PAB/ST
Plane, auto, boat/ship, train – we used them all during our recent vacation. Many of you know we went to Seattle for the GAS conference and then on to Canada; a three-week vacation. We have been back about a week and have things mostly in order. (Another week-long trip is in the offing.) The whip-poor-will generally wakes me up just before sunrise; he does an even better job than a rooster. (Listen to its song here: http://www.junglewalk.com/popup.asp?type=a&AnimalAudioID=388 )
Mrs. T tells about the Seattle portion of our trip below.
"I have become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known – cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,"
Ulysses - Alfred Lord Tennyson
We have returned! Our sojourn (a bit shorter than Ulysses') was exciting, entertaining, enlightening. We negotiated everything we thought we needed into four carryon sized bags (And one for DT's CPAP machine; medical equipment is exempt luggage –dt). Actually, thanks to the generosity and support of our family and friends we could have made do with quite a bit less. I admit I overdid it when packing the jewelry but it is so hard to decide. (She has so few things to choose from –HaHaHa –dt)
We have discovered a great travel secret - when the plane is very full, as it usually is these days, airlines will gate check your carryons at no charge, especially if they tend to be on the plump side. This way you get your bags back when the plane lands avoiding baggage claim and fees! We muddled though all the waiting, being scanned – waiting - - flying, rushing to the next plane – more waiting because it was late - getting on the plane - waiting while it was checked out for some maintenance problem – flying, and finally arriving at Seattle. We upgraded to a larger sized rental car. For some reason it seems to be cheaper to upgrade at the airport than to order the larger car from the start. With only a slight detour we arrived at Suzy and John's.
Their home has that comfortable elegance that some people with good taste, a little extra money, and no live–in children, seem to acquire effortlessly. Am I jealous? (Is the Pope Catholic?) Not really; it is their flower garden that makes me want to abandon that old coveting commandment. Houses are nice, and I love our house and our condo. But Suzy has lots of flowers. (We have beautiful flowers at the house and condo as you have seen in previous posts. But Suzy's garden is indeed exceptional. –dt) One of my favorite parts was a wall of bamboo along their back fence. I would love to have some of that bamboo but I don't think it grows here, and frankly I am afraid of bamboo. I understand that if you don't have a panda it tends to take over. I would be willing to explore the panda option but I have a feeling that Dan would veto it. (Certainly would. –dt) Suzy had lots of lobelia in bloom and mongo grass and a rose of many colors. Her irises were just starting. They had a dark black one that would be amazingly elegant. I comfort myself that Seattle's climate is kinder than ours. But truthfully, I know that incredible amounts of work, love and patience are needed to create a garden like John and Suzy's.
The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,--
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth
Dorothy Frances Gurney
I soon discovered Suzy has a crow who comes and sits on her wall waiting expectantly for tidbits that Suzy puts out. Exactly who has trained whom I'm not quite sure. We came to Seattle to attend the Glass Art Society conference and we enjoyed it. We took a day trip to the Tacoma Art Museum. While we were there we watched Rich Royal making a bee hive kind of thing. I really like the installation with big blue glass stones on the 'Bridge of Glass'. Later, at M-Space, a private studio, we watched a contest where teams – amateurs and professionals - had 10 minutes to make a goblet. One team featured a young man of 12. Some of the results were quite interesting. Back at the Seattle Art Museum (venue for closing of the GAS conference –dt) the main exhibit seemed to be people made to look like mops with lots of string hanging down. It was interesting at first but I think he might have gotten carried away. I have only a capacity for so many mop men. (Nick Cave show –dt) We also saw a lampworking demo by a lady making small iridescent people. I thought she was quite good. We went to a cold working demo by Joe Benvenuto who years ago was the director of Glass Axis (That is where we still work – www.glassaxis.org -dt) and tutored our son Nick. He seemed to be doing well. We saw our wonderful friends Yilmaz and Nimet from Turkey whom we first met years ago when the GAS conference was in Japan (1998 –dt). (Read about their school at www.glassfurnace.org -dt) We also saw Robert Wiley who earned his MFA from OSU and is running a school in Portugal now. It was a little sad to think of some friends like Finn and Drew who are gone. We do not go to every GAS conference (We prefer more exotic locations, although we probably will go to Toledo, Ohio next year –dt) so the ones we do go to have a combination of new and old people, and new and old technologies seen through our ever changing perspectives. I suppose after all the years some of the amazement is gone but I still love working with glass, playing with fire. While we were in Seattle we visited some other sights. We spent a morning at MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry) where Suzy volunteers. (Did I mention that our sister- in- law is a famous archivist?) We visited a Chinese garden that is under construction; I always like the moon gates. And we visited a sculpture garden that is part of SAM. I liked the rope sculpture and also the fountain that had a person holding out his hands as if to summon the water. During our time in Seattle we had mostly clear weather and could see the mountains. People there say the mountains are "out" the same way we might say the sun is "out" although really everything is always there. (Unfortunately we did not get a picture of Mt. Rainier –THE Mountain. –dt) Aren't people odd? Then on to Canada, but that is another story. Some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157626928215653/ Our next edition – or two – will be about the Canadian portion of our trip. Let's say here that we had a great time. And we feel very sad about the flooding in Manitoba. What you have been seeing about Minot has been going on in western Manitoba for the past month or more. Enough for now. Hope you all are well as summer really begins. Dan and Rebecca www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com
