Connections

New Knee!

 

First meal four hours after surgery

On February 23,  I had total knee replacement surgery.  This meal came after they got me out of bed and made me walk a bit and put me in a chair to eat.  Now two weeks later I am walking without crutches or cane and going up and down stairs. 

A large part of the delay in blogging has been due to the process of seeing doctors, getting x-rays and attending informational classes prior to surgery.  Today I am off pain pills and can drive myself to PT and doctors' check-ups. 

I was also able to hold my 2 and 1/2 month old grandson.

 

Matteo with Grandma

A new family member

 

Matteo in his grandpa's arms on December 5 at 6 hours old. 

Once again I am blogging retrospectively but I wanted the photo to appear under the correct timing.   Much has happened since Matteo arrived but I will try to put it all in the right context.  This little guy makes our 4th grandson and 7th grandchild. 

Lines, Curves, Reflections

  

This bank building atrium always provides interesting reflections.

This just happens to be across from the bus stop where we catch our bus home. I just happened to have my camera on a recent trip downtown and couldn't resist the juxtoposition of lines, curves and reflections.

Linda is back!

  

This 20-plus year old sculpture returns each year for a limited time.

It is made of a mixture of fiberglass and other materials that are light sensitive so exposure must be limited. Simply entitled Linda, it is one of my favorites.  Yesterday we made a trip to the Denver Art Museum to see three temporary exhibits: Houdon from the Louvre, Daniel Richter--A Major Survey  and In Contemporary Rhythm--The Art of Ernest L Blumenschein.  All three were exceptional but since all of them were on loan to the D.A.M, no photos were allowed of the exhibits. I was, however, able to find links(above) to some of their works.

We were, however, treated to a demonstration of stone carving by Josh Meier, a local sculptor of note, seen in the photo below.

 

Josh Meier, demonstrating stone carving at D.A.M. 

We walked through Civic Center Park and of course, since I had my camera, I took photos of favorite architecture along the way.  One was our Denver Public Library just adjacent to the art museum and another was our State Capitol.

 

The Denver library building designed by architect Robert Graves

The Colorado State Capitol with Vietnam monument in the front

Second Generation reunion

 

Two  Asheville NC artists at their opening reception in Denver

Heidi Zeknik (left) is the daughter of a dear college friend of mine.  I last saw Heidi when she was about 5 or 6 years old.  I last saw her mother in Austria in 1984, I think.  Yesterday we went to the opening reception for three artists who often show together and enjoyed a nice visit before prospective clients began pouring in. Heidi and Donna Price share a studio in Asheville.  You can visit their websites here and here respectively.

The photo below is for Heidi's Mom in Austria.  Sorry about my cheesy grin, Magi.

 

Heidi, me, Donna

Reunion Plus One

 

 The Ulles Family, Paula, Bob and I after lunch. 

This family feels so much like our extended family from Catalonia in Spain.  We have a history since the late 90's through their daughter Marta who arranged for Paula and I to visit her parents and sister in Barcelona and La Seu D'Urgell.  With my intermediate Spanish and a lot of pantomime we all became close friends. Xell who had some English acted as translator with her parents.  Later Angeles would come to stay at our home when Marta lived with us for a year.  We have known this family for 9 years.

Today we met at a restaurant in honor of the small guest hidden behind the stroller hood in the photo:  their first grandchild, Joan (pronounced JoAhn which is John in Catalan)Bernat.  We anticipate that we will see the proud grands more often now.

 

The Guest of honor, four weeks old, slept through our lunch.

Angel's trumpet, red berries and grasses

 

Angel's trumpet tree inside the tropical atrium at DBG

After the campaigning, after the countless nights in front of the TV, after election eve with friends agonizing over each new set of state returns, and after the jubilant champagne toast as the winner was declared,  we were mentally and physically exhausted!  We slept a lot the first few days and then on Saturday we needed to get outdoors.  We chose one of our favorite places for relaxing the body and clearing the mind, the Denver Botanic Gardens.  We arrived just in time to catch the weekly Saturday morning guided tour.  This week it was a tour of the tropical atrium and the cloud forest room.  I've always loved the atrium but now I know names of a few more plants.

 

The main path to Monet Pond  flanked by berry-filled trees

We walked for almost two hours inhaling autumn crispness, mourning the increasing bareness of the trees and enjoying the seasonal appearance of the muted colors of dry grasses, all with their own kind of beauty. My DBG membership provides me endless hours of tranquility in the midst of a most chaotic world.

 

Dry grasses and plants in the Southwest garden.

Baby shower and birthday

 

Gisela and friends celebrate the impending birth of Matteo 

On October 26 we joined Gisela and friends for a baby shower for the new grandson, expected December 5.  My job was to be photographer and to double team with Bob watching Hana and Ethan. 

 

Hana and Ethan inside the toy box

Two days later the family assembled to celebrate Bob's 70th birthday. We again got some good grandchild photos.

 

Clio and Tian were given flowers by the restaurant staff.

Unfortunately we didn't think of photos until both meal and birthday cake were devoured.  Just a small piece and some crumbs remain.  Tian doesn't much like photos so a smile was not forthcoming in either of the two photos

 

Ethan, Grandpa, Tian and Grandma

Brazilians walk for Obama

 

Gusto y Marla from Brazil join Bob to Campaign for Obama

Our friends from Rio arrived yesterday evening.  This morning when Bob grabbed his signs and stepped outside to do his daily walking for Obama, Marla grabbed a sign and said, "I want to do it too."  Augusto soon joined in.  Both of them reacted joyfully to the many honks and waves.    This is just one example of how excited our many foreign friends are about Obama's candidacy. 

   

Orchid nursery at Gamboa Rainforest Resort

One of the most interesting of the five on-site interest centers was the orchid nursery.  I had no idea how orchids were propigated.  I knew it wasn't from seed but I never would have thought of starting them on slices of tree trunks.  The hotel produces its own flowers for dinner tables and decorations by growing them in flower gardens and in the orchid nursery.

 

More flowers from the Gamboa flower gardens

 

One of many beautiful fresh floral arrangements in the hotel

This is the last photo and blog post about Panama.  I will put some other photos in the Panama 2008 album on the left side of this blog.  Gleaning from the over 400 photos I took during the 5 days in Panama will not be easy.

Spider, Tagua Carvings and baskets

 

Spider, web and leaf from Barro Colorado Island hike

The last day of our Panama trip was spent hiking onBarro Colorado Island, the home of the Smithsonian Research Institute.  Ten of us climbed the steps and listened intently as each of the rainforest wonders was explained.  Among the literally hundreds of photos taken on our five-day visit to Panama was this happy accident.  I pointed, zoomed and hoped the image stabilizer did its job.  It did. We had watched this colorful little spider working for some minutes when I decided I might be able to capture him digitally.

Over the years we've brought home our share of souvenirs from other countries, trying in some way to capture the culture and memories in something tangible.  Lately it has dawned on us that these small tangibles are taking over our house.  Knowing this, however, did not keep us from purchasing 3 small items to add to our collection of favorite things.  The first was a basket woven by some members of the Embera Indigenous People of Panama.  It is tightly woven and designs are colored with natural plant dyes.  To see more examples of art by Indigenous People of Panama, click this link.

 

Small basket (about 5 inches diameter) from Embera People

Below are two tagua carvings.  Tagua is known as the environmentally friendly ivory. The carvings are done on the extremely durable white enterior of the Tagua nut/seed.  Here are the two we purchased at a local market.

 

Carving of a common rainforest poison dart frog

 

   Tagua carving of a rainforest iguana 

Rainforest trees, trails and vines

 

Bob and I by a bombacacio tree on Barro Colorado Island

A highlight of our rainforest hikes came the day we took a 45-minute boat ride across Gatun Lake to the island where Smithsonian Institute has a research  center for studying tropical plants, animals and insects.  We hiked for about 5 hours in 90 degree temperature and 90% humidity.  To guard against insect bites we had to wear long- sleeve shirts tucked into the waist of our pants and our socks taped up over our pants legs.  In the days we were there, the main culprits were chiggers, not mosquitos.  The guide told our party of 10 that the buttress base of this tree was 60 feet in diameter.  It was so tall that we really couldn't see the top of it.

 

This was truly Tarzan country.  We did not leave the trail.

After 5 hours of walking we were all drenched with sweat and our clothes were dripping wet.  Following the hike we heard a lecture by one of the researchers on the use of sound by bullet ants to communicate different messages to both ants and predators. 

   

The prepared trails we walked for 5 hours up and down

At 3:30 p.m. we returned our walking poles,  drank some fresh squeezed juice and made our way to the pier where we boarded our boat for the return trip to Gamboa.  We picked up our rented car at the pier at 4:30 p.m.--just in time to spend almost 2 hours in rush hour traffic on the way to the airport.  Bob turned in our car and we went to the nearby Riande hotel where we spent our last night in Panama.  We boarded our flight at 9:30 a.m, had an uneventful transfer in Atlanta and arrived home around 7:00 p.m.

Panama Vieja

 

An art market in a plaza in Panama Vieja 

This art market accompanied musical entertainment for the people who came for the monthly lotteria which is held in a different area of town each month.   We rarely buy souvenirs for ourselves these days so the only things we brought home besides photos were a woven basket and two tagua seed carvings.  Tagua seeds are known as the environmentally friendly ivory.  It has a white, extremely hard interior that lends itself well to intricate carvings--and no animals die for their tusks or horns. I'll post photos of these in a later post.

 

One of many blocks undergoing restoration in Casco Viejo

Many of the charming old buildings already have been remodeled and sold to new residents and in almost every block renovations are underway.  I always love the older parts of cities and this is no exception.

 

Bust of Margot Fonteyn who danced with Nureyev

She married a man from Panama and lived her post career years there.  Jose had said we should see the first performance art theater in Panama which is located in the old city.  We thought we'd just stop in and take a photo before we continued on our way. When we entered, someone indicated that there was a rehearsal going on.  We turned to leave but the guard called to us that it was permitted to go in and watch.  What lucky timing!  We were able to watch about 30 minutes of the rehearsal in this beautiful theater in the classic style with dark wood--like rich mahogany--boxes and heavy velvet curtains. The ballerinas floated through my mind for the rest of the day.

Dancing Pollera

 

Folklorico dancers dancing pollera

Jose took us to a place called Mi Pueblito where dancers performed various dances typical of Panama's past history. Jose explained that this dance got its name from the long flowing skirts that women once used to herd chickens (pollos).  Here it was performed to a cumbia rhythm.  I took small videos on my digital camera but have yet to figure how to embed them in a blog post. 

 

More pollera dancers

We watched many dancers for almost an hour but the real heart-stealers were these two little ones below:

 

Little girls dancing pollera to a cumbia rhythm 

Panama Vieja

 

Bob and Jose at the beginning of our Casco Viejo walk

Jose is yet another of the "connections" that seem to be a hallmark of our lives.  The husband of my Spanish teacher--originally from Venezuela--plays on a softball team with Carlos from Panama whose best friend from childhood is Jose.  Jose met us at our hotel on the Sunday after our arrival on Friday night.  He drove us around most of the day giving us a tour of food, culture and history that really helped us to see Panama through the eyes of a Panamanian.  Before Casco Viejo which literally translates as the old shell of the city AKA old town, he drove us through the rasca cielos (sky scratchers) of the financial and business area of downtown Panama where he pointed to the one where he works as a partner and CPA in a financial company.  He then took us to Panama Vieja where we saw the ruins of the old Panama which was burned to the ground by the pirate Henry Morgan who pillaged the Inca gold that was traditionally transported through Panama.

 

Ruins of the cathedral in Panama Vieja.

Tomorrow I'll continue our tour with Jose.