Couples Weekend

Everyone has told us we shouldn't even consider moving to Seattle until we've been there in the winter. Of course we took this as a challenge and decided to visit Seattle in the winter.

There was a bit of rain when we arrived on Thursday but by Friday the sun was shining and Mt. Rainier was out in its glory. Our hotel's in Capitol Hill so we spent the morning walking around the neighborhood, visiting the Sorrento Hotel and the Frye Museum before grabbing a burger for lunch at Dick's Drive-In and recovering by sitting in Cal Anderson Park. Later in the day we walked downtown to Pike Market and along the waterfront, stopping for a chowder taste-testing at Ivar's. Our hotel was uphill from there so we wandered over to Pioneer Square to wait for the hotel van to pick us up.

On Saturday the fun really began. Terri had gotten in touch with Gwen, an old friend from their days working for the Texas Legislature, who has moved on to much bigger and better things and now lives in Seattle. She and her boyfriend Kerry picked us up at the hotel for a whirlwind day of eating, driving, and walking. We had lunch at Plum's, took a drive through Madison Park and Queen Anne, enjoyed incredible views from Kerry's beautiful condo in Belltown, walked leisurely down and back up 1st Street, ate a light dinner of Vietnamese crêpes at Long's, and finished with a nighttime drive out to the suburbs across the lake. It was one of those perfect travel days, hosted by a lovely couple we hope to see again soon.

On Sunday the fun continued. While the rest of the world gathered to watch some sort of sporting event, a super something or other, we enjoyed the quiet streets and headed to the Seattle Museum of Art. Afterwards, we went to the top of the Smith Tower to enjoy the views. In the evening we walked up Broadway to the heart of the Capitol District and the home of our friends George and Ward. George and I have 'known' each other for years via Flickr and lately on Facebook, but this was our first chance to meet in person. He prepared a wonderful dinner (shellfish and pasta!) and I finally got the hear the story of how a kid from Minneapolis went to Manhattan, Hawaii, and now Seattle with stops in India and Paris, but still wants to go back to Venice. Ward and George are the poster children for Family Values: they've been together for 56 years.

Today is our final full day in Seattle and we're still figuring out what to do. Terri is checking the ferry schedules so I suspect we may get out on the Sound.

I am still going through the snaps from the trip; this is what I have so far: my camera's view of Seattle.

Into a Time of Can't

I grew up in a simpler time, when there were three television networks, two superpowers, and one phone company. Life had but one direction, upward and onward, more and better, cast off the old and embrace the modern, a world of exciting potential. Progress! Rockets shot satellites into space, jet airliners zoomed through the skies, doctors eradicated diseases, everyone could afford a car in the garage and a TV in the living room. Interstate highways! A man on the moon! Better living through chemistry!

All of this took effort and money, of course, but the question was never if but when. We would figure out a way to build it or invent it or discover it, then the rest of the world could marvel at what we had accomplished while we boldly marched ahead to outdo ourselves again. We tackled racism and sexism and wars with confidence and assurance that we would make things right. We had problems but more importantly we had solutions.

This American Optimism was infectious and intoxicating. But it did not last. Slowly, over the years, the lively spirit of can do became the half-muttered resignation of can't. Public proclamations of future greatness ring hollow, especially when they're followed by long lists of things we have to reduce or eliminate. The excited Yes! of fifty years ago is now a meek no or, at best, probably not.

How did it happen? Was the decline in expectations inevitable? Will those who are growing up and maturing now be affected by the larger sense of limits and constraints? Will the young and new be able to reverse the decline of the old and worn-out?

Waldorf Salad

The symptoms began in Madrid, in January: occasional spasms in my right leg, an ache in my right buttock, furtive searches for a place to sit down to relieve the pain. I suffered from severe sciatica twenty years ago and was certain that I could manage it now, as I did then, by walking, exercising, and even better, losing a few pounds. But instead of getting better it got worse. By the time we went to Barbados, in June, I began to dread standing and walking, and in Chicago, in July, I was in agony, the pain so excruciating I wanted to scream and punch holes in the wall.

Then the doctor visits: primary care physician, neurosurgeon, anesthesiologist, radiologist, orthopedic surgeon, long consultations with Dr. Google, even a chiropractor. A MRI showed a synovial cyst in my lower lumbar spinal column and I was desperate to find a non-surgical solution. The radiologist might be able to aspirate the cyst and the anesthesiologist might be able to temporarily ameliorate the pain, but one and all said that surgery was the only sure cure.

The idea of getting cut on made me despondent, and my mood worsened when I realized we'd have to cancel our yearly trip to Buenos Aires: no grilled steaks at La Cholita, no sitting in Plaza Vicente Lopez soaking up the late winter sun, no strolls down Avenida del Libertador. Instead of escaping the Texas summer heat, I moped around the apartment, unable to do much of anything except sit, lie down, and wait for my date with the scalpel.

Finally it was my turn; I had the surgery about four weeks ago and I'm glad to say it went exceedingly well. My orthopedic surgeon, Jason Tinley, is a talented young doctor who removed the cyst and used some bone grafts to help stabilize my spine. The surgery took about an hour, in late morning, and I was able to go home around 3 p.m. The sciatica was completely gone and I was able to resume my walking exercises almost immediately. I am tickled beyond words that Terri and I can once again walk the Trinity Trails; just yesterday we did about three and a half miles.

I have a few more weeks of exercising and recovery before we're ready to travel again, but lucky for us there are three great exhibits going on at our local museums. The Kimbell has "The Kimbell at 40: An Evolving Masterpiece", 220 pieces from their permanent collection displayed in the chronological order in which they were acquired. The Amon Carter has "To See as Artists See", late nineteenth and early twentieth century American works from The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. Finally, The Modern has "Lucian Freud: Portraits", an incredible collection of paintings in its only U.S. venue.

Oh yes, about the Waldorf Salad. Sam's Club sells big tubs of the delicious, addictive stuff, but it's seasonal and I was pleasantly surprised last week when we found it in stock again. I consider myself a Costco type of guy, but Sam's Club's Waldorf Salad is so good I got a membership just so I could buy it a few months each year.

Let's hope my next blog post takes less than three months to write and is datelined from someplace other than Texas. I haven't taken many snaps lately, but I have my eye on a new camera and if I buy it I'll have to go somewhere to test it out.

Chicago Heat Wave

We're always looking for ways to escape the heat of a Texas summer, but this time we flew out of the Texas frying pan only to land in a Chicago fire. Almost every day of our short trip, the temperature in Chicago was as high or higher than that in Fort Worth, and with higher humidity.

Even so, Chicago is a great city and one of our favorite places to visit. There's always so much to do, the food is terrific, the art and architecture is a joy, public transportation is cheap and efficient, and Chicagoans are eager to share their city.

The heat slowed us down but didn't stop us. We enjoyed a great Cirque Shanghai show, "The Year of the Dragon," at Navy Pier. We did some comparison eating of deep dish pizza and decided that Lou Malnati's is clearly the best. We enjoyed a great improv show at the iO Club near Wrigley Field and attended concerts in the park.

We escaped the afternoon heat by roaming around the cool Art Institute.

On July 4, we hopped a bus towards the park around the Shedd Aquarium and Adler Planetarium, a recommended vantage point to watch the fireworks at Navy Pier. It must have been obvious we were unsure about where to get off the bus -- the route had changed due to the holiday -- because another passenger graciously offered her help. Lucky for us, La'Vena was going to watch the fireworks, too, so we all walked to the park together. We got to talking about this and that and the other, and before the evening was over we knew we had a made a new friend.

Of course, I took some snaps: Crown Fountain and Cloud Gate (AKA The Bean), the skyline at night, and some interior shots of the historic Hotel Burnham, where we stayed. Here's my Flickr photos.

Back in Barbados

We never do beach trips. Well, almost never: last year we went to Barbados for our anniversary and liked it well enough that surprise! here we are again, lounging on the shore.

We flew in last Saturday. The long five hour flight was pleasant enough -- Terri found a great deal on business class seats -- but we ran into some unpleasantness with a rude immigration agent because the AA flight attendant had given us incorrect information about the proper forms. We got that straightened out with an amiable agent and eventually were on our way, checking in at Southern Palms around 9.

Sunday morning we went out for breakfast. The first place we stopped at was crowded but with only one waiter, so we were the ones doing the waiting. We gave up after fifteen minutes and walked to another place further down the road. The waitress gave us menus and then, once more, we waited. And waited. We gave up and headed to yet a third place. We were promptly served one of the biggest breakfasts I've ever had: eggs and bacon and sausage and potatoes and baked beans and a huge stack of toast. Between the waiting and the eating, our breakfast excursion took two hours.

Sunday, our first full day here, Terri wanted us to go on a scenic bus tour provided by the Barbados Transport Board. That meant getting into Bridgetown, the capital, so we walked out to the main road to catch a bus. We waited and waited, but no bus. We did, however, see a 'route taxi' every minute or two, a mini-van packed with people that honked its horn, screeched to a stop and flung open a door when they saw us, but we waved them off. ('Route taxis' are a type of transport common in developing countries; the mini-vans travel along standard routes, often the same as the regular buses, picking up and dropping off passengers along the way. The driving can be fast and hazardous, and the passengers get to listen to loud reggae music as the van careens from stop to stop.) Again a route taxi stopped and this time the conductor was so insistent and persuasive that we hopped on board. We had been warned about these route taxis, but in the event all was fine, there were open seats, the people were friendly, we arrived safely, and the music was catchy.

After wandering around Bridgetown for a short while we got on a real bus for our 2 p.m. scenic tour. We began with 10 people on one bus but fifteen minutes later we were in a caravan of five buses, every one packed with families, mothers and grandmothers and children and infants and strollers and picnic coolers. What we thought was an outing for tourists turned out to be a popular way for Barbadians to get out and enjoy a Sunday afternoon. And the tour itself was over five hours long, up the middle of the island to Cherry Tree Hill, then over to the Atlantic coast, to Little Bay and River Bay, where we stopped at the picnic grounds. It was such fun and so pleasant to be with and talk to so many nice people enjoying themselves.

Monday morning went more smoothly, beginning with a hearty breakfast across the street. Around noon, almost 48 hours after we had arrived, I got to do what I most wanted to do all along: sit on the beach.

And that's what we did all day Monday, and Tuesday, and Wednesday. We begin by putting a couple of lounge chairs in the shade of a palm tree. We get up every so often and wade out into the cool, bracing surf. We lie in the sun sometimes. We move the lounge chairs as the sun travels overhead to keep them in the shade. We watch the waves and stare out at the beautiful blue waters.

I cannot capture in a photograph the sublime peace and contentment of sitting on a beach, but I have taken a few snaps nonetheless. Here's my Flickr photos.

Crystal Bridges

With nothing better to do, we drove to Arkansas on Tuesday. Over the last several months we had read news reports about Alice Walton and the new Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. A quick glance at Google maps showed that Bentonville was an easy day's drive away, so why not go see for ourselves?

After a lesiurely and pleasant six-hour drive up US 75/69 to I-40 then north on I-540, we were in Bentonville by 4 p.m. I didn't know what to expect, it being the World Headquarters of Walmart, AKA (An) Evil Empire, but the quaint central plaza and the surrounding town square were a surprise. Lots of benches, a fountain, charming shops and restaurants, and the original Walton's 5-10 (now made into a shrine to Sam Walton), what could be nicer?

We planned on spending a few hours at the museum on Wednesday but ended up staying there all day save for a break at dinner.

The buildings and grounds are amazing; we were in awe at what the Walmart billions have created. We ooh-ed and aah-ed at the architecture and enjoyed views from different levels and perspectives. Outside the museum is a beautiful park with lots of trails and elaborate landscaping; inside there are comfy chairs in cozy nooks and plenty of restrooms.

The collection itself is a bit mixed. There are quite a few good pre-Revolution and early U.S. pieces, a few delightful Sargents, and a smattering of other intriguing works, but there's a good deal of humdrum stuff, too. This is not humdrum:

This sculpture by Harriet Whitney Frishmuth is also quite lovely:

We had lunch at the museum café and were again surprised, this time by a tasty lunch in a beautiful setting.

We walked the trails, tried out a few benches, saw some more paintings, and wandered around until it was time to break for dinner at Table Mesa in the main square. Again we were pleasantly surprised, this time by an innovative menu and really good food. We went back to the museum (open until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays) to see what it was like at twilight. We had a last look at the Sargents and a few other pieces then took some farewell snaps from the parking garage.

Lest you think it was all fun and fluff, there were a few sour notes. We had to start our days listening to Fox News blaring its angry outrage in the hotel breakfast room, I saw too many Confederate flags (even one is too many), and local law prohibits the sale of alcoholic beverages except in bars and restaurants.

Thursday morning check-out time was not until noon, so we dawdled. We took a scenic drive through northeastern Oklahoma before making our way back to I-35, Texas, and the nearest Whataburger.

My camera, as usual, was not idle, and here's my Flickr snaps from the trip.

P.S. Oklahoma and Arkansas are much prettier than Texas.

Boston, Briefly

We flew to Boston Saturday morning and are flying back home today. We had no particular reason to come here, but couldn't think of a good reason not to come, either.

Saturday night we wandered amidst the party crowds in Quincy Market before having a great Thai dinner in Cambridge, near where we're staying. Sunday we spent most of the day at the Museum of Fine Arts, marveling at the John Singer Sargent portraits. I especially love the one of Mrs. Inches; I could stand and stare at her for hours on end.

For dinner, we headed to the North End for a pizza at Regina.

We had planned to do more museum-ing on Sunday but, waking up to beautiful blue skies and crisp temperatures, realized it would be silly to spend the day inside. So, transit passes in hand, we set out to explore Boston. We started in Cambridge, where we wandered around Harvard, then back to Lechmere, the park at CambridgeSide Galleria, along the Charles River to Longfellow Bridge and out Broadway to Kendall Square. From there we took the Red Line back to Boston Common, rode a Swan Boat in the Public Garden, ogled the Sargent murals in the Boston Public Library, then made our way up to the Aquarium.

We finished the day with a couple of ferry rides to Charlestown Navy Yard and back and a very pleasant dinner at Legal Sea Foods. To finish our meal, and complete our stay, I had some delicious Boston Cream pie.

If you'd like to see more, here's my Flickr snaps from the trip.