Aaron-- Prophet, Priest, Brother, Bringer of Grossness to the People of Egypt

A proper noun?  Yes, we're including proper nouns.  Because people can be awesome!  And terrible...

(Wait 'til we get to H... Spoilers: There are gonna be some rough people under H.  Of course, at this rate, we'll get to H in a few generations, so we won't be around to care how horrible it is.)

Aaron: In the Bible, the elder brother of Moses who helped lead the Hebrews out of Egypt.

Yep, that Aaron.  Probably the most famous Aaron ever!  However, if you weren't raised in a faith that included the Old Testament, the Torah, or the Quran (yes!  He was an important figure in all three!) you may not know that much about him.

Aaron was the older brother of Moses, a Hebrew man who was given up by his mother to save him from death and raised as a prince of Egypt.  Moses fled Egypt after killing an Egyptian overseer and began a new life, complete with a wife, children, and fiery encounters with God.  When God ordered him to return to Egypt and convince Pharaoh to free the enslaved Hebrews, it was Aaron who was chosen by God to greet him in the desert and become his mouthpiece in the encounters with Pharaoh.

If all you know about Aaron is what you saw in the Dreamworks animated film the Prince of Egypt--which has some great songs BTW--you might be surprised to learn just how old Moses and Aaron were when they decided to go toe to toe with Pharaoh.  Moses was the younger brother at 80 years old, and Aaron was the elder at 83.  They certainly weren't the young, virile men in the great old hollywood classic, The Ten Commandments!

Moses was not confident in his speaking and intimidating abilities, so God appointed Aaron to be his mouth and muscle.  To show Pharaoh the power of God, Moses instructed Aaron to throw down his staff, which turned into a large snake and devoured the inferior snakes produced by the Egyptian magicians in an attempt to disprove the Hebrew God's authority.  When Pharaoh refused to release the Hebrews, God planned various torments for Pharaoh and his people to endure so that they would be persuaded to let His people go.  Of the eight plagues God visited upon the Egyptians, Aaron delivered the first three.

The plague of blood:  Aaron stretched his staff over the waters of Egypt and they turned to blood, reeking with a stench so foul that it was unbearable.  Even water held in jars and containers were tainted.

The plague of frogs:  Aaron stretched his staff over the waters of Egypt and hosts of frogs sprang from the waters, infiltrating houses, walkways, fields, and creating a huge, gross, loud, awful mess!

The plague of insects:  No water with this one.  Aaron struck the dust with his staff and the dust became biting insects that beleaguered man and beast alike.  Painful itching made life miserable for the Egyptians until God lifted this plague.

After the first three, it seems that Moses had regained his confidence, because God let Aaron have a rest from bringing terror and misery on the Egyptians and gave Moses his turn.

Eventually, Pharaoh had enough and the Hebrews left their captivity.  God appointed Aaron to be the High Priest of the Hebrew people and told him all about the fancy garments that he would be wearing and all the meticulous rules that the people were going to have to follow now.  Moses was still God's chosen prophet, but Aaron had all the day-to-day running of the people to manage.  As a special sign to the Hebrews (who were apparently really cranky and stubborn, because they kept arguing over who was really in charge), God had the leaders of the tribes of Israel present their staffs and caused leaves, blossoms, and almonds to sprout from Aaron's staff as a sign of His favor.

There's more to it, but eventually Aaron died in a super-peaceful, really lovely manner and they all lived happily and dramatically ever after.  Because everything in the Old Testament was really dramatic.  Seriously.  Have you read Judges?

Which brings us to the art:

Click on the picture to enlarge and see all the details.  If you find yourself unwilling to look away from the image and are interested in purchasing the original, you can find it HERE in my Etsy shop.  Feel free to look around at the other artwork available for sale!

Until next time, folks!  Hopefully we won't have to wait so long between posts!  Happy New Year!

Aare, Mateys!

Okay, so this isn't going to be about pirates.  It does, however, involve a body of water on which you can sail a boat.

Aare (or Aar):  A river of central and N Switzerland flowing c. 295 km (183 mi) to the Rhine R.

I know, I know.  A river?  Boooooring.  You just shut your mouth.  This river is freaking gorgeous.  Really.  It rightfully attracts thousands of tourists each year who come to kayak, swim, and gape at how beautiful the river looks as it flows through the Aareschlucht (Aare Gorge, for those like me who aren't fluent in German).

The Aare is the longest river that is born and spent in Switzerland.  It originates from the Aaregletschers   (Aare Glaciers) in the Bernese Alps and flows into the Rhine River after passing through some picturesque Swiss landscapes.

Rivers don't really lead the most exciting lives, but I scrounged up a few nifty tidbits about the Aare:

-Albert Einstein lived for two years in the capitol city of Bern, which the Aare happens to run through.

-It's the longest river that is entirely located in Switzerland. (I know I already said that, but it's the Aare's biggest claim to fame.)

-The Aare is responsible for that lush, fertile soil that makes of the plains known as the "vegetable gardens of Switzerland."

Now, time for eye candy:

Click HERE to view this drawing in my Etsy shop!

A is for… A REALLY Long Time Since I Last Posted!

Almost fours years, to be specific.  Oops.

Back to the topic at hand…  We're still on the letter A, folks!  Today's creature is still the in the "aard" family of creatures that come before just about anything else in the English dictionary.

aardwolf:  A mammal (Proteles cristatus) native to southern and eastern Africa that resembles the hyena and feeds mainly on termites and insect larvae.

You're reading a blog that is basically an embellished dictionary, so you're probably smart enough to figure out from the previous post that the literal meaning of this critter's name is earth (dirt) wolf.  Oh, the creativity.

Cool critter traits:
Eats termites (which helps farmers!)
Giant ears
Furry stripes
Not on the endangered species list
Mohawk-sporting babies
MOHAWK BABIES!  (squee!)

The least cool things about the aardwolf:
Eats termites (gross!)
Stinky anal secretions (why it is also known as the civet wolf)
Pretends to be a hyena
Not very good in a fight (See stinky anal secretions)

I can't promise this blog will ever be updated again, but I'm far more likely to do it if you follow me and say nice things about what I post.

Here's a quick sketch of an aardwolf for you eyes to look at:

The Cutest Thing to Ever Eat Bugs

Welcome back, friends!

Today's topic is a lovable creature, just chock-full of warm fuzzies and... bugs?  Yup!  Lots and lots of bugs.  As many as 50,000 in one day, as a matter of fact!  Ew.  But our darling critter's gross dining habits are made up for by his super-cute gigundo ears.  Ears he uses to hear as he's burrowing around in the desert for bugs, getting all DIRTy, PIGging out on ants and termites and other crunchy delights.  Perhaps that's why he's known as the:

aardvark:  A burrowing mammal (Orycteropus afer) of southern Africa, having a stocky, hairy body, large ears, and a long tubular snout.

If we were to break down the famous name of this lovable little guy, we would see that it is of Afrikaans and Dutch origins.  It translates to earth (dirt) pig.  Nice.

Anywho, just because this cute darling eats ants doesn't mean that he's an anteater--although a lot of people would call him one.  True anteaters are a whole other animal.  Or animals.  It turns out that the term "anteater" is applied rather liberally to the bug-eating-mammal world.

In other news, you should all check out my redone website.  It's still not perfect, but it's a sight better than the original.  For those of you keeping track, this is version number 2, folks.

www.rohlsart.com

Quiz of the day:
Which popular children's cartoon character is portrayed by an aardvark?  And NO GOOGLING.  I forbid it!

Oh, and your image.  Getting away from my digital experiments, this is done in colored pencil.

Aachen Be Your Hero, Baby

Apologies all around for the delay in this second post, but fear not!  Your prayers have been answered!  I have wavered and waffled, procrastinated and balked, but here is the second non-abbreviated, fun-to-draw noun in the English language!  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:

Aachen:  A city of West Germany near the Belgian and Dutch borders.

What's that you say?  Never heard of Aachen?  That's okay.  I shall give you a mini-lesson in Aachen history!  The area around Aachen has been populated since Neolithic times, but it was the hot springs that drew a large crowd of bathers in the Roman times.  Those bathers settled down and had little bathers, who began to call their home Aachen.  Well, maybe not Aachen, but their name was the root of our modern Aachen.

Then we come to the Middle Ages, where our dear and venerated Charlemagne really put Aachen on the map when he established the seat of his power (quite literally, actually) and built his Palatine Chapel at Aachen.  Of course, all good things come to great harm in time, and as is the case with a lot of European damage, Aachen was heavily damaged in WWII.  Fortunately, Charlemagne's royal house of God survived, which is excellent news for all of you artsy/architectural buffs out there.

All right, darlings.  The time has come for our goodbyes.  Remember to appreciate your medieval architecture, and pop in to see us next time as we have a look at everyone's favorite Animal.  You know the one I'm talking about.  The aardvark.

For your viewing pleasure until next time:

A is for...

...awesome second blog post!

Welcome back, friends!  Today, this magnificent day of all days, we open our American Heritage Dictionaries to page one and we sigh.  We sigh with satisfaction.  We sigh with hope.  And yes, we sigh with a healthy amount of tiredness, because just looking at how many pages are behind that first is quite exhausting.

But there's no time like the present, so let's begin!  I will consistently give you the best definition for the word, that is to say I will give you my favorite definition.  (Yes, I have favorite definitions.)

a:  1.  The first letter of the modern English alphabet.

Things I like that begin with A:
aster flowers
auburn hair
aunts
A Christmas Story  (you know, the movie)
art (which probably should have been first)
apples
afternoon naps
agriculture
anklets (not that I wear them, but still enjoyable)

That isn't everything, but I wanted to leave room for you!  So, comment with your favorite nouns that start with A.  (People, places, things.)  I'll be very interested.  I promise.

Be sure to catch the next posting of your new favorite blog!  We will be covering Aachen, the German city.  Very exciting.  You won't want to miss it.  Did I mention this blog is illustrated?  Yes!  This is an illustrated blog, with all images copyrighted by me, Rachel Ohls!  You don't want to miss education, art, and me, do you?  Of course not!

For your viewing pleasure, until next time:

Welcome

Welcome to my blog!

First, a bit of legal to-do.  All dictionary definitions, unless otherwise stated, will be from the American Heritage College Dictionary, fourth edition.  Copyright 2004, 2002 Houghton Mifflin Company.  Their words are their words, and not mine.

Now, the origins of the blog!  It was a warm and sunny day, or perhaps a dark and stormy night; I'm a little fuzzy on the specifics.  Anywho--I decided that a blog was in order.  I thought for a long time and decided that I had terrible ideas.  So, in the interest of my artistic pursuits and for the educational benefit of us all, I present to you:  the dictionary.  Illustrated.  By me, Rachel Ohls.  But only with the fun-to-draw nouns.

So, join me!  I enjoy talking to people, so feel free to chat me up.  Also, if any of you are in the market for an illustrator, please think of me.  :)