In addition to the other lectures and cultural events we regularly attend, this year we added TownHall, the lecture series that benefits the Ringling College Library. Former CIA director John Brennan was the leadoff speaker, and his discussion of intelligence gathering, the United States’ place in the world, and what should be required of anyone holding public office was focused, pointed, and oh, so very timely!
Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion at the Ringling Museum. My sister Sally paints in watercolor and her husband Bruce works with fused glass to make jewelry so a trip to the art museum was a perfect outing. We were all impressed with the wide range of glass pieces on display here. This new gallery just opened and is a marvelous addition. Everything from blown glass to cast glass to slumped by artists from Czechoslovakia, The Netherlands, and Japan as well as the U. S. We also visited the Asian Center (opened in 2016) and explored some of the permanent collection in the main building. If you like glass, this gallery is a must and it’s free!
Shakespeare in Loveat the Asolo Rep Theatre gets off to a slow start and then becomes lively and delightful! As always, the acting is wonderful, the staging creative, and the music an essential and lovely counterpoint to the action. Full of humor and fun.
SALT FLATS AND MANGROVES
We live on a small island surrounded and bounded by mangroves, our buffer against tides and wind. The Chief Penguin and I took advantage of the opportunity to see less visible parts of the island, particularly two salt flats, each very different in character. One was dry and gray and bare except for the skeletal remains (gray limbs) of some very dead mangroves.
The other salt flat gets covered over when it rains, but this day was just a damp stark black with scattered patches of a low ground cover with tiny red flowers and some bits of green foliage. The black surface looked soft, but it was actually about an eighth of an inch thick, and if you peeled up a piece, very leathery. Underneath was some pinkish brown earth.
Our guide and resident naturalist, Bruce, shared some of the history of the island and also showed us the three different types of mangroves we have: red, that are always in wet ground with new growth and curved shoots down to the earth; green, that often have traces of excreted salt on their leaves; and white ones on which some leaves have a small notch at the tip. Both the green and the white mangroves can tolerate a drier setting than the red ones. You might say, “mangroves are us” here.
The name may be bland, but the South Florida Museum in Bradenton is doing big things! The Chief Penguin and I were delighted to be at their groundbreaking this week for a new addition. It’s an education wing with several new classrooms along with the Mosaic Backyard Universe. The classrooms will enable them to build on the wonderful partnerships they already have with the local schools and the Backyard Universe is an innovative indoor and outdoor space that will provide new ways for younger children to explore their world. The new center adds more exciting development to downtown Bradenton (the museum is practically on the Riverwalk) and will attract families with very young children. It’s a win for everyone!
The project has been in the works for more than five years and there are a number of forward-looking leaders and partners who’ve made it happen. Current leadership includes two stellar women, museum CEO Brynne Anne Besio and board chair, Jeanie Kirkpatrick. It was great too to see the museum’s class of kindergarten children wielding their own little shovels.
I like films about journalists and the press and I will see any film that stars Meryl Streep. Predisposed toward The Post as I was, I found it excellent! Meryl Streep is superb as Katharine Graham and Tom Hanks captures gung-ho editor Ben Bradlee. It was also fun to see Matthew Rhys of “The Americans” showing up as Daniel Ellsburg.
But Streep gets my vote for conveying all aspects of Graham. Graham was a product of her time, a woman who was raised to be a wife and mother and therefore, invisible; she was a gracious and skilled hostess, and she, like her late husband, was a friend to politicians and presidents. She never expected to be thrust into the job of publisher and in the critical scene where Graham must decide what to do, Streep’s lips purse, her face wrinkles, she hesitates, and you feel the thought process as this woman weighs all she and the paper stand to lose and what might be gained. In that instant, Graham becomes a publisher to reckon with.
There are some other marvelous scenes too: when she’s the lone woman meeting with the bankers and when she has a telling and poignant conversation with her good friend Robert McNamara.
I remember the controversy surrounding the “Pentagon Papers” and so probably did other moviegoers as the audience clapped at the end of the film. With all the castigation of the press today and the emphasis on “fake news” by some, this film about freedom of the press is a must-see! I also recommend Graham’s autobiography, Personal History, published in 1997.
Note: Photo of Graham from cronkitehhh.jmc.asu.edu
Yesterday we enjoyed a lovely day in the Marlborough region. It was sunny and even got warm—into the 60’s! Breakfast was a lovely spread of meats and cheeses, fresh fruit, pastry and bread and jam. Genial general manager Peter plopped down to chat and to help us plan our day, area map in hand.
He recommended the Omaka Aviation Heritage Center which initially was a building and commentary about the early planes used in WWI with lots of restored examples. That was so popular they added a second building with a smaller collection of WWII fighter planes from the Allies and the Germans. I knew the Chief Penguin would find this museum of interest and I was willing to go along. Given that these were the real planes and all restored and, supposedly, able to be flown today, it was more than I had expected. I certainly did not read all the commentary about their dimensions and how many battles they saw, but was overall impressed.
Kiwi filmmaker Peter Jackson was significant in the museum’s creation, and there were several life-size scenes of figures in battle gear, the figures reminiscent of those at the Gallipoli exhibit at Te Papa, only not oversized. I was also taken with the various war posters from England and the US and even France as well as a three-panel display of 5,000 red poppies. Each one was knitted or crocheted or sewn.
Lunch yesterday was at the Rock Ferry winery and was another lovely experience. The temperature was perfect, the sun was out, and we sat on their porch overlooking a small garden area with picnic tables on the lawn surrounded by flowering trees and blooms. It was almost like being in your own personal garden!
Following Peter’s recommendations (they’ve been very reliable!), we ordered the fish of the day over coconut risotto with lime and coriander and a side salad and the open-faced steak sandwich with sautéed onions, fries, and a salad, and for dessert the Snicker tart (very rich and sweet). Here in New Zealand, tasting rooms are called cellar doors and virtually every winery has a full restaurant.
Our last stop was the Makana Chocolate Factory for a look through their production window (they appeared to be making one of the nut brittles) and then a slow swing around the shelves at the many temptations. We left with some macadamia chocolate brittle and some dark chocolate peppermint panache. We’ll see if it all makes it home unopened!
We again sat outside by the stone fireplace before dinner, this time chatting with Lisa, Peter’s second-in-command, and learned about how, although born in New Zealand, she acquired a posh British accent. Her folks came to the UK from Britain and she was born here, but then they returned home and she did all her schooling over there. She has traveled extensively and we shared the joys of those international experiences. We were again the lone diners, but appreciated the chance to chat with British waiter Ben and to learn more about his plans for next year—more travel!
On Friday by prior arrangement, we were hosted at Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand, by Liz Hay and some of her colleagues.
After a warm welcome, we chatted over coffee before meeting with the director, Garant and Dave, COO. Over lunch we had more time with Liz along with Patrick, who oversees the installation teams around the world of their traveling exhibits, and Mark, collection manager. The California Academy of Sciences presented their exhibit, “Whales,” which the Chief Penguin and I saw in New York before he signed the contract for it to come to San Francisco. It was/is a fabulous exhibit which incorporates material about the Maori culture, giving it a social history component in addition to the science and study of those large mammals.
Moari meetinghouse (blogteara.co.nz)
The museum opened in its current location on the waterfront in 1998 and it’s a beautiful and striking building. We were with museum staff all day and consequently, wished the day had been longer so that we could have explored even more of it. Mariah, our guide for the public floor and part of the paid staff, is Maori and she gave us a lot of context for the exhibits. She is both proud of and a bit defensive about her Maori heritage so touring with her provided a perspective we wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. She grew up in Wellington and said as an “urban Maori,” there was a lot that she was not exposed to. Only recently, as an adult, has she been learning the Maori language. Her siblings have not embraced their Maori roots in the same way. She also stated that since the 1990’s there has been more positive feeling between Maoris and Caucasians, and more Maori have been elected to serve in parliament.
The second half of our tour included going behind the scenes to see the collections. These Maori artifacts are viewed as sacred and, therefore, we were required to leave our backpacks and handbags in a locker outside. Upon entering, Mark, the collection manager, gave a short prayer in Maori before we proceeded. Their collection includes weapons of various sorts made of stone or wood, beautiful woven baskets, and gorgeous ceremonial robes made with feathers from various birds.
Maori weaving (pinterest.com)
Today, collection managers in New Zealand museums must be Maori themselves if it’s a Maori collection. Mark is Maori, did some required training, and is currently studying toward a master’s degree. He is also a weaver. Around his neck, he wore a pendant made of New Zealand greenstone, a type of jade. Before we left the collection room, he gave another prayer, returning us to earth and grounding us. The Maori are a superstitious people. Outside the door at the water fountain, he took a few drops of water and sort of sprinkled them over his head and face, a cleansing act. We copied his actions.
Aside from the Maori artifacts, meetinghouse, and large-scale renditions of the Waitangi Treaty on opposite walls in English and Maori, the museum has an art collection, several cafes, and an exhibit on the Battle at Gallipoli that has been open for two and a half years and is still wildly popular. It features the stories of six individuals involved in this WWI battle (soldiers, commanders, and a nurse) with lots of photos and commentary from journals and letters. But the most striking thing about it is the six human figures, 2.5 times life size, that are rendered realistically down to the hairs on their head.
BLENHEIM AREA
On Saturday, we flew from Wellington to Blenheim which is about 20 minutes in the air, but far preferable to the often rough crossing of the Cook Strait which takes three to four hours. At Blenheim we were met by a chatty driver, named Matty. A young man who grew up on a vineyard nearby, he now works as a driver and boat captain for one of the local firms. His grandfather had been a sheep farmer, but when grape growing became popular in the late 70’s and early 80’s, he converted his land from sheep to grapes. Today the family sells all their grapes to one of the big vintners. Matty took us the roughly 20 minute drive from the airport to Picton, a small burg where we would get the water taxi out to our hotel on the Queen Charlotte Sound.
We had a couple hours to wait before our scheduled taxi on the Cougar Line and it was lunchtime. We chose a café on the street facing the beach and enjoyed fish and chips and fish cakes. It was sunny and quite warm until a stiff breeze came up, chilling us considerably. We wandered the short side streets checking out the shops and restaurants. Cruise ships dock here, which explained the unexpected number of gift and souvenir shops and the many small restaurants.
The Cougar 1 could accommodate up to 28 people if some sat outside. We were happily inside for the 35-minute trip. The wind raised a few whitecaps making the trip rocky for a bit, but then the boat just bumped along until we reached the dock at Bay of Many Coves.
This is a secluded woodsy property of small buildings clustered up the steep hillside. Dinner several levels above the waterfront was lovely and the whole place is very peaceful. The busy season starts in November and there were only a few other guests.
The rest of the day we mostly vegged out—reading, gazing at the view, and enjoying the tasty meals and slower pace.
