CLOTHESLINES

I was in San Francisco a few years ago, and visited a house I grew up in. Looking at the skyline from the back porch, I noticed all the trees that now fill the backyards , and it occurred to me that what was missing were all the clotheslines that used to crisscross the space.  I understand the convenience of using a gas or electric dryer, but frankly, I believe something has been lost.

 

 Years ago I blocked out a sketch depicting a scene I used to see frequently, but no more. It's primitive, but I think it would be worth developing some day.  I think I'd add an old man doing yard work.

Here are some pictures of clotheslines I grabbed from the internet.  All those fresh-smelling clothes from around the world!

 

 

When my twin brother and I were 16, we almost drown in the surf in Carmel Bay. 

Inexperienced as we were, the ocean looked perfect to body surf that cold Fall afternoon.  Without wetsuits or fins, we swam, or more accurately, were dragged out to the breakers by a viscous undertow.  A challenging romp in the ocean had in a few minutes become a serious matter.  I knew that I had to catch one of those mountainous waves and be swept to shore by it.

I saw my brother catch one, and he was on his way.  I was completely alone, and drowning was a real possibility.  Up until that point, we could see each other, and there was reassurance in that. I decided I'd catch the next wave, no matter what, and in fact I did.  It carried me halfway to shore, but I was dragged back out to sea. It didn't help that the water temperature was in the mid to upper 50's, and I was a scrawny kid.  After fighting to stay in some sort of position to catch the right wave by either diving under or swimming through or over each one,  I was caught by a wave--a very large one--and it carried me all the way to shore.  I was washed upon the sand, and, exhausted and gasping,  I lifted my head and looked to my left to see my twin brother not ten feet from me, lifting his head and looking at me with the same stunned expression on his face that I knew was on mine.  He was my mirror image.  Of the dozens of breakers we tried to catch or avoid that day, we were delivered to safety by the same one.

Later, my brother told me that he also had watched me catch a wave, and had experienced the same fear of being in the treacherous surf alone.

Cast iron utility access cover, Bergen, Norway.

The first day or so we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we were aware of only one Earth.

--Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud

Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud is an astronaut and a payload specialist in NASA nomenclature. He is a grandson of King Iban and was in 1985 the first and remains to this day the only Saudi citizen in space. He was also the first Arab, the first Muslim and the first member of royalty in space

I had to get dressed up the other day, and on my way to the event I realized that what I was wearing was the same thing I wore last year as a Halloween costume.  Talk about a versatile wardrobe!

COAST TO COAST BY TRAIN

Sketching at the Tacoma Amtrak station.

This was the first drawing in my beautiful new sketchbook, and the first one is always a bit intimidating. Since my plan was to fill up the book with things I saw on my trip, Tacoma was page one.

Here is that sketch.

Looking out the window of my Roomette aboard the Empire Builder in Seattle in the late afternoon, waiting to depart.

A few sketches along the way.


Shelby, Montana

It was early in the morning, and this was the first time off the train since Seattle the afternoon before. The air was brisk and refreshing.

Havre, Montana

St. Paul, MN.

Two armed TSA agents with a German Shepard came up behind me and looked over my shoulder while I was sketching this.  I suppose mine was a suspicious activity, and they were friendly enough.

I believe 32005 was my car---my roomette was upstairs.  So much fun!

Chicago

The Baha'i House of Worship in Wilmette

I scheduled my arrival in Chicago to coincide with the Centenary of the laying of the cornerstone of the Mashriqu'l-Adhkar by Abdu'l-Bahá on May 1st, 1912.  As it turned out, I was there exactly at the moment, 100 years later.

In regards to the sketch itself, I used Google Street View before leaving on my trip to find a good station point for an interesting drawing.  In order to fit the temple on the page, I needed to be some distance away, so with the help of Google I found a spot with a portion of Lake Michigan.

The Chicago River

There was a guy blowing a saxophone behind me as I was sketching this.  It was kinda annoying, to tell you the truth.  He did a great job with my request for Moondance, though.

Red Line in the Chicago Loop

I walked around awhile until I found the view I wanted AND a place to sit while I sketched.  This one took about 45 minutes to draw, I would guess, and these days, it has become very uncomfortable to stand and sketch for that long without getting a knot in my shoulder the size of a monkey fist.  It took three trains to pass for me to capture enough detail to depict it. 

After two days in Chicago, I rode the Capitol Limited to Washington D.C.


Union Station, Washington D.C.

The interior of the station was being renovated and scaffolding precluded any sketches, so I found this spot in the portico at the South entrance.  I was uncomfortable with the heat and humidity, and this was the 2nd of May!  Heh, I'm spoiled in the Northwest.

A quick sketch of the Capital Building in the early morning.

North Lawn of the White House

Washington Monument

Lincoln Memorial

This is my favorite drawing from the trip.  There are a few errors, but I can live with them.

The U.S. Treasury

Next, it was a regional train to Richmond, Virginia.

It seemed like everyone was listening to IPods or carrying on a conversation with an invisible person. I really like meeting people, but these devices, including cell phones, has altered social intercourse in a very profound way.

Main Street Station in Richmond.  I drew this while waiting for the Palmetto to take me to Fayetteville, North Carolina.

The Atlantic Ocean from the beach at Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks.

I flew home--first from Norfolk, Virginia to Newark, New Jersey,  and then home via Seattle.

You can see Manhattan in the sketch, with the Empire State Bldg and the new Freedom Tower.

It was a great trip, and fun to record it this way.

jt

I must have just watched a Humphrey Bogart movie when this picture was taken.  I'm smoking a toy cigarette (when you blew through it 'smoke' would come out), and holding our dog Rusty, who's on a chain.  I'm also wearing Keds, and I have my rabbit's foot on my belt. As I recall, I had to pay my eldest brother five cents to defray the cost of the film. 

Awesome!

Some pictures from my motorcycle-riding days.

 

This is the way Glinda and I used to ride--everything except the two of us was held down with bungie cords. This picture was taken in the Sierra Nevada on Highway 49.

Here's Glinda on a trip that took us to Mendocino, Clear Lake, the Feather River, Quincy, and over the Sierra Nevada.  We'd alternate between camping (with tent), motels and bed and breakfasts.  

Here's a poster I drew for the Salinas chapter of the Harley Owner's Group (HOG), of which I was a charter member.  It's a map, detailing the route of a poker run.  After paying an entry fee, we'd all ride to various places, drawing a playing card out of a hat.  The best hand was determined at the last stop, where we'd eat and socialize.  It was lots of fun.

Now that I don't ride a motorcyle, it's pretty annoying when thirty Harley Davidsons rumble by.  Still, it was a close as I'll ever get to riding horses in a cavalry.

This was the hand we drew on one run.  The reason we only drew four cards is that we detoured off the last leg to visit my mother and stepfather who were coincidentally passing through on Hwy 101 in their motorhome on their way south.

Here's a picture taken by Glinda, who was looking over my shoulder.  It was in northeastern California, and a herd of cattle was being moved down the road.  I scooted right up to the back bumper of the car in front of me to be as inconspicuous as possible, but that bull is definitely eyeballing me! My bike was black with handlebars for horns, so I was hoping he didn't consider me a rival.

Somewhere between Silver City, Nevada, and Reno, the spotlamp weld broke and my first stop in Reno was to get that taken care of.  The dealership directed me to a small welding shop, and before long, we were on our way.

My favorite ride was on Pole Line Road (California State Hwy 167) heading east into the Nevada desert from Lee Vining (you can see the northern tip of Mono Lake on the right).  It was just as I had planned---a 45 mile straight asphalt ribbon to oblivion.  What I hadn't planned was the reflection of the Sierra Nevada in my rear-view mirrors.  What a morning.

This is great--especially after the music quits.  I would have known where that was with my eyes closed.

Ninja Tuna


                  

CÉZANNE

Cézanne's Riverbanks popped up on my screensaver this morning, and I was happy for it. He's one of my three favorite painters, with Vincent Van Gogh and S.C. Yuan being the other two.

Here are a few more from my file.

"Autumnal Equinox"   Quilt by Rachael Derstine

'ABDU'L-BAHA ON SOCIALISM


                           

The principles of socialism are outstripped in the religions of God. For instance, God commands, `But [they] prefer them [the poor] before themselves, although there be indigence among them' [Qur'án 59:9]. That is, the believers spend of their substance and share their possessions and prefer others to themselves willingly and with utmost spirituality. Socialists, however, desire to enforce equality and association by compulsion. Although the preference for others which is the exhortation of God is more difficult because the rich are enjoined to prefer others to themselves, this will become common and will be the cause of tranquillity and an aid to the order of the world, because it depends upon the inclination and willingness of the giver. But socialism and egalitarianism, although easier, as those who have are made equal with others, yet such a system will not become widespread and is the cause of disturbance and tumult because it rests on compulsion and coercion.

In the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh it is mentioned that if a rich man neglects the duty of educating his children, the House of Justice is authorized to compel him to assist financially and to educate them. But this is a matter for the family of that wealthy man and comes under the jurisdiction of the House of Justice. The point is that there are matters greater than equality and socialism in divine religions. In the Cause of God there were persons like the King of Martyrs [Mírzá Muhammad-Hasan] who, in the days of tribulation, expended all their wealth and property to relieve the sufferings of the poor and the weak. In Persia the Bahá'ís were willing to sacrifice themselves for one another to such a degree that once when one of the Bahá'ís was a guest in the home of another believer, and the authorities demanded the arrest of the guest, the host gave the guest's name as his own and surrendered himself to them, was martyred in his place, thus sacrificing his life for his guest and brother.

From here (September 18)

Two West Coast Swing videos.

I danced with Deborah in Seattle.  Afterwards, I told her it was as close as I'm ever going to come to driving a Ferrari.

 O LORD, SAVE THY PEOPLE!

Спаси, Господи, люди Твоя

и благослови достояние Твое

победы православным христианом

на сопротивныя даруя

и Твое сохраняя

Крестом Твоим жительство.

O, Lord, save Thy people,

And bless Thine inheritance.

Grant victory to the Orthodox Christians,

Over their adversaries,

And by virtue of Thy cross,

preserve Thine habitation.

Here's a suggestion for a new Washington State flag.  It represents the three major environments of the state:  The green is for the evergreen forests that predominate the region west of the Cascade Range--a snow-covered mountain spine that runs from the Canadian border in the north to Oregon in the south--which is represented by the white bar. The gold represents the agricultural harvest of the great eastern region.  The Western hemlock has been the official Washington state tree since 1947.

I'm not entirely comfortable with the design, but I think the concept is more interesting and descriptive than the current state flag.

 "(R)eligion must be conducive to love and unity among mankind; for if it be the cause of enmity and strife, the absence of religion is preferable. 

When Moses appeared, the tribes of Israel were in a state of disunion as captives of the Pharaohs. Moses gathered them together, and the divine law established fellowship among them. They became as one people, united, consolidated, after which they were rescued from bondage. They passed into the promised land, advanced in all degrees, developed sciences and arts, progressed in material affairs, increased in divine or spiritual civilization until their nation rose to its zenith in the sovereignty of Solomon. It is evident, therefore, that religion is the cause of unity, fellowship and progress among mankind. The function of a shepherd is to gather the sheep together and not to scatter them. Then Christ appeared. He united varying and divergent creeds and warring people of His time. He brought together Greeks and Romans, reconciled Egyptians and Assyrians, Chaldeans and Phoenicians. Christ established unity and agreement among people of these hostile and warring nations. Therefore, it is again evident that the purpose of religion is peace and concord.

Likewise, Muhammad appeared at a time when the peoples and tribes of Arabia were divergent and in a state of continual warfare. They killed each other, pillaged and took captive wives and children. Muhammad united these fierce tribes, established a foundation of fellowship among them so that they gave up warring against each other absolutely and established communities. The result was that the Arabian tribes freed themselves from the Persian yoke and Roman control, established an independent sovereignty which rose to a high degree of civilization, advanced in sciences and arts, extended the Saracen dominion as far west as Spain and Andalusia and became famous throughout the world. 

 Therefore, it is proved once more that the religion of God is intended to be the cause of advancement and solidarity and not of enmity and dissolution. If it becomes the cause of hatred and strife, its absence is preferable. Its purpose is unity, and its foundations are one."

Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 128 New York - 1912