We're on another coast to coast drive, and it's glorious! I love being on the road again... can't help myself. Every time I look out the car window and see a little road off in the distance, or a river winding its way along, I ask myself "I wonder where that goes? What's at the end of that?" There's no such thing as the middle of nowhere to me - the middle of nowhere is where all the good stuff is!
Once again, we started in South Florida, where our kind and generous friends have been taking care of our car and our mail... and last week they took care of us, with food, drink, shelter, tennis, friendship and laughter.
Traveling up the Florida Turnpike - sunny rest stops where they sell fresh mangoes (I love love love this!), through the Florida Panhandle to surprisingly handsome Mobile, Alabama; then side stepping NOLA, my favorite city, in favor of Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi. Breakfast in Gulfport, birthplace of our friend John Fabian, is an all-American treat - cheese omelette, ham, grits and biscuits at the Palace Grill, which I'm sure was there before John and will be there long after. Just a few blocks from the shrimp boats bobbing in the Gulf, Palace Grill boasts one of the best bulletin boards ever, including a sign that reads, "Drink some coffee - then you can do really stupid stuff faster and with more energy!"
While in the bayous and Cajun country along the Gulf, known as the "Redneck Riviera", we enjoy boiled shrimp, gumbo and an oyster PoBoy before we even get over the border into Texas. Driving through Texas is a career in itself... I've spent so much time involved in that activity, I should put it on my resume. We obey the law and stick with the 80 MPH speed limit, but despite the signs reminding us to "Drive Friendly - the Texas Way", people blaze past us as if we're standing still. Kind of like the Autobahn, only with gigantic black pickups and gun racks.
We stop to Remember the Alamo and eat chiles rellenos in San Antonio - a green and shady, charming, historic and friendly city; then continue through the surprisingly beautiful Texas hill country around Kerrville. (Quiz Question: what famous American has a ranch near Kerrville? Hint: His initials are GWB and he looks like Howdy Doody.)
Last night we were in Ozona, Texas, home of the Davy Crockett Memorial and the Hitching Post Steak House, where we were only allowed to have a cocktail if we purchased a membership - which was OK with me. I like the idea that if we're ever back in Ozona, we will feel right at home. We can flash our membership card at the Hitching Post and that nice waitress will smile and say, "Hey, Hon - how y'all doin'?"
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Biloxi Babies
It all started with a photograph of my beautiful mother on her honeymoon. She sat on a seawall in Biloxi, Mississippi, dressed in an off the shoulder blouse and flouncy skirt, gazing coquettishly at my adoring father as he snapped the photograph. The seawall was patterned brick, the Gulf frothing with whitecaps... as a child, it was one of my favorite photographs.
So as we breezed along I-10 West on a beautiful spring morning this week, I saw an exit for Biloxi and said, "Hey - let's spend the night here!" I had a fantasy about finding that sea wall and having my picture taken, for old time's sake.
Of course I should have realized that Hurricane Katrina had done away with pretty much everything on the beach in Biloxi. Except for the casinos, of course, which lurk along the beachfront like gaudy predators ready to pounce on the unsuspecting geriatrics who enter their doors with a few bucks in their plaid pants pockets.
Undaunted, we reserved a bargain casino hotel room and ventured out onto the beach. As Dick prepared to take a photo of me on the new and unlovely sea wall, we noticed in the background an architectural wonder under construction that could have been created by no one other than Frank Gehry. We investigated and discovered that it was, in fact, a Gehry building which will house the Ohr-O'Keefe Art Museum. The museum was intended to open in 2006, but of course, Katrina destroyed the early construction - now the Museum should open in Fall 2010.
Why is it called Ohr-O'Keefe? The O'Keefe part is easy - he was a former mayor of Biloxi and local philanthropist who donated most of the money for the museum. The Ohr part is a wonderful story - about George E. Ohr, the "Mad Potter of Biloxi", whose collection of eccentric pottery will be housed in the museum. According to Smithsonian Magazine, Ohr was born in Biloxi in 1857, went to school in New Orleans, then apprenticed as a file cutter, a tinker, an assistant in his father’s blacksmith shop, and even put out to sea before chancing upon his life's work at 22, when he became a potter in New Orleans.
The rest, apparently, is history. He came back to Biloxi, built a pottery shop next door to his parent's house, and used clay from the Tchoutacabouffa River to make some of the wildest pottery the locals had ever seen. His humorous signs promoting his “Pot-Ohr-E” gave Ohr a reputation as an eccentric whose shop was worth a visit mainly for a laugh. As you can see in the photograph, he was a 19th century version of Salvador Dali - taking wacky photos of himself, letting his beard grow long, racing a motorcycle on the beach and walking the streets of Biloxi in a flowing robe, dressed as Father Time.
He often spoke and wrote in a disjointed stream of consciousness: “We are living in an Age of Wheels—more wheels, and wheels within Wheels—And MACHINE ART Works—is A fake and Fraud of the deepest die.” Right, George - I think.
At any rate, his work was discovered and became famous when Jasper Johns used images of Ohr pots in some of his paintings, and now, of course, Ohr's works of art sell for up to $60,000 each - although he sold very few while he was alive. 7,000 pots were rescued from his son's auto repair shop in Biloxi in order to build the Museum's collection. I have set up this true story as an inspiration to my husband - and other eccentrics we know - it's not too late to be a successful artist!
To our friends who are wondering what the heck we were doing in Biloxi in the first place: we've picked up Dick's car in Florida and are on our way back to pick up my car in Marin County... more to come soon. Cheers - we'll drink a toast tonight to George E. Ohr - my new hero.
So as we breezed along I-10 West on a beautiful spring morning this week, I saw an exit for Biloxi and said, "Hey - let's spend the night here!" I had a fantasy about finding that sea wall and having my picture taken, for old time's sake.
Of course I should have realized that Hurricane Katrina had done away with pretty much everything on the beach in Biloxi. Except for the casinos, of course, which lurk along the beachfront like gaudy predators ready to pounce on the unsuspecting geriatrics who enter their doors with a few bucks in their plaid pants pockets.
Undaunted, we reserved a bargain casino hotel room and ventured out onto the beach. As Dick prepared to take a photo of me on the new and unlovely sea wall, we noticed in the background an architectural wonder under construction that could have been created by no one other than Frank Gehry. We investigated and discovered that it was, in fact, a Gehry building which will house the Ohr-O'Keefe Art Museum. The museum was intended to open in 2006, but of course, Katrina destroyed the early construction - now the Museum should open in Fall 2010.
Why is it called Ohr-O'Keefe? The O'Keefe part is easy - he was a former mayor of Biloxi and local philanthropist who donated most of the money for the museum. The Ohr part is a wonderful story - about George E. Ohr, the "Mad Potter of Biloxi", whose collection of eccentric pottery will be housed in the museum. According to Smithsonian Magazine, Ohr was born in Biloxi in 1857, went to school in New Orleans, then apprenticed as a file cutter, a tinker, an assistant in his father’s blacksmith shop, and even put out to sea before chancing upon his life's work at 22, when he became a potter in New Orleans.
The rest, apparently, is history. He came back to Biloxi, built a pottery shop next door to his parent's house, and used clay from the Tchoutacabouffa River to make some of the wildest pottery the locals had ever seen. His humorous signs promoting his “Pot-Ohr-E” gave Ohr a reputation as an eccentric whose shop was worth a visit mainly for a laugh. As you can see in the photograph, he was a 19th century version of Salvador Dali - taking wacky photos of himself, letting his beard grow long, racing a motorcycle on the beach and walking the streets of Biloxi in a flowing robe, dressed as Father Time.
He often spoke and wrote in a disjointed stream of consciousness: “We are living in an Age of Wheels—more wheels, and wheels within Wheels—And MACHINE ART Works—is A fake and Fraud of the deepest die.” Right, George - I think.
At any rate, his work was discovered and became famous when Jasper Johns used images of Ohr pots in some of his paintings, and now, of course, Ohr's works of art sell for up to $60,000 each - although he sold very few while he was alive. 7,000 pots were rescued from his son's auto repair shop in Biloxi in order to build the Museum's collection. I have set up this true story as an inspiration to my husband - and other eccentrics we know - it's not too late to be a successful artist!
To our friends who are wondering what the heck we were doing in Biloxi in the first place: we've picked up Dick's car in Florida and are on our way back to pick up my car in Marin County... more to come soon. Cheers - we'll drink a toast tonight to George E. Ohr - my new hero.
Monday, March 8, 2010
A Perfect Place
"... to be or not to be..." that is the question that Hamlet asks every night during his performance at the Shakespeare Festival here in Ashland, Oregon - and that is our quandary once again. Ashland is certainly a perfect place if we go down our checklist: mountain scenery, flowering fruit trees, rows of grapevines marching up to rolling green hills, quaint neighborhoods of Victorians and Craftsman bungalows lining a downtown area that features a university, a 9-month theatrical festival at three venues, an independent film festival and a burgeoning food culture - even covered tennis courts to feed our shared addiction to hitting that little yellow ball.
When we moved to the Bay Area in 1981, I remember crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County and having the perfectly formed thought, "This is the landscape of my heart." The poetry of the thought surprised me, but it was true - the white capped Bay, ships silently steaming under the Bridge, the green Marin Headlands with their rocky outcrops - and the City side was Oz, the shining city of hills which never failed to thrill me. Many happy years and dear friends later, it's still true.
But there's a price to pay for Paradise - a price too steep for two potential retirees.
In our travels we've learned that there's no such thing as a perfect place - but that there are many, many places to love in the world. Places, like people, have their flaws, and, as with people, we often fall in love because and not in spite of them.
"My heart, being hungry
Feeds on food the fat of heart despise
Beauty where beauty never stood
And sweet where no sweet lies
I gather to my querulous need
Having a growing heart to feed..."
-- Edna St. Vincent Millay
So what's next? Maybe a perfect place, maybe not - but a place to call home... wherever that might be. We'll keep you posted.
When we moved to the Bay Area in 1981, I remember crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County and having the perfectly formed thought, "This is the landscape of my heart." The poetry of the thought surprised me, but it was true - the white capped Bay, ships silently steaming under the Bridge, the green Marin Headlands with their rocky outcrops - and the City side was Oz, the shining city of hills which never failed to thrill me. Many happy years and dear friends later, it's still true.
But there's a price to pay for Paradise - a price too steep for two potential retirees.
In our travels we've learned that there's no such thing as a perfect place - but that there are many, many places to love in the world. Places, like people, have their flaws, and, as with people, we often fall in love because and not in spite of them.
"My heart, being hungry
Feeds on food the fat of heart despise
Beauty where beauty never stood
And sweet where no sweet lies
I gather to my querulous need
Having a growing heart to feed..."
-- Edna St. Vincent Millay
So what's next? Maybe a perfect place, maybe not - but a place to call home... wherever that might be. We'll keep you posted.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Arizona Highways
We've been lost in America - having such a wonderful time with old friends that we haven't had the opportunity to post. Since we last wrote, we've had two weeks of memories - remembering the past and creating memories for the future.
We flew in from Chicago and were picked up at the airport by our old friend Linda Stuckey, who was my neighbor, excellent friend and soulmate in the Encanto area of Phoenix back in the 70's. She and her husband Larry had been babysitting the Mini while we were in Nepal - and the Mini was lucky enough to share quarters with Larry's cherry 1932 (I think I have the date right) Model A... pictured at left. Larry got this car when in high school (no, we weren't in high school in 1931 - very funny). As he tells it, he asked his dad for a Corvette and got a Model A! But now that Larry has grown up (kinda) he's finished his Model A to perfection. We enjoyed fabulous food at Pizzeria Bianco and at the Stuckey household... I'm so lucky that all my friends are fabulous cooks! There's nothing more fun for me than cooking with Linda...
Then on to Tempe to visit our friends Rob and Roni Melnick. Rob is my former business partner and BFF, (that's Dr. Melnick to you!) who is Executive Dean and Chief Operating Officer of the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University. But to me he's my sweet friend and hiking buddy - married to the incredible Roni, who's also a fabulous cook (how did we get so lucky?). We spent much too short a time - Rob is still working, and working hard - but we spent it hiking, laughing, drinking, laughing, playing board games, laughing, hiking with their sheepdogs, Angel and Cheyenne, laughing... eating great food, drinking great wine. I look at Roni and I see the adorable 20-something that I picked up from the airport the first time she came to visit Rob in Arizona...
Southward we drove to Bisbee, Arizona - a former copper mining town just this side of the Mexican border, often described as "Mayberry on acid". Bisbee is home to Jim Eubanks (that's Dr. Eubanks to you!) my former business partner and BFF - sound familiar? Jim and Sara spent a week introducing us to their friends and helping us to gather information about Bisbee as a potential home... we visited Karchner Caverns (one of the most geologically important caves in the US - discovered by my former UA classmate and friend, the late Randy Tufts), played tennis, went wine-tasting in Patagonia (Arizona wines are pretty damn good - surprised the hell out of us), saw a community production of Urinetown: The Musical(!), enjoyed the Bisbee Breakfast Club, and hiked the amazing mountains and deserts of Cochise County with Jim, Sara and their doggie sons, Lucky Mo, Dylan and Omar. And - surprise, surprise -Sara is an incredible cook!
We're heading to Marin County to housesit for Jerry and Pam while they vacation in sunny Mexico... adios y vaya con dios...
We flew in from Chicago and were picked up at the airport by our old friend Linda Stuckey, who was my neighbor, excellent friend and soulmate in the Encanto area of Phoenix back in the 70's. She and her husband Larry had been babysitting the Mini while we were in Nepal - and the Mini was lucky enough to share quarters with Larry's cherry 1932 (I think I have the date right) Model A... pictured at left. Larry got this car when in high school (no, we weren't in high school in 1931 - very funny). As he tells it, he asked his dad for a Corvette and got a Model A! But now that Larry has grown up (kinda) he's finished his Model A to perfection. We enjoyed fabulous food at Pizzeria Bianco and at the Stuckey household... I'm so lucky that all my friends are fabulous cooks! There's nothing more fun for me than cooking with Linda...
Then on to Tempe to visit our friends Rob and Roni Melnick. Rob is my former business partner and BFF, (that's Dr. Melnick to you!) who is Executive Dean and Chief Operating Officer of the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University. But to me he's my sweet friend and hiking buddy - married to the incredible Roni, who's also a fabulous cook (how did we get so lucky?). We spent much too short a time - Rob is still working, and working hard - but we spent it hiking, laughing, drinking, laughing, playing board games, laughing, hiking with their sheepdogs, Angel and Cheyenne, laughing... eating great food, drinking great wine. I look at Roni and I see the adorable 20-something that I picked up from the airport the first time she came to visit Rob in Arizona...
Southward we drove to Bisbee, Arizona - a former copper mining town just this side of the Mexican border, often described as "Mayberry on acid". Bisbee is home to Jim Eubanks (that's Dr. Eubanks to you!) my former business partner and BFF - sound familiar? Jim and Sara spent a week introducing us to their friends and helping us to gather information about Bisbee as a potential home... we visited Karchner Caverns (one of the most geologically important caves in the US - discovered by my former UA classmate and friend, the late Randy Tufts), played tennis, went wine-tasting in Patagonia (Arizona wines are pretty damn good - surprised the hell out of us), saw a community production of Urinetown: The Musical(!), enjoyed the Bisbee Breakfast Club, and hiked the amazing mountains and deserts of Cochise County with Jim, Sara and their doggie sons, Lucky Mo, Dylan and Omar. And - surprise, surprise -Sara is an incredible cook!
We're heading to Marin County to housesit for Jerry and Pam while they vacation in sunny Mexico... adios y vaya con dios...
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
There's No Place Like Home
...and home is where your family is, after all. We left La Gue de la Chaine at 2:00 on a Tuesday afternoon, took the train to Paris, then the shuttle to Charles de Gaulle, spent the night at an airport hotel, got up for our early morning flight... which was cancelled. After a few frantic hours of racing around the airport with our bags (so convenient) we ended up on a United flight direct to Chicago - and arrived at my sister's office at McCormick Place an hour earlier than planned... how do these things work out? It's magic!
Spent six wonderful days with my sis, her husband Roland and my glorious 12-year-old niece, Morgan, in Naperville, IL. I know all proud aunties probably think this way, but Morgan really is a spectacular kid - smart, beautiful, funny, talented and always good-natured... she was performing in a community production of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which was amazingly professional - and so inspiring.
We spent some girlie bonding time getting mani-pedis and haircuts, and we celebrated my sister's Big 5-0 birthday in style. You may think that last Monday was MLK Day, but it was also Melissa Matthews Day - her wish was our command for the entire 24 hours. Since she's one of those people who's always doing for everyone else, it was a great turn of events.
We flew off from the midwestern snowscapes to sunny Scottsdale, where our Mini was luxuriating in our friends elegant garage while we were in Nepal taking bucket baths... we're visiting the Stuckeys, picking up the car, and going on to the next adventure. Stay tuned!
Spent six wonderful days with my sis, her husband Roland and my glorious 12-year-old niece, Morgan, in Naperville, IL. I know all proud aunties probably think this way, but Morgan really is a spectacular kid - smart, beautiful, funny, talented and always good-natured... she was performing in a community production of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which was amazingly professional - and so inspiring.
We spent some girlie bonding time getting mani-pedis and haircuts, and we celebrated my sister's Big 5-0 birthday in style. You may think that last Monday was MLK Day, but it was also Melissa Matthews Day - her wish was our command for the entire 24 hours. Since she's one of those people who's always doing for everyone else, it was a great turn of events.
We flew off from the midwestern snowscapes to sunny Scottsdale, where our Mini was luxuriating in our friends elegant garage while we were in Nepal taking bucket baths... we're visiting the Stuckeys, picking up the car, and going on to the next adventure. Stay tuned!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Winter Wonderland
Wow! And we thought there was snow here last week - the Arctic blast that has frozen the East Coast of the US is doing the same here... we have two feet of snow on the ground! Marg and John got out just in time. We dropped them at the train station on Thursday, with the poor old Ford (we call her The Brute) alternately plodding and fishtailing along the icy roads. They arrived safely in freezing Paris and then home... we're left here to miss them and enjoy a little Cabin Fever! Days filled with writing, PhotoShop, beautiful walks, reading (I highly recommend Wolf Hall, last year's Booker Prize winner), RummiKub, and of course, cooking, food and wine.
The absolute silence of the countryside in the snow is awe-inspiring - as if we're the only people in the world... a perfect atmosphere in which to reflect on the year just past. We are firmer than ever in our convictions that our actions are our only true possessions - but also that our friends and family are what makes our life meaningful.
Having been unemployed and wandering for almost a year, it's clear to me that we are not what we do (in the sense of employment) and that (to quote a poet of my youth, Jackson Brown) - "whatever it is you might think you have, you have nothing to lose." And everything to gain... sending oceans of love to all of you who make our lives worthwhile.
The absolute silence of the countryside in the snow is awe-inspiring - as if we're the only people in the world... a perfect atmosphere in which to reflect on the year just past. We are firmer than ever in our convictions that our actions are our only true possessions - but also that our friends and family are what makes our life meaningful.
Having been unemployed and wandering for almost a year, it's clear to me that we are not what we do (in the sense of employment) and that (to quote a poet of my youth, Jackson Brown) - "whatever it is you might think you have, you have nothing to lose." And everything to gain... sending oceans of love to all of you who make our lives worthwhile.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
I'm Dreaming of a White... January?
After spending a warm and sunny June and July in Normandy, we were curious as to what it would be like to live here year-'round... luckily for us, our generous friends John (known as Jean-Michel in these parts - or Jean Le Fermier, as we like to call him) and Margaret invited us to spend the New Year holiday.
What did we discover? That this place is magical no matter what the weather. The countryside is beautiful in a different way now - this morning it's glistening with new snow, which looks a little surreal as it sits lightly on the green, green grass and leaves. When I grew up in the Midwest, snow meant SNOW - either 10 foot high drifts or a grey, slushy springtime mess... here it's a little like a delicate meringue that melts off when the sun comes out - a little mini-spring every day!
Of course, we've been keeping warm with food and wine - in addition to the fact that Marg and I have enjoyed cooking together, friends and neighbors have invited us to share. Yesterday was very social - we had lunch with Madame et Monsieur Vaudron, the caretakers who watch M&J's place when they're gone, and then cocktails with their neighbors, the Pelletier family. Luckily, Margaret's French is very good - and I can understand most of the conversation - so a lively time is had by all, especially when the Champagne keeps flowing!
We have adopted some of the local animals, as well. I'm sure these French farmers think we're absolutely nuts, because we talk to our local goat (whom we've nicknamed Gaston) and a beautiful white mare (named Mistletoe, after the gorgeous ball of mistletoe that we cut out of a tree and hung in the cottage - tres jolie).
Until we return to the US next week, we'll continue to amuse the locals - if you're interested in larger images of the photos on the blog, they can be found on Dick's Flickr site - Google dixpix2009. Au revoir!
What did we discover? That this place is magical no matter what the weather. The countryside is beautiful in a different way now - this morning it's glistening with new snow, which looks a little surreal as it sits lightly on the green, green grass and leaves. When I grew up in the Midwest, snow meant SNOW - either 10 foot high drifts or a grey, slushy springtime mess... here it's a little like a delicate meringue that melts off when the sun comes out - a little mini-spring every day!
Of course, we've been keeping warm with food and wine - in addition to the fact that Marg and I have enjoyed cooking together, friends and neighbors have invited us to share. Yesterday was very social - we had lunch with Madame et Monsieur Vaudron, the caretakers who watch M&J's place when they're gone, and then cocktails with their neighbors, the Pelletier family. Luckily, Margaret's French is very good - and I can understand most of the conversation - so a lively time is had by all, especially when the Champagne keeps flowing!
We have adopted some of the local animals, as well. I'm sure these French farmers think we're absolutely nuts, because we talk to our local goat (whom we've nicknamed Gaston) and a beautiful white mare (named Mistletoe, after the gorgeous ball of mistletoe that we cut out of a tree and hung in the cottage - tres jolie).
Until we return to the US next week, we'll continue to amuse the locals - if you're interested in larger images of the photos on the blog, they can be found on Dick's Flickr site - Google dixpix2009. Au revoir!
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