This is the first bronze cast of The Gates of Hell sculpture by Auguste Rodin, located at the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The original plaster model is at the Musée D’Orsay in Paris.
The plaque nearby says, "In 1880 Rodin was commissioned to create a set of bronze doors for a new museum in Paris. Inspired by The Divine Comedy, an epic poem written in the early 1300s by Dante Alghieri, Rodin planned to decorate the doors with characters that Dante met on his fictional journey through hell. The sculptor eventually discarded the idea of a strict narrative and instead created a weightless, chaotic world filled with more than two hundred figures in the throes of pain and despair. Although the planned museum never came to fruition, Rodin worked on the sculpture for early thirty-seven years, periodically adding, removing, or modifying elements."
On an unrelated note, I feel like I'm living on the other side of The Gates of Hell right now because the air conditioning in our house went out three days ago. Yes. Hell.
The part to fix it will take two weeks to get. Two weeks! Sure, it's October, but it's October in Southern Arizona. It's been in the mid to high 100s for weeks. The temperature inside the house is currently 84 degrees, which is a picnic compared to the 102 degrees it is outside, but nowhere near the level I usually keep the house at when lounging around daily. We keep the house between 65-70 degrees during the day, and at night, I drop the AC down to 53. I could easily live in Alaska.
I was in the kitchen the other day making dinner and I felt like I was in the Bronx in the late 1960s - there I was, in my muumuu, standing in front of the oscillating fan, cursing under my breath in Italian, and dripping in sweat.
Ed said this is how he grew up. He's not bothered one bit. I grew up with a father who kept the house freezing cold. I obviously inherited the hot gene from him. When I was a teenager, our summer house didn't have air-conditioning, and even if it did, my step-father wouldn't have been running it 24/7 like my father did. We would go to sleep at night, moving as little as possible, directly in front of the fan. I survived. But now I don't want to do that. I don't want to move slowly like they do in the South to deal with the heat. I don't want to feel my head surging with heat and the sweat dripping down my back.
I am considering sleeping in the semi-truck since the AC in the sleeper works, but I guess I'll see how it goes over the weekend. It's there if I need it. I'm not at the point of abandoning every hope yet.
But I'm close.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2023: Sorry, no post on this day.
2022: Sorry, no post on this day.
2021: Sorry, no post on this day.
2020: Sorry, no post on this day.
2019: Sorry, no post on this day.
2018: Pure Eddie
2017: Make Time For This Market
2016: Capture The Flag
2015: Arizona Dinosauria
2014: Twilight In New York
2013: The Sun Also Sets
2012: Summoning The Mountains
2011: The Power Of Gold
2010: Where’s The Beef?
2009: If One Could Love A Convenience Store
2008: Eddie Home On The Alien Range Friday
2007: N Is For Nanny. Oh, And Negligent.
2006: The Answer Will Be Revealed In Nine Months
2005: Lipgloss And Cocoa Puffs
