Last class

Posted on December 7, 2006 by ruthek

I’ve been very busy the last few days, preparing my presentation for the Japanese art seminar. Although I am only auditing the class, the professor has encouraged me to participate, and I find I get more out of it if I do. This one was tough. I don’t know whether it was my topic, or me. Probably both. I actually spent most of my time doing work avoidance. I wrote a line or two, then made some tea. Came back for another two lines, then got something to eat. Back to work, then you know what tea does. So it went for almost three days. I probably gained three pounds. On Monday, I was really wiped out, probably from the trip to Cincinnati on Saturday, then a visit to an open house for the Nationality Rooms at Pitt on Sunday. Both very tiring. So I suppose it’s no mystery that I wasn’t functioning on Monday. Tuesday was better, but I was still marching back and forth. I was very happy to finally give the presentation, turn in the paper and be finished. Of course, I’ll miss all those classes now that I have a month’s vacation.

On the road

Posted on December 3, 2006 by ruthek

Once upon a time I loved to drive, any place, any time. I don’t know how many times I drove from Chicago to New York or Chicago to the West Coast. For the most part, I loved each trip. But after five plus years of commuting 70 miles a day across the George Washington Bridge I lost my love of driving. I still do it, but little as possible. So when I heard about a show of Japanese prints in Cincinnati I had a hard decision to make. I asked my Japanese art seminar if anyone wanted to go with me for a day trip, five hours each way. I decided I would go if I could get someone else to drive with me. At first there was great enthusiasm for the project, but finally I had only one taker, a non-driver. With some anxiety on my part, about the length of the drive and about the weather, we bravely set out yesterday morning.

The show was great,definitely worth all that driving. There were many prints I had never seen before, and very high quality. The museum looks terrific. I’m sorry we didn’t have more time to look at everything there. My companion was good company. We talked about everything from Japanese art to cooking with tofu. She has only been in the US since August, so she was excited about going on the road trip. Also, she enjoys looking at things the way I do. It’s always a pleasure to share with someone like that. I can’t say this is the beginning of a new phase in my life, driving trips, but I guess I would consider doing more.

Transition

Posted on December 1, 2006 by ruthek

The unseasonably warm weather is leaving us, and a cold front is coming in announcing itself with high winds and much rain. I watch the dance of the large fir in my backyard.
It’s a little scary. That tree could be as old as I am — I just hope it’s sturdier than I am.

Lights have been flickering and something is beeping at me. Actually two things are beeping at me with tiny beeps. I think one of them is my smoke/CO detector. The other one seems to be my phone, which is connected to a surge protector. I suppose I should investigate all of this, but I think I’ll wait until the storm is over.

Language woes

Posted on November 28, 2006 by ruthek

Working on a paper for my Japanese art class I realized my vocabulary has diminished. I still understand most of the words I ever learned, but accessing them as I write something is another matter. I attribute this only partly to aging. I think most of my problem stems from my previous employment. I was training people to use computer publishing programs and writing documentation for the training. Good documentation uses simple language, along with those technical terms, and never uses synonyms or nuance. You never call a black box a widget; it’s always a black box. Otherwise you are talking about two different things. I began writing this blog so I could forget those technical writing rules. Now I’ve added a thesaurus to my Google homepage. I hope it’s better than the one that comes with Microsoft Word. That was obviously compiled by technical writers.

Still Celebrating

Posted on November 27, 2006 by ruthek

Most of the guests have returned to their homes, and Eli went back to Chicago. Renee is still here and Charna has no school today for the first day of hunting season. That’s a holiday we urbanites certainly don’t understand. But Renee and I will take the opportunity to take Charna to lunch then shopping on Carson Street. All of this just to be with her. Here is a picture of our Thanksgiving turkey, a handsome devil, you must agree.
And here are Eli and Charna.
My Osher classes finished before Thanksgiving, but my Japanese art history class continues and I am obligated to do some work. Back to the books, after lunch and Charna.

Reward

Posted on November 24, 2006 by ruthek

I took Carol to the airport at 7 this morning. As we drove toward the city on 376 we could see the buildings downtown wrapped in a gentle mist. Everything gleamed and had a pearl-like quality. I’m sure those steel workers fifty years ago would not have believed this city could look so pristine. There was a cloud settling on the Mon. We could see the edges and the top of it. I was sorry I didn’t have the camera with me, and the time to use it. By the time I got back from the airport at 8 downtown was completely shrouded in fog.

2 Thanksgivings

Posted on November 23, 2006 by ruthek

With so much to be thankful for, I am having two Thanksgivings this year. Robin is having a big vegetarian dinner today. Renee and Carol, who are visiting, decided they wanted turkey. So we had our turkey Thanksgiving yesterday. This is the first time I’ve used my kitchen for anything other than the most basic cooking. Actually Carol did most of the cooking and reported that the kitchen was OK, even though I got rid of so many things when I left Chicago. Maybe some day I’ll try a bigger party.

Carol made the turkey and cranberry sauce. I made Kabocha squash portobello mushrooms and gravy. And I opened the wine bottle. Renee made the salad. We ate in the dining room, using my new dining room set for the first time. We all agreed we had much to be thankful for.

Tree talk

Posted on November 20, 2006 by ruthek

My tulip tree still fascinates me. During the late spring as the flower petals withered, small green buds appeared. I’ve circled some of them in this picture.
Eventually all the flower petals were gone and the green buds turned brown. Now the leaves are gone and the brown buds have become brown flowers all over the tree. I’m waiting to see what happens next.

Mary Schenley Fountain

Posted on November 15, 2006 by ruthek

I spend a lot of time in the Frick Art Building on the Pitt campus. Some of my Osher classes and my Japanese Art meet there, and I often use the library. Last week, to my amazement, the fountain in front of the building had an additional decoration. This fountain, dedicated to Mary Schenley who donated the land for nearby Schenley Park and Schenley Plaza, contains two
major figures. A recumbent Pan "represents the yearly regeneration of all plant
life." Above him stands a singer playing a lyre. On the pedestal is inscribed
"A Song of Nature, Pan the Earth God Answers to the Harmony Magic Tones Sung to
the Lyre by Sweet Humankind." I see this sculpture as a kind of Victorian erotica. The half naked Pan looking up at a woman representing humankind. I guess someone else has had the same thought.

Another Darcy Weekend

Posted on November 13, 2006 by ruthek

The weather was very nice on Friday afternoon so Darcy and I took a long walk on the Chatham College campus. It is such a beautiful place, I love walking there.
Some of the trees still had brilliantly colored leaves.
Darcy loves it for chasing squirrels, but she is never off the leash so she will never catch one.
I was hoping to see the turkeys. We went down to the pond where we saw them before, but it was early and there was still some active construction work, so no turkeys. When I finally decided to go back home I noticed a large bird flying nearby. I did not get a good look at him until we were almost out of the campus, but finally he perched in a tree near the parking lot.
I think he is a hawk. As we walked a little further we came upon the turkeys. Was the hawk watching them? We stood watching the hawk watch the turkeys.
There seemed to be only seven turkeys. I wonder if that hawk had something to do with the missing bird.