REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

Palm Sunday: A SoulCollage® Card

Weeks ago I bought a used program at the library book sale from Oberammergau 1990 and found this image that I meant to make a SoulCollage® card for, but then put it where it belonged so I couldn't find it until today. I had actually put it in the plastic folder of images I want to work with inside my black rolling SoulCollage® case I take to our group. 

While I was at Michael's today I bought some fern stickers to put on the card hoping they look a little like palms. By the way, the monthly used book sales at the Palos Verdes Library District provide me most of my collage materials. Great resource! So are my neighbors who save magazines for me. 

So, yesterday was Palm Sunday and at Christ Episcopal Church Redondo Beach, I was assigned the part of Judas to read during the Passion narrative. Fr. Bob kind of whispered to me, "He may have gotten a bum rap." Christ's part was played by Arnie, my Jewish neighbor, and I had to restrain myself from kissing him on the cheek when I betrayed him; Fr. Bob caught that. 

Four years ago, Mary Lou my dear friend and travel buddy, and I were privileged to take a pilgrimage tour of the Holy Land with Fr. Ray Mallett of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Hermosa Beach. It was a life changing experience for me, as those of you who know me well already know. 

In SoulCollage®, we are encouraged to write what we call "I am the one who" statements. It makes the card personal. I've put this card in the Council suit and I am the one who was deeply moved walking the path Jesus would have taken on Palm Sunday. When I saw this image, I felt like I taking part myself in the original Palm Sunday procession--but I also snapped back to when our group processed ourselves. I am the one who knew that this image would ease me into Holy Week when we reenact Jesus's final week of life. See that little girl in front with blonde hair? I am the one who would have looked like her. I am the one who has constantly questioned everything my entire life, but each year during Holy Week I manage to suspend my judgments and pretend that I am in Jerusalem and that I'm so sure of my faith, I don't question hardly at all. 

 

Corita Kent's Rainbow Swach is the Largest Copyrighted Work of Art in the World

While driving recently on a tour bus in Boston on our way to the John F. Kennedy Library, our guide pointed out something that really caught my eye—the Rainbow Swach, a work of art painted on a gas storage tank by the late Corita Kent. My photo was lousy but a Google Images search brought dozens of wonderful photos—and information that our tour guide did not give. I was especially enchanted with this Flickr photo by Inventing Liz  on the blog of "Seeing the World Through Google Earth, A Travelogue of an Armchair Traveller." I'm enchanted with this blog, by the way. 

According to Wikipedia, The Rainbow Swach is a work by Corita Kent in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The rainbow design painted on a 140-foot (43 m) tall LNG storage tank is the largest copyrighted work of art in the world. Highly visible from daily commuters drives on Interstate 93, the landmark is considered one of the major landmarks of Boston.

Originally created in 1971, the Rainbow Swash comprises large streaks of rainbow colors over a natural gas storage tank on Dorchester's waterfront, located about two miles (3 km) south of Downtown Boston. The landmark 140-foot (43 m) design is highly visible from the Southeast Expressway and passed by thousands of commuters daily. The design was transferred to its present location in 1992 when the original LNG tank was torn down.

In 1971, then-Boston Gas Company president Eli Goldston commissioned Corita Kent to paint the Rainbow Swash design on one of two adjacent LNG tanks facing Boston's Southeast Expressway. The original design was painted on an 8-inch (20 cm) scale model with 20 painters reproducing the work on the 140-foot (43 m) high tank.

Since the 1970s, the Rainbow Swach has been controversial. The mural was criticized as featuring a profile of Vietnamese Leader Ho Chi Minh's face in its blue stripe. Kent was a peace activist and some believe she was protesting the Vietnam War, but Kent herself always denied embedding such a profile.In 1992, the original rainbow-painted LNG tank was torn down and the Rainbow Swash was recreated on the adjacent tank despite objections from veterans groups. However, the blue stripe is less pronounced in the 1992 reproduction.

So, though I saw a lot of famous places during my recent trip to New York City and then a Holland America cruise up the east coast of the U.S. and Canada, ending in Quebec City, for some reason Corita Kent's gas storage tank keeps popping up in my mind. 

 

Ottawa Friends Visit After Traveling Route 66

The Internet is nothing short of miraculous as far as I'm concerned. It all began with my friend Lorna at Lorna in Wonderland whose blog I've followed (and she mine) for many years. Lorna and her husband Dave live in Ottawa and a year ago they came to California and stayed for a while and we got along famously. 

Today their friends Peggy and Merv from Ottawa came for brunch at CJ's Pantry as they completed their journey on Route 66 in Santa Monica yesterday. They started in Chicago a few weeks ago. I usually welcome guests to stay, but since my daughter moved back in, the inn is full. But--I loved Peggy and Merv--and I love Lorna and Dave. I'll get to Ottawa eventually, but hopefully the four of them will come next summer to "do California." 

Peggy and Merv got the official "I Traveled Route 66" dashboard card. Both of them were far more knowledgeable about Route 66 than I am, but I do remember driving part of it with my friend Kathy. We stayed in a funky motel in Winslow, AZ. 

And they drove Route 66 in their silver Mazda Miyata. A former Canadian military man, Merv, at Peggy's suggestion, showed off the tiny organized trunk with their three bags ready to move in and out of hotels and motels. What an adventure! 

I forgot the story about Ol'Pronto's license plate. From here Peggy and Merv are finishing L.A. in Hollywood, of course, and then head up the coast to Vancouver. Then they drive across Canada back to Ottawa, with week stops at their daughter's home and to another relative. Three more weeks to go and they expect the odometer to clock 10,000 miles by the end of their trip. What stories they had to tell. They should write a book! 

Peggy and Merv prove to Lorna and Dave that they visited with Fran and Sophia the Art Mannikin. Merv immediately commented that the top of Sophnia's dress looked like Peggy's wedding dress and she agreed. 

Boys of Summer

My iPad is so touchy about photos but here is one of Zach cooling down--I hope. This was an at home day: wading pool, boys giving a dance concert just like rock stars, baking cookies with momma, and lots of late afternoon digging in the dirt near their dad's construction site. Even hotter today in Port Angeles--hottest I've experienced. What a great trip I've had and I am so grateful.

Photos from Jasper national park

These are just a few photos inside Jasper NP today. My iPad is giving me fits so hope this transmits through sacred ordinary.

The Canadian Rockies Update

Mary Lou and I continue our 12 day Road Scholar program. 2 days in Calgary, 3 days at Banff and environs. Today was spent at lake Louise area. Everything has been so spectacular that my breath is taken away in mostly reverent ways but some physical. I have long had knee and back problems, but my lung capacity is diminished when I walk very far. Altitude only I hope. Tomorrow Jasper for 2 days and then we start the train part of the trip. We have also met so many nice elders. I feel so close to God/Spirit. Grateful to be able to take this journey with such a dear friend.

Snapshots from Port Angeles Art Walk

One of my favorite things to do in Port Angeles is to visit the fine arts center. There is a really fun outdoor art walk through Websters Woods featuring funky and fun sculptures and installations.

My son has visitors from Vietnam and it was particularly fun because 9 of us trekked including 7, 5, and 3 year olds. Some photos follow. Isn't the plastic bottle house great?

A Visit to the Rancho Mirage Public Library During Spring Break

I am the person who writes the content for the Palos Verdes Library District's Peninsula Friends of the Library website. As some of you know, I spent a few days in the Palm Springs area last week and visiting local libraries while traveling is a hobby of mine. 

"Last week my girlfriends and I spent a few days in Indian Wells, CA and one of the things I always do when traveling is to go visit one or more of the local libraries. Our Palos Verdes Library District is a wondrous place, but I’ve never met a library I didn’t like. I usually include my write-ups on the Peninsula Friends of the Library website, but I promised to share this write-up with Ellen November who is hosting a new blog for PVLD called  Ellen’s Go Libraries as well.

I had an ulterior motive for visiting in addition to looking all around the premises of this spectacular modernistic library carved right into the desert. I use a self-help art method called SoulCollage and I knew they had a used book library shop and I needed some old magazines to tear up.

 So, off we drove to the spectacular-looking Rancho Mirage Public Library located at  71-100 Hwy. 111, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270. Here are a few photos of the exterior.

 

The library was designed and built by MSR Ltd. and features shelving shelving for 125,000 books and recordings, and seating for 160 people in the library itself. Their public meeting room seats 350 and can be broken into three smaller rooms. A small conference room for 20 is adjacent. There is parking for 220 cars and a lovely outdoor garden space for special events. There is also a small gourmet café right next to the indoor Library Book Nook.

After a few stops to ooh and aah over some bookish bronze sculptures, we went right to the Library Book Nook. This room was staffed with friendly volunteers, many wonderful books and media of every ilk, and used magazines for 10 cents each. My friends were in a hurry and I didn’t have a car so a more leisurely visit will come on my next trip to the desert.

While we were there the community room had a movie playing for children—it was during spring break after all. They have a very ambitious schedule for the space in the library’s Spring Program’s brochure.  If I lived out there the library would undoubtedly be my home away from home, just like the Palos Verdes Libraries are.

One interesting fact I found in researching the Rancho Mirage Library was that the Friends of the Library group disbanded in 2010 and a foundation was established that oversees all library fund-raising including the Book Nook. In addition to funding special programs at the library, the Foundation also operates the Book Nook with over 3,000 volumes and a myriad of other items. The volunteers there were so friendly and helpful. My friends had to drag me out.

This is a library you won’t want to miss when you are visiting the Palm Spring area next time."

If you are a library visitor everywhere you go like I am, be sure to visit Ellen’s Go Libraries and send her your stories. What is your very favorite library in all the world? What has been the most unusual you have visited? 

 

 

 

 

My Impressions on Songdo IBD: South Korea's New Eco City

For more than 20 years I have worked for Chadwick School on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Southern California. For 16 years I was the Director of Communications and for the past four years I have continued to work part-time as the school archivist, or historian. Chadwick School was established as a home school by Margaret and Joseph Chadwick in San Pedro and moved to its present site on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in 1938. You can read all about Chadwick at the link above. A few years ago Chadwick was invited to establish Chadwick International School in a brand new eco city called Songdo, outside of Seoul and near Incheon. We have some exchange students this semester from Chadwick International and some of our faculty and administrators are helping to establish the school there so we hear wonderful stories about the new green city--and the new, state-of-the-art school.

At an assembly today at the Palos Verdes Chadwick campus, Stephen Gale of Gale Associates, one of the developers of the new city, spoke proudly to the students and faculty about Songdo; he calls it "city in a box." Thoroughly planned in advance, it is being built quickly; it is scheduled to be completed in 2016. Sustainable cities like this are springing up around the world, he said, and he encouraged students to Google and find out more about them. I Googled before the kids, I assure you, I was so fascinated. It almost seemed like science fiction. 

Dazzled as I was with the presentation, it also made me realize that I’m back somewhere in the 20^th century in my world of communication. The world is definitely proceeding globally and in a visionary way thanks to people who think out of the box. I'm not that kind of thinker. I'm one of those thinking globally-acting-locally kind of people, I'm afraid, but fortunately there are visionaries out there.  

I loved this description of Songdo as it appears on their website, linked above.

"Every country needs their own master-planned eco city. Germany will have aptly named ECO CITY Hamburg, the UK has Hanham Hall, Sweden has Super Sustainable City in Gothenburg, Spain has Logroño Montecorvo Eco City, and the UAW has Masdar. But South Korea seems to have two master-planned sustainable communities, we saw this super sustainable city by Foster + Partners earlier this week, and now we are taking a look atSongdo International Business District or Songdo IBD. This new eco-city will be impressive with its list of eco-credentials - tons of beautiful open space and parks, green roofs, solar passive design, mass transit and over 120 buildings built to LEED standards.

Songdo IBD, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, is located on the waterfront of Incheon, South Korea covering 1,500 acres. It is expected to cost over $30 billion and house 75,000 residents, and handle 300,000 commuters. Of the 1,500 acres, 40% of that will be open, green space, park and golf course, and the city will be easily traveled by foot and mass transit.

The first phase of the city has already been completed and Central Park, the large 100-acre green space, which was modeled after New York City's Central Park, has already been completed. Besides the expansive park, Songdo takes inspiration from many other famous attractions from around the world.  Songdo will also include Italianate canals, Savannah-style parks, Parisian boulevards, and a convention center modeled after Jørn Utzon's iconic opera house.

The impressive open space will do wonders for storm water retention and reduction of urban heat island effect, but that's not all the environmental tricks Songdo has up its sleeve. The whole city is based on LEED green building standards and over 120 buildings will seek LEED certification, which will make Songdo the largest private LEED development in the world. Songdo is also part of the LEED ND development program as well as Korean Green Building Certification System (KGBCS). The list of green design features includes, green roofs, LED lighting, co-generation, 75% of construction waste to be recycled, waste management system, low-VOC materials, expanded mass transit service, native landscaping and more." 

Further Googling brought me to several other links about the new eco cities under construction, but I especially liked this one called The Rise of the First Smart Cities.

If you take the time to read this post in depth, I'd be really interested to hear your reaction. I feel like I'm in a time warp, but I must admit, I hope I get to visit Songdo someday. 

 

 

At Summer's End I Recall a Deer in Snow, My Grandsons, Gardens, Animals

Today is the last day of August, and the final day of official "summer" for me personally. I returned to my three-day-a-week job today, and my routine will soon fall into place. I function best in routine, I'll admit, but I love summers and daylight savings. It's getting dark earlier and earlier and tonight I had to wear a jacket to walk Mollie. 

Tonight I'm burning some DVDs of my recent trip to Washington and Canada which brings back a ton of memories. When you travel like we did, where we tried to fit as much as we possibly could in each day, it's later, looking at the photos, and the journals, that memories come pouring back. 

This photo was taken at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park in Washington a few weeks ago. My daughter-in-law, my two grandsons, Mary Lou and I went there together and up there there was still snow. The deers at Hurricane Ridge are so accustomed to people that they don't spook easily. 

Zachary, five, who is on the left, started kindergarten in Port Angeles yesterday and I am anxiously awaiting word and a photo of what that was like.  

This sunflower, complete with bee, was taken in the St. Anne's School gardens in Victoria. We saw so many spectacular gardens on this trip and back home my gardenias and one rose bush are in a second bloom. When things are yukky this winter, I'll look at my few hundred garden photos over and over again.

And this is sweet Preggers, Laura and Joe's kitty cat, who I probably saw for the last time. She has kidney failure, but is still eating some and loves her bed on top of the dryer. She has had a marvelous life at Lake Dawn as an outdoor cat. Preggers, you sure captured my heart over the years. 

But, we hopefully have several years left to enjoy dear Elowa, Laura and Joe's dog--a magnificent animal who tolerates little boys from infancy, toddlerhood, and school years better than any dog I've ever known.