Spirit Animal

We went up to Wells last weekend, the last beach trip of the summer. It was kind of sad. I'm kind of in disbelief that it's the 20th of September already. The month is slipping by like crazy!

This last trip up I made a trip to my favorite bookstore in the world: Harding's Books. This place is amazing, you can find all sorts of really cool stuff there. I found a book of national geographic photographs from the 1900's called "Scenes from Everyplace," and a LIFE magazine from the 50's with the dancers from "Oklahoma" on the cover. The real reason I love going here though is for the print room.

I like to get myself one nice print every time I come here. It's also where I purchased my bridesmaid gifts.

They had these really beautiful star charts that I wanted to get this time, but they were over $100 each.

Instead I got this print of "Resplendent Trogon" from John George Woods "Animate Creation" (1898).

The Resplendent Trogon is better known as the Quetzal, a bird that was sacred to the Aztecs and the Mayans. It is a symbol of goodness, light and hope, and was associated heavily with the tribal fight for independence over colonial forces. There is even evidence that the Mayans designed their temples to echo the sound of the bird's distinctive chirping call.

The bird is typically 14 inches long, but a male has an additional 25 inches of tail plumage. Wow!