Travel

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

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Silhouettes & Exhibits

The current exhibits at San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art fill the mind, eye, and heart with wonder. When I needed a time-out, I sat on a bench near the 7th floor elevators. I photographed people who walked from the elevators to the galleries. In silhouette they created an unexpected exhibit with the right elements – light, dark, lines, and tension. I sat there fascinated by the people who wandered in front of my camera as I clicked away. An apartment building adjacent to the museum provided vertical lines and rectangles to create a background of convenient abstraction. The public area was filled by some who sat on a ledge and also wanted down-time. Others walked passed with intention to enjoy the “Soundtracks” exhibits available until January 1, 2018.

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Not to be missed: Celeste Boursier-Mougenot’s water with bowls and sound, clinamen v.3. The zen-like combination of sound, movement, and color quieted my mind. At best I wanted an hour to contemplate and slip into a quiet space. Several YouTube videos offer a chance to experience the beauty of clinamen v.3.    https://youtu.be/_wdltDfs-F4.

“The Visitor” by Icelandic musician/artist Ragnar Kjartensson created a music video that rings uniquely atmospheric and sensual. The setting is an Astor family mansion in upstate New York.  Hypnotic and mesmerizing describes what I felt. Lynea felt close to tears from the haunting sounds – cello, drums, piano, and more. Truly a knock-your-socks-off experience. I must say that Kjartensson does look better dressed. He’s the guy in the bathtub playing guitar. Videos on YouTube:  https://youtu.be//lcwGnWuXJuU.

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Final Stop – Sitka, AK

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Our week-long cruise on Wilderness Discoverer ended in Sitka, a city I had missed on previous trips to Alaska. Yes, we had rain. Then the sun came out until the rain began again. Alaska had an exceptionally wet spring and summer. That’s what a friend who paints houses in Juneau said.

 

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I’ll remember Sitka for gorgeous flowers blooming everywhere a flower might grow. I thank the drivers for not taking aim at tourists. They were easy-going, patient people who slowed down to let wayward pedestrians cross the street. Next best – the dogs. In Sitka people walk the nicest, friendliest dogs, and I missed my Abby. Most of all, I will be grateful for Ana Dittmar, the heritage museum curator at St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral. Ana agreed to accept my mother’s prayer book.  (See WP post  Sept. 2, 2017.)

 

 

Even though I had a map, the entrance to the Russian Orthodox cemetery was hard to find. Eventually, I met a tourist who had visited the cemetery, and she gave a simple direction – walk straight up Observatory Hill. Pass the houses and go to the end of the road. At the end, a dirt path snakes into a forest with topsy-turvy graves, triple-bar Orthodox crosses, headstones, and flowers. Visitors like me stepped into a eerie place of  lush plants, moss, and slipper slopes that were magical and spooky.

 

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Alaska – The Inside Passage

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On to explore Alaska with Un-Cruise Adventures, a small-ship company that stamps a capital A on activities. Wilderness Discoverer left Juneau on a rainy August afternoon and docked in Sitka one week later. Except for a stop at Glacier Bay National Park, we were out there beyond towns, people, and wifi service. On rainy days, and that meant most days, the A’s put on their REI rain gear and took off to kayak, bushwhack, paddle board, explore, and skiff the shorelines. On the last day, 18 passengers put on bathing suits and took the Polar Plunge into dark, cold water.

Excursions took us to desolate islands and inlets. We watched brown bears catch salmon and whales take a breath of air. Mussels, barnacles, crabs, and all sorts of sea creatures met us on shore walks. Our one fun salty, edible was pickle grass that grew above the high tide mark. (I’ve since learned that pickle grass also grows in Death Valley.) Into the forest primeval of Emmons Island we walked – a thicket where trees, moss, vines, insects, and pesky mosquitoes live in harmony.

 

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My Mother’s Prayer Book

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The last days of an Alaskan vacation ended in Sitka. On a Saturday I visited St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral as a  tourist, but one familiar with the history and traditions of Orthodoxy. Sunday I stood with others during the two hour liturgy. Childhood memories unfolded among the icons, incense, candles, and choir voices. I remembered the words. I knew the drill.

In the Cathedral, I began to think about my mother’s prayer book – again. The question I have often asked myself, who might want Our Daily Bread? The first edition book with 655 delicate pages, published in 1938, belongs in a special place. Certainly not on an eBay auction block. Through the digital world I reached a priest at St. Michael’s. Ana Dittmar, the Cathedral’s heritage museum curator became my go-to person. Although the prayer book is not related to the history of the Cathedral, Ana accepts ” . . . Orthodox items that are of sentimental significance . . .  .”

About the prayer book – The book begins with 49 pages of morning and other prayers, followed by the Divine Liturgy. Evening prayers, prayers and devotions before and after Confession and Holy Communion come next. Psalms. Prayers for special intentions. Prayers and liturgies for the dying and the dead. Child’s manual of prayer. Fast days. Pages on the left were printed in church Slavonic. Pages on the right were printed in English. Ten years ago a Tucson bookbinder repaired and restored the cover.

Mary Lissik Lulic never traveled beyond Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. What a joy to know that her prayer book found a home at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Sitka.

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Jackson Hole & Other Places

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First impressions — the city center plaza of Jackson Hole reminded me of Santa Fe. Western art galleries, shops ’til you drop, and restaurants line the square and trail along the side streets. Tourists love the place. In winter elk do, too. They live outside of town on the vast National Elk Refuge. To get started we drove straight to the visitor’s center for information and maps. Our list of places to see — National Museum of Wildlife Art, Grand Teton National Park, the Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve, Teton Village tram ride, and the byways that took us away from the main road.

Snowmelt cut our Snake River float trip time in half. The water raced along carrying logs, branches, and debris. Eagles, herons, pelicans, and beavers didn’t seem to notice the high water and flooded riverbanks. On our fifth and final day we returned to an old favorite, Yellowstone and the Hayden Valley.

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Pima County Fair

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Tucson, AZ — April 29, 2017

Fun rides. Arcade games. Live on-stage entertainment. Gigantic roasted turkey legs. Steam-driven machinery. Art and photography exhibits. Needlework. Small gauge model trains. Face painting. Camel rides. Perfect weather. You’re invited to visit Tucson next April – come to the county fair.

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Pima County Fair – Animals

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Fun time walking the fair grounds and taking pictures. Here’s a slide show and one video of what I saw. The fair lasts for 10 days every April. Animals win ribbons. Livestock are auctioned, and I can only guess what happens after that. The 4-H kids show their animal projects and take home ribbons, too. The fair is a totally feel-good experience for everyone.

(As usual I have had a hell of a time working with the Word Press layout. Wonder where my rooster video went. Will try to post Mr. Rooster separately.)