The tent-making bat is an American leaf-nosed bat found in lowland forests of Central and South America.
This medium-sized bat has a gray coat with a pale white stripe running
down the middle of the back. Its face is characterized by a fleshy
noseleaf and four white stripes. Primarily a frugivore, it may
supplement its diet with insects, flower parts, pollen, and nectar. Its
common name comes from its curious behavior of constructing tents out of
large, fan-shaped leaves. These roosts provide excellent protection
from the tropical rains, and a single tent roost may house several bats
at once.
This sculpted triad, a three-person statue, shows King Menkaure between two ladies. The goddess Hathor is on his right and the personification of Cynopolis, the 17th nome of Upper Egypt, is on his left. He wears the crown of Upper Egypt and has a false beard. He wears the short pleated Shendyt kilt and holds two small cylindrical objects.
The two ladies wear tight fitting dresses and have three-part wigs. They each hold in one hand the Shen sign of power and embrace the king with the other hand. Hathor wears her usual crown, composed of the sun disk between the two cow horns, while the other lady is placed beneath a jackal, the symbol of her nome. The text engraved on the base identifies them and records the different offerings given to the king from the nome.
Old Kingdom, 4th Dynasty, ca. 2613-2494 BC. This object was excavated by the Harvard University–Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. JE 46499
I recently visited the Japanese wolf memorial in rural Higashiyoshino, Nara.
A life size bronze statue was built in 1987 to commemorate the location
where the last Japanese wolf, a young male, was killed by hunters in
1905. The memorial statue is located on the banks of
the Takami River, about a 45-minute bus ride away
from the closest subway station.**
The inscription below the statue is ニホンオオカミの像 - “statue of a Japanese wolf.” In
Japan this subspecies is known simply as “nihon ookami,” literally
‘Japanese wolf.’ In English we call it the Honshū wolf (Canis lupus
hodophilax) to differentiate it from the also extinct, but larger
Hokkaidō wolf (Canis lupus hattai). In Japanese the Hokkaidō wolf is
called Ezo wolf.
A stone at the site bears the haiku:
狼は亡び 木霊ハ存ふる (reading: オオカミはほろび、こだまはながらふる)
- I believe this translates to
“The wolf has perished, the spirit trembles.”
I
wanted to leave a flower, but there were none for sale at the nearest
station. Instead I happened to find some red spider lilies (higanbana)
growing by the side of the road. From a symbolic point of view, it couldn’t have been a more perfect flower:
“They are associated with final goodbyes, and legend has it that these
flowers grow wherever people part ways for good. In old Buddhist
writings, the red spider lily is said to guide the dead through samsara,
the cycle of rebirth.” [x]
It was a beautiful and serene place, and truly a moving experience.
**Side note: If you want to visit the statue (which I recommend!), the closest station is Haibara Station (in Uda, Nara on the
Kintetsu Osaka Line). From the bus terminal there, you can take a bus to Higashiyoshino village, but please note that the bus doesn’t operate on weekends or holidays.
This blog is mostly so I can vent my feelings and share my interests. Other than that, I am nothing special.
If you don't like Left Wing political thought and philosophy, all things related to horror, the supernatural, the grotesque, guns or the strange, then get the fuck out. I just warned you.
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