December 2015/January 2016
Our family was in mobile mode in December. Jenny and Mac left Las Vegas soon after Thanksgiving and drove their new mobile home to Whitbey Island. They are now vey happily settling in and finding new delights every day. Heath and Phoebe drove to Grand Canyon to meet Yael, Sam, Isaiah and Orli. After a few days on the rim they hiked down to Phantom Ranch for two nights (luckily between big snow storms). They had a day’s hiking on the Colorado River before climbing back up. (Eric and I hiked half way down in the summer of 1955 on our way to California It was our first such experience in the west. I remembered it as a 3000′ climb but is was actually 4700′. So ferociously hot, dry, unendurably long, and the climb back up was a huge effort for us tenderfeet.) Although they had to buy boot chains to hike down, as the first 1000′ was ice-coated snow, once below the snow line all was bliss. The kids are troopers and the family trips their parents find are fantastic. On spring vacation they are heading for Iceland.
Three art events occurred in December, first a panel of my bird paintings was put on exhibit at Ruch Library in the Applegate for two months, part of a very nice exhibit on birds put together by librarian Thalia Truesdell. The paintings were done in 2009 as part of the Shifting Patterns project here in which about 10 artists participated. I illustrated a predicted change in distribution of local birds as the earth warms, floral distribution changes, and birds respond. The birds were from two elevations of the Rogue Valley – the valley floor at 1200′ and the high country of the local Cascade Mountains at >4000′; the point being that valley birds have the option of moving higher locally or going north, but the high-elevations can only go north.
Here’s a papier-mache eagle that was part of the display. 
Another art project new in Ashland was begun by Jackie Markin and Cathy de Forest. Called ‘VisionQuilt’ it is in response to the agony we all feel about gun violence. Initially it involves making a ‘quilt’ of panels to be shown first on Martin Luther King Day. They are holding workshops all around town and providing materials and encouragement. I went to a workshop and sat immobile, trying to come up with an idea; I hadn’t a clue about what to do. But suddenly I did. There were some ugly black cutouts of guns, and oddly they inspired visions in my head of roses, and I put them together and was pleased with the outcome. MLK Day was celebrated on January 16 at the Ashland Armory and the quilt squares were strung on clothesline all around the hall. Every singing, dancing, tooting, drumming group in the valley gets involved. There are good acts and not-so-good ones, and everyone loves it. I’ve never gone because there is open seating and the line to get in is around the block. But this year our quilt squares were the featured art work and Jackie got me in with a reserved seat. Here’s a photo of the scene and my contribution to the quilt.
Mid-December brought a trip to Irvine where I have been spending the holidays with Lolly, Keith and Sam. Birding was poor, the reserve around UCI is brown, dotted with dead shrubs and cacti. It will be astonishing if they recover, but if the rains come it is possible. I reconnected with Charlie Collins for a sgroll around Bolsa Chica. And found that one astonishing has occurred ther since its restoration. Eel Grass is now abundant in the deep lagoon and Brant again winter there. Wonderful, as they have not done so since San Diego Bay was dredged deeply in the 50s and the gbrasses disappeared. These geese had to fly from San Francisco to Ensenada before encountering the havitat they need to survive.
The day after my arrival we drove to Rancho sin Nombre where we had a major repair done on our well. We needed to check on the water quality and cover the hole left in the roof of the pump house after repair of the pump. The water was running well but a hole in the hot water heater in my trailer was clearly going to disrupt plans for Pat Flanagan, Mike Evans and me to re-une there over the New Year. Keeping the place in working order is devilishly hard and Lolly does it all. Getting workmen, parts, etc. takes time she does not have, plus lots of phone calls, and regular visits. I wish it could be different but right now it is just a big burden. I hope to go down for the month of March and take care of some of the repairs, but will need hot water for a long stay.
The 3rd art event is part of a piece of family history story that began in early 1967 when the Massey family spent Eric’s first (and only) sabbatical in Oxfordshire. We lived for 5 months in a 300 year old stone cottage in Eynsham, about 6 miles from Oxford; a charismatic town that embodied my vision of what and English village should be like. I was on leave from my job and the days were usually mine, and I soon got big-time into brass rubbing. There was a young American bride across the street who had already begun and invited me to join in on her excursions. We went to churches all over Oxfordshire and several in London and I brought home over 30 rubbings. Several got framed and have hung in Heath’s, Lolly’s, and my homes ever since. The rest were placed between cardboard protectors and spent 32 years under our king-sized bed in Long Beach. When we moved I rolled them and put them into a sturdy tube. In Ashland they found haven in our tiny storage area across the breezeway where they remained until recently. And now, 48 years later, Lolly has only a few vivid memories of that sojourn, like starting school and celebrating her 6th birthday. She now teaches Art History at UC Irvine, and when a guest recently asked her about the rubbing of a knight above her mantel, they got into a discussion about brass rubbing. He told her that they are not allowed any more because they were beginning to harm the brasses. When she reported this to me I was intrigued and ready to take a belated look at this long-neglected treasure. I was about to go to Irvine for Christmas so I sent the tube on ahead so we could look at them together. Lolly then invited several other academics from the English Department to join us. No Art Historians as the ones who were interested were all away for the holidays. And what a fun event. There are 31 rubbings, all labeled with date and place of rubbing and name of person(s) being rubbed. We laid them out on the floor and they made an impressive display. I was pleased to find them in such great condition and so meticulously documented (didn’t remember doing so). At least two were notable – one of Thomas Chaucer, son of Geoffrey Chaucer. And when googled, with an impressive resume of his own.
Here is a photo of the Chaucer rubbing. The other was an equerry of Richard III. I told our guests I would be glad to pass them on if anyone wanted one. And Elizabeth, a Shakespearean, said she would love to see Thomas Chaucer installed in the entry to the English Department office. It is one of the largest, too big for most homes, and will be expensive to frame, so it was a great outcome.
Lolly then sent an email to our family along with a set of photos to see if anyone was interested. And got back a ‘yes’ from almost everyone.
As a postscript Phoebe (granddaughter) found she had 4 books on brass rubbing that were originally ours and which she acquired from us when we were downsizing before moving to Ashland. I love the way this story unfolded, and my home has an enhanced identity as a great rooting-around place. I have now found a bandaid can full of coins that Eric collected. Next time Sam is here we will check them out – we may find more unexpected treasures.
For Christmas Keith surprised Lolly and me with sculptures by Ricardo Braceda, the artist who did the marvelous metal sculptures of pre-historic creatures in Borrego Springs. She got the peacock, I got the donkey. Love them both.
Our neatest outing was to the new Broad Museum in L.A. It is an over-sized building across the street from Frank Gehry’s Disney Hall and is hopelessly out-competed by it, architecturally. But the inside space is good, built with the Broad collection in mind, which means huge rooms and wall spaces for gigantic works of art. For nothing in the collection is small or even medium-sized.
One Anselm Keifer has a wall to itself and is quite overwhelming, for me one of his most memorable works. There is no admission charge but the waiting line snaked around the block and it took hours to get in. Lolly, however, had an ‘in’, as 3 of the Art History grads she had taught at UCI had found jobs there. And they all offered to get her in if she simply called on arrival, which she did. What a perk, and essential in my case, as I am pretty sturdy at 92 but not able to stand in a line for hours. We browsed for several hours, dazzled by the number and quality of the works, so many outstanding contemporary American 20th century artists. Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol, Kara Walker, Cindy Sherman and many more are represented by multiple works.
Several installations were fascinating – Yayoi Kusama’s ‘Infinitely mirrored room” was a 45 second visit to a room hung with tiny LED lights of many colors that seem to go endlessly and created a beautiful unreality that was truly imaginative. What looks like a diving board is a short walkway onto a pool where you can turn in all directions to see the display.
Another was William Kentridge’s videos. I love LA for its museums. We always spend a day, usually at a great traveling show. And lunch afterwards at one of the downtown restaurants. I do this also in SF with Heath but not this trip. SF simply couldn’t compete with LA.
One evening in Irvine we had a meal close to the Noguchi Garden in Costa Mesa and afterwards walked to it. Haven’t been there in at least 30 years bu it was still as wonderful as I remembered. Especially at night when the lighting allows you to do marvelous silhouettes like this one.
Back home I started doing mosaic again. Karen Rycheck, with whom I took a workshop last summer, is now having an open-studio twice a week at her house, where we can come and stay for up to 3 hours. She provides all materials and her help in doing whatever we decide to do. It’s a lovely way to spend Sunday afternoons, and Jane Barton has joined me. Jane was so tickled with her first attempt, a grove of aspens, that she wanted to stay for hours, and I was delighted at her pleasure. In an ongoing effort to create an art piece out of a bird feeding station I have decorated a wooden bird feeding tray with a glass border in two brilliant, glittering colors. A Western Scrub-Jay is here using it. We have had almost steady rain for 10 days so it is great to have these indoor art activities.
But I overdid the glass cutting and had an aching wrist that night. I have developed carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand and it has begun to demand attention. So I went to see Karen Kuhl and am now getting a weekly massage from Jane for both the CTS and a bursa problem that stabs me in the hip and can cause my left leg to buckle. There is surgery for CTS but I wont go that way unless nothing else works and probably not then. So it’s massage and then acupuncture and if neither works I may just ‘live with them’. But no complaints as these are the only medical conditions I have, and isn’t that amazing.
I ended January with a mean head cold, cancelled all activities and clung to my bed for 3 days. It was not really a choice, I didn’t have the energy or enthusiasm even to read. I’m fine again and more appreciative than ever of my continuing good health.
Ending with a photo from my bedroom window in early January – Grizzly Peak looking gorgeous under fresh snow.
