We had fun at the screening of the first episode of Downton Abbey, Season 4, at the Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul (TPT fundraiser). A glass of wine and lots of people in costume – we got lost for about 10 minutes in the St. Paul Skyway system trying to make our way back to our car. One wrong turn and things don’t look familiar… “I don’t remember that dentist office…”

I won’t do any spoilers, except to say that when I said “poor Lord Grantham” – Bob said he makes one faux pas after another – he is always wrong. True.

below, Downton Abbey characters, Bob and Judy

The Landmark Center, below, not my photo – absolute deep freeze out there last night.

Skyway system … you are where???? drove home to have a nightcap at Lake Elmo Inn after that.

Bob bought a cover for our covered wagon that will take us out west. George is coming too. YAY! We will be in Las Vegas for January and February.

We will try to avoid the Donner party route through Montana – opting for the easiest route as far south and flat as possible.  We will be there From January 6 – Feb. 20 and then will take a longer time coming home with a stop in Santa Fe .. (going the wrong way on the Santa Fe Trail)  😎

our address in Las Vegas is 1729 Crystal Creek Circle, Las Vegas, Nevada 89128 and we will have both cell phones Bob – 651-500-9264  and Judy 651-500-9263 and same emails

We are ‘cited (to quote Oliver from years ago)

We will have three bedrooms and a hot tub and we are close to Red Rock Wilderness area and others — I learned there are lots of petroglyphs in the area (probably won’t be doing much gambling, Bob is looking forward to working on his Luscombe parts with his son, Bob)  So far only Martin Luther King weekend is taken, and perhaps President’s Day weekend, so let us know if you want to visit.

Poem written after grandchildren’s visit last summer.

Carl Jung’s Red Book

A tome of heft and detail

Rich with symbolism and complexity

Created in the final years of his life,

The intricate detail and explanations –

Flowering of his mind and active imagination

Illustrating the consciousness of

His unconscious.

It will take months for me to

Attempt an understanding.

Today, used to weigh down

A dagger,

Made by a small boy

In place of the real dagger

His mother would not let him have.

A silver blade with Mayan chief

Scanned and printed

Colored with glitter glue

Pasted on cardboard

Weighed down by The Red Book overnight,

Bonding.

Then carefully cut to create another dagger

This one “safe”

But representative of the real one

From Panama,

Carried home by his great-grandfather

After the Second World War.

Jung would have approved.

August 3, 2013

Tonight a mom came in and said her 20-month-old had thrown himself on the floor and pitched a fit when she was taking his Thomas Train book back to the library. So they had to leave without him – stayed with the Dad – she said she grabbed the book and ran. Big sister (about 4) was excited when she found another train book for him – jumping up and down.

The street artist Bansky has finished up his 31 day, “residency” in New York City (although I guess there was a brief hiatus because of the police…). For those who might be as entranced as I am by the whole phenomena, here are some links and suggestions.
1. the Bansky website that has all the New York art and commentary on audio..Banksy New York website
2. for true aficionados watch “Exit Through the Gift Shop” Bansky made documentary that was a nominee for best documentary in 2011. It streams on Netflix.

This is the “official Banksy New York residency souvenir T shirt” design, a JPEG with instructions to take it to a copy store and “make it yourself.”

In the New York Times this morning: a complete story about the whatever it is — graffiti, installation, crowd gatherer… that I wrote about in my last post. We passed the one on the Upper West Side several times a day. Bob joked about how it doesn’t take much to draw a crowd in New York City. “Ours,” pictured in the last post, is titled “day at the fair” — OK now I get it. Here is the whole story with a slide show of others and the controversy — Artist’s work pops up daily. Reviews vary by Borough. click to read all about it.

I loved it, both our baffling experience and finding out the whole story. This is why I love to travel.

Drawing a crowd in New York — Upper West Side. An artist has made this “graffiti” drawing on the side of a building — protected by a sheet of plexiglass… people take photos. It was a controversy — apparently Bloomberg didn’t like it — (there were others around the city) he said it was graffiti and should not be allowed…. Bloomberg! spoilsport!

9/11 Memorial — mostly just felt sad.

Strawberry Fields — Bob and Judy at the John Lennon Memorial site in Central Park

Bob’s boyhood home in Teaneck

The ice cream shop — still there!

Quilts at the American Folk Art Museum

Our New Yorker friends from Mexico at La Mirabelle restaurant — French bistro cuisine and the singing French waitress, Danielle, also an artist — I purchased one of her small paintings of Provence.

and the lunch at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Members dining room — Pat and Richard from Sag Harbor and Barry and Elizabeth from the Upper West side — what a treat!

Bob has finished harvesting the honey and is in the process of putting the hives up snug for the winter. We harvested about 57 pounds this year — compared to almost 100 pounds last year. The reason — one hive swarmed — so the queen took off with half of the hive — overcrowded. You can read about that in a former post.

We do not mind, though, since we gave the swarm to another beekeeper and that meant more bees on the planet. We like the honey harvest, but it is really not why we do this. So far we have had great success with our two hives, which indicates a healthy environment here in “rural” Lake Elmo. We have not seen any colony collapse, although other beekeepers around the area did have die offs last winter.

Bill Moyers hosted Wendell Berry today who talked about “leadership from the bottom — people who see what needs to be done and just do it.” Bob and I were both reminded of our work with many others to save the library in Lake Elmo. Berry’s words and thoughts in his poems and essays are comforting and inspiring. If you haven’t seen the program you can catch it online Wendell Berry on his hopes for humanity

I do love Wendell Berry.

We also loved a little documentary about the bees that was included: Dance of the Honey Bee 

If the link doesn’t work you can right click and choose open in a new window.

We have enough honey to distribute to our friends and family this Christmas — look for it in your stocking.

Bob says, “it looks like I know what I am doing.”

We celebrated Bob turning 80 with a catered (nice for me!) party in the front yard.

Guests included Bob’s family members from Seattle, Cary North Carolina, Appleton Wisconsin and Las Vegas. My son Todd from Arlington Heights, IL. Friends from Wisconsin — (we had four small planes that flew in to Lake Elmo Airport) and others who drove in from Wisconsin — including great friends– the Parlows and the Pollinas. Some of Bob’s long time airline pilot friends flew into MSP from Tucson, Florida, Oregon, and two United pilots from Wisconsin flew in to Lake Elmo Airport and rode bikes to the party. There was a contingent from Benson airport: Kim, Marie and Bob and Darrel and Sandy.
Another bike rider was Steve DeLapp, library board president– and the library crew was well represented by Julene, Joyce, Jean, Karen and Dean Johnston, Rosemary, Bernie and his wife Jeanne, Sarah Linder, as as well as the newly hired librarian Linda Orsted.
A couple Bob knows from his morning walks with our dog George in Lake Elmo Park Preserve showed up, our neighbors, the LaPoints and Dale Kimberly; Democrats Julie Bunn and her husband Marlon Gunderson (also a pilot at LE), married couple Tom Degree (candidate for MN leg.) and Dean Schlaak, the Schneiders from Woodbury, Sharon Booher.

And my great pals Ann Hutchins and world traveler Arturo Steely, and BFF Michele Cassavante and her husband Bruce Deger, plus our beekeeper mentor Bob Sitko and his wife Darlene.
The conversations were lively and diverse! As you might imagine. Here are some photos.

Starting to gather on Friday

Cindi and Annie