Travel Tuesday: Ft Wayne Museum of Art - the Glass collection

 

Monday Mood: Don't Take Yourself To Seriously

Our fears and insecurities are the biggest thing that limit what we accomplish in our lives. Don't get me wrong, I knew very early on that I didn't have the physical build to be a world class runner, and no amount of work would overcome that, BUT, that didn't mean that I couldn't run, and have a great deal of fun, and I did for a decade or so. I had to overcome my fear of finishing in the middle or the back of the field, and do it because I wanted to finish. Finishing was my victory once I overcame my insecurity. I was the problem, until I let go of that fear. 

We all struggle with this. The richest people in the world, continue to mound up wealth, out of an irrational fear of going broke. They continue to work - when their time could be focused on making the world a better place. They are somehow convinced that their role in the world is to stack up riches and that somehow will make everything okay, while secretly fearing that they will screw it all up and end up with nothing. I am far from the richest man in the world, but I let the same irrational fear that I am going to somehow screw it all up, stand in the way of my enjoying what I have, and what I can do with it while I am here to make the world a better place. I am the problem. 

I am - well to be honest an aging fat man. I am fat and lumpy in ways that I fear others will judge me for. In truth, others won't notice me most of the time, and if they do, they will forget what I look like, at the next passing beefcake. And yet, unless I ignore this, I let it limit my enjoyment of life. Go to the pool, go to the beach, take that cruise. If they don't like the view, they will look away. The problem is not the judgement of others, it is me. 

One of my favorite sayings is be creative, make an ass of yourself, who  cares? Usually the only person who cares is you. We are the problem, we take ourselves far too seriously. 

Sunday Five: Zoos

1: When was the last time you visited a Zoo? 

2: What is you favorite animal at the Zoo? 

3: How close do you live to a Zoo?

4: Should we even have Zoos?

5: If you could talk to the giraffe, what would you ask him? 

My Answers:

1: When was the last time you visited a Zoo? Last Sunday, in Ft Wayne Indiana. 

2: What is you favorite animal at the Zoo? Penguins 

3: How close do you live to a Zoo? The National Zoo in Washington DC is about 15 miles from home. 

4: Should we even have Zoos? Properly designed and maintained, Zoos have played an important role in preventing extinction. 

5: If you could talk to the giraffe, what would you ask him? What could we do to improve your day?

Please share your answers in the comments. 

 

The Saturday Morning Post: Creativity is fed by the past masters

Portraits were a new endeavor for me this year. I had never really painted them before. And portraits challenged me. The masters can vary shades to create the shape of the features of the face. I am working on that, but the detail I wanted eluded me. 

Then I come across a collection of french portraits in the east building of the National Gallery of Art, from the late 1800's and early 1900's, and the answer is there. Slight outlines of the nose, eyes, chin, in a dark color, allowing the sketch to show through in the final painting. 

A creative solution, to a challenge to my creativity. Yes I should or could have learned this decades ago, but I didn't. I may be an old dog, but I am still learning to be creative.  

Friday Reflection: On visiting family

I was there to spend time with family. 

I was not there to judge, the housekeeping, the house, the food, the dog, the politeness of the kids. 

I am delighted to see you as you are, where you are, just as you are. 

I don't care if the dog barks, or the cat sheds, or the baby fusses, or there are toys are on the floor. Those are all signs of a perfectly wonderful life. 

When you come to visit me, and please do, don't expect me to make my bed, dust or clean off my desk.  I don't live like that, and you are not here to judge my home, you are here to spend time with family. 

You probably do many things differently than I do, that is just fine, do it your way, you are you. 

Travel Penguin stayed in his travel burro most of this trip. He didn't greet his distant cousins - they smelled like dead fish - but we really didn't care - we were not there to judge the housekeeping, we were there to spend time with family and friends.  

Thursday Ramble: Memory Flashback

Doc Spo's post about hair ten days ago, triggered a lot of memories for me. Without going into my hair struggle, it reminded me of some wonderful experiences. 

In my middle 20's I started back to finish a college degree. I had finished a few classes at a local community college, and transferred to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. I was working full time, like 50-60 hours a week, and taking classes a couple of evenings a week.  Rollins had a very workable schedule for doing this. 

Rollins is at the end of Park Avenue. Park Avenue is very much the Rodeo Drive of central Florida. It is lined with boutiques, cafes, and shops catering to the wealthy. Rollins had built its reputation as a nice liberal arts college for the children of wealthy New Englanders who were not able to get into the Ivy League - or who preferred water skiing and playing tennis to shoveling snow. It was a bit of a country club college. 

I would generally have a couple of days off from work in the middle of the week (and almost always worked Saturday and Sunday.) This worked well for classes. I would go into Winter Park late in the afternoon, have lunch (lasagna and salad at Olive Garden - until they were forced out by a frozen margarita bar out-bidding them on rent.) Then go to class in the evening.   

I was walking back toward Rollins one afternoon and passed Gary Lambert Salon. I had met Gary at the gym, he was at the front desk that afternoon.  I needed a haircut. I had always gone wherever it was cheapest. I had most often hated the way my hair was cut.  I knew it would be expensive, for whatever reason that afternoon I decided I was worth it, and how bad could it be? It was expensive, as I recall about $25 and this was in the mid 1980's. It was also the best haircut I had ever had.  

Gary cut my hair for a couple of years, then asked if I would be okay if Shawn cut it. Shawn was every bit as talented, and younger and kinda cute.  I went back every few weeks for the rest of the time that I lived in central Florida. I am pleased to see that Gary and Shawn are still there. 

I have very fond memories of my time at Rollins.  What I learned there changed me as a human being. I knew when I was there how lucky I was to be there.  I didn't have the typical background of my classmates, I was a first generation college student. I was working and paying for it as I went. It was a warm and welcoming environment.   

My World of Wonders: July 15, 2026

Where have I been? On Thursday I flew from DCA to IND, Indianapolis, Indiana. I went to the museum at the speedway. Then drove out to Greenfield, Indiana to spend the night. On Friday I drove from Greenfield to Ft. Wayne, taking the old back roads through the rolling corn fields most of the way. I visited the Ft Wayne Museum of Art, there will be a post on that sometime soon. My sister and I went to the Ft Wayne Farmers Market, and a big street art festival. Then to my older nephew's new house to visit his wife, and two kids, 7 months and just over 2 years old. The Ft Wayne Children's Zoo. Out to Grabill Indiana to visit an Amish shop and countryside. The Ft Wayne History center. The Airport in Indianapolis. 

Who have I seen? In Greenfield, I met up with and had dinner with my younger nephew Andrew. In Ft Wayne I had dinner with my sister Karen. My older nephew Michael, his wife and his two adorable sons. 

What have I been up to in the kitchen? Nothing, I have been on the road again. 

What art have I been creating? Taking a few photos along the way. 

What made me happy this week? Peaceful travel. 

What was the most amazing thing I have seen this week? The glass wing at the Ft Wayne Museum of Art. 

What YouTube Channel should you watch, and maybe subscribe to this week? Brian's Life In France 

Travel Tuesday: Mt Vernon

The Original is back on display in the Museum 

A Reproduction 

Clothing Worn By George Washington

 

Upper Garden

Bacon in the Maken 

Monday Mood: How lucky I am

I Love and I am Loved. 

I am happy. 

I have time to do things I enjoy. 

Nothing has tried to kill and eat me this week. 

I do things I enjoy doing. 

I am still learning, still able to learn, still interested in learning. 

I am able to move about. 

I am able to travel. 

I have a safe and comfortable home. 

I am able to be creative.

I am able to help others. 

I have people to talk with, people I can listen to, people who will listen to me. 

I am able to trade messages with friends and family.

Some of this is luck. 

Most of it is the result of working, being wise with money over the years. Setting goals for myself. Holding myself accountable. At times, doing things I didn't want to do. Taking risks. Being stubborn and sticking to what I wanted to do. Being kind to others. Allowing myself to go and do and be creative. At times, pushing myself. 

I am lucky that I did what I needed to do, to be lucky in life. 

This is the third Monday Mood I have written, I am still not sure I like it, but it is almost Monday. Hopefully the Muses will be back from vacation by next week.  

The Sunday Five: Plants

1: Did you have a garden when you were growing up? 

2: Are you able to keep houseplants alive? 

3: What is a favorite thing you have grown? 

4: Have you ever planted a tree? 

5: What are you currently growing? 

My answers: 

1: Did you have a garden when you were growing up?  Yes, I remember one spring, saying I was going to stay home that summer and weed my garden, a classmate responded that he was going to stay home and garden his weed. My grandmother around the corner on the farm had a spectacular garden. 

2: Are you able to keep houseplants alive? Not really. The cactus died from neglect. 

3: What is a favorite thing you have grown? Roses, at the last house in Florida. 

4: Have you ever planted a tree? Yes, and driven by 35 years later to see them standing tall. 

5: What are you currently growing? Content with life, no plants in the high rise with the northern exposure.

Please share your answers in the comments.  

The Saturday Morning Post: Allow Yourself to Get Bored, To Get Creative

I remember being bored as a kid growing up, the farm was isolated, and time often dragged on. Over the years I have done some very boring work, traveled for long distances alone, spent a few weeks in the hospital unable to get out and about without help. Boredom does interesting things to our brains, it triggers thoughts, ideas, ways of entertaining our minds. It helps us find the connections between ideas that are seemingly unrelated. That was one of my strengths when I was working, I spent long days contemplating questions, problems, challenges in my brain, then it would hit me, how we could see the issue in new ways, how we could find a new way through the debris field of failed ideas.  

We need that bored time. I have read a couple of article this year, about the need for quiet time, time to allow ourselves to become bored. We tend to fill every waking moment with something.  A few months ago, I was overseeing the removal of art works in the community center, I had asked people to pick up their works by 10:00 AM, it was just after 9:30 and there were a few left to be picked up, before we moved the back-up plan of moving them to storage. I could have sat there, and doom scrolled on my phone, I decided I would go spend 30 minutes on the treadmill. 

Usually when I am on the treadmill, I watch streaming video on my IPad, but this was an unplanned block of time, and I didn't have my IPad with me. I decided this was a great opportunity to let myself be bored, for just 30 minutes, I would walk on the treadmill in silence, with just the birds outside the window for diversion. Before I knew it, I as seeing things I didn't know were there, flower buds on a tree, young birds. I started thinking about how the colors were changing on the hillside outside that window.  I found myself being creative in ways that I would not have been, if I was watching my favorite YouTube channel about sketching. Both are good for me, both are needed, but the boredom time is in short supply. I need to drop out, turn off the noise more.  

Funky Fridays: Cabinet of Curiosities

I am visiting the closest descendants that I have, my nephews and the two sons of one of them. In thinking about the trip, I thought about some of the family mementos that I have, what to do with them when I am dead. Will the boys be interested in items that were owned by great-great-great grandparents who were dead long before they were born? 

My cabinet of curiosities, has momentos from my life. A Leprechaun pencil sharpener that was a gift from Uncle Dick's mother when she returned from a trip to Ireland.  I have had it since I was about 5 years old. A silver music box that belonged to my great-grandmother - she died the year I finished high school.  A couple of photos from my parents, a photo on metal of my father that was taken when he was a teenager at the Michigan State Fair, the photo of the last airplane he owned that he carried in his wallet for 50 years. Probably a 100 little things collected from my travels, tacky Eiffel Towers, norse gods from Iceland, and a growing collection of tiny ceramic bowls. My father's pilot log books. Each one of these had meaning to me, but will they have meaning to anyone else. 

There are times when I wish someone had saved for me items that connect me to great grandparents and great-great-great grandparents all but one of whom died before I was born. Some tangible connection to the past, and the stories about those people, who they were, how the lived and died connected to those objects. The items are nice, the stories that come with them are even better. I have an enameled pendant watch, that my Great-Grandfather bought for my Great-Grandmother 114 years ago, when he returned from a job in Mexico. For my nephew's sons, they would be a great-great-great-great grandparents. I have their marriage licence, and birth certificates from there to complete the chain of relationships. I need to start making a plan, and moving these things on, or they will be just more stuff tossed in the dumpster someday. 

What is in the cabinet above, a long dead Pope who was recognized as a Saint - which one?