Doggy Weekend

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My family went camping this weekend, and I am dog sitting. All of the walking is good for me, but I wish I could bring her to my apartment instead of my sleeping at their house. I wanted to have dinner here so I brought her here yesterday afternoon. She is aware there is another dog in the building, although she has never seen it. Each time she goes out the door she catapults out, barking unremittingly. She also barks at every passing dog, whether she can see them or not. This is a very quiet street; comfortable for dog walking, so lots of barking. One more night and I’ll be finished.

Films and glass

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I like going to movies in a theater, sometimes, depending on the movie, but I don’t really enjoy watching a movie on my TV set. I always thought it was because the set was relatively small and there were many distractions, like the computer, near me. And I don’t really watch TV programs; I listen. Tuesday morning, my Ancient China class began watching the first hour of a movie about the period we are studying. Even though the screen was much larger than my TV set I must have checked my cellphone (I no longer wear a watch) four times in that hour. (I rate movies by how often I feel compelled to know the time. Zero is the highest rating.)

Today we were supposed to watch the remaining two hours. I really like the class; I wouldn’t get up in time for an 8:30 class if I didn’t like it. But sometimes I have no patience. I thought about staying in bed and not going at all, but I got there for the lecture the first hour and then left. I have a bad cold, the first one since I had bronchitis last year at this time. Maybe that’s my excuse. Also, today is my birthday. I wanted it to be a nice day. Two hours in that terrible chair watching indistinguishable actors killing each other seemed like torture.

I bought a cup of tea and took it to Schenley Plaza and watched children and puppies playing. The family had a bubble machine and the little boy, barely able to walk, kept trying to catch the bubbles. The puppy did it also, when a few of them came his way. Then I walked over to Phipps Conservatory where they have just opened a Chihuly show. I loved the Chihuly show in Chicago, which I must have seen four times even though I was living in New Jersey. But after my experience with Chihuly in the Bronx, last year, I wasn’t sure how I felt about seeing another of his shows. But it was nearby, no coping with airplanes and security, and I really enjoy the Phipps. I finished my tea, walked over and treated myself to a membership as a birthday gift.

It’s a wonderful show and it was a perfect birthday gift. For the most part the work is sited within the plantings. You know it’s glass, but it seems absolutely to belong; like it grew there. That’s how it appeared in Chicago, but not nearly as much in the Bronx. I looked back at my photos from last year. If there were pieces nestled among the plants, I never photographed them. I took a lot of pictures today. Eventually, I’ll post them along with some of the Bronx photos. And I plan to return often.

Update

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After a lovely walk in Frick Park, yesterday, my house guests left and I went to Tai Chi and back to my usual routine. The house seemed very empty when I returned home. I am sure I prefer living alone, but they were great fun and I had a wonderful time. The weather improved on Friday and remained pleasant all weekend. We went to Mt. Washington and the Allegheny County Courthouse on Friday. Friday evening, was baseball time for Karen and Kathryn; I went to Robin and Steve for my usual Shabat dinner. On Saturday, K & K went to Fallingwater. I went to exercise, then to a demonstration of Chinese musical instruments. We met up again for dinner.

Sunday, we walked in Chatham (now University), then the Strip and on to the Northside. We stopped briefly at the Mattress Factory, then on to the Warhol. I had a ticket for a new opera, called RedDust. K & K looked at the museum exhibits. Katkar2

For more detail and photos read Kathryn’s blog.

The tulip tree began to bloom last weekend. I was thrilled to see the first blossom. Some of last year’s flowers still on the tree are disappearing rapidly.

Tuliptreeblossom
The first blossom

Tuliptree5


White flower from last year with new bud

Day by day on the road

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One of the great things about keeping a blog is recalling what you did so you can write about it. My house guests went to see Falling Water giving me the opportunity to finish telling about my Chicago trip. I’ve been going over the 200 some pictures I took in the three days and have created two new photo albums: Chicago 2007 and Nikki in Chicago.

On Tuesday, walking around Chicago, we stopped into the Cultural Center, a fabulous building they almost tore down, so Renee could see it. That’s where we found out about Nikki in the Garden, a show of the work of Nikki de Saint Phalle at the Garfield Park Conservatory. That went on the list for Wednesday.

We walked around downtown most of the afternoon, spending quite a lot of time at Millennium Park. It was a beautiful day; amazing, perfect weather for Chicago. Renee thought she wanted to take an architectural tour, but having already walked two miles or more, I knew I wouldn’t make it. So we walked another mile around the park, finally collapsing into a cab and going back to Betty’s apartment where we rested up (and had some wine) for our next challenge, dinner. Betty is terrific on restaurant recommendations; she took us too a new place in Chinatown called Mulan. It lived up to her review.

See the Chicago 2007 album for photos of sculpture in the park and some other things in Chicago.

Wednesday morning we got ready to leave. We had been staying out in Northbrook, with Carol, and I didn’t want to drive back there for the night after going all the way out to the south side to see Eli again. Enough driving!

Carol made a lovely breakfast for us and sent us on our way–to Garfield Park and Nikki in the Garden. It’s a great show; everything looks so good sitting amidst the plants and flowers. I took the opportunity to make one last photo for an old project of mine about the subway and elevated in Chicago. Back in 1975 I had a show at the Cultural Center of photos documenting the trains, stations and surrounding areas. All the photos were black and white. Here is my last ‘el’ photo, in color:LastelpicToo bad I can’t add it to the show.

I’m so pleased that Chicago has found a way to make the Conservatory a vital part of the Chicago scene. It was a forgotten neighborhood for most of my life in the city. They had a wonderful Chihuly show there a few years ago and it suddenly became a destination.

After a too short visit with Eli we drove east and
finally stayed overnight just short of the Ohio border. On Thursday we
went to the Amish flea market and I already wrote all I intend to say
about it.

Time out for guests

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I’m still working on pictures from the Chicago trip, and there are things to tell about the tulip tree and about this semester’s classes, but this weekend I have house guests, Karen and Kathryn from Chicago. Unfortunately, every time I have a guest it seems to rain. Makes it very difficult to show Pittsburgh in its best light. I wanted to take them to the Frick estate and then walk in Frick Park. Plan B was going to the Frick Art Museum where we saw a show of George Bellows drawings. Then we drove to Oakland and toured some of the Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning. I’ve seen these rooms many times and had classes in some, but it’s fun to see them with people who are interested and bring fresh eyes and fresh thoughts.

The next stops on our tour were the Carnegie Library, the other Frick art building on campus, and views of the Cathedral and CMU. We finished the evening with a koto concert by Misayo Ishigure.

Last Monday

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we went to the Bahai Temple in Wilmette. I’m ashamed to say I lived in Wilmette for 17 years and only went inside the Temple once before. It’s a beautiful place, and the sanctuary is awesome. I haven’t researched it, but there must be a great story about why the Temple was built in Wilmette. And, I was very impressed to learn they only accept donations from their own believers.

We walked around the building, Reneebahai
Renee

climbed up to the sanctuary and explored the visitor’s center, where we found a small room with the Peace Tapestry, four exquisite panels created by Vickie Hu Poirier of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Banner4
Each panel has text about peace, the necessity of achieving peace, the means of achieving peace; the work is a veritable sampler of fabric techniques. I put more photos and some details in the Wonderful Cloth photo album on the left.

Good Trip

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Back home a day early and overwhelmed with all the photos I’ve taken. Our original plan had been to leave Chicago on Thursday morning and go to Georgetown, Kentucky to visit raja and go on a tour of the Toyota plant. I enjoyed it so much on my earlier trip, I wanted Renee to have the Kentucky experience, also.

We hadn’t counted on the crowds generated by last weekend’s Derby. We couldn’t get tour reservations and didn’t even try to get a motel. Then we thought we’d leave Chicago this morning and stop overnight in Ohio, maybe go to Cleveland. Instead, we stopped to see Eli yesterday afternoon then drove through most of Indiana. We had picked up some PR stuff on our way, and were tempted by an Amish flea market in Walnut Creek, Ohio. I will just say that, much as I love flea markets, this was not one of the high points of the trip. I don’t understand how so many vendors can all sell the same junk and make any money.

We drove through the center of Ohio, where I had never been before. There were rolling hills and wonderful, Norman Rockwellish scenes. We enjoyed the drive but had a few unanswered questions: how do some of those people make a living, with no cities and no obvious industry; and why are so many people growing dandelions instead of something more useful?

We really enjoyed Chicago; I’ll post most details later. Monday was family day for me. We visited with one of my Florida cousins who was in town, coincidentally. Then we went to the Bahai Temple in Wilmette, followed by more cousins in the evening.  On Tuesday, we were downtown, morning to evening. I took this shot of the skyline, but the wonderful lights on the buildings from Sunday evening were gone.

Skyline4

Traveling again

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On Friday, Renee came to Pittsburgh; Sunday morning we drove across Ohio and Indiana and got to Chicago about 5 pm. Our first stop was at the University to see our grandson, Eli. We walked around the campus, went to a nearby Thai restaurant for dinner, then came back to Ida Noyes Hall and sat and visited. When I was at the University Ida Noyes was the women’s phys ed building. There was a bowling alley and a swimming pool in the basement. Did you get that "women’s" thing? We were a race apart, a subspecies. One of the first events I remember was a women’s tea with Dean McCarn. I think she was Dean of Women. We all wore white gloves, which were the bane of my existence. I thought every woman, except me, managed to keep them clean through an entire day. I was enormously relieved when I found out the Queen of England had a woman in attendance who carried multiple pairs of white gloves so the Queen could change them whenever necessary. All of that is gone; it’s now a student activities building, and I haven’t worn a white glove in at least 40 years.

After we left Eli I drove down Lake Shore Drive through downtown so Renee could see the skyline. Chicago has always had a wonderful skyline, but last night it was amazing. All of the buildings were lit up and many had lights on in offices spelling out CPD 13088. We didn’t know what it was all about, but it was breathtaking. I’m only sorry I was too tired to stop and take pictures. When we got to Carol’s we looked it up on the Internet. I don’t know how I ever got along without the Internet.

Busy Week

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Surprisingly busy, for a week with no classes. I’ve gone to the health club every day, and I’m about to go again. I drop in on the other Tai Chi class for an hour of moderate exercise. I figure that anything that keeps me standing and moving for an hour is a good thing, even though I now know this is not really Tai Chi.

One of my fellow Osher students is very interested in starting an Osher-Pittsburgh blog. He doesn’t know how to do it himself so he’s been after me to help. I think it’s a good thing, in principle, but I also think we have to be very careful about making sure we don’t claim any official status. We haven’t been blessed; in fact, we haven’t even asked for the blessing.

But we started the blog. I set it up and I’m hoping he will do most of the writing–or get other Osher participants to work on it. I’ll post a link when there’s something interesting to read.

While I was in techie mode I set up another blog for myself: Japan Journey. I am planning to go to Japan before the end of this year. After all of the studying I’ve been doing, I want to take another look at the country, the temples, the works of art. The blog will be an account of all of my plans, the resources I use to make arrangements, and finally, the trip. Right now, it only contains a list of links.

Both of these blogs are on WordPress.com. Although similar to Typepad, it has many different features. It’s been fun exploring them and figuring out how to use them. I like keeping my techie skills polished.

I took a brief break from editing my father’s writing and instead, spent time scanning his drawings and some photographs I want to include in his book. Here is a photo of my mother and father when they got married in 1929.Wedding

I wish I had more of my father’s drawings, and I’m sorry he didn’t use materials that would last longer. The paper is getting brittle and the inks are fading. Here are a few of the drawings he put with his writing:

Loghouse

This is a sketch of the loghouse he lived in as a child. This was in the Carpathian mountains in what is now Poland.

Trochina

This is the mill his father owned. Both he, and his sister, labeled the mill "Trochina." I don’t know if this is the Polish word for a mill, or what this means. I tried to look it up but didn’t find anything.

Rebeinegershon

Finally, this is from one of his stories. He was trained as an architect and he was a superb draftsman. You can see it in this drawing.

Papa

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No classes this week so I spent my time exercising and then working on my father’s writings. I’m hoping to get all of my family’s literary efforts into some easily accessible format like CD or DVD and stop thinking about them. I find my father’s writing troubling. In his old age he was a troubled man. He spent a lot of time writing after a heart attack forced him to retire. He had no other interests; he seldom left his apartment because my mother was certain she could keep him alive as long as she kept him within her sight. He spent his time writing and rewriting his memoirs. Each time he rewrote the story he added elements, some interesting, some paranoid fantasies. I’m trying to keep the interesting parts.

He wrote about his early life in Europe, antisemitism, his transition to life in Chicago, antisemitism, coping with terrible financial problems during the Depression, antisemitism, finally becoming a poultry peddler after being trained and working as an architect. Ten years after the heart attack that retired him he got Guillaume Barre syndrome, spent seven weeks on a respirator, many more weeks in rehab where he was sure they were trying to kill him: antisemitism, again. The line between reality and paranoia is very fine, indeed. In the end he crossed it. He outlived my mother by several years, and went from assisted living to a series of different nursing homes, a new one each time he thought someone was out to get him.

He was a fine man whose life spanned almost the entire twentieth century. He came from a primitive, rural environment in Europe but managed to learn about and understand almost all of the century’s amazing technology. At the end he had trouble seeing and hearing but he still managed to keep up with what was going on in the world. I would like to keep his memories alive.