Whatever Wednesday - Emerald Lake

Are you tired of Canadian Rockies photos yet?   Oh  well.  I recommend  you  book a  trip  and see the magic for yourself.    Here's  Emerald Lake

So pristine. Colors  so pure

Lush greenery and COLD glacier water

We had a lovely day to enjoy time there. 

Aah!
 

Monday Moments - Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten

 Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten is a very fun, energetic read.  This  woman is a gem and has truly taken advantage of forks in the road.  I enjoyed her television series Be My Guest, and  I was hooked.  She makes cooking look easy and fun. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. 

She had a rough upbringing ( very cold  parents).  She met Jeffrey Garten at a very young age, but she  recognized a kindred spirit. She married young and the two of them forged quite  a life.  Their  timing proved impeccable and  they had the guts to say "yes" to so  many choices.   Buy a specialty food store in  the Hamptons - the Barefoot  Contessa. Gutsy choice,  but it proved to be a trail blazing adventure.  

She shares her life choices - no holds barred.   Her humor, descriptions, and enthusiasm are inspiring. 

Huge  thumbs up. I want to hang out in her kitchen.  Sheer joy for life, cooking, and people ooze  from this book.  I loved it and embrace her spirit.  

Finally Friday - Soar With Me Over the Canadian Rockies

So, we said "hell yeah" to the helicopter ride out of Banff over the Canadian Rockies.   Hey - sit  back and enjoy the ride.  

Wow.   After looking up this trip, we got to look down and it  was spectacular. 

I had the front seat next to the pilot. wow.   Dramatic.   120 kilometers an  hour.  
 

Clouds and mountains.   We had the most  perfect  weather and  views. 

 Beyond words and feelings.  Just so damn cool!  

Whatever Wednesday - Art Adventure

Sunday June 22, I awoke and decided  on a Fort  Worth  art adventure.  Ray was off  to his family reunion (it's tradition - I don't go).  Anyway, I drove to  the Kimbell Art Museum  first.  The current exhibition - Modern Art and Politics in Germany 1910-1945 was  a WOW and very timely for our current fraught American situation.  And it was the last day - so  a must see, and the Kimbell had quite  a queue. I was glad to see so many people open to this exhibit. 

above - Christian Schad's Sonja depicted the so-called "new woman" of 1928.  In the aftermath of 1918's  wartime, women won  the right  to vote.  Lots of change afoot. 

Numerous works of this time period  were declared as "degenerate"  art - denounced and confiscated.   The artists were the earliest to express displeasure with what they saw brewing in Germany.  Emile Nolde, Kurt Gunther, Curt Querner, Otto Dix, Paul Klee, Max Beckman, and George Grosz pushed the envelope and many had to flee. 

Let's think about  today - art bans, book  bans, television and movies and more....hmmm

 Horst Strempel's Night Over Germany (oil  on burlap) is a stunning, shattering work.  Jewish families hiding in fear.  

There  was hushed admiration in the Kimbell.  I'm sure many people left thinking...
 

After a light lunch in the Kimbell cafe, I walked down the  block  to the Amon Carter.  Forty photos for forty years since Richard  Avedon's American  West exhibit.  I remember that one - I  was fairly new to  Texas.  The black  and white photos of  just regular folks are stunning.  Crisp, clear, and the people staring back at you - their eyes say so  much. 

Here's a compilation  of  photos  from  the opening  day.  Avedon  was THE photographer  for  famous people and Vogue.   Then he explored the West - oil workers, ranchers - a tough life in  the summer heat.  One of  the  coordinators for  the  project was a photographer in her own right  (Laura  Wilson - mother to actors Owen, Luke).  Her keen eye helped Avedon  on the shoots.  

I truly enjoyed my art afternoon.  Then home for a dip in the pool.  And Ray  arrived home after a fine  time  with family and full from BBQ. 

That's how  we  roll. 

Monday Moments - This is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer

 Central Park, NYC has been witness for a half  century of love for  Abe and Jane. Alas, Jane is dying and Abe is recounting their life together.  

Cover blurb: Told in various parts of view, even in conversation with Central Park, these  voices weave in and out  to paint a portrait as complicated and essential as love  itself. 

An homage to  NYC, to romance,  and even to loss, This is a Love  Story by Jessica Soffer tenderly captures deep  truths about life and marriage in radiant  prose. 

I really enjoyed  the chapters featuring  just life in Central Park.  Very short  paragraphs covered the movements of folks  in and out of various sections, the picnics, the kisses, the children floating boats, the vendors, the seasons.  Truly lyrical especially if you've ever visited and enjoyed a day there. 

p. 1   The Park is a beating heart, an adagio, a dreamy parenthesis

Finally Friday - Don't Fall In

Listen.

Look

Stay on the path

Look Up


 

Don't Fall in Johnson Canyon

Whatever Wednesday - Athabasca Glacier

 Got to ride in the Arctic Terrain vehicle up  to the Athabasca Glacier.  Very impressive piece of equipment.  Our driver  was a lad from Blackpool,  England.  

Another gorgeous day and while  cool, it  was not bitter cold

Avoid the slush parts.   (oops, Ray did step in a melty spot and  got his shoe, sock, and pants leg wet. Silly boy

The ice chunks were SO clear

I'll pose happily with the Maple Leaf.   Oh Canada!  You filled my heart with  joy

Monday Moments - Lake Maligne

Oh Canada - we were lucky that the ice had just melted from Lake Maligne and we could enjoy a little boat  cruise. 

Old dock
 

glacial colors

Such a view

And a sacred spot for the indigenous folks in the area.  Look, but don't  think about putting a foot on that Spirit Island. 

Very mystical aura. 

Finally Friday - By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is a reliable writer.  Here in By Any Other  Name she introduces us to  two women, centuries apart.  One is the real author of Shakespeare's plays. The other hides behind her name to get published. 

Melina  Green has written a play about an Elizabethan ancestor, Emilia Bassano. The theater world  is tough for  women. But  her best friend submits the  play to a festival under a male pseudonym. 

Meanwhile, Picoult also  explores Emilia's  life in  1581. She becomes a mistress to a wealthy man and  sees the workings of  the art/ theater world.   Her plan - pay an actor  named  William  Shakespeare to front  her work. 

cover blurb. 

Picoult weaves the two  tales and interlaces the issues of ambition, creativity, and prejudices for women.   Should a writer  do whatever it takes  to see her story live on...no matter the cost? 

I enjoyed this book a lot and the rich characters along with current day and historical backdrop. 
 

Whatever Wednesday - Stay Upright on Skates

Oh Canada - Ice Hockey time.  Here's a new recruit - Ray

Rah for the Canmore Eagles. We enjoyed the  ice hockey experience.   Some  films, stories, history of ice hockey, and more. 

Ray and I are suited up.  You can't see my ankles waver.  It's been  a long,  long time since I  was a little girl in  PA and went ice skating. 

and here  we  are with a fellow traveler, Gwen.  She ended  up being quite good on the ice hitting pucks.  Ray and I clung to our ice "walkers" and shuffled  our feet.  I let go for two seconds to attempt a puck hit.  Happy to report I  did not fall down.  

Just  getting on  all of the gear was tiring.  

Alas, while in Canada, our Dallas Stars  got beat in  playoffs  by  the Edmonton Oilers. 

Then in  the  Stanley  Cup - the Oilers were  beaten by the  Florida  Panthers for  the second time. 

 

Monday Moments - Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow

 My PA book club read Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. Considered a classic, this lyrical book is set in New Rochelle, NY before the First World  War.  For the rich, life  is good. For an immigrant Jewish peddler, Tateh, it's challenging.  And for Coalhouse Walker, Jr, a black ragtime pianist from Harlem - his story brings a shocking climax.  (back blurb)

Doctorow weaves fictional characters with famous people of that period - Harry Houdini, J.P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, Emma Goldman, Henry Ford.  It's musical, well-paced, and the author orchestrates themes of American innocence, energy, and ambition. The writing seems  old-timey and yet it works - it  puts you, the reader, into the lives. 

Ragtime is piano music with a syncopated melody. 

Ragtime is a ragged music book  of the  ragged times.   It's a novel about oppression, social change, and the search for stability in a rapidly evolving world   (source - various  reviews)

I'd say Ragtime is a very worthwhile read in this day and age as  we come off  a challenging July 4th and rather wild 2025 so far.  Whew!

July 4 Weekend

 We can dream....

Flag color joy

No Kings!

Stay safe all.  Happy (?) 4th of July Weekend. 

Whatever Wednesday - Athabasca Falls

Can you hear the roar?

whoosh

power

majesty

beauty

Thank you Canada!   My eyes  are full of wonder