august 9th - knitting and an artist's talk

lots of time when i finally sit down to work on this baby cardigan, cricket likes to join me.

even with his help, i have managed to finish it. well, i do still need to sew the buttons on, but it's currently blocking in the bedroom. it may take a long time to dry, as it's very humid and hot again . . 

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greg, chanda and i attended an artist's talk at the rubin museum this evening. it's the last one in a series for their exhibit of current himalayan art (which we participated in for artist sonam dolma brauen in march).

kunsang gyatso spoke about his piece titled goddess of tangerine which began for him six to eight years ago when his parents left him a shrine to care for (they returned to nepal). when he himself returned to nepal in past years, he noticed that the mountaintops were no longer always white with snow. they had become more brown and rugged with the warming climate. for this piece he has imagined what if the tangerine were to go extinct? would we venerate it as a goddess? would we elevate it? i was also struck with the difference of living in the beauty of the himalayas with its small outdoor shrines hidden in nooks and crannies along mountain paths, and the indoor display of the museum's shrine room in a corporate glass and steel building, and then the artist's shrine to the tangerine, displayed with paint, glass filaments, plexiglass, concrete, foam and wood; so different from soil and rocks, air and water, insects and small animals. also, there must be a difference with the warm at home shrine that his parents left him and the shrine of his artwork. our museums display our cultures and the beauty we find in our cultures, but it is not the warmth of the culture itself: the physical and spiritual actuality. we have to imagine all of that. i've been thinking about this in relation to raja shehadeh's palestinian walks . . the beauty of his home, changed irrevocably by strangers claiming it to be their's -- uprooting olive trees and building walls.

i really appreciated hearing him speak . . 

chanda and i took a quick peek in the gift shop where i picked out two tea towels; one for morgan and harley and one for ryan . . all of whom have new apartments! greg was being a bear as he was very hungry. he didn't get to have a snack before leaving for the talk right after finishing work.

he was ready for some ramen from misoya, the restaurant near us (where we ended up doing take out as they were very busy and had a twenty minute wait for a table).

and it's my dad's birthday today . . he would have been 98.

in the 90's

i was out at 8:15 this morning to visit with chanda at the cafe (where they were very busy!) and to get a coffee before walking uptown to my dentist. today i walked up fifth avenue to 34th street. this is marble collegiate church (dutch reformed protestant) at 29th street, whose original congregation was established in 1628.

two women just hanging out and trying to stay cool while waiting for a bus?

i arrived at the dentist at around 10 am. it was about 86 degrees by then i think. it was a rather warm walk and i always try to stay in the shade. i caught up on the news with the hygienist (carina - her son is 13 now!) and filled her in on the going's on of my three. doctor gerardi flew in and out very quickly . . they were busier than usual for a hot august day. things usually slow down in august, but this year feels very busy with more local people staying in town. i thought everyone was traveling . . we certainly have plenty of tourists visiting nyc. maybe it feels busier because the past two years were extra quiet. i think more people have finally moved back.

so . . on my walk home i passed this store at 29th and madison . . a brand new whole foods. it looked huge from the outside. i actually haven't been too enthralled with whole foods since amazon took it over (their decor at union square became grey and too dark and felt crowded and chaotic), but i couldn't resist walking in and seeing what this one was like.

 

i walked into an empty store. the crowds haven't discovered it yet.

i also was shocked to see my favorite cafe had a spot just to the right of the entrance (which you can see in this video). i had just walked by its empty chelsea shop on my way uptown this morning - they recently closed it and i'm sure a lot of neighborhood people share my disappointment about that.

cafe grumpy!!!!

cafe grumpy in cahoots with whole foods amazon . . so strange. i did have fun talking with the baristas. one had come from the chelsea cafe and she mentioned how much she missed it. they said i should check out the upstairs where the groceries were (the downstairs was mainly prepared food). 

wandering the downstairs (past salad and soup bars, a pizza counter, sushi counter and za'ater counter) with my matcha lemonade (cold, bittersweet and refreshing). 

scanning the upstairs . . since it wasn't overcrowded with customers yet, the atmosphere was very relaxed.

so much space! this section is all self check-out and to the right were the cashiers (i'm glad they still have cashiers - gourmet garage is only self check-out).

i had a fun time wandering around and seeing many items i used to love to buy . . 

 

such as these big dipper beeswax candles. (i didn't buy any today, they are a little pricey and it's a tad hot for candles lately.) i did get some simple oatmeal soap that my health food store doesn't sell.

 

my sister loves baking the thanksgiving turkey in plastic bags . . hopefully this extra large parchment pouch will be big enough for this year's bird? 

out again into the hot air and to madison square park.

and to eataly for figs and focaccia.

where to now?

trader joe's for butter and olive paté (the air conditioning in these places is also a nice break from the heat).

well, it was a very hot two days but it's cooler tonight (86) and tomorrow it's only supposed to go up to . . 82!

tomato and mozzarella focaccia with sautéed onions, green pepper, zucchini (summer squash) and two sweet italian sausages from the butcher.

(p.s. august 9th - dad's birthday . . he would have been 96.)

a grey monday

i walked through madison park today on my way to the dentist. above is a photo of maya lin's ghost forest exhibit (on view until november). i've been wanting to see this for awhile but haven't been in the neighborhood. i hope to return for more photos. it's a very compelling installation. the forty nine atlantic white cedar trees are from the new jersey pine barrens where they had been infiltrated by salt water, a problem throughout the east coast due to rising seas. i've always appreciated maya lin's sensitivity and feel hopeful that she has lent her voice to lifting up the fragility of our earth's ecosystem.

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it was chilly this morning but grew warmer and more humid as the day wore on. greg and i ate at moustache and i brought home baklava for tomorrow morning (compliments of our server, which was nice of him). also, it was my dad's birthday today. he would have been 95.

monday monday on wednesday morning

on monday morning chanda worked on her incandescent light bulb lesson page.

 

we read about photons . . but i still don't see how a carbon or tungsten thread is inserted into the bulb . . and held there . . maybe i need to read her page more carefully. however, i've been distracted as my sister called early around 7 am to say that my dad passed away just a few hours earlier.

 when my friends' parents have died it's been all about them and their mom or dad . . and i've written about them on this blog . . . i've also written about my aunt and uncle. 

my friend kendall has written that she feels when a person's parent dies that it's a tectonic shifting of one's world.

 on monday chanda and i read a lot from jane austen's sense and sensibility. her understanding and description of people's motivations feels like fresh air to me. she sees so clearly. that feels welcome right now.

 our lunch.

 i didn't call korrina until 2:30 which ended up working out well because she took off from work and came and sat with me. 

comfort objects: coffee, yarn, knitting projects, sour dough bread on the rise . . 

 she went through all the pictures which was really fun.

 korrina and her dad.

greg and chanda then came home and we all had some time together around the table before korrina left for brooklyn and we had dinner. it was the best time.

i didn't get ahold of morgana until yesterday. we talked on the speaker phone with chanda. she's in such a pretty place.

my sister and i are planning the memorial service (which will be in connecticut at her church) and the burial. he'll be cremated and then buried out on the island.

friday at gosman's dock

we celebrated nonno's 87th birthday with a trip to gosman's dock and ice cream from john's.

 

 fish and chips . . fisherman's platter and shrimp and chips.

 morgana made the card from all of us (and my sister's family too).

 it was a marie callender's razzleberry pie . . which always reminds me of the boysenberry pie that my aunt evie would bring back from california.

happy birthday nonno!

  a book from the montauk bookshop (i love the "everyman" series of books) and coffee from jack's in amagansett.