Holiday Fun, 2021

Our holidays have become increasingly complex, as the next generation embellishes on established traditions and then adds its own. Describing all this is beyond the scope of this blog, although the pix below will convey some of the holiday fun leading up to the big eve and the big day and its big aftermath. 

It all begins with Thanksgiving; I was particularly thankful for
being back where the best poulet roti in the world is made...
Costco; pictured are Jeremy, Penelope, and Rebecca

Penelope at one of Grandma's traditional teas

Making Xmas cookies with Mama

Celebrating Salvador Dali's 117th unbirthday

Recreating Stonehenge, in the camper, December 21st

Alas, I forgot to orientate it to the sunrise...but it could 

well be oriented to the sunrise on Salisbury Plain, that 

day, 4,000-5,000 years ago

Every day, we (Vicki) labored, going through
all the stuff we have stored at Rebecca's since 
2012; here, one of many loads going to charity
shoppes, recycling, etc.

Vicki did quite well on eBay; approaching the age of 75, I finally
conceded that I no longer needed my climbing equipment (even
for wall decor, as in Montana); the Chouinard piton hammer went
for $129 

The pitons, carabiners, chocks (above, a set of 1972 Chouinard
hexentrics, tied at the REI store in Seattle) and such for $369

Decorating the camper Xmas tree

Looking at Xmas lights in Palo Alto

Thank you, nice stranger who took the picture

Un pour tous et tous pour un: chocolate fondue occurred a few days
after Xmas this year

As did the dyeing of Grandma's hair, a Xmas gift Grandma gave
Penelope

Xmas morning did not start well...a frantic call
from Rebecca, who had pre-heated the oven 
without knowing Vicki's traditional Swedish
tea ring was waiting in it; just the day before
Vicki had delivered an injunction to always check
the oven before pre-heating; but all was well...
Grandmas rarely have a chance to say "I told you so";
plus Vicki had a welcome opportunity to channel
Ewell Gibbons' "some parts are edible"

Pinnacles Again, 2021

Other than a few California state parks, Pinnacles National Park is the closest big park with a campground, and it has become our go-to park from Menlo Park in the cooler months. (In warmer weather, there's Yosemite, if you can get in, and Pinecrest, in the national forest north of Yosemite; but both are at higher altitudes and doubtlessly covered in snow in December). Anyhow, we wanted to do one more camping trip with grand-daughter Penelope, who will turn eleven next April. It was one of our best with her.

Deer at our campsite

And a flock of wild turkeys

Documenting the wildlife

Practice climbing on some of the pinnacles (not us)

P doing some climbing on her own; Grandma looking on

Spelunking in the caves; she enjoyed it so much we
went back for a repeat the next day 

Trail humor

After dinners of hot dogs and then hamburgers (and s'mores),
the third night we dove deep into Vicki's Girl Scout camping
background to create hobo tin-foil packets...boeuf, pommes de
terre, les carottes...with enough salt and catsup, they were
fine, especially washed down, in my case, with a hobo-camp-level
merlot

Watching the deer again, on perhaps her last visit to Pinnacles
as a child

Retour Aux Jardins De Gilroy; And More...

We were not in Menlo Park long before taking a now child-like Penelope to Gilroy Gardens for the day. Fun with the grandparents, despite the fact that they don't do many of the rides anymore...

Vicki and P on the Twister; in the redwoods; we pretty much
opened the park in the AM, and closed it in the PM; very light
crowds

Among P's favorite rides is the mushroom swing

With no crowds and no lines, P got to do multiple rides without
waiting en queue; here she awaits fellow mushroom swingers 

Last ride, closing the park at 5PM

In other news, Rebecca took us to lunch at Town, in San Carlos;
here, a demi of the best butternut squash soup and presentation
ever, so far

During our 5 month absence, an asteroid or some other heavenly

body impacted one of our solar panels; it still worked, but I'll be

replacing it this week

A member of our crew let the water pump run while I was draining

the tank, prior to sanitizing; took the better part of a day to access

and replace...fortunately, we always carry numerous spares...

And I also replaced the EGR valve on Le Sport, hoping
it would solve our boost issues...alas, not, but we have
a service appointment now scheduled...to be continued;
not pictured: the reset button on the water heater, which
I found and utilized, despite the misleading/contradictory
manufacturer's instructions/signage; p.s...the reset button
gambit worked for a week or so, then stopped working;
after a camping trip, I replaced the thermostat...still doesn't
work...another appointment, more stimulation of the
Middle California economy...

Interim Update #1,259

After an exciting week in Knoxville, visiting Vicki's sister Marie and family, we are back in Middle California, with older daughter Rebecca and family. Family, in the latter case, includes grand-daughter Penelope, now ten, going on twenty, and always a source of excitement. We'll be here for a while, getting Le Sport back into traveling condition and enjoying the holidays. The plan after that calls for our heading south, to San Diego, and then east, to Florida and more family fun and excitement. And then, with the primavera, back to Europe, specifically, Rome. There will be few blog posts in the coming weeks, but then things will pick back up as we travel on after the holidays.

Ten going on twenty

The Phillips Collection: Alma Thomas and David Driskell Exhibitions

In addition to the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collections, I was struck by two special exhibitions on 20th century DC artists, both African-American, Alma Thomas and David Driskell. Both the exhibitions were extensive, with considerable biographical and interpretive material. Columbus, Georgia, would not provide high school education for women of color, so Miss [sic]* Thomas' parents moved the family to Washington, where she completed her secondary education and was Howard University's first fine arts graduate. She taught junior high school for 35 years in DC, earning a masters degree from Columbia along the way...and producing paintings. It was only after her retirement that she found her "voice" as an Expressionist. Her art continued and evolved, and during her lifetime she exhibited in major museums and galleries that would have denied her entry in previous years. She was one of two women to speak at the 1963 March on Washington; the other was Josephine Baker. David Driskell's life was similar in overcoming barriers of every sort. He is known primarily as an art historian, an academic and curator, among the founders of African-American art as a field of study; but he also was a painter of note. Most of his academic and artistic careers occurred in the DC area and nearby. 

A "colorist" Expressionist

Thomas' Red Azaleas Singing and Dancing Rock and Roll, 1976 

Several rooms on her later work

A much earlier landscape, untitled, c. 1952, thought to be Rock
Creek Park in DC

After attaining a degree of notoriety and success,
she had special attire designed for her appearances
at major galleries; theatrical design was one of her
early interests

Thomas' "womb" easy chair

Driskell's Midnight in the Garden of Eden, 2005

City Quartet, 1953

Ghetto Wall #2, 1970

Self-portrait, 1953

*"I am Miss Thomas, and I am not amiss at missing so many fools" (my paraphrase)

Phillips Collection: Old Masters

I say, I say, that's a joke, son. The prestigious Phillips Collection is and has always been devoted to "modern" art. There are no Old Masters there, of course. But time marches on, and the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists that were and probably still are the core of the collection are beginning to feel a bit old. I was there to see what is probably the Phillips' most famous work, Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party, but found much else to enjoy, especially the temporary exhibitions on Alma Thomas and David Driskell, about which I'll do a separate post.

Gotta' like a museum trying to grow a monkey puzzle tree...

Renoir's 1881 Luncheon of the Boating Party, one of the greatest
of Impressionist works; a year ago I had read Susan Vreeland's
excellent historical novel of the same title and had ample background
information...

Interesting provenance: sold by the artist to his dealer/patron;
bought from the dealer's son by the Phillips in 1923, for $125,000;
now priceless and perhaps the greatest Renoir not in Europe; perhaps
the greatest Renoir

Braque's The Round Table, 1929

Another reason to like the Phillips Collection

And another, Courbet's The Mediterranean, 1857

Cezanne's Mont Sainte-Victoire (#1,139)

Matisse, Interior with Egyptian Curtain, 1948

Van Gogh, The Road Menders, 1889

Braque, Bird, 1956

Kandinsky, Sketch 1 for Painting with White Border

Van Gogh, Entrance to the Public Gardens at Arles, 1888

Cezanne, The Garden at Les Lauves, 1906

 

Degas, Dancers at the Barre, 1880s

And even a Roualt, Afterglow, Galilee, 1931