06.15.09
Miraculous Staircase
When the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe was completed in 1878 The sisters of the chapel realized that there was a problem. The choir loft had been designed to be accessible by ladder which was normal for the time - for a boys choir. The Loretto chapel was for girls and girls could not be expected to climb a ladder. Many carpenters were consulted but all concluded that a traditional staircase would be too large and interfere with the interior of the small chapel. The sisters made a novena to St. Joseph the patron saint of carpenters. On the final day of prayers a man with a toolbox arrived at the chapel riding a donkey and looking for work. He labored for months constructing the elegant staircase and then vanished without payment or thanks. The sisters initiated a search and ran ads in the local newspaper but the man's identity was never determined. His achievement is an engineering marvel; constructed without nails - only wooden pegs, it makes two 360 degree turns with no center post or other visible means of support and certain aspects of the design still puzzle modern experts.       

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Pentax *ist D, ISO 800, 10mm, f/3.5, 1/6 second