Category Archives: Travel

Art, Family, Kids, Media, Travel, Uncategorized

You Call That Art?

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We went to The Broad Museum in Los Angeles in May. It is a museum of contemporary art with works by  Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol, among others.  Admission is free, and the place was packed with citizens of all ages. They had a special exhibition called “Soul of a Nation, Art in the Age of Black Power 1963-1983” curated by the Tate Modern out of London, that Husband went to. He said it was interesting but hard to describe.

Daughter and I viewed the general collection.  It was fun to tell her about Warhol and show her the paintings of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, and the soup cans. The Lichtenstein comic-inspired paintings were far bigger than I ever imagined they would be and were pretty amazing to finally see in person.  She liked all of it, but neither of us quite understood what we were looking at. It is all significant, but I don’t know the reason why. I really don’t know the meaning of the big blue Dachshund made out of plastic or the enormous dining room table and chairs.

What are your experiences with modern art? What are your favorite art works?

books, Travel, Uncategorized

The Last Bookstore

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Daughter found a wonderful bookstore when we were in LA. It is downtown, and is called The Last Bookstore. It boasts 250,000 volumes in 22,000 sq. ft. of space, including new, used, rare and antique  books, vinyl  LP’s, and graphic novels. It is in an old bank. The mystery novels are shelved in the vault. It claims to be the biggest bookstore in California.

There are overstuffed chairs all over, and a small stage area for poetry readings and lectures. People came in with bags of books to sell, and left with bags of books to read. It was a wonderful place. I especially liked the used book sculptures.

What kind of bookstore would you like to own?

Family, Kids, The Future, Travel, Uncategorized

Been There, Done That

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We traveled to Los Angeles in early May.  I hadn’t been there since 1978. The air was certainly cleaner this time around.  Our accommodations were lovely. We had a very nice time, ate in great restaurants, and had fun with our daughter.  The people we met were very friendly. Our flight connections worked as well as could be expected, and we had no major glitches in our travel plans. Aside from some cool and rainy weather, it was a great trip.

It was kind of surprising when both husband and I independently stated that, as far as we were concerned, neither of us had to go back to Los Angeles ever again.  We had been there, done that, and now we wanted to move on to other things.

I suppose it could be a sign that we are aging, and the fast pace of such a vibrant city was more than we could tolerate. I don’t think it is only that, though. I think it means that it is more important for us to do things that are truly meaningful and feed our souls. While I dislike how the word is bandied about, we want to be more mindful when we travel.

What are you relieved to be finished with?

 

 

gardening, home, Nature, Seasons, Travel, Uncategorized

Spring Blossoms

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We are starved for color in winter and early spring  in the northern Great Plains.  Husband and I have been fortunate in our travels since April to be in places when the flowering trees and shrubs are at their peak.  We were in Brookings, SD last weekend and the flowering crabs, plums, and apple trees were beautiful. In Santa Fe we saw  blooming fruit trees of all types. I was amazed, though, when we were in Los Angeles and I saw blooming Jacaranda trees for the first time.

I have never seen trees that shape and size with blue/purple flowers.  I have no idea what they look like with their leaves.  It is said to be good luck if the flowers fall on your head. The seeds and sap  are said to be quite poisonous, though.  They are  found mainly in tropical climates, but have survived to winter temperatures as low 19 degrees Fahrenheit. I don’t think they would winter over very well up here.

What are your favorite and least favorite trees and shrubs?

 

Family, gardening, History, holidays, home, Nature, News, Travel, Uncategorized

Remembrance

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I came of age in the sixties, when it was all the rage to be un-patriotic. It felt like blinders had come off for the first time; we didn’t want to accept the perfect glowing images we had grown up with but were seeing America in all its stark reality.  This got ugly fast, of course.  Vietnam vets got the brutal end of this, as if risking life and limb wasn’t enough, but you had to put up with immature folks back home ridiculing you for your service.

Then the pendulum swung back after 911. In shoring up our solidarity we reverted back to flags and flag decals everywhere, freedom fries in the congressional cafeteria and presidents decried if they didn’t have their flag pin in their lapel every time they stepped out.

I feel smack in the middle of this spectrum. Having traveled quite a bit, I feel quite strongly that there are few places where I would prefer to live.  Religious struggles, authoritarian regimes, overly controlling policies (think.. it’s a crime to spit out your gum), racism/sexism practically built into the system – all of these things make me think I’ll just stay here, thank you very much.  On the other side of this fence is my feeling of disquiet about our current political crisis; it’s embarrassing when I travel.  (Except when I go to London, as their problems are pretty overwhelming right now as well so they’re not as quick to judge.)

But in general, I’m glad to be an American and will fly my big flag this weekend and stick my little flags out in the front garden. No picnics or parades, but a quiet weekend of gardening and weeding and thinking of those who have fallen for me.

What are your plans for the weekend?

gardening, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

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Husband and I stayed on the 17th floor of a hotel in Los Angeles last week.  The area was hilly with very tall buildings at varying levels all around.  We had a nice view of rooftops and nooks that had been transformed into gardens, dog parks, putting greens, and tree filled  patios. I always liked the descriptions of the gardens Nebuchadnezzar built for his wife, and they came to mind as I gazed out of our hotel window.  It amazes me they could grow such large trees in such small containers.

 

Husband said he would grow pumpkins on our roof back home if he could.  I can imagine ways a person could do it. There would be some challenges,  of course. Trees would be a little hard to manage.  Think of how much garden space you could add if rooftoops  were available!

What would you grow on your roof?

 

home, Seasons, Travel, Uncategorized, work

Time to Slow Down

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Last Wednesday I  began to feel somewhat tired with a sore throat. I hadn’t been sick all winter, and  knew that I was due for something. I see a lot of children, all who lately seemed to be dripping, sneezing, or coughing over me and my office.  My work schedule had been grueling and there had been multiple special meetings of my regulatory board due to vexing issues.  I went home early on Wednesday, tried to pace myself at work on Thursday and Friday, and then got hit with the full effects of a nasty respiratory virus on Saturday. I was home all day from work on Monday.  I made it to work on Tuesday, but just barely.  Every day I woke up and thought “Well, it should be getting better now”, and it seemed to be worse instead of letting up. I have been doing nothing except playing solitaire and napping since Saturday.

I so very rarely get sick that I view episodes like the one I am dealing with now to be a sign from the universe that I need to take better care of myself.  To that end I decided that I am not taking my laptop with me to Los Angeles this week. I usually travel with it just in case I have to do some work for my regulatory board. I figure the world of regulation will do just fine without me for four days. I will not check my work email while I am gone, either.  My coworkers will do just fine without me until I get back. It is time to slow down,

What are signs to you that you need to slow down? How do you “do” self care?

Family, Gatherings, Kids, Nature, Travel, Uncategorized

Maui Wedding

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Well, we did it – just spent close to a week in Hawaii on the west end of Maui (near Lahaina) for Stepson Mario and Natalie’s. Husband and I have a difficult time committing to plans far ahead of time, so right from the start this was an exercise in letting go. We also don’t fly often, and each time we do there are new things to get used to – what exactly is “flight mode” ? (Found out it only applies to smart phones, and ours is a dumb phone). Booking online is still scary for me – I long for the days of travel agents to do it for you.

By the time we made our reservations last November, the cheaper flights all involved either two stopovers or a Red-eye flight, and we got one of each on this trip. Luckily we made all of our connecting flights, and the only problems flying were that “caged” feeling you get in narrow airline seats, and the inability to really sleep on a plane. We were able to avoid jet-lag by waiting to sleep until we were ready to drop, and then logging in a good long stretch before the next full day.

Rental Car Chickens

The wedding and dinner (at a seaside restaurant called Merriman’s) also went off without a hitch; all 34 of us behaved properly (at least while I was awake) – youngest daughter teared up and was not able to finish her solo song during the ceremony, but no problem. The vows were touching and sometimes funny, and the stories told during the ceremony and dinner were heartwarming.

Most of our days were spent doing things with the family, a lot of it on the beaches, for which we were grateful. We reconnected with the various other parents (there were a lot of us, there’s a story for another time.) It was soothing to hear and watch the waves, and playing in the ocean.

We are so very glad we made the effort to get there – it was definitely an event not to be missed.

What’s the farthest you’ve traveled for a Wedding or other Major Event?

holidays, Music, Nature, Seasons, Travel, Uncategorized

The Annual Migration of the Timpani

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I saw four enormous birds soaring over town in migration a couple of weeks ago . They were whooping cranes, probably on their way to Alberta.  I have only seen migrating whooping cranes one other time in all the years we have been here.  We also have had geese fly over, and the owls, hawks, meadowlarks, and vultures are back.

Yesterday Husband and I assisted in the migration of  two timpani from the college band room to our church in Husband’s pickup. They are needed for a piece  our bell choir is doing on Sunday with a brass quintet. (Our bell choir director failed to see how funny it was when she kept saying a few weeks ago that she was one trombone player short of a brass quintet. She didn’t get it when people replied to her that they had always thought that).

When I grew up in Luverne, we usually had timpani in my church on Easter. They came from the high school. All the high school band directors in my youth were Lutheran, and we always got the timpani for special church services. No one from the community ever complained about it as being unfair or a misuse of public property. Our bell choir director teaches at the college, and I guess that is why we have the timpani for Easter. Our church probably has the most music of all the churches in town, and not all of them have the space for such things even if they had the musicians.

I wondered yesterday just how many timpani in the US are migrating from schools to churches for Easter services.  I like to imagine that there are many in transit, and that it is a brief but yearly migration. I like to see cooperative use of such things. How many timpani does one small town need, after all?

What migratory birds have you seen lately? What percussion instruments would you like to play?  What are some successful public-private cooperative ventures you know about?

Family, Gatherings, Stories, Travel, Uncategorized

Chance Meetings

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We always seem to meet interesting people when we travel, and this trip is no exception. We arrived late in the evening into the Albuquerque airport and had to wait for our prearranged shuttle to take us to Santa Fe.  We waited with a fellow shuttle rider named Abdul. He was an Egyptian man, about 65 years old,  who had just arrived in Albuquerque from Alexandria via  Abu Dhabi and Los Angeles. He was very tall, well over 6 feet, and a professional chef who had worked for years in Santa Fe and was coming back to spend time in a cooperative community of scientists and artists outside of the town.  He gave us some sage advice on good restaurants to try, and which hyped ones to avoid.  He described preparing food as being just like composing and conducting music. We talked about how he manages his diabetes and how he loved teaching classes in Mediterranean cooking. I regret not being able to eat dishes he prepared.

Our second interesting meeting was with a man named Steven, a white man who owned a dusty shop chock full of indigenous art prints and native  ledger art.  He was in his late 60’s and was whittling bear root, an expectorant, to make into tea to help clear his chest from an attack of Spring allergies.  He and I had a serious talk on why the Kachina figure I have in our living room gives me nightmares (he said I had to change my way of living). His art prints were in huge stacks that would take hours to go through.  Husband plans to go back for more conversation and to look at more prints before we leave.

Tell about interesting people you have met on your travels.