Quote of the Day (Mark Guite, on the Need for God, the ‘Forgotten Root’)

“Now we have need of you, forgotten Root


The stock and stem of every living thing


Whom once we worshiped in the sacred grove,

For now is winter, now is withering


Unless we let you root us deep within,

Under the ground of being, graft us in.”—Mark Guite, “O Radix,” in “Antiphons,” from The Best Spiritual Writing 2013, edited by Philip Zaleski (2012)

(Photograph of a snow azalea taken at Winterthur, country estate of Henry Francis duPont, six miles northwest of Wilmington, Delaware, this past October.)

Photo of the Day: Burning Bush

I took this photo on my way into the magnificent grounds of Winterthur, the country estate of Henry Francis du Pont, six miles northwest of Wilmington, Delaware. The visit took place three weeks ago during my vacation in the Brandywine Valley.

Photo of the Day: What Lies Beneath

One of the nice little surprises awaiting visitors at Winterthur, the country estate of several generations of du Ponts, near Wilmington, Delaware, is the glade just beyond the mansion. Its waterfall empties into ponds stocked with koi, such as the one I caught in this photo, taken while I was on vacation in this Brandywine Valley tourist destination two weeks ago.

Photo of the Day: Tycoon’s Surprise

I took this photo at Winterthur, the country estate of several generations of the fabulously wealthy du Pont family, while on vacation in the Brandywine Valley two weeks ago.  Henry Francis du Pont, the connoisseur of Americana who was the last of his line to occupy the house, discovered this spiral staircase, like something out of Gone With the Wind, at Montmorency, an estate in North Carolina, had it disassembled, transported and put back together again at his home. Then it was unveiled in time to surprise his wife and daughter, much to their delighted surprise.

How could they not know about something like this going on? They must have been away on one of those trips abroad that the wealthy took annually in those days. A nice lifestyle, if you can get it.

Photo of the Day: Majestic Scene, Majestic Day, Majestic Estate

I took this photo nearly two weeks ago while on vacation in the Brandywine Valley, at Winterthur, the country estate of several generations of the du Ponts. The last of the industrial dynasty to occupy the house, Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969)--probably America’s greatest collector of Americana in his time--was also, at heart, a horticulturalist. The estate, located six miles northwest of Wilmington, Delaware, exemplifies a naturalistic style of gardening, in contrast to the more formal landscaping another estate owned by the du Ponts in the valley, Longwood Gardens.