Other colors

Blame Dan Hankle for this one!

http://www.healthy-holistic-living.com/turmeric-carrot-black-pepper-soup-fights-inflammation-cancer.html?t=ET

Saturday is Farmers' Market day where I presently live, and I knew when Dan posted this recipe that my arthritic'd body would appreciate it, it having told me that "turmeric is good!" frequently in the past. Of course I changed some things- Goranson's has totally amazing carrot varieties, so it wasn't just the plain old orange ones that I cooked for this soup.

I also added a beet-and its greens- though it's a golden beet, not the usual red kind

I also added a piece of fresh turmeric, peeled, to the pot.

The vegetables all cooked, I whirred them in my Bullet (the hand held blender has long since bit the dust) and I ended up with something that resembled pea soup, rather than carrot colored.

         But no matter! It was delicious! I moved it out of vegan fare by adding a dollop of sour cream and sprinkling the top with a mix of chopped dill and cilantro. Those two smells in the car on the way home from the market told me that the combination would be heavenly, and it was!

It's a good thing I took a photo when I first ladeled it out, because there is none left now....

Color

Yes, the title may have fooled you. Usually when I write about color, it has to do with yarn or a crochet pattern or a photograph I've taken. Not today.

Let's start with another person's blog:

http://artandeverythingafter.com/i-fit-the-description/

then there's the scene from Crash

https://youtu.be/EtvbEtPIGiA

I am an old white woman. I am not at risk for Driving While Black.  I have become aware lately that the risk has become more personal, and I am repulsed by my reaction to it.

I have cropped the photo to prevent embarrassment, but this is my grandson's head. Although he had stick straight blond hair as a child, puberty has turned it darker and much much curlier. Commonly (and I use that word intentionally) known as a "Jewfro" or, if he were a little darker, an "Afro".

Grandma and mom discussing how safe he is walking home at night with a hoodie on. Realizing that DON'T KILL ME, I"M WHITE on a tee shirt is probably not an effective way to keep him safe, and then horrified that my response to this danger is to wave a white flag.

What is it like to fear for your life just because of the color of your skin? Chronically? 

As a white person, I don't know what to do. I feel contempt for myself that my sense of urgency about it comes from the shoe being on my foot now.

Dylan Thomas's words come to mind "After the first death, there is no other".

WHAT ARE WE DOING, AMERICA?!!!!!!

Rutabaga Sex

   OK, now that I've got your attention......!
Last night I went to the "local" independent cinema, Railroad Square, in Waterville, to see what is possibly the scariest movie I've ever see.

Do we really want the future of our food source to be dependent on chemical and pharmaceutical corporations?

The trailer can be seen at Railroad Square's website here:
  http://www.railroadsquarecinema.com/seed-the-untold-story/

Will Bonsall, of Khadigar Farm in Industry introduced the film and also answered questions from the audience afterwards.

It was also one of the most hopeful movies I have seen in a long time, because is IS possible for ordinary citizens to take back the future.

Apologies for my blurry photo of the question and answer period after the film. Will answered questions and discussed what WE could do.... youtubes of him follow:

              https://youtu.be/Z095Sk7Uz_M

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z095Sk7Uz_M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


And though we're not talking about a rock festival here, the words to Joni Mitchell's Woodstock kind of do tell us where we need to be going....

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MWyoCg_ZHlI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

A Satisfying Life

                                                  The artist, Charles Rotmil, center stage.

       Thirty years ago, I was at Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville, Maine- the one before the fire-with my then husband, Jack, when he interrupted my checking-out-the-tickets process by saying"Wait a minute! I know that voice!" He did in fact know that voice, a very French-accented Charles Rotmil was standing behind us in line. They had not seen each other for years and years since their Collaberg School/The Land in Stony Point days, but they immediately knew each other again.
        This was how Charles came into my life, when I was still on the farm, his and Jack's pasts being told in stories at the table after magnificent feasts that Charles cooked for us. Many of the people who were talked about were not people I ever knew except  in these stories, but that didn't make them any less real. So Charles'  show tonight, The Famous and The Cities of Paris and New York, brought me back to that time somewhat, where I actually got to see what Steve Durkee looked like, was reminded that Martin Steingesser rescued my stepdaughter whose plane kept getting snowed under in Portland long ago, and there also was Charles' whole family in collage, giving a poignant cast to a show that could  mistakenly be viewed as all "celebrities".
   While many of the faces and names on the portraits will be familiar, it is in fact the familiar ways of being that is so stunning in the photographs- these people who we do in fact know as "famous" are behaving here like ordinary folks. This is perhaps Charles' (I can't make myself say Rotmil's) charm, in both life, and photography, that he transcends the need to need to glamorize those who often are, and leaves us with people who become all the more endearing for their obvious humanity. Whether the photos are of Portland locals, or NYC beats, one is inspired to find out more about who these people really are/were.

I titled my blog post by the sense of satisfaction I could feel at the show for Charles as an artist, as well as someone who has overcome great personal loss into creating what is clearly a satisfying life.

           The show will be up until November 13, along with Still by Deborah Klotz. I highly recommend the experience.....

http://mainejewishmuseum.org/art-exhibits/currentexhibit/

An Illustrious Life

   On Thursday of last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a lecture at Bowdoin College,
Travels with Hattie and Eleanor; Researching Biography With Barbara Cooney. The talk was given by Cooney's niece, Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, the current Anthony and Lulu C. Wang Curator of American Decorative Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Frelinghuysen gave a personal account of her aunt's use of her own history and her meticulous rendering of objects used in real life throughout her work.
   My own first introduction to Cooney's work was with the purchase of Oxcart Man for my own children, illustrated by Cooney, and written by Poet Laureate Donald Hall. Her paintings for this book depicted a type of life from long ago that I was particularly interested in.

https://youtu.be/2LhHUlIympk

The long list of books that she illustrated can be seen here:

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1GGGE___US509US518&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=book+list+by+Barbara+Cooney

Her attention to detail was noted by her niece, who after all, is well versed in American decorative arts, and was often asked about certain items, such as the blue and white striped ticking fabric used in the pillow illustration for this pillow fight.

                   The kitchen of her family's house in Maine was used as inspiration as well.

Miss Rumphius is a story that will capture the heart of any feminist, a Spinster portrayed as having not a sad, lonely life, but one full of exciting travel and experiences.

"You must do something to make the world more beautiful" is advice she gives that empowers.
Read the book and dream of lupines! https://youtu.be/DrjPzbuxLJU

                        Barbara Cooney was 65 when she created this book.
          A collection of her illustrations will be at the Bowdoin Museum of Art until September 30.
                                I can't recommend seeing the originals enough!
                  http://www.bowdoin.edu/news/events/archives/006306.shtml

Dangerous Curves

I am blessed to know many people who make art. Today was spent with my old friend (said tongue in cheek- we are a couple of old broads now!) Marni Lawson, who has made and taught watercolors for as long as I have known her, and before that too.

We both served on the board of Upcountry Artists in the late 80s. When I was President, she was Program Director, at a time when the group had vibrant programs at each monthly meeting.When we both lived in the Farmington area, it was usual for us to get together often for lunch, and today these old dogs proved that the old tricks still worked just fine!

I have always appreciated Marni's creativity, and dry wit, and friendship. Though we have both seen our share of health challenges, the Creative Life continues.

To read more about her work and her life:
 http://marnilawsonwatercolors.com/Artist.asp?ArtistID=2839&Akey=FGWAF5RY

As I was driving over this morning, WCLZ played this:
https://youtu.be/Xn7rIarpQBk

Appropriate to my day. "God is in the details." - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe 

It's All Personal

Trust me, I am very much aware of how ridiculous it is for a 62 year old woman to get upset about a celebrity dying. I'm not one of those National Enquirer aficionados who knows what stars are wearing and what they eat for breakfast. I am aware, however,  of what certain artists are doing and their contributions to the popular culture. The artist formerly known as Prince crashed into the 80s as I was starting my design career, proof to me that one did not have to be ordinary to excel, and that doing it was enough of a reason to do it. His music videos were strange and wonderful, and I will never, ever see the color purple without thinking Purple Rain.

https://youtu.be/F8BMm6Jn6oU

What does such a radical artist have to do with anyone in Maine? Aside from the media availability, there were rumors quite a few years ago that Prince's wardrobe mistress was living in Starks. Maybe she attended a show at Harry Brown's Farm? Don't know if that's true, or how she got there if the rumor's true, but the idea always pleased me that someone who dressed the maestro roamed around in my sometimes neighborhood.

Rest in Peace, sweet Prince. You will be remembered fondly......