Year End 2018

Old age has crept up and I have survived it for another year, with plenty of good activities and events. Once again this year, Pete is at the top of the list. We have been, as they say, in a relationship for more than two years, with much laughter and plenty of plays and movies. But that’s not all that occurred. A wedding, some honors and awards for me, trips, and volunteer activities filled my life.

What a wedding! On April 7, Dori married her sweetheart Steve. In addition to a new son-in-law, I acquired a new grandson. This marriage is a package deal, and eight-year-old Robby is a wonderful addition to the family. The wedding was unlike anything most people experience. It was medieval, part of an event done by the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). We all wore medieval garb and took part in a medieval feast after the wedding. Dori and Steve are active in the SCA. Their many friends were at the wedding along with our family. The two lovebirds still like each other, so being married to each other turned out to be a good thing. They still live in suburban Chicago.

Much to my surprise, I received some honors and an award during the year. (1) Throughout February I exhibited thirty-three of my paintings at the Madison Senior Center, which was an honor. (2) When May came, the Madison Senior Center nominated me for an award given by United Way, for community volunteering at the senior center and other places. Since I was one of several hundred nominees, I didn’t get an award at that event, but I was happy to be honored. (3) Also in May the senior center had its annual art exhibit for seniors age fifty-five and older. The judges gave me a Round of Applause award for one of my paintings of Washington Island. Some of their awards have unusual names. (4) The Friends of the Madison Public Library honored me for ten years of service as a volunteer. (5) In November, Madison channel 27 gave me a Jefferson Award for volunteering. We recorded my activity at the senior center, so I appeared on television several times in a two minute blurb. The station gives this award to a person or group each month.

Trips filled the calendar for Pete and me. We went to Philadelphia in May and the Apostle Islands in September, and we took numerous day trips by car or tour bus.

We enjoyed Philadelphia’s historic sites, along with visits to three art museums and a symphony performance. Our tour guide dressed up as Benjamin Franklin. I was impressed with the art in an impressionist gallery as well as the sculptures in the Rodin gallery. The Liberty Bell? Not so fascinating. We were at the Philadelphia airport when it made national news. We and everyone else couldn’t find any running water, and no one seemed to know what it was about. A big sink hole had appeared in the parking lot of the airport, which caused all airport water to cease to flow (yes, including toilets), and caused the airport to close for a while after we departed for home. Television news showed us what had happened after we arrived back in Madison.

Later in the year Pete and I went to the Apostle Islands on a Road Scholar tour. We took a boat trip around the islands, spent the better part of a day on Madeline Island, and had time on our own to see the sights of Bayfield. While Pete was napping, I visited local fishing boats, two museums, and a combination bar and art gallery. I took in the public library, which is a small old Carnegie building that retains its character but appears to be out of compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Very crowded. We listened to several local people give talks about life up there in Lake Superior country, including the mayor of Bayfield.

Pete and I took a delightful two day trip to Milwaukee in January, where we visited the Pabst mansion, the Mitchell Park Domes, the public museum, and Mader’s German restaurant.

Pete and I had many day trips during the year to art fairs, art galleries, historical sites like Old World Wisconsin, Potosi Brewery, Starved Rock State Park, and theater shows in Milwaukee. Without Pete I went to Washington Island with Sarah and my granddaughters several times during the summer.

I spend time during the week with volunteer activities, mostly at the public library branch in my neighborhood and the Madison Senior Center. I croak in the choir at church. The family gathered during the year for birthdays and holidays. Life is good when one is not considering politics, water in the basement and home repairs I love my family. Another year is on the horizon.

Philadelphia

I took a vacation trip to Philadelphia with Pete Weiler last weekend Friday through Monday. Here is his account of the trip.

Last Saturday Kathy & I went to The Gates of Hell, which are in Philadelphia. However, we did not pass through them and returned to Madison safe and sound Monday evening.

I should explain that The Gates of Hell are two large, bronze doors sculpted by Auguste Rodin. The doors and many other Rodin sculptures are at the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia. (www.rodinmuseum.org) That was only the first of three art museums we visited on our trip. At the Philadelphia Museum of Art (www.philamuseum.org) we were given a tour of American art exhibits by an expert docent.

  

The best art museum was the Barnes Foundation.(www.barnesfoundation.org) It started as a school for artist founded by a rich collector. He collected art from around the world, but mostly from French Impressionists. His collection was initially shown only to the art students, but now is public. The collection includes dozens of Renoirs and Cezannes. I was wowed by the huge collection, which filled over 20 rooms.

Art was only half the focus of our Road Scholar tour. The history of the founding of our nation was the other half. We visited the new Museum of the American Revolution (www.amrevmuseum.org), which tells the story of our 8 year war of independence with films and historic exhibits. We went to the National Constitution Center (constitutioncenter.org) to view exhibit explaining the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the other 17 Amendments. Of course, we visited the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, where the Continental Congress met to declare independence and where later the Constitution was created.

Our Road Scholar tour guide, Mitchell Kramer, was an actor who resembled Benjamin Franklin and often portrayed him. He was an excellent storyteller, with a sense of humor and a wealth of knowledge about Philadelphia and the history of the founding of our country.  At the site of George Washington's Philadelphia home, he told us how that president would receive petitioners and visitors in a way that avoid being treated as a king, but had a formal dignity he considered appropriate for the highest office of the land. At the site of Benjamin Franklin's home, I particularly enjoyed hearing him tell us that Franklin had contributed to the understanding of electricity by performing over 130 experiments on it and sharing his research with Europeans studying the phenomenon.

In addition to all this art and history, we attended an evening concert by the Philadelphia Orchestra and had tasty dinners at two excellent restaurants. And we met some interesting people in our tour group. It was a very good trip and Kathy and I both enjoyed it. If you think you might be interested in taking this tour, you can find out about it at www.roadscholar.org/9068.

by Peter R. Weiler