Warm Wednesday

Today is warmer and more humid. Not oppressively so, but noticeable. Thunderstorms and even hail were forecast, but I haven't seen that yet. It could still happen. We could have gone up to Marlboro this morning,  but we didn't. It was easier to just stay home and take it easy.

I think I may have failed to mention in a previous post that on Monday, I took our Impreza into Brattleboro Subaru for major work - primarily a recall to replace valve springs, but also to fix the oil leak in the timing chain case which was noticed back at the Subaru garage in Jackson, WY. And it turned out, our air conditioner compressor was leaking fluid also, and we were due for new spark plugs. So the "free" recall work ended up costing quite a bit. More ammunition for the idea that maybe it's time to get a new (or at least newer) car. But we couldn't deal with that right now, so we got the work done. It stretched over two days, so they gave me a "loaner" - a new Subaru Legacy. A much bigger car. It was nerve-racking because if it got "dinged," we would have to pay. But it didn't. We returned it today and got our car back. We only put about 100 miles on the loaner.

So, I got the car, came home, had a bite of lunch, and then took Ellen to the movies, where she met Nancy T., while I went to Centering Prayer at the Guilford Church. They saw Wild Rose and liked it. It is, says a review, a "rare film that tells truth about what it means to be female artist." Now we are at the Coop, where we will get something to eat and go up to Marlboro for the Wednesday evening concert.

A view from my seat at the Guilford Church

Later:

Our program tonight is a Schumann Piano Trio, Lieder by Gustav Mahler and a String Quartet by Beethoven! 

Back at Malboro again

It is Tuesday morning and we are at Marlboro for a rehearsal of the Dvorak String Quintet in E-flat Major, Op.97, which will be from 11a.m. to 1p.m. I'm expecting it to be gorgeous. After Bach, Dvorak is up there vying for my second-favorite, along with Schubert and Edvard Grieg.

Last evening, we had a Hallowell sing for "one of our own," Joan Shimer, who is 91. Joan lives at Putney Commons (where Ellen and I considered moving for a while). She knew she might be the first Hallowell singer to become terminally ill, and said so a year ago or so. And now the time has come. She was surrounded by family - children and grandchildren - and was beautiful in her fragility and intentionality. She mouthed the words of every song we sang, and directed with her hand.

Later: Who knew?
The Dvorak rehearsal began with movement three, which is a beautiful "theme and variations." Ellen remarked on the "hymn-like" nature of the theme, and I found this analysis - it was intended not just as a hymn, but as an anthem - a new national anthem - a setting of My Country 'Tis of Thee."

The third part of the quintet is undeniably the composer’s loveliest variation movement. The very nature of its main theme is a testimony of this, a wistful melodic arc spanning 32 bars, whose first half in A flat minor is filled with melancholy, while the second in A flat major offers consolation. Dvorak had originally written this theme back in December of the previous year as the melody for a new American national anthem set to a poem by Samuel Francis Smith, “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”. The theme is introduced in its essential form, followed by five variations which elaborate its primary rhythm, instrumentation and melody with a whole array of imaginative ideas. The movement ends with a return to the theme in its original cast. 

This Quintet was written in 1893 when Dvorak was in Spillville, IA. It is called the "American" Quintet. Here is a general comment on its nature:

The Quintet in E flat major is a work of rare originality, and its dazzling impact ensured it a permanent place among Dvorak’s most successful compositions. In contrast to his previous quartet, here, the extended instrumental setting makes for a more colourful and more vibrant expression. The quintet also reflects the environment in which it originated: in addition to the attributes which are typical for Dvorak’s American oeuvre in general – the pentatonic scale, syncopated rhythms, minor seventh in a minor key – we will hear shades of Native American folklore which lend this piece its unique colour. This particularly applies to the “drum” rhythm derived from the rhythmical accompaniment to Indian ritual song. (At the time Dvorak was spending his summer in Spillville, the village was visited by a group of Iroquois Indians who offered some of their artifacts for sale; they also performed traditional music and dance as part of their promotion. Dvorak was enchanted by these performances and, for the duration of their stay in the village, he apparently attended every one.) Like the previous Quartet in F major, the quintet also distances itself significantly from the trends in European chamber music at that time, above all, in the frequent exposition of the unison melody on its own, without additional contrapuntal voices and even without any harmonic texture. Thus, in certain passages, the whole musical image is reduced to a striking ostinato rhythm and “bare” melodic line – a clear echo of Indian song in unison accompanied by primitive drum rhythms.

Not sure we'll get to hear the whole piece through today. They are working on fragments. 

This evening we are having tacos with John and Cynthia and will watch the Dems debate after supper. 

Even later:

We did get to hear the entire Dvoràk. What a beautiful work! It brought vivid images into my mind of life in Iowa, especially on the farm where I worked. 

Then we had lunch outside out of our picnic cooler -  potato salad, green beans and deviled eggs. Yummy! Ellen was disappointed with the potatoes - they were too firm. But they tasted good. 

After lunch we have been listening to Carolyn Shaw's Dolce Cantavi - a 3-minute work for two sopranos and mezzo, unaccompanied. We heard it probably ten times or more, it is so short. It is very difficult, but really lovely, and I liked it more and more as it was repeated. The three women had incredible intonation!

The Billy Clocks and Dvoràk Museum in Spillville, IA

Antonin Dvoràk

 

Back at Marlboro

We are back at Marlboro for rehearsals. We have been listening to the Mozart Horn Quintet in E-flat Major, K. 407. It is lovely.  Earlier, before lunch, we heard once again the Schumann Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Opus 44. I could listen to that over and over, it is so beautiful. During the 2-hour lunch break we went back into Brattleboro, I dropped Ellen off at the Farmer's Market, went to the drug store to pick up a prescription, came back for Ellen, and we ate our lunch in the car back at Marlboro. There is another little break now and at 4pm we will hear the Dvorak Piano Trio which we heard fragments of Thursday. This is a kind of heaven.

Horn player, Yevhen Churikov, talking with violinist, Mari Lee, after the Mozart Horn Quintet

Musicians in the Dvorak Trio: Abigail Fayette, violin; Jonathan Biss, piano and Timotheus Petrin, cello

Here are someone's thoughts on the Dvorak Trio:

The Piano Trio in F minor could be regarded not only as one of the major achievements of Dvorak’s chamber music, but also as one of the most important works of its genre. Its strength lies in the unusual wealth of musical ideas and their resourceful development, in the assured structure of the individual movements and the formal integrity of the work as a whole, and in the concentration of sound whilst ensuring the right balance between the instruments. The opulence of sound, expression and form in this symphonically conceived work almost transcends the chamber music genre itself. In terms of its expression, this composition is exceptional in Dvorak’s oeuvre: instead of the warmth and spontaneous joy of life typical for Dvorak, the music here conveys dark and sombre thoughts, a sense of uncertainty, uneasiness and defiance. Taking into account these qualities, the work might be seen as the chamber counterpart to the composer’s Symphony No. 7 in D minor, which originated in the same period.   

Dvorak composed this Trio just few weeks after the death of his mother, which may help explain its "dark and sombre thoughts." It is also thought to have been inspired in part by Brahms: 

For its grave, philosophical tone, the Trio in F minor is often described as Dvorak’s “most Brahmsian” work. One could, in fact, consider a specific source of inspiration: Brahms’s Piano Quintet, Op. 34, from the year 1864. Its expression is very similar, it is written in the same key and has a similar choice of instruments and corresponding introduction – the instruments make their striking entry with the main theme in unison, without the use of harmony. Irrespective of possible sources of inspiration, Dvorak’s trio is a masterpiece formally rooted in the long-established traditions of European chamber music, but introducing fresh, wholly unconventional ideas. 

More photos

Here are a few more photos from Thursday and Friday:

The five musicians in the Schumann Quintet, being coached after a run-through.

Mitsuko Uchida - one of the great pianists of our time

Some Hallowell singers after our sing ended - Annie Guion in the foreground, then l. to r. behind her: Fred Breunig, Tom Goldschmid, Ellen and Terry Sylvester

Cellist Eugene Friesen is in front row with straw hat; Patrice Murray in foreground, left.

Hospice Director, Susan Parris, speaking to the group after our sing

These past few days

We had a lovely final morning with Katie & Savanna - starting with pancakes! - and then left the lake about 1:30 in the afternoon and had a very nice trip back home by a different route that took us through Saratoga, NY and Arlington, VT. We also went by Grandma Miller's Bakery in Londonderry, VT and got a dozen Morning-glory Muffins, which are the best!

We got home a bit after 6:30p.m. and just had time for a snack before going up to Marlboro for the Wednesday Evening Informal Concert, which begins at 8:00pm. By then, the weather was delightfully cool, and I actually put on a flannel shirt to be comfortable.

The program was Schoenberg, Adams and Brahms. The Schoenberg Suite, Opus 29, for 3 clarinets, 3 strings and piano, was wildly dissonant, as Schoenberg usually is (there were lovely melodic moments), but a piece like that is fascinating because you sit there thinking - how is it possible for human beings to play something that is humanly impossible to play? But they do, and they do it to perfection.

(Now as I write this, I am sitting again at Marlboro, and it is Thursday afternoon, and five musicians (including Mitsuko Uchida again) are playing a Schumann  Piano Quintet which is gorgeous. What a place!)

Then - to continue Wednesday evening - the String Quartet, No. 1 by John Adams followed. I had never heard this piece before - indeed, it was a Marlboro premier of this work. It was not dissonant in the way Schoenberg is, and it was interesting in many ways - more varied in texture and invention than one might expect from someone called a "minimalist," but it was not melodic. It was also technically very demanding, perhaps even more than Schoenberg! So, again, one was in awe of the technique displayed. But not moved.

Then came the Brahms String Quartet in G-Major, Op. 111. It was not a work familiar to me (it was to Ellen), but it was very melodic and lush. I enjoyed it very much. And, of course, it was also played very well. That you just come to almost take for granted at Marlboro.

Thursday, we had a quiet morning at home, and then went up to Marlboro again, for afternoon rehearsals. This time we heard Schumann and Dvorak. The Schumann Piano Quintet - as noted above - was gorgeous. Much of it familiar, some not so. Obviously, I had heard it before. But it was like hearing it fresh for the first time. We did not get to hear the Dvorak Piano Trio in its entirety - but what we heard was gorgeous, and we plan to go up tomorrow (Saturday), and will hear it all then. Then Thursday evening we went to an information meeting on the border immigration crisis at the Dummerston Church. We got a lot of information which we hope will turn into some kind of action. The situation, especially with children, is horrific.

Right now (Friday) we are going to go to a Hallowell sing at a Hospice Garden Party in Westminster, and that will be followed by a Dummerston Choir rehearsal at which we will learn a choral arrangement of an Elton John song, Border Song ("Holy Moses!), which Mary Westbrook-Geha has arranged. (Earlier Friday we were at home enjoying the beautiful weather, sitting on the deck, eating and reading. I brought the deck furniture out of the shed).

Later:
We had a lovely time at our Hallowell Sing: it was a beautiful garden, there was very special food, and in addition to our singing, cellist Eugene Friesen played, including a couple of movements from Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites. Then we came back to Dummerston and had great fun with the Elton John song.

The musicians for the Schoenberg Suite

The musicians for the Adams Quartet

This Chinese New Year's Dragon has been hanging in the Marlboro Dining Hall for as long as i can remember

Musicians for the Brahms Quintet

If I were King of the universe....

... I would deal with the immigration crisis in this way: I would create Welcome Centers on the border where communities large and small from all over the country would have representatives who would in essence be competing to attract immigrants to their community. There would be a degree of negotiation on both sides, but in the end, communities would get immigrants they want and need and immigrants would end up in communities where they would be welcome and would thrive. There would be a Vermont Immigrant Council that would coordinate the various communities in Vermont that want to attracts immigrants - not every town would need to have a rep on the border. There would be buses bringing immigrants to their new homes on a daily/weekly basis. Towns like Dummerston could both recruit families willing to take in an immigrant family and/or build housing where immigrant families could start out.There would be programs for English-language learning, skill development, etc., at the local level all over the United States (and the world, for that matter). Communities that wanted to remain all white would be free to do so. White supremacists could move to those communities and the rest of us could avoid them like the plague. In the end, I think there would be few such communities. Perhaps they would become curiosities like the petrified wood park in Lemmon, SD. 

I guess you could say that I am for open borders, but it would be a very orderly process in which everyone would win. Is this utopian? I don't think so. I think it is very practical and doable. And we could essentially do away with border patrol and ICE. I think the reality is that this country needs immigrants to remain vital, meet all employment needs, maintain a thriving economy. This would meet that goal and would be more than humane - it would promote human prosperity and full realization of human potential.

These thoughts were prompted by an up-coming meeting at the Dummerston Church later this evening where the immigration crisis will be discussed; this coming Sunday, the service will be devoted to that theme, and the choir is singing an Elton John song, Border Song.

Speculator adventure

We went into Speculator and walked the Sacandaga River Nature Trail, which is partly boardwalk, and partly trail. The mosquitoes were fierce. It was a perfect environment for them - standing water all over the place. Katie ran back to the car and got repellent - thank goodness! But other than fighting mosquitoes, it was a nice walk, with a diversity of flora. There were dragon flies too, but not enough to keep down the mosquito population. Brendon declined to do the walk - boring, he said -  so he went across the road to the beach. But eventually he found us on the trail. I forgot the camera, but here are a couple of pics from online.

Boardwalk bridge

Information kiosk for trail

Otherwise, today was a quiet, sit-and-watch-the-lake day. Partly sunny, cool, very pleasant.

Stewart Letter #6

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 Here is the newly numbered Letter #6, which is incomplete because it was folded in a way that blocked part of the text when it was copied. Letter #7 which follows this (formerly #5) is in an earlier post -  June 30th.

Letter #6

July 27, 1944

Dear Dad,

The counselor at the testing bureau told me that my scores on the Social Science tests were high enough to allow them to tell me that I could choose whatever subject that I wished to major in, since they felt confident that I could succeed easily in almost anything. I have decided to work until the fall quarter begins, saving all my money in the meanwhile, and then go to the U for a year.  The Navy V-12 test will not be given until November, and those who take it then cannot go into the Navy until March, 1945, at which time the test will be given again. Therefore I am going to take the test in November just to see how I come out on it. Then I shall take it again in March, being able to go into the service in July. The test is a combined examination for V-12  and ASTP programs, and one lists his preferences at the time[i] ....

                                   (lost section)

... I hope that you can keep well despite the conditions which you are living under. I wish with all my heart that I could be with you.

                                                Your loving son,

                                                            Stewart

---

[i] At this point in time, it seems clear that Stewart was still considering various options for military service  (e.g., Army or Navy), and those options entailed various time-tables (e.g., going into the service the following summer or earlier). He was juggling a number of variables: tests, his physical exam, getting dental work done, earning money, etc. As it turned out, he went in earlier than the following July - he went into the ASTRP in November and was sent to college at U of Nebraska, Lincoln. 

Oxbow Lake

Today (Monday) we are at a little cottage on Oxbow Lake near Speculator, NY with Katie, Savanna and Brendon. It was about a 4-hour drive from home yesterday, a very pleasant drive. When we left, the temp was 95 degrees, but here it is in the low 70s today (and rainy) and last night it was in the 60s. Sunday morning we went to the Guilford Church - another wonderful service which featured the trip to South Dakota (which we had dropped in on last week). After church we went by Andy and Robin Davis' house to give them a hug. They were packing for a trip to Iceland! Then we went to Walker's to get flowers for Betsey's grave - today (Monday the 22nd) is the third anniversary of her death - remembering her  today with love. Then we went home, had a snack and got ready to come to the lake.

Saturday was HOT! We went to Northampton because it was Tamar's birthday, and we ended up playing a new game called Dominion*, and the house was air conditioned. The game was complicated and interesting (unlike any board game I've played) and we were cool. Then we came back to Brattleboro and met John and Cynthia at an Indian restaurant, and it was air conditioned. After that we went to the movies - we saw Yesterday, which we liked a lot, and that was air conditioned. So we survived. By the time we got home, it was bearable with a fan going.

Friday was warm, but I spent the morning at John's, which was comfortable, and then I came back to the house, picked up Ellen and we went to a Marlboro rehearsal, which was not only air-conditioned but also a totally wonderful rehearsal featuring Mitsuko Uchida, in a Schubert Piano Trio which was transcendent. Also on the rehearsal program were the Schubert Ellen gesänge - a trio of songs based on Walter Scott's Lady of the Lake and includes Ave Maria, and a Mozart clarinet trio.

Now we are enjoying a rainy day at the lake and we just had a game of cards called Scotch Bridge or Oh Hell!  You deal ten hands, and bid each hand, but you start with ten cards and go down to one card. Bidding on the basis of one card is tricky!

Mitsuko Uchida

The little cottage at Oxbow Lake

New flowers for Betsey's grave

My friend in the lobby of the Latchis Theater

*Here is a review of Dominion:

"What else is there to say about Dominion, a game that has, in some ways, helped define the last 10 years of board gaming? “Deckbuilding” is nearly as ubiquitous in board game descriptions as “RPG elements” is in video games. While some people may be tired of the genre Dominion created, I think it’s brilliant, and I think it’s inspired some amazing games. 

The concept itself works because there are so many interesting decision angles built in. First, you must decide how to play the cards in your hand. In Dominion this isn’t usually a particularly interesting part of the game, but in some implementations of the genre it’s beautiful. Second, you have to decide which cards to purchase, which is the heart of Dominion

For those who don’t know, you start with a few money cards and a couple of victory point cards in your deck. From those 10 cards you’ll build an empire of sorts, although it’s all contained within your deck. The point of the game is to get victory points, which are also cards, but you can also buy action cards (there are 10 types to choose from each game), and more money.

The decision every single turn of what kind of card to buy is hard enough, but choosing between the cards in the kingdom pile can be agonizing. You have to remember that each time you run out of cards in your deck, you shuffle in the discard pile and restart the deck with whatever new cards you’ve bought included. So what’s going to make your deck better the next time through? What might not be good now but will improve as the game progresses? Maybe one particular card is great, but if you happen to draw it at the same time as the card you just bought previously, it’ll be a dead card.

An Action Card from Dominion

This combination of short term and long term thinking is so tough in Dominion, because while you want to think only about what will improve your deck immediately, you have to always be planning for the end game because it comes so quickly. A typical game of Dominion will last about 20 rounds. Your turns go by quickly but your deck will grow exponentially, as good purchases early game will allow better purchases mid-game, which will allow more victory point purchases late game."

The Film Yesterday:

"To call Jack (Himesh Patel) a "struggling musician" is an understatement. He plays in coffee shops, populated only by his friends. He sings on an empty boardwalk. His childhood friend Ellie (Lily James), who fell in love with him—and his music—when he played Oasis' "Wonderwall" at a talent show in grade school, acts as his manager, giving him pep talks, fired up by her belief in him. He lives with his parents in Suffolk, and is ready to throw in the towel when, one night, the earth experiences a 12-second blackout. During those 12 seconds, Jack is hit by a bus, and when he wakes up in the hospital realizes something weird has happened when he says to Ellie "Will you still feed me when I'm 64?" and she doesn't recognize the lyrics. “Why 64?” she asks with curiosity. Jack races to Google, and no matter what the combination of search terms, no trace of the Beatles is to be found. Curtis has a lot of fun with how absurd it would be if you mentioned "The Beatles” to people and they asked "What's that?" Jack makes the choice to start playing these "lost" songs, passing them off as his own."

That's the basis premise - this failing musician passes off Beatles songs as his own to a world that never heard of the Beatles and becomes an instant star. It explores some but not all the possibilities of that intriguing premise - enough to be quite entertaining. 

Himesh Patel as "Jack"

Amazing Hallowell

Thursday night I went to a Halloween rehearsal at Putney Cares in Putney. I was struck once again by what an amazing organization it is. We sing, but it is about so much more than singing. Tonight, several talked about a special session they had with a teen Village Harmony camp. This was a group of adults talking with a group of teens about death and dying! How often does that happen! They said the teens were remarkably open and eager to share their thoughts and experiences. Several had lost grandparents recently, some had lost peers. As the discussion developed, it became clear that the current generation of teens has had more experience with death than mine had had. Drug addiction and suicide are taking their toll. But this also means that these teens are much more interested and even eager to hear what Hallowell is doing. This led to a further discussion among us as to whether we might create more opportunities for that - an idea we liked.

In a separate, but related, discussion, one of our group leaders for a recent sing, Fred Breunig, reported on an unusually emotional experience. The sing was for a patient who was relatively young - in his fifties - who lived by himself and who in addition to having a terminal illness, had an addiction to alcohol. A few days before the sing, he had "fallen  off the wagon" and had a drinking binge and had been found unconscious on the floor. The group knew this when they went to sing for him, and became concerned when repeated knocks on the door brought no response. Finally, he came to the door, but in bad shape. He explained that he had been drinking again, and apologized. The group went in to sing for him - as Fred put it, "we weren't there to judge him," and he responded to the sing with great emotion and gratitude. It was, in effect, an affirmation that he was a human being and had worth. This dynamic proved to be emotional for everyone. But this experience led to a question we had never directly addressed - what if he had been unconscious on the floor? What would we do as a group? Someone said, "call 911." But Kathy Leo, our leader, demurred. When you call 911, you set in motion a protocol that might not be what the person wants, and may have so stated in Advanced Directives. Our first responsibility is to sing - even if the person is unconscious - while someone in the group calls Hospice or tries to locate family. 911 would be the last resort, not the first. This led to a very rich discussion and a decision by Kathy to  talk with Hospice and develop a very specific set of guidelines for how to deal with just such a situation. It would be rare - in 98% of the situations, someone else is there: a family member, a friend, a Hospice volunteer. But in this case there was not. How often does one get to participate in such discussions? Not often. So this is a special group in many ways.

On a bit less positive note, we broke into small groups to sing during the rehearsal, and I was asked to lead one. "Lead" means help choose songs, give the pitch, and keep the group together, set a tempo and keep it there. This has always been second nature for me, but last night, I found it to be hard  physically and mentally. I did it, but it took much more effort than I have experienced in the past, and I didn't feel I did it well. That was distressing. How much longer will I be able to do this? I'm determined to keep trying, but at some point, I will have to recognize that I am causing problems for others.
 
But the evening ended well for me - we sang a song, Fear Not the Pain, in honor of the daughter of one of our members who had a baby in February and suffers from a rare condition in which pregnancy and lactation has leached calcium from her bones, resulting in 8 mini-fractures in her spine. She cannot lift anything, which means she cannot hold her baby. Treatment is very expensive and will take years, although they are hopeful. When we performed this song in River Singers a year or two ago, I read the verses of the Rilke poem it is based on, and did so again last night. That was very moving for me.

Settling in

I think we have had a fairly soft landing, coming back home. The first night (Monday), was a great sleeping temperature. Since then, it has been warmer and more humid, and I guess the coming weekend doesn't look too good. But so far, so good. We have been taking it pretty easy. Last night (Wednesday), we went to an informal concert at the Marlboro Music Festival which was great:   Bach Cantata # 97, In Allen Meinen Taten; a Brahms clarinet trio, The Lamentations of Saul by della Joio, and a Faurè Piano Quartet - a wonderful program. I did some errands yesterday, but mostly we've been at home, reading, puttering, watching a little TV. We've had a drippy faucet in the kitchen sink for months and I managed to fix it today! Yay!  The house did well in our absence, very little sign of mice, Zach mowed. Good to be home.  Tonight is a Hallowell rehearsal. Ellen feels she has a touch of a cold, so she is staying home. Tomorrow, I'll go see John. Gradually getting back into the swim of things.

Some photos from our last day on the road:

The McKinley Birthplace Memorial and Library, Niles, OH

Statue of President McKinley at the McKinley Memorial

Ellen hoped to get postcards here, but the museum was closed on Mondays. From Niles, OH, we took I-80 east, went up toward New York through Kane, PA, took I-86 to Binghampton and then I-88 to Albany, and then the Mass Pike to I-91 and home. Monday was a long driving day!

On the way past the Dummerston Church today I saw that things are happening! The steeple has been dismantled for repairs, and some painting is being done as well.

Pieces of the steeple have been brought down for repairs

The bereft steeple!

Late arrival

We're heading home!! It will be close to midnight .

Later 

We got home about 20 after midnight. We would've been earlier but we stopped in Brattleboro to do some szhopping. It is quite comfortable temp-wise.  

Newton Falls, OH

We made it  to Newton Falls, OH last night and are in the Budget Lodge Motel - only $51, incld. tax. We got here at about 10p.m. It is in eastern Ohio near the PA border, not very far from Lordstown, where GM recently closed a huge plant. Not sure what the plan is today - Swarthmore or Vermont? Could go either way. Stay tuned!

Later:
Sounds like the "stars are not aligned" for a visit to Swarthmore this time. So I think we are Vermont-bound. We'll probably get in pretty late, but we won't have to build a fire in the stove and get the house warm! 

Our "minimalist" room at the Budget Lodge Inn

 

Remember Dick Haymes?

We talked about Dick Haymes, the crooner from the 1940s, tonight. Maggie had put a picture of the "Dick Haymes Fan Club" on the bureau in our bedroom - a picture of her and the daughters of a high school friend who was a Dick Haymes fan, plus Becky and Suzy.  I recall Shirley saying she liked Dick Haymes and went into the city with her high school friend, Jane, to a Dick Haymes concert. Maggie gave me a copy of a movie ad for The Shocking Miss Pilgrim with Dick Haymes and Betty Grable. It's actually available for free on YouTube. We could watch it. But probably not tonight.

Dick Haymes

The Dick Haymes 2 Fan Club

We made it to Bartlett

It was a long drive from Sioux Falls, SD to Bartlett, IL. We probably should have tried to leave the motel a bit earlier; as it was we left at about 10a.m., and we felt a bit under pressure. I started us out on Iowa, Rte. 9 which goes across the northern border. My thought was that we might be able to go down through Spillville, IA on our way to Dubuque, and visit the Dvorak Museum there. But we soon realized that there would be no time for that if we were going to get to Bartlett at a reasonable hour, and in  fact, we needed to get on to a faster road. So we went south to Rte. 18 and then, eventually, to U.S. 20, which is four-lane highway much of the way across Iowa. And then we just kept going, stopping only for gas and snacks. We got to Bartlett at 7:45p.m., which was a bit later than we had originally hoped, but not too bad. Maggie and Jerry welcomed us with ice cream bars!

Our "entertainment" in the car took four forms: (1) my reading aloud from Jill Lepore's These Truths, which continues to be a fascinating read; (2) listening to Teaching Company lectures on the history of food; (3)listening to NPR; and (4) listening to music. These Truths is a history of the US which focuses on the conflict between the founding principles of equality and freedom and the reality of slavery, and how that played out in virtually every aspect of American life. The period we were reading about yesterday was the Jacksonian period, a time eerily like the present!  The food history was dealing with the period of the Romans, early Christians and the beginnings of Islam. And the CD I pulled out at random was a 2010 Blanche Moyse Chorale concert which featured several pieces by Schubert, and Mendelsohn's Die Erste Walpurgisnacht. I don't remember ever having listened to the CD before, and had very fuzzy memories of singing in the concert! I had to look up the Chorale History on the computer to be reminded of details like, who was playing the piano? Turned out that Robbie Merfeld was playing the Schubert and the Mendelsohn was a piano 4-hand duo, two very accomplished Chinese students that Mary Westbrook-Geha knew.  It all seems like a long time ago.

Becky is coming over tonight; everyone else in the family is either busy or away. Maggie has eye surgery Monday morning, and needs Sunday to get ready, so we will leave Sunday morning.

Later:
We had a yummy supper ordered in from Pasta Mia with various veggie options and BBQ ribs. Followed by chocolate pie. Becky brought fruit and a strawberry rhubarb pie which will be for breakfast. We had a good talk with Becky. They are going to be removing asbestos this week from the attic at "Whitewood" - where Becky lives (Stewart's old house)  -  sort of scary but necessary. It will be done by "pros" - but you have to sort of feel for them, especially in hot, humid weather. Suzy and Dennis' house is on the market, but no offers as yet. If they actually end up selling the house and moving to Everett, WA where their son Ryan is - and Alicia and sweet little Ireland - they are really going to be missed here! Hard to even imagine after all these years. But nothing stays the same forever.

We may return via Swarthmore - we're checking.

Amazing!

When we left Lemmon, SD yesterday morning, I realized that we were not very far from LaPlant, SD, which is where a group from the Guilford Community Church, both youth and adults, including our pastor, Lise Sparrow, is currently on a two-week trip working with the Lakota tribe there to help provide a program for children. This is something that they have been doing every summer for several years. I thought it would be neat to see if we could find them. I sent Lise an email, giving her a heads-up that we might visit, and we set out. LaPlant was about two hours  away, but on our way back east, so we headed there to see what we could find. I checked my email, but no response from Lise. We drove into LaPlant, a tiny town, and stopped at the first place where there seemed to be people - and there they were! The whole group! Part of the group, including our friend, Terry Sylvester, was just about to leave on a swimming trip in the nearby Missouri River, but Lise stayed behind and gave us a quick tour. We learned a lot which I will try to share in future posts, but basically they are working alongside Lakota adults, helping to enable a very positive, nurturing experience for Lakota children whose families are desperately poor and dealing with multiple issues. They have helped build a beautiful playground, a greenhouse, enlarged the community building, and now a village of six houses is being built which will house Lakota children who would otherwise go into foster care with white families, but in this village will live with Lakota "parents and grandparents" and thus be raised in their Lakota traditions. The UCC denomination has played an important role in this (a UCC church will be a part of this village), including returning land to the Lakota tribe which had been acquired a century ago when the Congregationalists first started to do mission work among the Lakota people. The village will be built on that land. Another inspiration for this village is the work and philosophy of Geoffrey Canada, and the Harlem Children's Zone - more on that later.

I got some pictures, but my iPhone camera suddenly started acting very strangely. Images were faded out and blurry, and the phone would start taking scores of pictures all on its own without my even touching it! Weird!  And on top of that, my blog refuses to recognize those photos in the iPhoto archive. I've salvaged a few and enhanced them.

Terry Sylvester on her way for a swim

Pastor Lise

The new greenhouse

The dorm where the group lives. The mural is a work in progress and was designed by Terry Sylvester

We spent the night last night in a Microtel Inn and Suites in Sioux Falls, SD. On to Bartlett, IL!

Lemmon, SD

Tonight we are in Lemmon, SD. We had a lovely visit to the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, then drove down US 85 to Rte 12 and over to Lemmon. It is late and I don't have time for an extensive post tonight, but here are a couple of photos:

Theodore Roosevelt N.P.

another view in TRNP

Petrified wood park in Lemmon, SD - a totally weird, amazing place

More on this later!

We took a very nice evening walk around Lemmon and ran into this park. It was created about when I was born - a depression era creation. It is totally unique. Here's an article:

Petrified Wood Park

"Lemmon, a town along the upper reaches of South Dakota, is justly proud of their Petrified Wood Park. Bigger than the classic post cards suggest, the tourist attraction fills an entire city block in the heart of downtown. Recent renovations and careful maintenance make this one of the better manicured rock sculpture parks.

 

Petrified Wood Park was built from 1930-32 by town men under the command of visionary Ole S. Quammen. "Thirty to forty otherwise unemployed men received sustenance during this period," explains a sign at the site. Quammen, an amateur geologist, had the men scavenge rocks and fossils from the vicinity and haul them back to Lemmon. Their labors yielded a castle, a wishing well, a waterfall, the Lemmon Pioneer Museum, and hundreds of pile sculptures-- all made of petrified wood.

The park became city property in 1954 when it was donated by Quammen's heirs. A plaque honors "Ole S. Quammen, father of Mrs. Harry C. Olson, the creator and donor of this, the world's largest petrified wood park of its kind." In 2002, extensive repairs and renovations restored the park to its Depression Era glory. While we were there, someone official looking was watering the grass between the rock cones.

 

A hundred conical sculptures are spread around the park at sizes up to 20-ft. tall. Some are made from petrified wood and others from spherical "cannonballs" -- round rocks from North Dakota's Cannonball River. The tree effect adds to the eerie illusion of a petrified forest, especially since it's artificially constructed in this mostly treeless region of the northern plains. The "trees" are decorated with Christmas lights for an annual holiday "Fantasyland" display.

A building referred to as "the Castle" was crafted from a variety of petrified wood and thousands of pounds of petrified dinosaur and mammoth bones. Inside a room with a gate and spires, dinosaur bones masoned into interior walls"

Lemmon is, or was, also home to Kathleen Norris, theologian and author of Dakota, Cloister Walk, Amazing Grace and other  fine works. The town as it presents itself today, does not appear to be a place that would be interested in the things she has written. But of course that may be a mis-apprehension. 

Sidney, MT

This morning, we are in Sidney, MT after spending the night here in a Richmond Inn and Suites motel. We drove from Billings, MT to Sidney, but we made a major stop at Pompey's Pillar National Monument. We had never heard of it, and were curious, so we checked it out. It was both very interesting historically and a beautiful place to spend some time. We were loath to leave.

Pompey's Pillar is a large, 150-foot-high outcropping of sandstone next to the Yellowstone River. On July 25, 1806, Capt. William Clark, of Lewis & Clark fame, was canoeing up the Yellowstone on his way to reconnoiter with Lewis and his party who were further upstream at the confluence with the Missouri River, and  he was struck by this prominent feature. He landed and climbed up the mound, and carved his name into the sandstone, with the date. He named the mound after Sacagewea's son Pompy, of whom he was very fond. He probably recognized as well that it was important to the Crow people, and contains many petroglyphs. Clark, who was a meticulous journalist, made extensive notes on what he did and saw that day, which led others to the spot. Subsequent research by scientists has revealed that this mound bears evidence of 11,000 years of human activity. It was named a N.M. in 2001, and a new Interpretive Center was built in 2006. A commodious  stairway was constructed to the top, and by golly, I climbed it. I don't know how many steps, but it was a lot. I guess if it's 150 feet high, and a stair riser is about 6 inches, there must've been 300 steps. And just as many coming down! At the top I met a 76-year old amateur historian who was eager to share the history of the place with anyone interested in listening, which I was. From the top you got a 360 degree view which was magnificent. And of course on the way up there is a special platform from which to view Clark's inscription, covered with bulletproof glass (because so many patriotic Americans were taking pot-shots at it). Hundreds of other patriots have carved their initials  into the rock, in some cases disfiguring early Native-American sacred signs. I guess the Park Service has put an end to that. Places like this raise so many issues and questions concerning our country - like manifest destiny, our relationship to Native-American people's both historically and now, and how they are to be represented in a monument such as this, both historically and now. The Park Service is at least somewhat aware of those issues. I think it is important to have monuments such as this, just because they force us to deal with and think about those issues.

There was a lot we could have seen and done there - we could have stayed much of the day. But we had to keep moving, so we left, and pushed on eastward on I-94. As we got closer to the South Dakota border it began to rain, and got quite windy as well. This raised questions about what to do on Wednesday and where to spend the night. We had to stop and work through all that, and finally decided to stay here in Sidney, which puts us in a convenient place to go to the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt N.P today. I think going to Isle Royale N.P. tomorrow is out of the question at this point. Just too much. We got our supper tonight at a Reynolds Super Market which proved to be quite good and very reasonable. And our room is quite nice too. And the window opens - fresh air without a fan - which is quite unusual. We watched PBS News and a American Experience special on the moon landing which was fascinating. So many things we knew nothing of the time. E.g., who knew about Ed Dwight who was the first African-American pilot to train as an astronaut, whose skill got him into the final group of 14, and whom Bobby Kennedy really wanted to be sent on a space mission, but who was probably dropped from the program because his involvement offended southern senators who chaired Senate committees that funded NASA. He could have been the "Neil Armstrong person."

The Interpretive Center at Pompey's Pillar

Pompey's Pillar.  Top: from the base; Bottom: from the air

Clark's inscription - under protective glass

View of Yellowstone River from the top of Pompey's Pillar

Model of Capt. William Clark

The eating area at Reynold's super market - with history on the wall

Snow!

We came over the Beartooth highway today and as we went up, the temperature dropped to 35 degrees and we were back in winter scenes! It obviously had snowed hard earlier  today - thank goodness not while we were driving. There was still slush on the road and road signs were all still plastered with snow and ice.

Snow galore

This is July 8th?

We had hoped to see wildflowers up on the pass. We did - encased in snow!

Poor little guys

To go back - we said our tearful goodbyes to Paul, Jenny and Max at about 8a.m. this morning, and headed up to Jackson and then on to Grand Teton Park and Yellowstone. We learned one thing: don't go into the Parks on the days following the 4th of July! It was a zoo. Can't complain I guess - we were part of the problem. We headed up to Roosevelt in Yellowstone - one of the less frequented places - and it was a zoo too! We looked for a picnic table to have our lunch from the food box - they were all full everywhere. We finally found one in the Lamar Valley past Roosevelt - the parking lot was full (usually, no one is there), but we found one empty table. But there were still lovely scenes along the way.

Grand Moran in the Tetons

The aftermath of fire

This lone bison had attracted hundreds of people!

The Yellowstone River in one of its quieter moments

You go through Cooke City, MT after you leave Yellowstone Park before heading up the Beartooth Highway. Ellen found postcards at this old country store in Cooke City:

Cooke City General Store

And of course, there are spectacular views on the Beartooth Highway, snow or no snow:

Beartooth vistas

 We had a reservation in Billings at a Motel 6 for a non-smoking room, but when we got there, they had one room left and it was a smoking room, despite the reservation.We checked it out and it was unacceptable. So we gave up on Motel 6 and came to Super 8 - for $30 more! Oh well!