Shake It Out
Billowing cottony seeds from the many cottonwood trees along the trail fall like snow in the winter
Night Fever
Glowing neon signs lit up the night advertising shops, restaurants, beer brands, auto dealerships and fraternal lodges in earlier decades before the era of LEDs and flat screens. A collection of neon signs owned by Jed Schleisner of Greenville, WI, is on display at Appleton’s Castle Museum.
Tapestry
Enchanted Purple Temple of Bali, paper tapestry by Louise Petzold Bali, displayed in the Center. Looks like Lois’ artwork has some competition.
Strange Brew
Lois created this priceless work of art on paper she recycled in an electric blender in the children’s lab. Here she is blotter drying her project before placing it into a press and then into an electric drier.
Great Pretender
A paper flower made from recycled paper found in the center’s children’s lab pretends to thrive in the sunlight as the Fox River flows by in the background.
Nobody Does It Better
We learned that Wisconsin is the number one state in United States paper production.
Teach Your Children
The Paper Discovery Center, located in the old Atlas paper mill building in Appleton, WI, offers children the opportunity to learn about paper making, a very important industry in the Fox Valley. The center contains displays, models, simple hands-on working machines as well as a lab where they can make their own recycled paper.
City
The city of Appleton, Wisconsin once again dresses up for the holidays with its Avenue of Angels.
Religion
So I say to you, Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you — Jesus Christ
Paper
Crafts taught and sold at The Gathered Earth included recycling various print media into holiday ornaments.
Tranquil
We left the TR3 sniffing flowers in the parking area and enjoyed a leisure walk through the tranquil maze of Butterfly Gardens of WI, located a few miles north of Appleton.
Convoluted
Many of Leonardo’s designs must have seemed complex and difficult to follow to the ordinary 15th century mind.
An Edge
Leonardo sought “an edge” over military enemies when he designed a “bombard” to fire deadly exploding shells that fired flaming iron fragments instead of stone balls. The canon uses a crank worm screw to change aim and trajectory.
Fan
This design fans out ten gun barrels which appear to be loaded through the small door at the rear (breech loading). Breech loading machine guns didn’t appear until the U.S. Civil War four centuries later.
Ball
Leonardo designed the first ball bearing for a 15th century revolving stage production in Milan.
Kids
The da Vinci exhibit is kid friendly. Here a boy cranks the burning mirror machine while watching the effect.
Fire
The burning mirror machine uses gears to rotate a stone grinder and a horizontal mirror simultaneously. The machine was used by artisans for welding and perhaps also intended for setting enemy ships afire.
Movement
Movement was central to Leonardo’s inventions. His chain and sprocket provided speed ratios.
Creativity
Leonardo Da Vinci was not only a highly creative artist, but also a very logical and precise engineer and scientist. He invented the “exploded drawing” to isolate and emphasize the different parts as seen for this machine that changes the axis of rotation. Reminds us of an auto’s driveshaft, differential, and rear axel.
Notebook
Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks are filled with sketches of machines he designed. This machine was used to lift heavy pillars and obelisks. Gearwheels, lantern pinions, and worm screws are all part of the design.
