Friday, July 28, 2017

A Visit to the Snite

Mercato Stripes (Sloan 1984)
Tina, a high schooler in our church, had several works displayed at the Snite Museum of Art at Notre Dame after a three week internship there.  Her presentation gave me a reason to do what I have been meaning to do for a while--visit the Snite again.

New Mexico Skies (Higgins-1943)
Tina's works were right at the entrance.  I enjoyed seeing them and reading her helpful and thoughtful artist's statement.

A guard recognized me and we chatted for a while.  It was nice to feel welcomed even though I did resign from being a docent after my minimum of two years' service!  I had learned a lot about art and that was my goal.  I had tired of leading groups.   However, the paintings that I taught most were like old friends to me.
Edmond Dehodencq, The Artist's Son
(French mid-1800s)

I have taken photos of works I love in art musems in New York, Atlanta, San Antonio, Chicago, Oxford and other places and saved them in a Shutterfly album.   I had not taken photos of my favorites at the Snite so today I did just that.  As I was walking back to the car, I had the happy thought that I could blog about my visit and save the photos this way.

Diane de Poutier
 Receiving a Message from France
 (Pingert)
I have always loved the Higgins and the Sloan works.  As a docent,  I learned about and appreciated the Pingret and the Dehodencq portraits in the French gallery.

Cleopatra 50 BC Egyptian
The wooden alterpiece with its worn colors intrigued me noting that it pre-dates Columbus's trip to the Americas.   I had not seen the Cleopatra bust and wonder if it is a new acquisition of a very old piece.

Coronation of the Virgin
1460 German 
I need to make visits to our local art museums a regular habit--the Snite, the Midwest Museum of  Art in Elkhart, the South Bend Museum of Art downtown.  I will keep up my memberships in the Met and the Chicago Art Institute, but our local museums are a treasure too.



Wednesday, July 26, 2017

A Stroo Cousins' Reunion and My Parents' Grave Sites

Yesterday, I woke up and felt energetic so I decided to join my cousins in Hudsonville, Michigan for a potluck lunch.  I put together a corn salad, bought some deli meats and cheese and headed north--a two hour drive to Hager Park.

There were nine cousins there and two spouses.   The cousins from Ontario and Texas were in the area and that gave us a reason to try to get together. Two cousins live in Washington and Florida and that was too far to come!  Two other cousins are caretakers for their spouses and were not there. I don't know about the other four.   It is pretty amazing that all 17 of us are alive and even reasonably healthy.   In some ways it is even more amazing, because the Stroo siblings, our parents,  almost all died at an early age.  My own mother died at age 59. Several spouses have died--two in the last year and a half.

There was lots of talking and laughter and lots of good food.  Leo had a camera, tripod, and timer so he took a few photos.  Jim had a never-used selfie stick in the car, so I encouraged him to get it out so I could give it a try.  It was a pretty funny scene--all of us seniors attempting a selfie!  You can see by the results that I was intensely concentrating on getting us all in and pressing the button and it never occured to me to smile!

There were questions to which there never will be answers.  How did Uncle Dan have a combat medal found in his possession after he died when he said he never was in direct combat?  Was he in the Battle of the Bulge?  Did Aunt Mattie ever harbor refugees in her basement in the Netherlands during WWII as some of us had heard?   So much we could have asked, but didn't.

There were also Dutch expressions I haven't heard for years--and for which we could not give English equivalents.  Can I dare to try to spell these?  Banout, rummel, sanukking, feise.  Maybe they are not even classical Dutch and are just "Yankee Dutch." (correction for two of them--"vies" defined as "dirty" and "Banauwd" defined as "stuffy"--neither definition really gets the full meaning!)

There was no political talk and that was best avoided.   I am quite sure that we have some very real differences of opinion on our present situation.  Sometimes I really want to have forthright discussions but that was not the time or place.

After our hugs and good-byes, I drove to the Georgetown Cemetery about a mile away to pay my respects at my parents' graves.   I could not find them.  My sister said she had been unable to find them earlier. I find the  idea of cremation for myself and for Jim a difficult and uncomfortable idea, but why should the money be spent and the land used for burial when even those closest to you cannot find your grave years later?  And for us, there would be no central place where anyone would come to find such a grave.  We might as well be cremated.  I did say to Jim tonight I hope that our ashes can be combined if we're not buried side by side.  Morbid?  It made me feel better.

Today, however, after some online searching, I think I could find those tombstones for my parents--among the more than 7000 at Georgetown Cemetery.  Next time I'll take a photo and at least preserve their memory in that way.  (242-E 1 and E2)

I am so glad I made the effort to make the trip.  It was good to see everyone at something other than a funeral--and sadly, there have to be more of those in the next several years.


Saturday, July 15, 2017

Nothing on the Schedule

Flowers at ND
For the last three days, I have had only one item on my calendar--tutoring M--and that was cancelled.  A friend who recently moved away emailed that she was busy now settling in but was concerned that she would be totally bored  once that was done.

I did wonder when I looked at three blank days what would fill them.  But now we are at the end of those three days and I have not been bored;  they have been three good days.

 I was not confined to home for three days.   There was a 30% discount trip to CVS where I had a good list of items.  I stopped at the library for a requested book that had come in.  I practiced the organ. Jim and I made our usual Martin's Grocery trip this morning. I averaged close to 10,000 steps daily according to my Fitbit in 40-60 minutes of walking.


Add caption
I lit a candle at Notre Dame out of thankfulness this time for many things, including Jim's eyesight.  I visited Jim's basement office and then his "new" third floor office.

At home, I did some laundry, clipped ivy and dead-headed flowers, and cleaned the very dirty screens in the three season room.  I played the piano.  I purged old photo albums.  I read lots and let my reading lead me into various Google searches.  Plus I researched potential trips to Arkansas, Nova Scotia and St. Pete Beach.  They may not all take place but it is fun to think about the possibilities.

I experimented with a new recipe for a cauliflower salad and made a chicken risotto dish and a rhubarb crisp.

The only longer conversation I had with anyone besides Jim was a phone chat with my sister.  I did have email, text and Facebook contacts with a few other friends.

I am glad I do have regular obligations at church and with volunteer work at the libraries and with tutoring.   But I am also thankful that empty days fill up with good things including blogging!