One day cousin John and I went to the Columbia Museum of Art to see the show of French art from impressionists. I've shared some of the ones I liked over on my blog Alchemy of Clay.
Here we arrived at the museum to see sculptures all around the courtyard by the entrance.
I didn't see a plaque giving the artist credit, but maybe I was not looking far enough.
Hanging above us in the lobby was a Chihuly blown glass sculpture.
The galleries had a lot of people, but it didn't feel crowded. The people were as interesting as the displays sometimes!
After seeing all of the French exhibit, I needed to rest a bit.
This somewhat artificial bouquet was next to me...somehow real flowers had been infused with something to keep them looking fresh. As I sat there, I saw across the lobby to the stairs leading up to the permanent collection (which I didn't have the energy to visit this time.)
The woman sitting on the far left (seated in dark clothes) had tripped and fallen on the lowest set of stairs, and the docents at the desk picked up a phone immediately. But the fallen woman slowly turned over and sat up, and was with at least one friend, who helped her to a chair. So the docents cancelled the EMTs that were probably about to come help her. That was the excitement at the museum that day!
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My cousin, John, was a fabulous host, who actually works a bit from home composing music.. He also teaches composition at USC. So it was imperative to me to not make any sounds while he was composing (my rule). But he was attentive to every sound, so I knew that my presence was disturbing, no matter what I did.
I spied this mural as we drove along from getting groceries.
A bit difficult to see as we drove by...
Among all the modern shiny glass perhaps its a tribute to the past of Columbia.
The South Carolina State Capitol. Don't know which confederate general is standing there.
Today's quote:
"Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending." Jim Henson
Sharing with Thankful Thursday! My gratitude well is very deep and full at this time, having so much help offered and shared.
And some of us talk about weather, and climate change. Goodness, what about Hurricane Milton?
Some (many) of us talk about women's issues.
And some of us talk about art...in all its various forms....music, poetry, painting, sculpture, pottery!
I've been posting over on "Alchemy of Clay" some of the art I liked at the recent exhibit at the Columbia Art Museum - on loan from the Brooklyn Art Museum,
I must give a big comment about cousin John in South Carolina (though he probably won't ever read this.) He was an angel of refuge for me. But while receiving a comfortable home, I got to know a very intelligent and interesting man that I wouldn't have without staying with him for 8 days. We had at least one meal together daily. He wouldn't let me cook, which probably was a good thing.
I bought some groceries after we decided on two meals which would also leave him with left overs. Like many busy people, he likes to cook a big amount and then have several meals out of it. But I must comment that the man likes a very big serving for a meal, so leftovers probably don't go very far. He also runs about an hour each day! I was thrilled to have such wonderful things provided for me.
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I've safely traveled (on Wed.) to a dear friend's home in the piedmont of North Carolina. The news yesterday was that non-potable water would be tested in Black Mountain to see where leaks were in an emergency 18 inch line. That water would only be useable for flushing since it would have so much sediment in it.
I have loved renewing my friendship with Martha in her sweet house. I'm so blessed! But I'm also eager to be back in my little apartment. The maintenance man called me and told me elec is on and there's water coming into toilets, but can't be used for anything else. So I'll be sure to pick up some water bottles by the case before I go home. Sunday is my target travel date for now (I wrote this on Friday 10.11.24)
This is probably already in the works...we just haven't noticed it!
Above: When the cleanup begins. Spruce Pine downtown.
Below: Unincorporated town of Swannanoa, after Hurricane Helene! All the brown is mud drying which turns into dust if you drive over it! The building hanging over the erosion has a 10 foot drop from it's floor to the mud below.
Meanwhile, myself and many of my friends are doing the following:
I'm busy blogging about where I evacuated to, where a normal life could be experienced! But that was before I returned to live the life I'd chosen here in Black Mountain NC.
Looking into the mouth of a dragon fruit.
Do you suppose they are firey spicy?
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An interesting YouTube demonstration of the debris flows in the mountains, if you're interested. I didn't know that after a first pulse of mud and debris, there can be a second or even third pulse. That's how a firefighter lost his life going to help someone after the first pulse of debris in theGarren Creek community of Buncombe County. That was a site of quite a few people who died from Helene.
Photo by Lynn Bauer
Today's quote:
Maya Angelou said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.”
Wingspread, also known as the Herbert F. Johnson House, is a historic house at 33 East Four Mile Road in Wind Point, Wisconsin.
It was built in 1938–39 to a design by Frank Lloyd Wright for Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr., then the president of S.C. Johnson, and was considered by Wright to be one of his most elaborate and expensive house designs to date.
It consists of a central hub, from which four long arms radiate. Each of the wings originally housed a different function: parents' wing, children's wing, service wing, and guest wing, with the public spaces in the center. The hub appears as a domed structure, with clerestory windows on the sides, and a viewing platform at the top.
The house, at 14,000 sq feet, is one of the largest of Wright-designed homes. It also considered to be the last of Wright's Prairie School inspired designs, and was one of his most expensive residential designs.
The Johnson family donated the property to The Johnson Foundation in 1959 as an international educational conference facility. It is also open to the public for tours.
The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989.
President Kennedy welcomed the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) at the White House in March 1963 to discuss tribal sovereignty, economic and educational opportunities, and prejudice toward Indigenous groups.
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Personal note: I'm back in my Black Mountain apartment, which is just as cluttered and comfortable as ever. Electricity means cooking and refrigerating. Only water for flushing (and apparently sewers work!) So I brought some drinking water, and things to cook. One must go about 30 miles east to get many things, though Ingles, the local grocery is open. Another store, Hopey's has different kinds of things at reduced prices. I heard the laundromat has opened, as well as a pizza place for carry-out. There's a curfew at 7. We must take garbage bags to town dumpsters, as the garbage trucks all were damaged in the flooding from the storm. So why did I come back at this point? I'm aware that I am adding to a population that relies on outside help at some level still. But I hadn't planned ahead enough when I left, and two of my medications were out as of today. I could get one filled by Tuesday but the other was through a mail order pharmacy, and I didn't want to go to the bother of having my prescription sent to a new address...and the delay of shipping would be probably a week. I had refills of both sitting here in my home already. If push comes to shove, I might have to leave again, especially if the water situation worsens. But that's another day.
PS. I had difficulty going to sleep last night. I kept seeing highways that would fall off into oblivion, or end in a wall of blackness. I'd try to concentrate on something else, but these visuals would intrude, it seemed like hours. I had no difficulties on the road coming home yesterday mid afternoon. Eventually I got my 8 hours of good sleep. Perhaps some PTSD from the storm conditions remains.
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Today's quote:
“We are citizens of the world’s greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil,” McCain wrote. “Americans never quit…. We never hide from history. We make history.” John McCain
My refuge-nest for a week (plus!)...as an evacuee from Black Mountain NC
And here are a few photos from my cousin John's in Columbia SC.
Here I'm nebulizing with that foggy thing in the lower left. Love John's back porch!
The living room with a few of John's books, and 3 pottery pieces made by myself! He keeps it nice and clean and tidy. I was impressed, and determined to have as nice a setting for myself when I get home...lots to throw out first!
John's nice house. It has lots of room inside, and I enjoyed the guest room.
Another house in the neighborhood was decorated for Halloween.
Wax mallow plant, one I'd never seen before.
The wax mallow, probably planted by his next door neighbor who has lots of pretty plants.
Lunch on the back porch!
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Updated Sun. at 9:00 am. I'm packing up from my friend's refuge and heading home to Black Mountain in an hour or so.
Today's quote:
John Muir reportedly began each day by asking the question: ”How can I be at one with nature?” He spent countless days studying everything from wild mountain goats to the smallest of wild flowers.
I enjoyed watching squirrels from the back porch of my cousin John's home.
From Vantique
Robert Reich asks for a caption from his readers! He posts these cartoons every Sunday on his newsletter.
Maggie Vandewalle, American artist, watercolourist "Joyriding"
My dear little Panther enjoying her friends in the aquarium many years ago.
Hope all the critters effected by the hurricanes are surviving and finding foods. Imagine being a black bear in North Carolina, or a deer in Florida. Poor things.
I did see several people's real pets, dogs being walked again. And now am at a friend's house in Pittsboro NC (near Chapel Hill) with 2 adorable black cats. Just haven't had camera out when they ventured into the room. I'll be trying to capture them for next week!
Here are part of my collection of old photos (mostly from the internet)
Texas cowboy chuck wagon camp from the early 1900s offers a vivid snapshot of the rugged, hardworking life of cowboys during a period when the cattle industry was booming in the American West.
And Mon. Oct. 14 is Indigenous Peoples Day in the US (formerly celebrated as Columbus Day.)
1924 President Coleridge visited by indigenous people after Citizenship granted, but states determined voting rights
New York after snow storm 1888
Not very old, but a replica of a vardo wagon, with all the trimmings!
This home was for sale a month ago. Built in 1885 it is listed as a Historic Site. 2402 Avenue L, Galveston, TX
“James Moreau Brown (1821-1895), builder of Ashton Villa, erected this home in 1885 as a wedding gift for his daughter Matilda (1865-1926) and her husband Thomas Sweeney (d. 1905). Attributed to architect Nicholas J. Clayton, the Victorian cottage features angular dormer windows and a mariner’s wheel motif in the front porch balustrade. Judge Mart Royston, noted lawyer and civic leader, and his two sisters occupied the residence from 1911 until 1954.”
“Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 1978”
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The Halloween pet parade is coming to Black Mountain soon! (Hopefully!)
Today's quote:
Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.
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