A stole for Pentecost. Take a look at the full view on the website in the New Work Gallery.
Another new work "Dogwoods" is right beside it.
First the wind A stole for Pentecost. Take a look at the full view on the website in the New Work Gallery. Another new work "Dogwoods" is right beside it.
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Here I am in Jasper, in front of the antique logging engine at the depot. We took the Trans-Canada VIA train from Toronto to Vancouver last week, wanting to get a restful view of the vast spread of the continent. It was a wonderful way to relax. In Toronto, we visited the Royal Ontario Museum and the Textile Museum (where I fell in love with the gorgeous ikats and bought a yaktak--a woven silk coat lined in printed cotton. I'm quite sure I'll be the only yaktak-wearing fiber artist in Huntsville.) Then we boarded the train for the late evening departure. It took almost two days to cross the Canadian Shield, where glaciers scraped the topsoil south to Iowa. Granite is everywhere, with scrubby forests and boggy places, lots of birds (we kept looking for moose, but they weren't camera-seeking), beaver and muskrat houses. Not very populated, as there is little agriculture here. Then across the great prairies, where normally the first wheat crop would be growing; it's been so rainy that planting was impossible. Lots of water standing in the fields. If only they could send some of that rain to Texas! We had time for a bus tour of Winnipeg, where we particularly enjoyed seeing the beautifully preserved ruins of old St. Boniface Cathedral, and the new one built just behind it. The old cathedral burned when it was being re-roofed. VIA, the Canadian equivalent of AMTRAK, is committed to maintaining transcontinental passenger service, one of the uniting mechanisms for this huge country. They will even pick up a passenger at an unscheduled depot stop "if visible to the crew." And twice during our trip, the train stopped at a mile marker in the middle of nowhere to let a passenger off! We watched as these guys nonchalantly headed down a dirt road toward . . . well, who knows? Then everyone watched as we ascended toward the Canadian Rockies--and suddenly, around a curve, there they were. Wonderful scenery, a short stop in Jasper, then over the divide and down toward the Pacific. The Frazier River was very full and quite indimidating in its speed and wildness. Yes, we did see bears and elk. Living on a train, even with Pullman accomodations, requires cooperation and planning. There's just enough space in a compartment for one person to be standing or moving around while the other one stays in bed, in a chair, or in the toilet cubicle. So we plan who will dress first and then go down to the observation car while the other gets ready. Pat and I have made enough train trips that we have the routine pretty well in place, and we know not to bring a lot of luggage. Beds were comfortable (I get the upper bunk), food was very good, and there was lots of room in the several dome cars. Then we got to Vancouver and had a couple of days with brother David Shapiro and his wife Catherine and daughter Deana. We went to the surrealism exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery, where I learned more than I ever wanted to know about the surrealists. Ate great food, reminisced a lot. It was the week of the Stanley Cup finals, so we sympathized with Vancouver when the Canucks lost in Boston on Monday night, and shared their anticipation on Wednesday when the final game was scheduled. We were on the plane home when Boston took the Cup, so didn't witness the unfortunate rioting following the loss. It's very good to be home, and the cat is more than glad to have her accustomed laps available. On Memorial Day weekend, my sisters were in Hawaii to put my brother's ashes in the ocean. They planned to join the hundreds of people who float memorial lanterns on Memorial Day. You can see videos of this by googling "floating lanterns Hawaii"; it's very lovely. According to the website, they collect the lanterns later and recycle them for the following year (nice to know they don't litter unnecessarily). Those of us who didn't join the trip were invited to make our own lanterns and launch them in water nearer home. It wasn't feasible to coordinate the times, as we live all over the place, but I dutifully constructed my lantern and on Monday evening Patrick and I paddled out into our lake. It was a nice evening, but quite windy and warm. This has been typical weather for several months. The lake wasn't calm, by any means, but I finally got the candle lit and placed it gently on the water. So here's our little lantern, inscribed with John's name and a quote: "All I really want to do is play my bass and make bowls." and three seconds later the wind caught the lantern, flipped it over, and there it floated, bobbing peacefully upside down. We tried several times to re-launch, but the same thing happened. It seems that some weight glued to the bottom might have helped. A nautical engineer I am not. My brother Andy did launch successfully in Tennessee. Have not yet heard from brother Dave in Vancouver. I think Johnny would have laughed his head off had he been there. So we retreated inside where it was cool, and had a Margarita. John would certainly have enjoyed that. |
AuthorBobbe Shapiro Nolan, Fiber Artist in Eagle Lake, TX. Trying to learn to call the sewing room my studio, and myself an artist. I retired after 15 years in hospice nursing--so now I have the time!. Archives
July 2021
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