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Life, Cells, the US Constitution, and Trees

Life, Cells,the US Constitution, and Trees  

is an odd combination of concepts.  At first glance the title of the blog reveals a wide discrepancy of ideas, but in fact there are unifying concepts that bring them together.

The United States is one of the advanced cultures of the modern world. Its magnificent constitution states “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”   The wisdom rests firstly in the notion that “we the people” is the focus of all subsequent intentions resolutions and actions.  Secondly it provides hope and promise of a happy and safe society.  This statement of the constitution is satisfied in the biology of the cell, but not to the same extent in the dynamics of society.   We do not fully appreciate what perfection has been accomplished in the microcosm of our bodies nor how apt the opening statement is to the cells that make up living organisms. The cells in truth realise all the promises of the preamble, including a perfect union, justice, tranquility, defence, general welfare, liberty, and posterity.

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Trees, US Ideology, Cells, and the Body

Living structures are characterized by their ability to move, grow, reproduce, acquire and transport metabolic products, and protect themselves — all so they can function and contribute to the bigger community. The cell as the basic building block of life and living organisms performs all the described functions effortlessly, innately and automatically.  For the cell, life happens without struggle or effort.  People perform the same characteristics of life, but many individuals struggle to fulfil basic needs to satisfaction.

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Constitutional Makeup of the Body

The AiA art piece puts the cell in the centre of the body.  The cells, acting in combination with other cells, give life to their person in accordance with the preamble of the constitution. People in combination with other people give life to their society. 

From a physical perspective, biology has worked out a mechanism to keep all the 3.7 trillion cells of a single human being satisfied, fed, protected and fully functioning in their specific capacity. The liver cell is fulfilled in its capacity as a liver cell, and the same for the myocardial and brain cell.  In fact all animal cells live and do what they were born to do, and are fulfilled until disease or death. The world of botany has accomplished similar magnificence.cells-0005-catalogue-signed

Constitutional Makeup of the Tree

Tree cells in combination give life to the tree in accordance with the principles of the constitution.  

The 7.1 billion humans of the earth are still stuttering along, despite the lofty aspirations of the US Constitution.  Many citizens go hungry, innumerable are homeless and countless die in war.  The particular focus of this blog is to observe and appreciate the success of cells in the body, and try to understand and apply the processes that make them so successful to our society at large.

Branching Patterns in Nature – Success Story of Delivery and Waste Removal

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YinYang Tree – From Environment to Life in the Trees

The AiA rendering amplifies the arborising pattern of the roots and the branches in a background of the environment fuelled by the sun, air- filled atmosphere, and the earth.  The tree unit consists of two opposing forces just like the negative and positive forces of the atom.  The bare roots represent one force and the leaf filled flowering branches the other. They need each other and both need the environment (and the environment needs them) to develop, flourish and contribute.  They use a branching system at both ends to move nutrients and water efficiently .

What Do We as A Society Have to Learn from from the Yin-Yang Tree?

Opposing forces, when working together, enable both to flourish as individuals and as a new unit.  We need the man with the woman, the roots with the wings, the roots with the branches, the winter with the summer, the past with the future, the positive with the negative.  In the realm of tubes and flow we need a difference in pressure – a relative positive and a relative negative in order for the contents of the tube to flow.

heart, heart shape, ivy, leaf, heart shape, Valentine's day, romance, love,

In the Leaves

The geometric arborising pattern is universal and is shown in veins of the ivy leaf 

heart, Valentine's day, love, romance, heart shape, Chinese lantern, husk, capillaries, romance

Heart Shaped Chines Lantern Flower

The dried flower reveals a delicate capillary-like infrastructure which is the transport mechanism for the petals. The flower enfolds and defends a barely appreciated, delicate fruit buried within its husk. The need to protect its fruit  manifests parental love which it can only do because it has an efficient transport mechanism to maintain itself.

 

Branching Patterns in the Body –The Vascular System

Supply and Removal of Metabolites and Waste

The transport systems of biology are exemplified by phenomenal branching tube morphology that is efficient.  The delivery and removal system in the form of arteries, capillaries and veins is 60,000 miles long (2.5 X the distance around the earth) – and with a pump that beats on the average of 72 times per minute,  3.7 trillion cells are continually fed and cleared of waste, and as a result can be  productive and fulfilled. Food is delivered and is waste removed from the front door of every cell constantly.  Each cell understands and applies the Goldilocks principle – “Take Not too much , nor too little, but what is just right for your needs.”

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The Pulsatile Miracle Circulation

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The Circulation; A Pump, Arteries, Capillaries, and Veins

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Capillary Network At the Front Door of the Cells

Specific Circulations

The Brain

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Arterial Tree of the Brain Under the Purple Moon

derivation, brain, artery, arteries, carotid artery, internal carotid artery, external carotid artery, trees, mountains, reflection, lake, mountains, normal, MRI, MRA, MR angiography, art, the common vein, art in anatomy, Ashley Davidoff MD

Derivation of the Arterial Tree of the Brain Under the Purple Moon

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Arterial Tree of the Brain – External and Internal Carotid Systems

The Heart

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The Crown-Like Coronary Arterial Tree

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Derivation of the Artistic rendering of the The Crown-Like Coronary Arterial Tree

The Lungs

heart, pulmonary circulation, pulmonary artery, capillaries, pulmonary veins, left atrium, intimacy, body language

The Pulmonary Circulation

The Gastrointestinal Tract

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Mesenteric Venous System of the Small Bowel

Note that the abdomen has been turned upside down in order to appreciate the tree like formation of the portal vein and small bowel.  

The liver is seen at bottom left in purple and the spleen (right) in orange

 The Spleenspleen, splenic artery, tree, trees of the body, arteriogram, radiology, art, the common vein, art in anatomy, Ashley Davidoff MD

The Splenic Arterial Tree

 

 The Kidneys

genitourinary system, genitourinary tract, kidney, arteries, veins, renal veins, renal arteries, normal, radiology, ultrasound, Doppler, power doppler, trees, branching, , Art in Anatomy, Ashley Davidoff MD.,

Renal Veins By Doppler Ultrasound in Spring

 The Liver

 

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The Hepatic Venules

 

Ductal Systems

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Ducts of the Breast

breasts, glands, ducts, histology, trees, trees in the body, mammary glands, art, the common vein, art in anatomy, Ashley Davidoff MD

Histology of the Glands of the Breast

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Bile Ductal System Working Night and Day

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Dilated Biliary Ductal System and the Bonsai Tree

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The Tree of the Prostate Gland

Organs and Other Structures with Tree Like Shapes

genitourinary tract, genitourinary system, kidneys, renal, kidney, bladder, anatomy, CT scan, radiology, CT urogram, Art in Anatomy, Ashley Davidoff MD, dance, trees, forest,

A Forest of Kidney Trees

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Ginkgo Lung Tree

hands, bones, cold night, tree, X-ray, winter

A Winter Tree of Hands Under the Moonlight

The Brain

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The Brain Tree

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Derivation of the Brain Tree – Artistic Recreation 

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The Arbor Vitae – Tree of Life of the Cerebellum

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Tree -Like Purkinje Cells 

Drawing of Purkinje cells (A) and granule cells (B) from pigeon cerebellum by Santiago Ramón y Cajal, 1899; Instituto Cajal, Madrid, Spain. Public Domain

Drawing by Camillo Golgi of a hippocampus stained using the silver nitrate method and digitally rendered by the artist

This treelike branching pattern of neurons responsible for consciousness seems to be a structural feature of the universe itself.

Realising “We the People” – First Step – Efficient Supply and Removal of Metabolites and Waste for the People of the World

Without adequate food and water, the promise of “We the people” of the preamble of the constitution cannot be fulfilled. Currently 1 in 9 people in the world do not have enough food. Without this basic need they are unable to lead an active and healthy life.  Is it because there is not enough food in the world? Is it because the 3rd world starving countries are too far away from the excess food of the farms of abundance? The skin cell at the tip of the most remote toe or the most remote cell at the top of the head are equally supplied according to their need.  In a healthy individual no cell gets left behind.  Yet many people get left behind in the world.

How to do it?

To some extent we have built and continue to build an arborising network for water supply and waste removal.  In the US 86% of the population have clean water delivered.  In developing countries efficient water supply and sewerage facilities are lacking.  One in 10 people lack safe access to clean water, and 1 in 3 lack access to a toilet (water.org).  Building a similar network that spans the world and delivers food to the front door of all the people of the world is the obvious first step.  Yet it seems like a pipe dream.  The network of information provided by the internet was also a pipe dream for people like Nikola Tesla who had a vision for  a “world wireless system” in the early 1900s. The ability to deliver real time information to the front door via the world wide web is only 30 years old.  Could anybody prior to 20th century imagine such a technological accomplishment?  If only we could deliver food via an innate arborising pattern.  What if, for example, a high calorie liquid energy food could be delivered alongside the arborising water system?  It may not be a classical meal but it is certainly more than nothing. The practical intent of this blog  is to  draw parallels between biology and society, which can learn from an almost perfect delivery and removal system, most commonly in the form of tree-like branching.

The universe has evolved over about 13.7 billion years and  in so doing has the wisdom of time on its side.  Over this time, it has developed systems that optimise energy and efficiency.  We as thinking biological beings have evolved highly developed biological processes over the last 2.4 billion years.  We have developed a mind and free choice.  The mind for us has been a double edged sword – both a gift and a curse.  A gift because it has given us an ego, individuality, tribalism, heterogeneous cultures, poetry, literature, art, theater, science, dance, athletics, religion, and organization, but a curse that has brought ego, selfishness, pride, religion, jealousy, murder, bigotry, prejudice, and tribalism. The desire to live in “a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity” requires that basic biological requirements are available and met.  The cells of the healthy body have acquired the aspirations of the US Constitution.

The cell has no mind nor ego and is therefore waiting only for evolutionary changes.  We as thinking beings want it all now, and continue to try and improve our lot in a lifetime and are too impatient to be happy with our lot.  We therefore push the double-edged envelope with our ego and in so doing while we are social beings we are competitive individuals at the same time.  This creates an internal conflict and conflict with others making perfect union a dream rather than reality.  The start for the world should be an efficient low energy, arborising delivery system, for food and water system for all people.  Without this the US Constitutional aspirations are only a dream.

Hillel recognized the conflict.  “If I am not for myself,” he said, “who will be for me?  And if I am only for myself, what am I.  And if not now when then?”  It is the balance of “I” and “they” that we have to find.  The cells have done it – Why can’t we?

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Anatomy of Winter Water

Anatomy of  Winter Water 

February 2016 in Boston Massachusetts – Ashley Davidoff MD 

 

Winter Water changes its size, shape, position and character depending on the temperature, gravity, time and surrounding confines.

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Snow Outside in Boston

The winter of 2016 in Boston had not been too bad compared to the unforgettable winter of 2015. We  got 8-12 inches on the day this image was taken just a few days before Valentine’s day.  As always the snow left a trail of beauty particularly when viewed from the inside of a warm house.  Though truthfully, a walk in freshly fallen snow among the trees is also a magical experience. The view from our kitchen window is shown above.

On Valentine’s day 2016, 2 or 3 days after the snowstorm, the lowest temp reached -9 degrees F. This was the coldest Valentine’s day since 1957.  It  was zero degrees Fahrenheit when the photograph was taken.

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Frost and Ice on the Window Pane

4 basic layers evolved on the kitchen window.  This is explained diagrammatically in the next image. The real beauty was at the the bottom of the window pane there was a whole bevy of magnificent gems of the winter, hanging on the outside of a double paned kitchen window. The crystals were attached to a large ice droplet.  The result of nature’s work was more beautiful than any man made piece of jewelry.

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Frost and Ice on the Window Pane Explained

The relatively warm top part of the window showed a few ice crystals of collected fallen snow (layer 1) which quickly melted to form small droplets of water (layer 2).  Gravity caused these water bubbles to flow downward and get a little larger as they accumulated smaller droplets to form the bigger drops in the frosted background (layer 3).  When they reached the bottom part of the pane the temperature was lowest  resulting in crystallization and formation of beautiful gem-like structures .

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Gems of Ice Crystal at the Bottom of the Window Pane

Under given conditions in the winter, snow is formed from the water in the clouds and the water gets transformed into a wide variety of sizes, shapes and character.  The result was breathtaking!

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Melted Frost and Ice Gems 

The following day, the temperatures rose and the beautiful forms of crystallized ice, melted into a few nondescript water droplets, still beautiful but in a very rustic way.

 In the Meantime on the Outside Winter Water Creates Miracle Art

As the temperatures rose, I took the dog for a walk in the local park and was greeted by an infinite variety of microcosmic ice formations caused by the rising temperatures.  The puddles of frozen water started to crack, revealing magnificent shapes and a variety of ice and crystal formations in various stages between the solid and liquid form of water. Within a span of 30 minutes, I took over 200 images and here follows the result of the short photographic excursion with my macro lens.

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Ice Crystals on Columns of Thin Ice

 The shapes in this small ice pond took the form of columns of thin transparent ice with horizontal needle-like crystals projecting off the columns.

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Picasso Flying on Thin Ice

The art piece discovered in an ice pond by a macro lens revealed Picasso the eternal artist of yesteryear from the perspective of winter water.  The Picasso-like face in a boot with wings was perceived by the artist.  The formation of ice crystals require special winter conditions. In this case ice bubbles formed around a structure reminiscent of a face with a peaked hat. Waves of water in the ice form the wing-like structures

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Mirror Mirror on The Wall – What Do you See?

The art piece was discovered in an ice pond by a macro lens and reveals an abstraction of shapes. MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL..I see an evil queen – What do you see?   The formation of ice crystals and shapes in the thin ice require special winter conditions. In this case sharp white lines form a variety of shapes. Waves of water in the ice form the corrugated structures.

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I See an Evil Witch in the Mirror

What do you see?  The artist’s perception is overlaid in color. The face of the evil witch in the mirror (left) consists  the face with red lips, blue eyes, and a hooked nose.  To the right is a  person with a light green shirt and purple head.

Images of the Architecture of our Ancient Civilization 

 

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Tower of Babel ce Bubbles and Wood Chips

 In this art piece crystalised bubbles  project off pieces of wood chips.  The artist saw the an ill formed Tower of Babel crowned by a beautiful formation of ice bubbles

Images of the Architecture of Our Current Civilization 

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One World Trade Center and Ground Zero in Ice

The art piece is centered on a vertical skyscraper representing One World Trade Center. This art piece is a dedication to the great city of New York from the tiny ice ponds of a Boston park.  One World Trade Center is clustered with other skyscrapers in the center surrounding one of the main avenues traversing the city.  At the base of the skyscrapers, the foundation soil that shines through the ice water reflects the ground zero earth on which this magnificent building with its deep seated history, was built. The iced up East river surrounds Manhattan.  To the left there is a structure that represents the Brooklyn bridge and the wave like ice formation is a continuation of the bridge as it is seen lit up at night that extends from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The whole scene reflects a nighttime scene with city lights that abound.

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One World Trade Center The Brooklyn Bridge and the East River

Lessons of Biology

Images of the Natural World

Birds

pelican, log fish, winter, ice, cold, crystals, ice crystals, temperature, freezing, shapes, ice crystals, frost, temperature, gravity, science, water

Pelican Catching a Log Fish in ice Water

The art piece was discovered in an ice pond using a macro lens and reveals an abstract appreciation of the shapes. To the photographer and artist, a pelican is seen to the left of the image with a wide open beak pursuing one of the two fish swimming in the water.  The shapes of the fish look more like logs.  The small ice ponds in the local park were the source of this photograph.  The macro lens allows the capture of the minute detail, otherwise not appreciated fully by the naked eye.  There has been no electronic alteration to the art of natural form.

Trees and Plants

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Winter Trees of Ice Crystals

A walk in the cold of Boston with a macro lens exposed a tiny forest of winter trees beside a big pond under the warming winter sun.  Crystals of ice lined along a horizontal line reminiscent of a small forest, surrounded by the frozen water.  The surrounding ice pond has its own innate and naturally beautiful shapes.  Above the left side of the forest, the bundle of orange vegetation, likely debris from the previous fall,  represents a ball of warming sun to complete the scene.

The scene reminded me of the photograph of the Grove of Cone Shaped Trees below

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Cone Shaped Grove of Trees

The other images below of the ice crystals on the kitchen window and the similar morphology in the botanical world

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Boston Winter Mediterranean Summer 

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Ice Crystals and Arborvitae

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Feather Shaped Ice Crystals Grasses and Flowers 

 

Lessons of Biology

cell, macrophage, nucleus, winter, ice, cold, crystals, ice crystals, temperature, freezing, shapes, ice crystals, frost, temperature, gravity, science, water,

The Marvelous Macrophage – Soldier of the Body

The artist found this brave young macrophage lady in the ice pond of a Boston winter bravely fighting off pathogenic bacteria.  AiA applies the concept of multiple cyst like ice structures to the anatomy of the body, and in this instance to the lysosomes and other organelles in the cell.  The pseudopods of the dendritic cell are presented as the spiculated ice formations emanating from the edge of the white cell.

Human Biology Romance and Reproduction in Ice

garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, breasts, breast, body, torso, winter, water, crystals, ice,

Adam, Eve and the Snake

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A  Female Torso of Ice Floating On a Film of Cold Water

breasts, winter, ice, cold, crystals, ice crystals, temperature, freezing, shapes, ice crystals, frost, temperature, gravity, science, water

Woman Looking at Black Ice

In this art piece a woman is portrayed.  She admires the black ice through the cleft of her breasts.  The solid thick ice has assumed the rounded shapes of a woman’s breasts.  The sheets of black ice is seen in contrast to the white ice that dominate the image.

testes, penis, vas deferens, vasa deferentia, sperm, flagella, spermatozoa, winter, ice, cold, crystals, ice crystals, temperature, freezing, shapes, ice crystals, frost, temperature, gravity, science, water, bubbles,

Abstract of Male Organs and Reproductive Cells

The testes are in the bottom right hand corner filled with reproductive cells (sperm).  At the appropriate time during ejaculation they take a trip via the vas deferentia.  The vasa deferentia are depicted as tubular structures travelling from the testes to the base of the penis down the prostatic urethra where they collect the prostatic secretion. They then travel down the urethra and out into the female geniutal tract.  The race is on as they all seek to win the hand of the queen – the ovum de jour.

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Single Celled Flagellated Cells Looking for a Single Celled Partner

 The shapes that manifest in this instance were small microbubbles with waves of icy water.  The small bubbles are reminiscent of sperm cells and the waves of transparent ice reminiscent of the tail of the sperm.   The race is on!

winter, ice, cold, crystals, ice crystals, temperature, freezing, shapes, ice crystals, frost, temperature, gravity, science, water, ovary, follicles, cysts

Ovary and Follicles in Ice

AiA applies the concept of multiple cyst like ice structures to the anatomy of the body and in this instance to the ovary.  Ice bubbles form around air and other small structures of the earth and create follicular shaped structures of varying size on the ovarian like structure. The formation of ice crystals requires special winter conditions.  Freezing cold and water are basic ingredients. 

winter, ice, cold, crystals, ice crystals, temperature, freezing, shapes, ice crystals, frost, temperature, gravity, science, water, breasts, pregnancy, pregnant, woman, nude

Pregnancy in Ice

In this art piece a pregnancy is portrayed.  The cracked thin ice has assumed the rounded shapes of a woman with a rotund abdomen reminiscent of pregnancy.  The grass of the earth is magnified and illuminated in the pregnant abdomen, and a fetal structure is suggested in the expected location of the uterus.

Lessons of Life 

Time, Natural Disaster, Religion, Love, Sorrow, Fulfillment

Time

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Time Passes – A Cold Reality

The AiA rendering shows a fallen dead life still with beautiful colors of a Fall and a time gone by,  trapped by the ice and cold of the present tense. The message pertains to a yearning for the warmer, richer and mellow days of the autumn.  These are but sweet memories which are confronted by the harsh reality of the present and a cold, and sometimes unforgiving winter.  Though sweet memories are always sweet, one has to be realistic and deal with the present, knowing full well that the future will spring new realities.  Below the ice you may sense just a hint of green of the grass which will be part of the future of this vista.  The life lesson  – time passes.

Natural Disaster, 

winter, ice, cold, crystals, ice crystals, temperature, freezing, shapes, ice crystals, frost, temperature, gravity, science, water, snow, cracked

Snowquake

A natural disaster

Sorrow and Winter Water

eyes, tears, crying, nose, winter, ice, cold, crystals, ice crystals, temperature, freezing, shapes, ice crystals, frost, temperature, gravity, science, water,

Black Eyes, A Shiny Nose and Odd Looking Tears

The art piece reveals a different perspective of ice on the grate of a manhole cover in a Boston winter.  Two square black holes represent the two dark eyes, while the ice on the vertical limb with cracked ice of the manhole cover represents the shiny nose.  Two drops of water on the eyes in odd positions represent the odd looking tears providing the intrigue of the art piece.  What does the artist infer regarding the sadness in the eyes – that is up to you to think about!  Hidden messages abound

Pursuit of Fulfillment with Winter Water

bird, triangle, winter, ice, cold, crystals, ice crystals, temperature, freezing, shapes, ice crystals, frost, temperature, gravity, science, water,

Said the Ice Bird to the Triangle

In this art piece a bird who appears fulfilled in every beautiful way and is trying in a motherly way to teach the triangle a life lesson.  She pleads with the triangle not to lose its roots and foundation, because without the foundation it loses its identity as a triangle.  She then pleads with the triangle to remain true to itself and in that way it will grow and become something more profound – and in this case the artist draws attention to the triangular shape of the bird’s beak that plays a highly important function in the bird’s life. Finally she tells the degenerating triangle that “..if you don’t pull yourself together, you will end up like all the other sticks in my nest!”

Religion Love, Broken Love, Sorrow and Winter Water

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Broken Heart at the Crux of the Cross

taken in the local park after the Boston Valentine’s day freeze.A teardrop is seen at bottom right. The image has a religious feel of course and I also love the way the heart of ice illuminates the oxidized green on the steel grate of the manhole cover. Hidden messages abound.

And that is Boston February 2016 folks- and fun with anatomy of the winter ice water

 

 

References for Winter Water

Water Wiki

Window Frost Wiki

Frost Wiki

Formation of Ice Crystals and Snow 5 star

Guide to Frost