We drove to our Memorial Day weekend in Phoenix through crazy weather: a severe hailstorm in the Badlands. The wire service that night carried this photo of a tornado.

I thought the this photo of a thunderstorm on the plains was exquisite.

Occasionally I click on blogspot offerings, and only occasionally do I hit paydirt. This is one.


The whole site is fascinating, not just this entry.

I feel the end of the semester-blue lapping at my heels and with the pleasant spring weather outside, I alternately want to lay outside on the chaise lounge and read a book, or tackle cleaning out the garage. A pleasant conundrum. (Notice that grading papers and entering grades isn't even on this list, but will roll over me like a heat wave in New Orleans in summer come this Tuesday.)

Instead of doing either task, Dave had a conference at the Mission Inn and I took advantage of "being a guest" and walked through places I'd never been. Here are some photos.


Frank Miller was the one who built and furnished this Inn, on what I think of as a multi-year-long garage sale troll. There are unique features and furnishings to this place. As they say, it has "character."

A tile from the rotunda stairwell: "Come in. It's your house, friend." Only they've sort of made this section of the hotel hard to get to ever since some guy tried to jump off the fourth floor railing.


Door on the fourth level--the hardly-ever-anyone-goes-to fourth level.

Abraham Lincoln was really popular around here. There's a whole building dedicated to him in Redlands. Someday I'll get there, too.


Fourth floor terrace with reflecting pool. The guy on his cell phone was reflecting quite loudly about the mortgage market dropping down out of sight. He must be doing okay, though, to be staying up here.



Author's Row, or Author's Way, or Writer's Way, or something. Some notable writers stayed here and they have brass ribbons over the doorway with their names on them.


Looking down into the Asian Courtyard.


The Mission Inn mechanical clock. The figures move on the quarter hour.

I thought this view of the Music Room rotunda looked like a spectacular giant cactus springing out of the gray earth, little bromeliads leaning in homage.


The archway over the Chapel. Yes, this place even has a chapel.
The chapel facade, revealed. On the left is the Fliers Wall, each pair of brass wings affixed to the wall in honor someone who has died in war. I think they have to have been shot down, not shot at.



A gathering of grad students and one ringer, in the middle.

Phyne, and how was yoors?

Kids! Don't try this at home!
(another fabulous recipe from Google's links on my spam folder)

VINEYARD SPAM SALAD

Recipe By     :
Serving Size  : 6    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Salads

Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
 1       cn           SPAM Luncheon Meat, cubed
                      -(12 oz)
   2/3   c            Mayonnaise or salad dressing
 1       tb           Lime juice
 1       t            Dry mustard
 2       c            Seedless grapes
 1       c            Peapods, cut in half
   1/2   c            Thinly sliced red onion

In skillet, saute SPAM over high heat 2 minutes,
stirring constantly; set aside. In small bowl, combine
mayonnaise, lime juice, and dry mustard. In large
bowl, combine grapes, SPAM, peapods, and onion. Tos
with mayonnaise mixture. Cover and chill 1 hour.

My day in the classroom was fine. How about yours?

Last Photos of my DC Trip

Beverly took over the Mt. Vernon blog after my tenure--I had never met her so if was great to put a face to the person I had talked to on the phone and corresponded with. If you wish to see her great work, head to the Mt. Vernon Quilters Unlimited blog.

I told Andrea about the glowing Washington Monument at sunset. It didn't happen this day as the clouds were too prevalent. But we got a nice shot of us with the Lincoln in the background.

Here's an earlier photo of the glowing phenomenon.

I visited the Smithsonian grounds on my last day, and noticed that where once there were few gazing globes, now there were many, tucked in among the foliage.

Magnolias just starting to bud out.

Driving a last round of the Tidal Basin, I noticed one of my favorite, and often overlooked, monuments--that to those soldiers of World War I from the DC area who gave their lives in the conflict.

It's tucked away in the trees, halfway in between the Lincoln Memorial and the WWII memorial, almost opposite the Reflecting Pool from the Vietnam Wall.

Glad to see my old friend Samuel W. Sowerbutts.

While it was called the Great War for Civilization, how many have we had since then? I must prefer this era's optimism that there would be one and only one Great War.

Good-bye Washington. Until next time.

Pictures from The Exhibitions--The National Gallery of Art, both East and West

from an exhibition on painting in the forests above Paris
This reminds me of my father, although he does more studio painting than plein aire painting.

from the permanent exhibition: Calder's mobile and other flat sculptures

Andy Goldsworthy in an outdoor patio installation--They were putting this in when I lived in DC--nice to see it finished.

Italian Plates from a permanent installation? Exhibition? I'm all confused now over what to call it. Can I just say I was interested in there because I have 10 decorated plates on my walls from Italy.

When you click on the close-up, you'll see this is a portrait of "Elizabeth."

Google keys off certain words in emails and places links around the edges of the email. I'm always amused at what can be found, like this classic, from my spam mailbox:

FRENCH FRY SPAM CASSEROLE

Categories: Main dish
 Yield: 8 servings

 1 pk Frozen french fry potatoes,
      -thawed (20 oz)
 2 c  Shredded Cheddar cheese
 2 c  Sour cream
 1 cn Condensed cream of chicken
      -soup (10 3/4 oz)
 1 cn SPAM Luncheon Meat, cubed
      -(12 oz)
1/2 c  Chopped red bell pepper
1/2 c  Chopped green onion
1/2 c  Finely crushed corn flakes

Heat oven to 350'F. In large bowl, combine potatoes, cheese, sour
cream, and soup. Stir in SPAM, bell pepper, and green onion. Spoon
into 13x9″ baking dish. Sprinkle with crushed flakes. Bake 30-40
minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Peeporamas
Head to the link above to see the Washington Post's Annual contest to create dioramas out of peeps (the marshmallow bunnies and chickens covered with colored sugar). My friend Andrea clued me in to this. Here's a few:

'The Apeepening' Leaves Hains Point
Semifinalist: Denise Niner, 38, of Springfield and Melanie Bose, 38, of Silver Spring depict the recent removal of "The Awakening" from the District's Hains Point. The statue's new home is the National Harbor development in Prince George's County. Note: The trees are made of Christmas tree Peeps, and the clouds are Halloween ghost Peeps.
(Note: for background info, Google "The Awakening.")

The Wonderful Wizard of Peeps
Semifinalist: "The whole project took me about two days," says justice advocate Kate Braggs, 23, of Washington. "The yellow brick road alone took hours to cut and lay." The background and scenery, including the poppies and the road, are made of paper.

Sesame Peep
Semifinalist: Fairfax resident MaryLea Harris, 32, made the diorama for her daughters, Emma, 4, and Claire, 1. "We all watch 'Sesame Street' together every morning at breakfast," Harris says.

Peep Julius II Questions Michelangelo's Artistic Judgment
Semifinalist: Seven members of the Kaleba family collaborated on the commissioning and evaluation of the painting of the Sistine Chapel. "It's wonderful to learn that with 12 university degrees between us, we can create true art for an appreciative audience," muses Jean Kaleba, 60, the family's chief Peep costumer.