireworks
39 Yttrium – Japan
Superconducting YBa2CuOx; superconducting materials
40 Zirconium – French Antarctic
Zircons; use in geological dating
41 Niobium – Uganda
Columbite (Fe,Mn)Nb2O6; “blood coltan” funding for guerilla wars in Africa
42 Molybdenum – North Korea
Fleurus IRE Reactor and Cyclotron
production of Mo-99 for medical application & preparation of Tc-99m
43 Technetium – U.K.
Computed Tomography (CT) Scan; technetium-99m medical imaging
44 Ruthenium – Bophuthatswana
Platinum minerals industry; ruthenium and platinum production, the Bafokeng people “Africa’s platinum tribe”
45 Rhodium – Algeria
Air Pollution; catalytic converters, continued use of leaded gasoline in some third world nations
46 Palladium – Czechoslovakia
Slovnaft Petrochemicals; petroleum refining, transition metal catalysts
47 Silver – Mexico
World’s largest silver producer; history of silver mining in Mexico
48 Cadmium – Hungary
Greenockite CdS mineral; solar cells
49 Indium – Australia
Solar Energy; CIGS solar cells
50 Tin – Thailand
Tin mining; history of tin production in Thailand
51 Antimony – Jordan
Jabir Ibn Hayyan; early alchemical investigations of antimony & other elements
52 Tellurium – Romania
Franz-Joseph Müller discovery; solar cells
53 Iodine – India
Iodine deficiency; thyroid health, iodinated salt
54 Xenon – East Germany
Medimorp anesthesia unit; anesthesia, use as performance enhancing drug
55 Cesium – Norway
North Sea oil rig; cesium brines in oil extraction
56 Barium – Greece
Barite BaSO4 mineral; Why is this mineral named barium & the mineral, barite?
57 Lanthanum – Cuba
Electric car; batteries for electric vehicles
58 Cerium – Sweden
Berzelius birth anniversary; Berzelius’ contributions to chemistry including discovery of cerium
59 Praseodymium – Austria
Carl Auer-Welsbach birth anniversary; discoverer of praseodymium
60 Neodymium – Denmark
Wind power; magnets for wind turbines
61 Promethium – Czech Republic
Bohuslav Brauner birth anniversary; contributions to chemistry including prediction of undiscovered element promethium
62 Samarium – Taiwan
Nuclear reactor; neutron capture/nuclear reactor control rods
63 Europium – Uruguay
Compact fluorescent lighting; How do compact fluorescent lights work?
64 Gadolinium – Finland
Johan Gadolin birth anniversary; discoverer
65 Terbium – Mozambique
Color television; terbium in phosphors
66 Dysprosium – Italy
Sonar; Tefenol-D magnetostrictive sensor for sonar
67 Holmium – China
Chinese rare earths mining industry; paradox of environmental damage in China and production of rare earths for green technologies
68 Erbium – Switzerland
Fiber optics; fiber optic cables
69 Thulium – France
Eye surgery; thulium lasers
70 Ytterbium – India
Rare earths plant; production of rare earth elements from monazite sand
71 Lutetium – East Germany
Earth cross section; recent redating of earth’s crust using lutetium Isotopes
72 Hafnium – Sweden
George de Hevesy Nobel Prize; medical radio- imaging
73 Tantalum – Japan
Hip replacement; biocompatible materials
74 Tungsten – Spain
Bicentennial tungsten discovery, Juan and Fausto Elhuyar; high strength steel
75 Rhenium – Canada
Jet engine; rhenium alloys
76 Osmium – Austria
Carl Auer osmium lamp; incandescence
77 Iridium – Mexico
Mexican dinosaur; iridium and Alvarez Extinction Hypothesis. Yucatán asteroid
78 Platinum – Colombia
Platinum dredging del Choco state; history of platinum production in Colombia
79 Gold – Ghana
Gold mining; impacts of authorized & unauthorized gold mining in Africa
80 Mercury – Hungary
Paracelsus; alchemical symbols
81 Thallium – Macedonia
Lorandite TlAsS2 mineral; Allchar thallium deposit in solar neutrino detection LOREX experiment
82 Lead – Peru
Galena PbS mineral; lead pollution in La Oroya, Peru, one of world’s most polluted places
83 Bismuth – Bolivia
Bismutina Bi2S3 mineral; high altitude mining in Bolivia
84 Polonium – Cameroon
Pierre Curie co-discoverer of polonium; role of polonium in Manhattan Project, “urchin” initiator
85 Astatine – Romania
Horia Hulubei; competing claims to discovery of astatine
86 Radon – Italy
Earthquake anniversary; Radon releases to predict earthquakes?
87 Francium – France
Discovery by Frederic & Irene Joliot-Curie; work of Marguerite Perey at Curie Institute
88 Radium – India
Marie Sklodowska Curie discoverer; radium therapy in medicine
89 Actinium – Zaire
Trace quantities of actinium in pitchblende; uranium ore from Shinkolobwe mine in the Congo (Zaire) source of uranium for Manhattan Project
90 Thorium – Austria
Auer’s thorium mantle gas lamp; thorium pollution around superfund site(s) Camden, NJ Auer Lamp manufacturing site(s)
91 Protactinium – Sweden
Frederick Soddy; partial credit for discovery of protactinium isotopes, Nobel Prize
92 Uranium – West Germany
Uranium fission; Otto Hahn and discovery
of nuclear fission
93 Neptunium – United Nations
Fallout from above ground nuclear tests; nuclear arms control
94 Plutonium – Israel
Israel’s acknowledged nuclear facility; Israel’s nuclear weapons program, breeder reactors
95 Americium – Ukraine
Chernobyl Accident anniversary; americium in radioactive fallout
96 Curium – Madagascar
Curies in Lab; Curies’ contributions to chemistry; uranium ore for radium production from Madagascar
97 Berkelium – Rep. of Guinea
Ernest Lawrence discovery of berkelium with cyclotron; Lawrence’s role in Manhattan Project; cyclotrons for synthesizing elements
98 Californium – Egypt
Landmine prohibition; neutron source for mine detection systems
99 Einsteinium – Rep. Marshall Islands
Ivy Mike test at Enewetak Atoll; first production element 99; nuclear testing, discovery of synthetic elements
100 Fermium – Italy
Enrico Fermi (with famous mistake in equation on board); Fermi’s role in Manhattan Project
101 Mendelevium – U.S.S.R.
Rutherford and Einstein; production of mendelevium via einsteinium bombardment with alpha particles
102 Nobelium – Hungary
10th anniversary JINR
103 Lawrencium – St. Vincent
Lawrence with first cyclotron; Lawrence’s role in Manhattan Project, cyclotrons for synthesizing elements
104 Rutherfordium – New Zealand
Electrons orbiting Rutherford’s head; Rutherford’s contributions to chemistry & physics, Nobel Prize
105 Dubnium – Poland
20th anniversary JINR; discovery
106 Seaborgium – U.S.S.R.
20th anniversary JINR; discovery
107 Bohrium – Denmark
Niels Bohr; Bohr’s contribution to Manhattan Project, Bohr model of atom
108 Hassium – U.S.S.R.
IUPAC; element naming and disputes including hassium
109 Meitnerium – Austria
Lise Meitner; discovery of nuclear fission
110 Darmstadtium – Canada
Nickel and lead; synthesis of darmstadtium via bombardment of lead by nickel
111 Roentgenium – Egypt
Roentgen and discovery of X-Rays; X-rays in medicine
112 Copernicium – Germany
Hermann von Helmholtz; super heavy element synthesis, GSI Helmholtz Laboratory
113 Nihonium – Namibia – Bolivia
Zinc mining – Bismuth ore; nihonium synthesis from zinc and bismuth nuclei
114 Flerovium – Russia
Georgy Flerov birth anniversary; Soviet nuclear weapons program
115 Moscovium – Czech Republic
60th anniversary JINR; discovery of moscovium
116 Livermorium – Bulgaria
25th anniversary JINR
117 Tennessine – USA create-your-own
Oak Ridge Reactor
118 Oganesson – USA create-your-own
Yuri Oganessian
Tuesday/ reading a little news 📰
I guess I have to confess that I broke my self-imposed news blackout* of more than a month, to learn a little about the manhunt that ended in the capture of Luigi Mangione (the 26-year old man charged with killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City last week with a ghost gun).
*No Twitter, no Washington Post, no MSNBC cable news, no NBC Nightly News, no Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), no National Public Radio (NPR), no King5 (local) news.
Just a little Seattle Times and New York Times, to read about the end of the war in Syria.
“If someone you know is the subject of a nationwide manhunt and the authorities are desperately trying to learn the person’s name, are you under any legal obligation to come forward with it?
The answer is, in a word, no.”
(In this case, an employee at the McDonalds in Altoona, Pennsylvania, recognized Mangione and called 911. Even so, it’s not clear the person will get the reward money. There is a complicated review process and in some cases the alleged criminal needs to be convicted first. And of course: very arrogant or stupid or careless of Mangione to show up in a public place such as a McDonalds, while a national manhunt is underway for him. )
Monday/ let’s go for a swim 🐊
The last batch of my on-paper stamps are getting dunked into the water here (to separate the stamps from the paper).
By 1985, push had came to SHOVE in South Africa’s national politics, with a State of Emergency in place (effectively a form of martial law), and thousands of demonstrators detained in jail.
Botha declared in his famous Rubicon speech in August 1985 that he would not support majority rule or the participation of black South Africans in the national government.
He fell ill in 1989, though, and was forced to hand over the reigns to F.W. de Klerk.
De Klerk introduced radical policy changes that led to the dismantling of the apartheid system, and to the release of Nelson Mandela from jail (in February 1990), which paved the way for the country’s first multiracial elections in April 1994.
Sunday/ Pavlov’s dogs 🐶
Here is a cute cartoon from today’s Sunday Seattle Times.
(A reference to Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov’s experiments with classical conditioning.)
Saturday 😼
Here is an update that has Alice, the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar, the Marsh Hare and the White Rabbit.
Monday 12/9: All done. The tree was a lot harder to do than I thought it would be. The little pink flowers inside the top corners were the last pieces to go in. All in all, it was a lot of fun— but I think I will go back to a painting or a landscape scene for my next puzzle.
