Oh, say can you see . . . . .

Americans are delightfully "showy" people. They sing and dance and speak into microphones at the drop of a hat. Their Memorial Day celebrations illustrate this to a T. This is the day they remember their fallen - no matter what battle or how long ago. We watched last night and enjoyed it. Filled with emotion the audience often wiped away their tears, and we also wiped away our tears - crying for soldiers everywhere in the world.
They had the young wife - 19 years old, husband killed in Afghanistan. Then move to an older woman whose husband died in Vietnam more than 50 years ago. Their stories are heartbreaking. At the end, they approach each other and hug.
In true American fashion, stars of famous TV shows are the hosts. But these guys have been carefully chosen. Not smooth. Not light. Not pedantic. Just right.
The Airforce, the Navy, the Army, the Marines - each come out dramatically with their own marching song. We sing along with the audience just as if we'd been singing them all our lives! I'm sure they come from Hollywood war movies!
Towards the end, 2 actors depict soldiers. It's a story about how "Charlie" was always looking out for his whole platoon, putting his own life at risk over and over again to keep his buddies from certain death. He is hit by an enemy bullet at the end and dies. Veterans in the audience are crying. It's very emotional. The actors approach this group afterwards, and there are hugs and handshakes and shoulder squeezes.
No one does this like Americans. No one can lift this stuff off the page, out of the records, out of the "armistice" word, and make it hurt, make it okay to cry, make us feel somehow "better" after - more human. Maybe it's schmaltzy, maybe it's theatre, maybe it's strutting, but it's what Americans are about. A perfect example of why the people of this country 'cheerlead' their nation - get their "blowhard" label - make us choose a table on the other side of the restaurant. But don't sneer too loudly. This country will fight to the death over and over again for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". And I ask you - what other country on the face of the planet has the hutzpah to use "the pursuit of happiness" as one of their 'declarations'.
Canada takes the United States of America for granted. Just because it's the country everyone loves to hate doesn't mean we should. In Canada, we stand for "peace, order, and good government" - ah yes, bring on more "order". Bring on more "good government". They are such "uplifting" goals, aren't they? Come on! Where is the passion? Where is the fire? Where is the spirit? Okay, okay, I agree that our neighbors could use less of it. But by golly folks, we can sure use more of it.

Tongue lashing

The annual summer Sports Day in our town
Three schools determined to win the cup.
Furtive looks at the score board. We hardly ever won.
Races were my favorite - though small - I could run real fast.
One year in the broad jump competition I landed somehow wrong,
and bit my tongue. It split apart, blood filling my mouth.
I tried to hide it. But everyone came running.
Kids gagged when I spit the blood out.
Teachers looked stricken and reached for handkerchiefs.
What could anyone do? Put a band aid on it?
I was sent home.
My tongue swelled and I talked real funny.
For a week, I'd stick out my tongue to show the ugly cut.
Then nobody cared anymore. It took 5 years for the scar to go away.

Games People Play

Crossword Puzzles.

The Globe and Mail has a great Saturday crossword puzzle on the computer, but you have to pay for it. So I usually head for our little corner store first thing Saturday and buy the Saturday G&B. Sometimes they're sold out, and sometimes they have 20 of them. They charge 50 cents less than the service station across the street. The puzzle is carefully cut out to the right size, clamped to my clipboard and with a real pencil (eraser on the end, for sure) I happily muddle away with this for the rest of the week be it in the bathroom, bedroom or car. But this is the only crossword I do on paper. Computer crossword puzzles are just as much fun. Skill levels are "master" and "regular". With "master" you're on your own. With "regular" your mistakes are colored, so you know immediately that you have to find another word. I usually choose "master" - just to add a handicap. The fun part comes at the end. I switch from master to regular and see how many colored letters appear. If there's only 2 or 3 colored letters, I'm happy. "For an old lady - not bad at all!" I say out loud to my invisible audience as they applaud.

Bridge.

I play it for real once a year when my sisters and I get together for our annual visit - two of them play bridge all the time at various ladies bridge clubs, so they're really good. My younger sister is like me - plays just this one time a year. But we hold our own, enjoy our glass of wine, laugh and have a good time. On the computer, I play with funny looking avatar partners and turn off the sound so I don't have to listen to their silly comments. They never make mistakes, though, so I try to keep out of trouble. The odd time, I'll bid 6 spades and if I pull it off, I'm ecstatic. As far as adding to your skill at a game, I would say computer bridge is at the top.

Mind Games.

The New York Times has mind games: - Improve the health and function of your brain", it says, "with the right mental workouts." Having concentration problems playing piano, I think "Ah Ha!" - this will fix me up. No change so far, but these little workouts really do force you to pay attention. I have just discovered these, so how often I'm back there remains to be seen. My gut feeling is that I will like this.

Jigsaw Puzzles
Got a Frank Lloyd Wright puzzle for Xmas. Glass art design. Frank wintered in Phoenix for years. Last month while we were there, we visited his home and were told that his glass wall is part of the hotel lobby just down the street. It takes up a whole wall! Fascinating to see the real thing after looking at the picture on the box. Spread out on a table upstairs, it's already being put together. Good solid puzzle with very bright colors. Difficulty? I'd say about medium. Something interesting. I can listen to podcasts on my computer and work on the jigsaw with equal concentration. They are obviously in completely differing parts of the brain. The brain waves never cross each other's paths. I have decided to have a jigsaw puzzle on the go always. Very satisfying.

Scrabble.

The only frustrating thing is that the computer has access to an astounding dictionary. They can beat you with a word you're never seen before. But this works both ways. I can't tell you how often I have tried the most unlikely word, and like a miracle, the computer tells you it is a word! Sometimes I even get big points for my weird looking word. I tell the story to anyone who will listen. My granddaughter is an amazing Scrabble player. She posts her high scores on Facebook, and I'm going to start doing that too.

When I'm sleeping badly, I reach for my computer. Immediately, my frustration and discomfort disappear. I get busy with a game and within the hour, I'm back to sleep.

Hole #1

We've only belonged to one golf course.  Part of a small town community, the Innisfail Golf course had been "bequeathed" to the town by a long ago doctor who loved the game.  Legend has it that sheep grazed on the 2nd, 9th and 15th fairways - the golfers just playing through them, and probably hitting the odd one here and there, I'm sure.
A horse drawn mower sits on display - says on it that the machine was used in 1925 to cut the grass on the fairways. The course goes back to that date, and is run by the town of Innisfail.  The benefactor stipulated that it was not to be considered a "for profit" venture,  all monies were to go back into it's upkeep. As a result, it's considered one of the best courses in Central Alberta. Calgarians in particular often make the trip to play 18 holes whenever they get the chance.  We would play with guys that were attending some conference or other, and their round of golf was the very best thing about their visit.
5 years ago, the course expanded to 27 holes and as part of the official opening, the old tee signs were auctioned off.  Merv bid on the Hole number 1 sign and ended up getting it for $300.  From a post on our farm in Alberta, we carried it into our new life.  Pictured on our little townhouse patio fence, you can see that it's still enjoying the recognition it should.  "Well now" visitors say "where did you get that neat sign?"

Two Young Girls at the Piano

My favorite Renoir painting is "Two Young Girls at the Piano". It's part of my Internet album from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I've never replaced it since I started the album many years ago. A neat thing about the web site is that you can enlarge the paintings and peer closely at a pleat in a dress, or a special looking slipper or the red tulips in field.
One day I had an "Ah Ha!" moment. I would do my own version of "Two Young Girls at the Piano"!
I just happened to have the 2 young girls and I just happened to have the piano.
The young girls were my granddaughters. Robyn in the pink shirt. And Amy at the keyboard. These two also happen to be real musicians. Amy is an accomplished pianist, and Robyn an accomplished bassoonist! So you can see why this whole scenario seemed like a picture just waiting to happen. They were younger then, and still willing to go along with another one of Grandma's weird ideas. I emailed them the picture, explained the plan and they sent "It's good for me, Grandma. It'll be fun".
We were planning a baseball weekend, and both families were expected, so I decided it was now or never. When the baseball was done and before they disappeared for one of their talk and talk and talk sessions, I said "okay girls - take your places. Let's get the show on the road!"
I had printed the Renoir so they could literally study it and position themselves as closely to the original as possible. We took several takes and tried different chairs, different objects on the piano. We stared and stared at the attempts, and everyone had their own ideas as to how to improve the picture. When I left the scene, they continued fooling around at the piano for an hour before heading to a corner where the bothersome boys wouldn't find them.
I made Robyn and Amy photo books, and I included the shot you see here.
In 1892 Renoir billed his painting as an "intimate and engaging scene of bourgeois domestic life." And you know what? I'm completely okay with that.

Georgia

Georgia O'Keefe

Many years ago, I started my own little "museum" - works of art that I liked.  This was one of them.
Through the miracle of the internet, I was able to look through the massive collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and pick 50 works of art. I've had this collection for 20 years, and I still visit it occasionally - throw out some stuff and put in other stuff.
Photography has always been a favorite.  This photograph was taken by Georgia O'Keefe's husband, Alfred Steiglitz, a 'pioneer' photographer.  They must have been quite the pair, because she was an artist, and did some pretty weird stuff that everyone oh'd and ah'd about.
But those hands!  Look at those beautiful hands.  Here's what she said about this picture that her husband took:
"My hands had always been admired since I was a little girl.  But I never thought much about it.  He wanted head and hands and arms in many different positions.  Steiglitz  had a very sharp eye about what he wanted to say with the camera.  When I look over the photographs that he took of me - some of them more than 60 years ago I wonder who that person is . It is as if in one life, I have lived many lives."
They loved New Mexico and lived in Santa Fe for many years.
She died in 1986 at the age of 98.

1975

"I always hated this picture" he says "I had such a bad cold that day".
It was a brand new house with one of those sunken living rooms that were so popular back then.  We were well established in our new community, had been living in the old part of town for a couple of years, renting a house, and had finally decided to take the plunge and buy a fancy house in an upscale neighborhood.
The photographer gave us a deal.  
It was a real effort to get the kids all home at the same time and in some sort of looking good mode.   We hated that dog.  He was completely spaced out.  Ran wildly all over and drove us nuts. We eventually got rid of it.  I still remember the lady driving away with him in her car.  I felt sorry for her.
We ended up hanging the picture in the dining room.
We didn't live in the house for long before we knew we'd made a huge mistake.  The shower in an upstairs bathroom spewed water down the walls. Weird smells in the closets.  Carpet coming loose all over the place. The owner belonged to some sort of sect where you were always supposed to have a year's supply of food.  He left a full freezer in the basement.  Does anyone else have a story like this?  I doubt it.   
We were lucky that the economy was good and we made money on the re-sale.  After that, we refused to look at any house that was "custom built".

"Wiley Willie"

We meet on the 12th hole.  I am looking for my ball, notice this movement to my left and there he is.  He scares the daylights out of me!  And he's just a little bird.
I freeze.  He doesn't move.  His eyes say "What the hell are you doing here?"
I look for Merv - wanting him to see this. Too far away. And the party behind us has driven and are heading down the fairway.  I have to get moving.
I take 2 steps forward.  He doesn't move.
I rummage in my pocket for the camera.  Try another step forward.  He still doesn't move!  This is some brave wee owl.  And look at him.  He looks fierce!  Positively fierce.  He's defending his home to the death and he's not going anywhere.

I finally spot my ball - and luckily not in his way.  I have to get going, so I shoot quickly, and look back.  He's gone.