On the stage was a large oriental rug, upon it only a preacher’s pulpit at one end, a simple reading chair and table at the other. On the table was a pile of books, a shot of whiskey, and a small pitcher of water and drinking glass.
This was all that was needed as the eighty-eight year actor shuffles onto the stage. Hal Holbrook has been putting on his one man show, ” Mark Twain Tonight” since 1959. Full of wit, irreverence, and insight into politics, government, slavery, and society at large.
I feel lucky to have seen the show before the great orator leaves this life to meet his maker, whomever that may be…..
Sunday’s are the best because of the variety of things people can do on this day : church, watch sports, go to the movies, perhaps a picnic or a visit with family and friends. The possibilities are endless. This last Sunday was spent roaming endless vineyards immersed by green mountains and blue sky.
The Napa valley in Sonoma County, California, is home to arguably some of the worlds best vineyards. I wouldn’t disagree. Mansions stand out like Greek Gods, inviting all travelers to stop in for a wine tasting. The vines are just starting new grape buds, flowers blooming in the warmer weather.
I imagine I’m a bumblebee, flying freely on the warm, soft breezes sniffing the glorious scents in the air.
Lakes shimmer brilliantly in sunlight, nothing seems wrong or out of place here. Nature is calling the shots, taking her sweet time, mulling perfection from the soil. I find artwork made from scrap metal the perfect juxtaposition to the endless gardens.
At the end of the day, I taste a California Cab, velvety smooth and abound with flavor….
Intensely red with color, yet powerfully balanced.
Back in the summer of 2008, when I was just starting to explore the possibilities of solo travel, I ventured to Wyoming to see the Jackson Hole Music Festival by myself. One of the many musical acts I fondly remember was Medeski, Martin & Wood.
Coincidentally, on April 20th, the unofficial “celebrate marijuana” day was the same day as the MMW show on the University of California Davis campus. With reefer everywhere, I filed into the gorgeous Mondavi Center building to enjoy the show.
MMW’s amalgam of jazz, funk and a million other musical currents and impulses is nearly impossible to classify. For this show, they also brought in the Joshua Light Show. The origins of the Joshua Light Show come from the psychedelia movement of the 1960’s.
When this was combined with MMW’s long jam improv sessions, creativity exploded, covering all those there in musical ecstasy.
It was one week ago today that started a horrible chain of events here in the USA….
“Two bombs explode at the Boston marathon, killing three, critically injuring over one hundred and seventy…”
“poisonous Ricin envelope mailed to President Obama, Mississippi Senator….”
“fertilizer explosion in West, Texas kills one hundred and sixty, levels town.”
“city of Boston shut down while largest manhunt in history searches door to door for suspects of marathon bombing.”
*****
Over the weekend I find myself in Sacramento, California. The quiet and peaceful atmosphere of downtown soothes tired and stressed emotions. I sit on the capital building steps, the marble columns and granite structure bring peace after a weary week in the country I call home.
Sylvie wanted to show us the typical living conditions of Jewish families in Terezin caught in the promotional propaganda Nazi campaign. A campaign where the Jewish people showed that Terezin would be a suitable living space for Germans once the Jewish population was eradicated.
Up the staircase we climb, and duck our heads as we enter the tiny entrance. Inside, I still see my breath in the air. Sylvie mentions that the cold of today is nothing to the winters of the past, and none of the Jewish housings had heat. The small living space housed people wall to wall, people slept on every empty space, covering the bare floor. Pictures of the past haunt your mind, articles are all that remain from those that stayed here.
You run your fingers along the sacred words painted on the walls and feel their meaning, the prays to God that for many were unanswered. Lonely images stay with me, keys forever hanging on a hook, an empty chair, tattered blankets, a child’s shoe…..
Constant reminders of the past, never to be forgotten.
When I first heard about the artist Georgia O’ Keeffe, I was a young man’s fool, and laughed at the crude jokes made about her paintings of flowers resembling vaginas.
Honestly, I still chuckle about it, but I like to think one changes with the passing of years, and with that mindset, I went out to the place Georgia called home for many years ( and where the inspiration for her American Modernism art and love of the American Southwest started), Abiquiu.
Set up in the northern New Mexican mountains, I climb the dirt roads to the adobe silence. No movement except for the passing of clouds. I see a lone figure in the distance struggling with a load upon his back, climbing the mountainside. I as get closer, I see the figure is stationary, the Desert Christ. It is a surreal image.
The town is full of empty and abandoned shacks, trailers littered with hordes of junk, a few beautiful homes. The catholic church from when the town was first started still remains. As I admire the structure, a nun in full dress, driving a Toyota Rav 4, pulls up beside me. We chat for a few, she inquires if I would like to enter the church, I politely decline.
It is the only human encounter I have.
Heading down the dirt road to the Rio Grande river, I find tranquility in the afternoon sun by a lone tree. My skin turns red, my tongue savors the last drops of water from the bottle I carry.
It is here that I find the connection to Nature that inspires artists like Georgia O’ Keeffe.
When one discovers that a place in America is only open to the public two days a year, curiosity arises as to why.
That is until one finds that place still contains radiation from the first Atomic Bomb test explosion conducted on July 16th, 1945.
Known as the Trinity Site in New Mexico, the White Sands Missile Range allows the public to enter Ground Zero the first Saturday of April and October. Yesterday I walked where sand was turned into glass…..
J. Robert Oppenheimer, leader of the Trinity test and whom many call the ” father of the atomic bomb”, remarked after the explosion, ” Now I have become Death, Destroyer of Worlds.”
I thought about this remark as I walk the dirt path to the epicenter of destruction. The area is chain linked, I imagine so us fragile civilians don’t wander off into an area more dangerous and exposed, if that is possible.
Story boards hang on the fence, describing the events leading up to the test. Only a few weeks later, World War Two ends as the United States drop the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. A group of Japanese teenagers take pictures of the headline on the fence. I wonder how they feel here at the place that ended in the killing of hundreds of thousands of their ancestors.
All that remains of the bomb at Trinity is the partial housing, named ” Jumbo”. There is a chill in the spring air as you approach it.
*****
I nod silently to the Army man and board the old bus, take my seat and wait to be delivered to the McDonald ranch. Armed forces escort is the only way to get around the seemingly desolate base.
In this house is where the plutonium core to the bomb was assembled. The painted sign of the door still remains, warning those of the danger going on inside….
Full of history, a reminder of the power that comes from science, the remembrance of the sixty million deaths that occurred from World War Two, and the final resolution to that battle.
Spend great lengths of time with family, always a good thing in my book. It’s funny how time just slips away.
So he tries to remember the small moments, turning them into more lasting memories. A call for security late at night, acts of kindness everywhere. These days are captured on film, shared with loved ones and the world alike. A strange connectedness comes with this.
Needed so he doesn’t forget with the passing of time.
