SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT - PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO VIEW

TREES

An exhibition in various media by

　

Rebecca Terrible

opening

5 to 8 pm

2 September 2011

@

Z.A.A.P. Gallery

(Zanesville Appalachian Arts Project)

625 Main Street

Zanesville Ohio

www.zaapart.org

　
　
The show will be on display for the month of September. The ZAAP Gallery is open Thursday through Sunday 1 to 5pm. Please contact us if you would like us to meet you at the gallery; you are also welcome to visit our home in the holler.
　
For those of you coming to the opening, the ZAAP Gallery is located in downtown Zanesville between 5^th and 7^th Streets which both have exits from I-70 eastbound, approximately 1 hour from Columbus. Westbound travelers will need to exit at Underwood St. and proceed south to Main Street and turn right.
We know most of you will not be able to make the opening. But as noted, the exhibition will be up for September. Also, refer to the ZAAP website for more information, especially after the show opens. Please feel free to share this notice.

Onward to Canada

Canada – Part 1

 

Part one of our trip to Canada began with the Victoria Clipper boat from Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia.  It is a very convenient way to get between cities if one is not driving.  The boat was at capacity partly due to the number of Canadians who had gone to a U2 concert held in Seattle the night before; the GAS conference closing party that same night was a sedate little affair by comparison.

 

Victoria, on Vancouver Island as distinct from the city of Vancouver on the mainland, is the capital of British Columbia.  As such it has the provincial parliament building and other governmental offices.  However, in general Victoria is a bit of a touristy town, especially in the small area we traversed around the inner harbor (or should that be harbour).  Our tour with Peter showed us that Victoria is a full-fledged, but somewhat sedate, city.  It seemed like a most pleasant place to live.

 

Vancouver on the other hand is a metropolis of 2 million+ population.  It had the normal hustle and bustle of a big city.  Downtown takes in a fairly large area but there is a very good public transportation system.  We were not able to explore much of the metropolitan area which spreads out quite a bit.  We were able to take in a few of the more popular sights. 

 

Mrs.T provides a summary of this phase of our trip:

 

 

Before we got on the boat to go from Seattle to Victoria the lady told us we should check our luggage.  We didn't have to but if we did not we would have to lug it around.  Since there was only one boat the chances of it getting lost seemed remote so we each checked our largest carry on.  The boat trip was nice enough, only a little rough.  When we got off to pick up our luggage it was in two long lines of shelves.  You walked down the middle and picked your luggage off from either side.  Dan suggested I take one side and he take the other and when we found one piece of our luggage then we would tell each other.  We were almost to the end when I spotted his carryon.  I got it down and we decided to continue on because we should find mine soon.  Well, no. 

 

"Are you sure you didn't miss it?" I asked.

 

"No, absolutely not; I didn't miss it!" Dan replied.

 

"I will wait here with mine and you go tell them you can't find your luggage," Dan commanded imperiously.  (The editor will let that slide through.  –dt)

 

This did not seem fair to me but rather than argue, I agreed.

 

When I had explained this, man said (rather condescendingly),  "Why don't you go look one more time first."

 

Well I knew I had not missed my carryon so I started back up the side Dan had checked.  I had not gotten very far when there it was in plain sight.

 

I got my carryon and returned to where Dan and the luggage guy were standing.

 

"Oh I'm glad you found it," the luggage guy said.

 

Dan, very wisely did not say a word.

 

We proceeded to customs.  Dan went first and zipped right through.  When it was my turn a rather bored customs guy asked why I was coming to visit Canada.

 

"To visit my friends," I replied with perfect honesty.

 

"Where do your friends live?" he asked.

 

"All over the place," I replied.  (this might have been a slight exaggeration but Dan had the list with everyone's' addresses and I did not remember.

 

"Where did you meet your friends?"  he asked.

 

"In Mexico," I explained.

 

"Are you bringing anything with you into Canada?" he asked a little more firmly.

 

"Well my clothes, a few books, some glass samples, my pills,…" I wasn't sure quite what he was getting at.

 

"What pills are you bringing?"  (Was it my imagination or did he seem to be paying more attention?)

 

"Well the purple pills are for my tummy; the little yellow pills are for hot flashes, the little pink pills are for depression, the big white pills are for anxiety, the large blue pills are multivitamins…"

 

"So all these pills are prescription medicine?" he asked.

 

"Well I did bring some Rolaids, some anti diarrhea pills and some cold pills," I admitted.

 

Suddenly light dawned.  This man thought I was a mule carrying drugs into Canada.

 

I glanced over at Dan's face and had no doubt that he thought I was an ass!

 

"How long have you known these friends from Canada?" the interrogation continued.

 

Eventually it was all sorted out and I was allowed to enter Canada (no searches were involved).  I slunk over to where Dan was waiting trying to pretend he had never seen me before.  "Never mention Mexico!!" he hissed.

 

Our travel agent (dt) had done a good job and our hotel was right across the street from the dock.  When we checked in we found two messages, one from Paul and Kathleen welcoming us to Canada and one from Serah saying she was on her way.  (I love getting messages at hotels!)  In fact Serah was there by the time we finished checking in.  She drove us around Victoria showing us some sights and we had dinner at a seafood restaurant that looked out over the Inner Harbour.  They made their own beer there and Dan had one.  Going back to our hotel we passed the Parliament which was outlined with lights; it looked charming.  There were horse carriages parked beside it that would take you for a short tour.  That looked like fun but I was too tired.

 

The next day we walked around seeing the sights of Victoria.  We took a self-guided tour of the Parliament.  We looked at lots of totem poles and statues.  We went to the undersea museum.  This was a very large aquarium with lots of local fish, octopi, shellfish, anemones and so on.  Then we went on a carriage ride; silly I know but I enjoyed it.  The horse was a Belgian whose name was King.  When the driver said gee step King would go right.  When she said haw step he would go left.  Step meant straight ahead.   As we rode the driver gave an interesting commentary about the history of Victoria.  All went well until a large semi screeched to a halt right in front of us.  "

 

"Gee step!" the driver said calmly. 

 

King turned his head completely around and stared at the driver in disbelief. "Do you really want me to go out in front of that big noisy thing?" he seemed to ask.

 

"Gee step!" the driver repeated.

 

King shook his great head; heaved an immense horsey sigh, and made a right turn.

 

That evening we had dinner with Paul and Kathleen.  It was good to see them as we had missed them in Mexico last season.  They both were doing well.

 

The next day we went to Butchart Gardens.  This is probably the most beautiful garden I have seen.  I especially liked the sunken garden which was built in an abandoned gravel quarry.  As our home is on an abandoned strip mine I immediately began to see similarities and possibilities. At the gift shop I bought 3 packages of seeds.  Since I could not bring home the 54 gardeners they employ I suppose my efforts will continue to pale by comparison but we do what we can.  One flower that was especially beautiful was the blue poppy.  I bought some Canadian lily seeds so that I could commemorate our journey, if they grace us by growing.  (It was a bit rainy that day, but no worries.  The garden provided umbrellas which they even brought out to folks when the showers started.  –dt)

 

That evening Peter picked us up and took us to some of the interesting spots around Victoria.  We climbed the highest lookout point and from there we could look down and see both sides of the island.  There was a little map that showed us the names of other islands across the bay.  There is something wild and free about being on an island.  The world flows by around you, it seems to me.

 

That evening we went to dinner at Peter and Judy's home.  They had prepared a lovely salmon dinner for us. And for dessert our mutual friend Daphne had made a lovely trifle.  We had a wonderful evening with most pleasant conversation.  We talked of things we had done and places we had been and made plans for next winter when we all will meet again in Bucerias.

 

Sadly we missed seeing Brian and Susan and David and Lorraine; we hope everyone is better and we catch up with you sometime.

 

(Pictures from Victoria:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157627147799092/ )

 

We took a bus to Vancouver – sort of.  To go to Vancouver we first rode on a bus and then on a ferry and then on the bus again.  The bus from downtown Victoria drove right onto the ferry which was docked at a bay on the other side of the island where we disembarked the bus for the ride to the mainland.  Then we reboarded the bus for the trip to downtown Vancouver.

 

Although we probably could have walked, we decided to take a cab to the bus station In Victoria for the first leg of the trip.  A little confusion with Canadian currency left a very happy cabbie with an $8 instead of a $2 tip for a very short ride.  (I counted 1,2,3,4 when I should have counted 2,4,6,8.  –dt)

 

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dan asked.  What was he going to do demand a refund?

 

We settled in for a short but rather rowdy stay in Vancouver.  No, we were not rowdy but it just so happened that the days were there were the days the Vancouver Canucks were playing in the Stanley Cup.  But we did take in some of the sights.

 

In Vancouver we visited China town.  At one of the herb stores I talked to a man who sold ginseng.  He was eager to buy from me direct until I told him we were only allowed to sell to government registered dealers.  We went to Stanley Park (Good recommendation, Gord. –dt) where they had a great aquarium.  While we were there we saw a Beluga show; they were charming animals.  Then we rode on a little train and saw a Disneyesque enactment of a Indian folk legend. (In Canada they are called 'First Peoples.'  -dt) I enjoyed it but I think it may have been a bit hokey for Dan. (He just is not in touch with his inner child.)

 

The next day we checked out but still had lots of time before our train departed. (For the second part of our Canadian adventure -dt), so we wondered around downtown a bit and visited some art galleries.  Returning to the hotel to collect our luggage we saw many locals with blue faces carousing in the streets.  We took a cab over to the train station and after checking in for the train watched the end of the hockey game on a big screen TV in the waiting lounge.

 

"Do you think we should be rooting for the US?" I whispered to Dan.

 

"Don't even think about it!!" he replied.

 

(Pictures from Vancouver:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157627028690663/ )

 

 

The next adventure will be about the train to Manitoba and our wonderful visit there.  If any of you in Manitoba have additional photos to share, forward them soon so that they become part of our next newsletter.

 

Best wishes to all.  Stay cool.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

 

A Nice Vacation

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
 

Who is Your Shipper?

Flora & Fauna & ***

 

As has been previously related to some of you, Rebecca will be the featured artist at Z.A.A.P. (http://www.zaapart.org/ ), one of our art organizations in Muskingum county.  (We invite all of you to come to its June auction fundraiser.)  Mrs.T worked quite hard this winter to complete several paintings – of trees, of course – for that show.  Because they have a shipper right in Bucerias, we arranged to have the paintings shipped back by ***, one of the biggest and most reputable services in the world.  What followed has been discouraging and disheartening.  And none too beneficial to R's psychic health.  Below you will find a much compressed description of the events; she really is in mourning.  As you can see in the following pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157626797189920/

three paintings did not arrive in good condition.  We know the original packing was substantial; it was registered as weighing 70kg (almost 160lbs).  The paintings arrived at our house in cardboard boxes with the bubble wrap in shreds.  The photos do not really show the extent of the damage.  The two extensively damaged works have a cut/puncture - a cut that went through a piece of cardboard (by the label on it evidently from repacking), through the bubble wrap, through the back of one painting, and through the front of another.  A third painting had its canvas stressed out of shape.  All in all, not the careful shipping we expected.  There were many calls and emails, including several to our shipper in Bucerias.  Right now the paintings are being repaired and Mrs.T will attempt to repaint the damaged areas, but the paintings never will be the same.

 

You will notice that the editor has replaced the name of the world renowned shipping company with ***.  The editor felt it not wise to put the name in print as that might bring legal repercussions.

 

For those of you in Ohio, sometime in August we will email you information about Rebecca's show which will start on the first Friday of September and last for the month.

 

Here is Mrs. T's synopsis of events:

 

 

"Art is long and time is fleeting", or something like that.  At any rate my art was quite fleeting, or maybe it was flitting.  *** lost my 10 pictures that I had painted in Mexico and am planning to use in a show in September.  After about 6 weeks of increasingly frantic and irate phone calls (where ***'s computer told me my call was important to them and please to continue to hold) finally the pictures were located.  (Actually they were lost in two parts. –dt) After they were located (twice –dt) they were shipped to me and I found that two of them had holes in them.  After a lot more of continuing to hold I was told to ship them back for examination.  I firmly explained that the last time I gave the paintings to them they lost them and made holes in them and I would be darned if I was going to give them a second shot!  (*** evidently thought that the paintings were like a blender and could be simply replaced. -dt) Eventually we agreed that I would take them to the local *** office where the lady took pictures of them with her phone and was going to fill out a claim.  (Actually two trips –dt) I am still waiting to see what comes of it all but I have already been told that if the claim is approved I will need to get the money from the Mexican shipper!  Have you seen the commercials about how *** wants to solve all your problems?  At the very least, continuing to hold should be featured much more heavily in their commercials!!!

 

Dan and I have been really enjoying our home in the woods.  One of the nice things is all the animals.  Our pond has been visited several times by a pair of wood ducks.  And yes, we do have a turtle this year.  Exactly what kind I don't know because every time I try to get close he dives.  We have lots of birds, including wild turkeys who wander by occasionally.  The last time this happened there was a male strutting around displaying his tail feathers for a couple of turkey hens who didn't seem all that impressed.  I think the prettiest birds are the scarlet tanagers.  We have a red tail hawk and a pileated woodpecker. (A very large bird -dt.)  The noisiest is the whip-poor-will who repeats his name seven zillion and three times each evening and morning. (As good as an alarm clock –dt) The phoebes have eggs in their nest - an engineering marvel - outside Dan's office window.

 

Of course our largest visitors are the deer.  The other morning about 6 AM I was peacefully sleeping.  Dan grabbed me, "Rebecca. Rebecca." he called in a stage whisper, "Look!" (She always wants to see the wildlife –dt) I slowly sat up and peered bleary eyed over the headboard.  There were two deer meandering along our driveway.  They would stop and graze every few feet.  How nice.  Suddenly I realized that they were stopping every few feet to munch on another clump of my lilies!  I leaped out of bed and ran out on the front porch and started yelling at them. "STOP THAT!!  BAD DEER!!"  They froze for a moment, their tails flashed up and then they leaped down over the hill.  When I came in Dan had a funny look on his face, I think he may have been trying not to laugh at me.  (I cannot deny nor affirm that comment –dt) Be that as it may, a few days later when four more deer wandered up the path they turned when they came to the lilies and sedately ambled down the hill, leaving my lilies strictly alone.  I guess I told them!

 

It must be true that April showers (and May rains also –dt) bring May flowers because I have a lot of lovely flowers this month.  My irises are lovely; I have at least four different varieties and thank goodness the deer don't eat them.  I had some lovely allium which I planted last year and they bloomed very enthusiastically.  My lilies of the valley are slowly spreading, (Don't you love the way they smell?)   I bought five new evergreen trees at the Dawes Arboretum plant sales. (Dawes is one of the premier arboretums in the country. www.dawesarb.org  The very historical Dawes family includes ambassadors and a vice president; one of them even rode with Revere. -dt).  I cut my thumb pretty badly working on glass at the studio so Dan dug three of the holes, albeit grumpily.  (Not true  –dt) This is really above and beyond the call of duty because our agreement is that I can get plants as long as I dig the holes.  Fortunately my thumb is almost better; I got a bunch more plants at a plant swap and there is one more plant swap this weekend.  (A very long drive past Cincinnati. –dt) I love getting plants.  I got one I was unfamiliar with this week but it was listed as an endangered native, so I felt it was my duty.  It is a celandine wood poppy; I will plant them today.

 

 

 

Well, we shortly are going off on a 3-week vacation.  First to Seattle to the Glass Art Society Conference, actually a good excuse to visit brother John and his wife Suzy.  And then two weeks in Canada.  (The folks in Manitoba are having floods every bit as bad as ours.)  We mentioned this in a previous newsletter but now the trip is at hand.  We will try to post something while away, but don't bet on it – we are already quite booked with events and rendezvous'.   Looking forward to a lot of great companionship.

 

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

 

Bonus Material

TWO THINGS FROM BUCERIAS
 
Here are a couple of additional items from the south.  One is a short video  of the master of the boogie board.  (Hope you can get it to play.) The waves were not too good this year.  (Thanks P for the video!)  The second item is a picture of us with our good friend Marisol and her roommate Miriam at lunch just a couple of days before we came back north.  For those who do not know, Marisol was one of my students at Franklin University; she is a wonderful person and the reason we now live in Bucerias during the winter.  Thanks Marisol!
 
 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157626401870693/
 
dan and rebecca

RETURN NORTH

 

 

O-H-I-O

 

As mentioned in our last newsletter we were preparing to make our way up north.  And here we are back north for about ten days – seven days of rain and clouds and three days of sun.  I have filed the taxes and am considering a ticket to go back south.  As Mrs.T relates below she is quite happy to be back among her blooming flowers and the fauna of our forest.  But before we turn to her short tale, we should mention Oaxaca again.

 

As you no doubt noted, Mrs. T was overjoyed just to see the Tule Tree and Monte Alban was icing on the cake.  But we also visited Mitla, which is an older Zapotec site, and nearby Teotitlan del Valle where there are reputedly 2000+ weavers.  (No, that is not an extra zero.)  We visited the "Bug in a Rug" studio/shop and had quite a good description of all the natural dyes and a demonstration of their rug weaving techniques.  The Zapotecs had been doing this for centuries before the Spanish conquest and the subsequent introduction of the modern spinning wheel and weaving loom.  Several of Teotitlan's artisans are world renown and are represented in public and private collections, including a nice rug at our condo.  In the pictures you will see the exquisite rug that KA of our group from Casa Ollin purchased.  R bought a pillow cover which goes well with Turkish ones we have had for some time.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157626384102583/

 

 

On to R's brief commentary about our restart of the northern home:

 

We are home in Ohio.  We arrived about seven hours later than we first intended.  Dan was extremely, and justifiably grumpy and I was a wreck.  But after a week things are settling down.  We went through a ton of mail, most of it third class, and ended up taking 3 tubs and one plastic garbage bag to the recycling place.  Dan thought there was not room for it but I climbed up and shoved the existing stuff around and made room.  (Yes I did wipe off my hands quite thoroughly with wet wipes I keep in the back of the beluga for just such emergencies.)(I insisted –dt)

 

Arriving back in the North the cloudy weather hit me like a sledge hammer.  It was not really that cold, although Dan did grouse a lot, but grey and dreary.  And I have to admit my toes are a little grumpy about wearing shoes after five months of sandals.  The good thing is I had a lot of wildlife and flowers, some wild and some I had planted.  Also we have bats.  I hope they will eat the mosquitoes. We put up a bat house when we moved here but the bats are living somewhere else.  I have also seen lots of birds and butterflies.  I have taken pictures of a lot of the flowers; the animals would not hold still!  There has been a lot of rain this week and the pond overfloweth. (The week before we returned there had been a record setting 1.6 in./4cm in one day. –dt)  I was happy to find my goldfish made it through the winter this year.

 

Dan is busy doing the taxes and out of sorts about that, but I am happy because we get money back.  Not only that but we got a peach pie from the reduced rack at the grocery store; no pie man (or muffin man or strawberry man –dt) to make home deliveries in Ohio.  As a point of interest you know you live in a rural area when they sell seed potatoes at the grocery.  I was looking at them thinking, "those potatoes look awfully old and wrinkly surely no one will buy them" and then I saw the sign "SEED POTATOES".  This is Spring - the time for growing things.  Soon I will plant my bulbs and flower seeds that my sweet husband got me.  But first I have to go buy dirt; I suppose you know you are dealing with a gardening radical if she buys dirt to use outside.

 

Mrs. T's pictures of flowers, pond, etc.:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157626508869244/

 

(For those of you who are not flora experts, most of the flowers are not nearly as large as they might seem by the photos. –dt)

 

Our next adventure will be a vacation to Seattle and Canada.  We are going to the Glass Art Society conference this year.  After that we will visit Butchart Gardens in Victoria and then take the nearly two day train to Manitoba to visit some of our many Canadian friends.  Those of you in that northern country should have already received an email with our itinerary.  We are very grateful to the several of you that have invited us to visit and are quite excited.  We think everything has about fallen into place as planned.

 

Hope your spring is green.

Dan and Rebecca

 

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

 

 

 

In Southern Mexico

OAXACA – PART 1

 

People generally say just Oaxaca when really what is meant is Oaxaca, Oaxaca – the capital of the state of the same name.  (You can go to Wikipedia or numerous other sites to find basic information.)  We stayed a full week and visited most of the requisite tourist sights, several of which are classified as heritage sites by Mexico and the U.N.  Due to its historical importance, especially as the birthplace of Benito Juarez and the home of many of Mexico's indigenous peoples, Oaxaca is a tourist locale for Mexicans as much as it is for non-Mexicans.  But we were your basic tourists and took many pictures, a whole lot easier to do with a digital camera.  (However, we generally avoid taking too many pictures which professionals have already made into postcards.)   The 'Third Age' card, basically a discount card for folks over 60, that Rebecca obtained (after a bit of adventure), provided us free or reduced entry to several locations.  There are too many items to report about in a single issue of our newsletter, but Mrs.T covers several highlights below.  (She said she was about 'writ out' and hopes to finish up later.)

 

 

 

Well after the travel agent fiasco Dan began making our travel arrangements to Oaxaca.  He found a nice little bed and breakfast and booked our airline tickets.

 

Dan and I are both nervous travelers.  I don't like being around a lot of strangers and Dan does not like not being in control.  (Well, I like things to be organized –dt) We had previously experienced a near miss in the Mexico City airport when they kept changing our departure gate.  So as soon as we arrived Dan wanted me to find the gate.  I refused until after using the facilities.  We had two hours - plenty of time.  The flight was not listed on the board so I inquired at a gate and they told me to check back in 15 or 20 minutes.  Plenty of time to grab a sandwich, I thought.  Dan was not hungry and was pretty sure we would be fed on the plane. (!)(I just said it was a possibility. -dt) I ignored him and went and bought two club sandwiches.  Although Dan was not hungry he wolfed his right down.  Eventually the gate was on the board.  We got to the gate an hour early.  It was a small plane and they did give us a little bag of peanuts.

 

As we approached Oaxaca I asked Dan if that could be the airport.  He was unsure.  It was, one runway, and one terminal, but after all that was all we needed.  A collectivo (a little van taxi) took us to our B&B.  Oaxaca is a pretty big city which sprawls across a valley between the Sierra Norte and the Sierra Sur mountains. (Population close to 300000 –dt) There are no skyscrapers in the old downtown area, and it has the feeling of time past if you can ignore the ubiquitous cell phones.

 

Casa Ollin (http://www.oaxacabedandbreakfast.com/ ) was charming, the project of a slightly bemused ex-pat lawyer from California, John, and a competent Mexican tour guide, Judith.  We unpacked and traipsed down the hill in search of the zocalo (the main plaza).  Before we had gone more than a couple of blocks we ran into a peregrination (a Mexican parade, you may recall).  It was preceded by a boomer letting off Roman candles.  Then came Los Altos (this translates literally as the talls); they were dancing to the music of the children's band which followed them.  Talls are huge cloth figures of people that are about 10 feet tall and are maneuvered by one person inside.  I quite liked the talls!  After the band came a bunch of uniformed school children laughing and chanting who were escorted by a few resigned looking mothers and teachers.  There was a short space and the sequence repeated itself:  talls, band, kids.  After about six or eight schools the parade was over.  I inquired of another spectator and was told the parade was in honor of their schools.  (Then we went another block and saw a completely different set of schools.  –dt)

 

When we arrived at the zocalo a band was playing Cuban music and a lot of people, most of them older, were dancing on the square.  We soaked up the atmosphere while eating at one of the small open air restaurants.  People were hawking every sort of thing.  There were some very cute woven straw piggies.  The guy selling them had a noise maker that made pig noises.  I thought I probably needed one, but Dan did not think I did.  Families were strolling together.  Touristas were gawking and taking pictures.  On one side of the square was the cathedral and on the other was the old governor's palace (now government offices and a museum.  In front of it there were a couple of half hearted demonstrations going on.  One was about rights for indigenous people and one about women's rights.  Although I tend to be a bleeding heart liberal, it was hard for me to be too concerned when the demonstrators were calmly knitting, crocheting, and weaving baskets as they sat under their signs.  Around the square were trees, flowers, benches, and of course the loveliest of all were the Jacarandas trees which were covered with purple blooms. 

 

We wandered back looking at the grand stone churches along the way.  Lots of areas were enclosed in high stone walls.  This was the old section of town and by old I mean some of it was five centuries old.  The walls were entered through tall wooden doors.  When the doors were open, you could see they were made of heavy wooden planks 3 or 4 inches thick.  The doors had great iron spikes with roundels around them.  The outer walls varied from six inches to six feet thick.  These guys were ready for a siege!  Just before we arrived at the B&B we came upon a small park where lots of young people were spooning, as it were. I christened it the kissing park.

 

The next day we headed out to look at the museum of contemporary art.  This was in an old convent with beautiful arches, atriums, columns and so on.  The main exhibit was a disturbing concept piece about the impermanence of life.  It was interesting but not exactly cheerful.  We came to another exhibit which had something to do with a lot of naked people.  I did not get to try and figure it out because I was too busy beating Dan about the head and shoulders for making inappropriate comments.  (Just commenting on the wonderful art. –dt) There were also some really excellent photos here.

 

We went on a Tour of the Ethnobotanical Garden.   This was hidden behind one

stone wall.  It was in the compound of the old monastery of Santo Domingo.  This garden was only twelve years old but they had transplanted many mature plants and trees that were native to the state of Oaxaca.  We had an English speaking guide who explained both the traditional and the modern uses of many of these plants.   She also told us a lot of plant lore.  I highly recommend it for plant lovers. 

 

One Zapotec legend goes something like this:

 

At first there were only plants.  One day there was a big storm.  Lightning struck the top of the Kapok tree.  This made a big hole in the top of the tree.  Out of this hole, one by one climbed all of the animals, one male and one female of each.  Last of all out climbed the first man and the first woman.  This is why the Kapok tree is scared to our people.  It is because we remember that it is the Mother Tree, the Tree of Life.

 

In Mexico you often see folk crafts which feature the 'Tree of Life' motif.  I was aware that these trees always seemed to have horizontal branches.  As I stared at the Kapok trees in the garden I recognized the form.

 

The White Mountain, Monte Alban, was a main reason I wanted to visit Oaxaca.

This is an ancient Indian site.  It was first settled by the Olmecs, then later the

            site was appropriated by the Zapotecs.  After the Zapotecs left, the Mextecs used it as a ceremonial site.  I am fascinated by these ancient sites.  The Olmec was one of the earliest Mexican Civilizations.  They had writing and a calendar some 2500 years ago.  We knew Monte Alban would be exhausting.  (One of the French Canadian couples from the previous episode visited before us and filled us in a bit.  –dt)

 

            Monte Alban is a very large site about 7500ft (roughly 2300m) above sea level.  (Oaxaca itself is at altitude of about 5000ft (abut 1500m) –dt) So we determined to leave early and take it slow.  The van bus let us off at the parking area and we climbed up to the entrance.  Several guides were standing there evaluating the prospects.  One of them pasted a friendly smile on his face, murmured a claim on us to his cohorts and came to us to offer his services.  Our guide introduced himself by his Indian name which he told us translated as hungry coyote (hereafter known as Mr. C.).(I think it was laughing coyote –dt)  He told us he would give us a nice tour, very slow, not too many steps to climb.  Sounded good to me!

 

Climbing up we got a good look out over the valley below. I wondered why the Olmec would build their city so high.  Mr. C explained that at one time the valley had been a lake.  The ancient city had covered a wide area.  About 300,000 Olmec could attend ceremonial events at one time.  Mr. C who was descended from the Olmec was quick to point out that these never included human sacrifices. 

 

The time and energy it must have taken to create the intricately patterned sandstone buildings and carvings tells us something of the organization and dedication of this society.  Sandstone is easier to cut than, say, granite but it takes incredible control and patience.  For example, the Maya using a harder stone for their carved designs.  The Olmec formed multiple stone pieces and fit them together, dry!  As the Olmec script has not been deciphered there is a lot about this people we do not know.

 

The different tribal peoples of Mexico and their descendents can be identified by their physical characteristics as shown in their carvings.  Mr. C was a broad shouldered Olmec with a big nose.  Dan was named a possible Olmec because he shared these attributes.  My mere schmere nose proved I probably did not belong anywhere in pre-Columbian Mexico. (sigh!)  The differences in ruins show cultural differences too.  The Mayan ball courts were very large to accommodate a team sport which used a rubber ball.  The Olmex court had a lot of seating but the court itself was small.  Theirs was an individual contest with a pelo pelota, literally a hairball.  Such was the life with the jaguar people (Ha Ha!).

 

Of all the things we saw and did in Oaxaca my favorite was seeing the Tree of Tule.  This Monterey Cypress is the biggest tree in the world.  That is what they said anyway, and I believed it.  It is in no way the tallest tree or the oldest tree, although they do think it is over 2000 years old.  But having been overwhelmed by the sequoias, I assure you that two or three of their trunks could fit in the trunk of the Tree of Tule.  The other thing is with redwoods and sequoias the treetops are so high they seem remote.  With the Tree of Tule you could reach up and touch the branches hanging down.  There are, of course, signs telling you not to do this but, when I thought no one was looking, I held up one fingertip and for a moment the tree and I were connected.  I love the Tree of Tule.  (Check out http://www.sue-feathersandflowers.blogspot.com/ for 25 March 2011. –dt  (Happy B-day J))

 

 

Photos of this part of the trip are at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9151458@N07/sets/72157626351197450/

 

A note about last issue's photos:  You saw a couple of photos of some ceramic pieces.   These were some of the pieces made by Nick when he visited in December and left for us to glaze.  They came out quite nicely and we greatly appreciate them.

 

The season is about over and we will be back in the holler in a couple of weeks.  We will be seeing many of you in April.

 

Dan and Rebecca

http://www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com/